Everything we do in class is important. Don't skip around and leave things blank when you complete your project page. It is easy to forget to go back and complete it for one thing, but even more importantly, the curriculum is not designed for you to do it that way. When you complete your lessons sequentially and make sure things are finished, then you will have a better grasp of the concepts and material presented, and you will be better prepared to move on to the next lesson. The learning log is important because you will be able to see a visual record of how you have learned and mastered content, and grown throughout the semester. Please keep it updated on a daily basis. This is an easy task.
Leaving holes as you move on will cost you time, effort, and frustration in the future. Please make sure you have things completely finished before you move on. It does make things easier for everyone involved. It will actually save you time and energy. And, don't we all want to save time, effort, and energy? I know I do. I'm sure you do too. Good luck and I will help you do a good job as we experience Game Design together.
Game Design and BCA
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Publishing, Uploading, and General Reminders
Remember that you need to publish your Flash files so that you will have both a swf (small web file) as well as your fla file. Your project, and later your team pages, will always request both of your files from you as you complete your lessons. If you forget to publish, you will only have the fla file.
Also, the files will not be available on the wiki unless you upload them with the file uploader. You can't just type the file name in the space on the project page and expect them to magically appear. Always upload them first and then copy them to the appropriate places on the project pages.
If you are ever asked for a thumbnail file. You just need to go to file, publish settings, and select jpg. This will provide a small picture for you to place on your page. Just remember to be on the frame that you want it to publish the picture of. In most cases this is going to be your title page. You will be asked to do this for your hidden object game and your action game and your team game because these thumbnails will then go to the game gallery and show a small picture of your game in the gallery.
Questions, just ask. Good luck publishing and uploading. You are well on your way to making some awesome games. I can't wait to play, can you?
Also, the files will not be available on the wiki unless you upload them with the file uploader. You can't just type the file name in the space on the project page and expect them to magically appear. Always upload them first and then copy them to the appropriate places on the project pages.
If you are ever asked for a thumbnail file. You just need to go to file, publish settings, and select jpg. This will provide a small picture for you to place on your page. Just remember to be on the frame that you want it to publish the picture of. In most cases this is going to be your title page. You will be asked to do this for your hidden object game and your action game and your team game because these thumbnails will then go to the game gallery and show a small picture of your game in the gallery.
Questions, just ask. Good luck publishing and uploading. You are well on your way to making some awesome games. I can't wait to play, can you?
Google Chrome and the Internet
We have been having some real issues in our first block class with slow internet and the wiki not being responsive at times. We cannot comment on each other's blog posts and were not able to do this last year either. The commenting problem is an Internet Explorer issue I feel sure. I am not sure about the speed of the internet and or the wiki being so slow for us.
My desktops are getting older but it seems like we have to wait, and wait, and wait for anything to load or save. So, we downloaded Google Chrome to see if it would help us out any with our situation. I do think that our commenting on the blogs will be solved with this. I am unsure about the speed however. At first I thought it might be that things might be being added to the wiki and it might be slowing us down. But, we have been in school for a month now and things have not improved. We are not on the wireless so the traffic should not be a problem. Our bandwidth was supposed to be increased and should be in good shape for us.
I know that the other Globaloria teacher is also having issues although she is using laptops and the wireless internet in her classroom at a later time in the day. So, we have both talked to our technology person at the school. My other class works on a wiki that is not the Globaloria class, and we are having problems in that class as well so I don't think that it is tied specifically to the Globaloria wiki. I do hope that a solution is found soon and we can move on. There is no bigger frustration than problems with technology software, hardware, and speed of the internet when your class depends on it.
Production can slow to a crawl and creativity is hindered as well. I am not ready to be placed in this position this year. Students should not have to fight this battle to complete their tasks in the class.
My desktops are getting older but it seems like we have to wait, and wait, and wait for anything to load or save. So, we downloaded Google Chrome to see if it would help us out any with our situation. I do think that our commenting on the blogs will be solved with this. I am unsure about the speed however. At first I thought it might be that things might be being added to the wiki and it might be slowing us down. But, we have been in school for a month now and things have not improved. We are not on the wireless so the traffic should not be a problem. Our bandwidth was supposed to be increased and should be in good shape for us.
I know that the other Globaloria teacher is also having issues although she is using laptops and the wireless internet in her classroom at a later time in the day. So, we have both talked to our technology person at the school. My other class works on a wiki that is not the Globaloria class, and we are having problems in that class as well so I don't think that it is tied specifically to the Globaloria wiki. I do hope that a solution is found soon and we can move on. There is no bigger frustration than problems with technology software, hardware, and speed of the internet when your class depends on it.
Production can slow to a crawl and creativity is hindered as well. I am not ready to be placed in this position this year. Students should not have to fight this battle to complete their tasks in the class.
Hidden Object Games-Drawing Backgrounds and Hidden Objects
It's been awhile since I've drawn in Flash, but I do find that I enjoy it when I have time to do it. The students are enjoying their first taste of drawing in Flash as they have uploaded their paper prototype files to their project pages and are beginning their attempts at drawing their backgrounds to their hidden object games. Some are doing better than others, but it takes time to get your balance and feel comfortable drawing. It took me quite awhile before I felt like I could do anything at all as far as drawing in Flash.
Today, we started drawing the hidden objects that will go into the games. The students do like the idea of bringing items in from the internet and tracing them and then making them their own. It gives them better perspective and color than trying to do it totally on their own. We have some pretty good looking games for the Game Design I students and the Game Design II students are nearing the completion of their games and are almost ready for their presentations. They are doing an amazing job with their games and have matured in their use of the program so much from last year.
Overall, we are making progress although not as quickly as I would like. But, we are moving along. The coding is looking us in the eye and we are ready and waiting for it!
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