MechaSource Competition - Beginner Interface, Prizes inside!

My god, a 3 post combo, that was amazing.

Thanks guys, glad you like it.

no ideas are wasted. All ideas will leave considerations.

There's a similar theme present here, and I agree that a fusion of the previous methods could create a truly orgasmic beginners interface

just curious but have you ever thought of something similar to the step-through editor from CNC

I haven't tried CNC - is it equal to the MMF editor?
If not provide an image so I can see it :D

I was wondering how exactly MechaSource worked, which will influence how the interface is made. I was thinking it would be best to make an interface to fit MS rather than design a generic one. But, at this point, I guess I am.

This post has been edited by RetroXYZ on Oct 15 2009, 07:16 PM

I have an idea that's sort of a fusion of some already posted.

Hope that's okay!



Also we don't have to make our entries look pretty, do we? Will we be judged on only the concept and you figure out the graphics and appeal, or do we have to do it all?

This post has been edited by Fez on Oct 15 2009, 08:59 PM

a post, a sketch etc. is used to make your concept understandable. If you manage to do that without a sketch, or without a huge wall of text, then that's alright, you got your message across.

Yes, it is - exactly the same.

[entry]

So here we go. I don't have a lot of MS knowledge, so I'm hoping it works somewhat like this.

So we start with this

This is the basic editing place. There'll be a back button, of course.
on the left you have your objects, which you can scroll through. Underneath the objects (not in the diagram) there will be a delete/add new object button.
Now lets see what happens when we click on one of the objects...


You'll notice we start with the object that you selected highlighted, along with it's name in the top lefthand corner. You can change the object at any time by simply clicking another one. You'll also notice the info/code buttons in the bottom lefthand corner. It automatically goes to info when you start the object/code editor up. In the top, there are also two boxes: Properties and image. I'm not sure how either of these work in MS, so I just gave possible examples of what could go there. The only thing new is that under transparent, I added two new boxes for another set of X and Y origins. this shows at which colour (the colour at that point) will be transparent.

Now if we switch over to the code tab, we get:


In the top righthand corner, we now have a list of events that you can scroll through. Each would be accompanied by an image so you can easily remember the event. Simply click on an event for any previously typed code to be opened and the ability to add new code. You can now either type in new code by yourself or or click the insert button for the easy way to add code.


Now here we have a list of easy to access actions that we can make our object do, with relative simplicity. There would also be a little picture to go with each of these. You can scroll up and down this list as well. Perhaps (not in drawing) this could be divided into sub catogoeries so that the different actions are easier to access. For now though, lets say we chose gravity...


the word gravity appears above the code editor to show what you're dealing with, as well as it is highlighted on the list. A little menu pops down at the top of the code giving you options of what can be done. As soon as you change then click on something, it will be added into the code, but as actual code. Also, as soon as there is any code typed, a little checkmark or x will appear in the bottom right hand corner of the code. This shows whether or not you have any errors in you code. Click on the x for it to highlight the errors and say what the problem is. At any time, click insert to close the easy code editor and return to seeing your objects.

Basically what I'm trying to achieve by this is so you can start learning code by choosing what you want to happen then having it transfered into code directly, so you can learn from it and don't have to use the easy editor all the time.

[/entry]

So I can't tell. Is this idea any good?

This post has been edited by Fez on Oct 17 2009, 09:17 AM

^^^This post kind of shows how giving an award for the best idea and encouraging people to combine others' ideas as their entries doesn't exactly work.

Fez's entry is really similar to mine, and it combines elements of other people's entries as well. So naturally it'll be better than any of the previous entries. Which is AWESOME if your goal is progress. But not so awesome if you turn it into a contest and the winner wins for using other peoples' ideas combined.

I dunno what the solution is, have the entrants give props to whoever they took their inspiration from and give the award to them as well, all I can think of.

Just my 2 cents on all of this.

This post has been edited by Keyser Soze on Oct 17 2009, 05:18 PM

I don't need to be in the contest, I just did it for fun and to try to make the interface easier for others.

So use it if you want, I don't need anything.


Besides keyser, I thought your was much better than mine anyways. So I can just drop out now if that makes things simpler.

This post has been edited by Fez on Oct 17 2009, 08:20 PM

No way, don't drop out. Its all up to Mecha who wins, if he likes your entry then good for you.

The whole goal here is to make MechaSource more intuitive anyways. The prizes just encourage participation.

Oh and this idea depends on how willing you are to let more than one person into the beta but if, say, 2 or more people were to combine their ideas into 1 entry, could they all get the first prize? It WOULD make a pretty sweet beginner interface to combine Leo + ZeroKirby's right click thing with Fez and my "teach the person to program through the Easy Mode" thing.

This post has been edited by Keyser Soze on Oct 18 2009, 07:51 PM

this post kind of reminds me of gamemaker. The horror D:

Not bad though

The horror?

If you mean that Gamemaker is bad then sdfgd

awesome face you made me laugh out loud XD
(I though I lost my laugh due to that "Are you serious" thread)

Uh...

What?

Don't ask

Nothing horrible about Game Maker's interface.

It's such a pain. I though games factory 2 was pretty good but I don't have the money to buy the full version. So I'm stuck.

(Well, I won't buy anything online simply because I don't like giving out my information. Scams are very clever.)