SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW SCENES

[Xray]

I'm fairly new to Algodoo, and so I'm still learing as much as I can about this WONDERFUL program. One excellent way to learn how to make scenes is to download other people's creations. Many of the scenes in Algobox have fairly good information that describes the scene and how to control it, but MANY of the scenes have little to nothing that explains WHAT the scene is supposed to do, HOW to control it, and what to expect from it. Some authors simply state things like "Hope you like it!!!!" or "This is the BEST!", and many state nothing at all. For those scenes with limited or no descriptions, the user has to try to figure out how to control the scene, and what to expect from it. This can usually be done by reverse-engineering the scene, but most people, I'm sure, don't want to take the time to do that, especially if the scene is not that interesting or impressive. So, these are my suggestions for people when creating new scenes:

1. List all of the controls, such as keys and/or mouse buttons, and explain what each key does. If your scene runs automatically, and does not have any controls then state that fact.
2. Give a short description that describes what the scene is supposed to do, or what the end result is supposed to be. If your scene is a game, then describe how the game operates, and what the players need to do in order to win.
3. If your scene is a tutorial, such as a scene that explains how to spawn geometries via Thyme scripts, then your description should be very detailed that shows the proper syntax of the script, some examples of how to use the script, and explain what to expect from it. Give some working examples of scenes or "Phunlets" that use the particular scripts.
4. Do not pat yoruself on the back with statements such as, "This is the fastest car in Algodoo" or "Check out my awesome logo!", etc. Rather than telling people how great your scene is (in YOUR opinion) let THEM be the judges!

There are a few more minor suggestions I have, but some of them may be a little "nitpicky" so I won't include them here.

I hope that the site Administrator or Moderators (whoever does this) will want to make this a "Sticky".

Thanks!

[Conundrumer]

This list is pretty helpful. Actually, it's pretty much how I describe my scenes.
Unfortunately, half the people on Algobox seem to be...rather young, to be frank. In addition, the people on Algobox don't even frequent the forums so they won't see this message. I'm not sure what could be done about it. You missed the golden age of Phun/Algodoo.

[Xray]

This list is pretty helpful. Actually, it's pretty much how I describe my scenes.

Yes, I noticed that. You are one of the few who do an excellent job of describing your scenes.

Unfortunately, half the people on Algobox seem to be...rather young, to be frank. In addition, the people on Algobox don't even frequent the forums so they won't see this message.

I've noticed that too. Many of the younger ones don't seem to have an understanding of sentence structure and they lack even basic writing skills.

I'm not sure what could be done about it.

I doubt that there's much that can be done for many of them. Hopefully, at least some of them will catch on, and make an attempt to improve how they communicate their ideas to other people.

You missed the golden age of Phun/Algodoo.

Yes, I did, and it's only because I was not aware of Phun and early Algodoo. I just LOVE this kind of program that allows people to express their creativity. If I had known about Phun when it first came out, I definitely would have been one of the earlier users of it. Now that I know about it and use it, I plan to learn as much as I can about it, and I plan to make a lot of "quality" scenes down the road. I have programing experience, so learning Thyme comes fairly naturally to me.

Thanks for your reply!

[Nxdt]

Yeah good points, I often forget or assume people know how to use it. This is how I assign keys to my scenes, Arrows or WASD for movement are normal, Return and Enter usually do random operations. "G" for landing gear, "B" for brakes and "F" for fire, shift usually gets used for a clutch. "Z"/"X" are usually auxillary movements.

I would like have more tutorial elements in the scene which show how play and some description of the scenes. Kilinich is very good for doing this and its something I really like.

[Benjii]

Having read that i realised how annoying i have been (particularly when i started out with algodoo)
That is a really helpful description (of descriptions) of what is helpful and i'm going to use that as a kind of checklist (its now in my algodoo folder) Thanks!
This should be a sticky.