The Planets Have Aligned (and so has JavaScript with HTML)

It doesn’t look impressive now, but just you wait till I figure it out

The exercise was not all too difficult and I even learned a bit about JavaScript that I was not previously aware of: how to implement it in conjunction with HTML code. Over all, I think that the written portion of the assignment took me longer than the coding. I do have a few questions about the coding, namely how the JavaScript would interact with CSS. I am sure that there are ways to use both without any problems, but I know that CSS can make things tricky if you are not careful. As well, does one have priority over the other? Or are they both treated equally? I would like to put some of the games that I made in the games class online and knowing how CSS affects JavaScript would really help in making the game archive happen. If I recall correctly, you can constrain JavaScript into an element which can then be affected by the CSS. Well, I will find out tomorrow regardless of how wrong or right I turn out to be. Until then, have a good night.

Transmedia Rage

I chose to do my site with a mythical monsters theme. I figured if ever there was a time for me to let my nerdiness out, it’d be now.

The assignment itself I did not find all too difficult. In fact, it took more or less an hour to complete (most of which was spent brainstorming what theme I wanted to go for rather than actual coding) and I honestly enjoyed learning through trial and error how to write a webpage into existence. At first I thought that this would be more challenging to do, looking back at the MySpace days when even looking at HTML code made me feel ill. Granted, this website is extremely simplistic compared to most MySpace pages, but it is reassuring to now know that writing intense HTML code is well within the realm of possibility for me. 

What nearly killed me on this assignment, however, was not the assignment itself but trying to get it on that godforsaken transmedia site. Currently I do not have a folder of my own on the server, but thankfully Peter Dancy has let me temporarily store my files in his. After finally connecting to the server through the FileZilla program (which took quite a while for me to finally figure out how to do so) I was able to upload my files, which unfortunately were corrupted in the first upload. There was much rage and mental cursing at the computer that followed this. I am not sure why or how this happened, but the second try resulted in success. I also did not encounter the infamous blue border issue that Dr. Delwiche mentioned in the email we all received, which I am actually quite glad about, though sadly this means I will not learn how to combat it. Sadly.

The Final Countdown

Balsamic is ridiculous to use.

It is finally here! The last project of gaming, which is really kind of bittersweet. I am creating a sort of offshoot from the Air Raid game. Basically the game involves different fish swimming from offstage and the purpose is to eat the smaller ones so as to get more tentacles and a higher score (you’re a jellyfish) but to avoid the big, angry-looking ones so as to not lose tentacles and your score. It involves a start page and a game page, with the possibility of a high score page if I have enough time. The start page is very explanatory. The game page is where the fish flow on screen and it is your job as a jelly fish to eat and grow while avoiding predators.

Return to the Comm Lab

I am finally and officially back in the game(ing class) and at Trinity! Thank you to the people who helped me catch up with this monster of an Air Raid assignment and the River Challenge. Working on these assignments with only the class mailing list to guide me was a little difficult, but without it I definitely would not have finished anything. Or known what on earth I was doing at all for that matter. So for that, thank you everyone for the hand!

Back in the Game! (-ing Class, that is.)

For the past few days I have been attempting to get back into the swing of things and to start coding again. And for the past few days I have learned that mono makes it difficult not to feel as though computer screens are sucking the life out of you through your ears. However, I am finally well enough to fashion this example of post-election patriotism. I have to say, I was not very sure of using a separate actionscript class for a symbol. After this assignment though, it makes complete sense. Which I hear is good because the next assignment that I’ll hopefully have finished by tomorrow’s class has nothing but separate actionscripts to deal with. Hooray.

One Function to Rule Them All

I feel absolutely ready for the Hangman Assignment after working this little piece of code. Well, some what ready. Well, I’ll probably be asking for help over the weekend. Anyway, I’m actually really excited that we now know how to create a single function which works for an entire assortment of similar buttons because I was really worried about that for the Hangman project. Also I noticed that some people were not aware of this, so I’ll be sure to mention it. If you create a variable within a function that is not the main, that variable will only exist within that function. Meaning, you can not access it if you call on it in another function. I know that there were a few people who were having difficulties due to this misconception, so hopefully this is cleared up.

I feel as though just about everyone on this floor has had a very off day, because I know that at least this row of people has been prone to making really air-headed mistakes. We utilized the string methods that were explained in the blue book (which was a complete and total godsend) and after a lot of staring blankly at the computer I managed to write the code correctly in order to achieve the desired effect. I can not stress how obscurely simple these methods were to write. Once I understood how to write them, that is.

Interesting Words To Know, Like “For”

This was by no means the most difficult piece of coding that I’ve encountered, but it was by no means a walk in the park. I am not sure how long it took to complete, but I can guesstimate that it was about an hour. I used an array full of words that I found here, which leads me to think that this exercise could create some very interesting study options in the future. Using “for” loops was absolutely essential to completing this assignment, so thank you to all who assisted with the standard “for ( i=1; i=<n; i++)” format. I feel as though these assignments are helping us gain a base to use with the hangman project. I only copied from my previous ActionScripts one or two times for this assignment, miraculously.

Hakuna Matata Unless It’s With This Assignment

To Dr. Delwiche, you really were not joking when you stated that this would be a fairly substantial homework assignment. Then again, I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew when I decided to make a mad lib out of a song (The assignment only called for eight blanks, I gave twenty-three). I still love the song, it was my childhood after all, but perhaps I enjoy the lyrics just a bit less now. I chose to make a mad lib out of the Disney song Hakuna Matata which like I said is one of my favorite songs. I used a lot of what we learned through the magic eight ball and random prose assignments in order to complete this code. I used the arrays that we learned about in the exercises in order to make it to where certain word answers are dynamically pulled from an array each time the go button is clicked. I also leaned a lot on what we learned from the magic eight ball assignment when creating coding that would fill a text box with a story that had changeable words.

Magic Eight Array

This assignment was not all that difficult, especially after learning about arrays. Essentially arrays are lists that the software incorporates to make the job of the programmer easier. By using Math.whatever commands, one can create a function that selects a string from an array for the the program to use in, for example, a magic eight ball. It is similarly possible to achieve the same effect through if-else statements, however it is far more effective in my opinion to use an array. Thank you to whoever wrote this tutorial found here, I found your information on arrays pertaining to magic eight balls very informative. Also, to the random person who was sitting next to me and obviously did not realize other people were in the room: they provide headphones for a reason.

My end product. So magical.