Latest Project Preview
 

[SIZE=3]I thought I would release a small preview of my latest project in the form of a screencast.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=4][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1Tvn2y7h0"]> WATCH IT HERE <[/URL][/SIZE]

Arty-fishL Addons for Alice. A platform that allows addons to be installed into Alice to enhance user experience.

Addons so far (updated 3 Jan 2011):

[B]Gloo[/B] - [COLOR=DarkGreen]Finished[/COLOR]! Allows objects to be merged together.

[B]Texture Tools [/B]- [COLOR=DarkGreen]Finished[/COLOR]! A set of tools that allow you to easily modify textures within Alice.

[B]Themes[/B] - [COLOR=DarkGreen]Finished[/COLOR]! Customise Alice with themes, they change colours and appearance at the click of a button, in fact you can preview just by hovering over the button.

[B]AODb Toolbox[/B] - midway in development. A set of quick access tools for the AODb. Also featuring easy submission, so the AODb can start filling up, because its easy to add stuff to it with this addon.

[B]Alternative Gallery[/B] - mostly finished, but now its looking impossible to get round a major glitch I'm stuck on. Changes the built in web gallery to my server, so I can add all the community objects to it as well as the normal stuff.

[B]Alice CMD[/B] - This [B]new addon[/B] could be making its way into the project sometime in the near future, but for now it is in its early days and [B]will not be released with the main release[/B], therefore nothing more will be said about it.

[B]JJoy[/B] - [COLOR=DarkOrange]New[/COLOR]! A framework that I will be making an object tool for - to work with it. Allows for joystick/game-pad input to worlds.

All Addons are subject to change, some featured in the preview may not be released (although probably will be). Zone was going to do this ages ago, but looks like he forgot or gave up.

That is pretty cool arty-fishL, and a little off-topic,but the warping effect when you clicked was pretty cool as well.

[QUOTE=legolizard;38401]That is pretty cool arty-fishL, and a little off-topic,but the warping effect when you clicked was pretty cool as well.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I'm accepting any suggestions for addons or themes, ideas are always good.

The warping effect was done in Camtasia (the screen recording software). I had right click set to ripple, but I never right clicked in the video.

Wow! I have something to look forward to. Any idea of a release date?

[QUOTE=labtek9;38405]Wow! I have something to look forward to. Any idea of a release date?[/QUOTE]Hi :D Labtek, I'm sure you've not been on in a while (unless I missed you), so hi again.

The good thing about this is I can release the platform and any number of addons, then release the other ones later when they're finished.
The actual platform still needs finished, Themes and Gloo need some touch ups and I hope to include the AODb Toolbox, but that requires the AODb to be modified.
This shouldn't take too long though and once I've got the updating system working it should be fairly easy to release regular updates if anything is unfinished or glitchy.
I want to initially release it to only a few people for beta testing, so I don't get a thread filled with fails and confuse loads of people.

Now you've got me wondering on how to make a theme. Perhaps how to replace Lidell with Margatroid, or other picture that altogether replaces Alice as the mascot for the program icon and splash screen.
Edit: Any way to get Alice to use a different lib/alice.jar when using different alice styles? I've already changed the splash screen. Seems the only requirement is to use JPG and have a good 20 solid color pixels on the bottom of the image to fit the loading progress and build numbers. If only it used PNG or GIF, then I would have gone fancy like Photoshop is for theirs.

[QUOTE=Mr Kidnapper;38415]Now you've got me wondering on how to make a theme. Perhaps how to replace Lidell with Margatroid, or other picture that altogether replaces Alice as the mascot for the program icon and splash screen.
Edit: Any way to get Alice to use a different lib/alice.jar when using different alice styles? I've already changed the splash screen. Seems the only requirement is to use JPG and have a good 20 solid color pixels on the bottom of the image to fit the loading progress and build numbers. If only it used PNG or GIF, then I would have gone fancy like Photoshop is for theirs.[/QUOTE]The themes I have created only change colours and not images, you can create one if you want when I release it, they aren't hard, just a jython dictionary full of keys (preset strings that I have linked to elements in the window) and their representative values, such as java.awt.color.BLACK etc.

As for changing the images in Alice, I'm not sure this can be linked to styles, but it can be done by modifying the jar. I've posted this somewhere before and I've got a YouTube video that I made linked to the thread. Unfortunately I made it a while back, when I didn't have Camtasia, so the quality is low, nevertheless - its [URL="http://www.youtube.com/user/ArtyFishL#p/u/6/qpOQEHHF-2w"]here[/URL] if you want it. If anybody can find the thread it would help greatly.

EDIT - found the thread - its splattered about David B's "[URL="http://www.alice.org/community/showthread.php?t=6118"]Cool Alice Hacks![/URL]" thread
To see some images look at these posts - [URL="http://www.alice.org/community/showpost.php?p=32981&postcount=21"]POST 21[/URL], [URL="http://www.alice.org/community/showpost.php?p=32982&postcount=22"]POST 22[/URL]

I have been gone for a while, Hi!

Ok ill be sure to be the first to get the first stable version :D

How in the world do you do this! Themes! You should work for the Alice team, you could so be helpful. Good job!

*pewpewpewpew brain implosion pewpewpewpew*

You are one of the greatest Alice programmers to ever walk the surface of the star Proxima Centauri.

Good job, I can't wait to see this in action.

[QUOTE=labtek9;38426]I have been gone for a while, Hi!

Ok ill be sure to be the first to get the first stable version :D[/QUOTE]Welcome back then :D. You might not have to wait too long, development is really speeding up now.

[QUOTE=jediaction;38432]How in the world do you do this! Themes! You should work for the Alice team, you could so be helpful. Good job![/QUOTE]Thanks. You're quite good too, but in a different field of work, you should work for some professional games dev company.

[QUOTE=DensetsuNoKaboom;38441]*pewpewpewpew brain implosion pewpewpewpew*

You are one of the greatest Alice programmers to ever walk the surface of the star Proxima Centauri.

Good job, I can't wait to see this in action.[/QUOTE]Thankyou very much.

[U][B]Latest Update[/B][/U]

Got Texture Tools addon working, almost finished.
[ATTACH]5148[/ATTACH]

I managed to get drag and drop working. I copied the code for the clipboards (at the top right in Alice), translated from Java to Jython (quite tricky) and then made many modifications.
[ATTACH]5149[/ATTACH][ATTACH]5150[/ATTACH]

[QUOTE=arty-fishL;38465] Thanks. You're quite good too, but in a different field of work, you should work for some professional games dev company.[/QUOTE]

I'm trying. How do you do your stuff, I just can't imagine even me doing that.

Is computer programming your profession arty? if it isn't, you should really consider it, you have real talent when it comes to it(and I agree with your comment to jedi about being with a game company, doing some kind of design work for it) that would be pretty cool.

[QUOTE=sfunk;38481]Is computer programming your profession arty? if it isn't, you should really consider it, you have real talent when it comes to it(and I agree with your comment to jedi about being with a game company, doing some kind of design work for it) that would be pretty cool.[/QUOTE]I'm sure trying to make it my profession. You're good with artwork and that side of things, you're also good at helping people.
What I'm not that good at is staying dedicated to something, I've got loads of unfinished concepts and WIPs on my computer; but, I'm aiming to stay 100% dedicated to this project.

im sure you'll get it done, it seems as if most of your projects are almost done(and once your in that profession, there are usually more than one programmer working on a porject, which would help with maybe not being 100% dedicated lol)

Hey, how close to being done do you think this is Arty?

Well, I was the tester for this and I have to say he has the majority of it all programmed and finished. Just a few things need to be fixed and changed and some tutorials and I think he's good. Unless...he decides to add a whole other function

Latest Update
 

[SIZE=3][U][B]Latest Update[/B][/U][/SIZE]

[B][U]Gloo 100%[/U][/B]
[I]Gloo[/I] is now [B]100%[/B] finished.
A screenshot can be previewed by clicking [URL="http://www.alice.org/community/showthread.php?p=41051#post41051"]here[/URL].
[B]
[U]Updating now works[/U][/B]
The update feature of addons now works.
[B]
[U]New Addon - Super Scripter[/U][/B]
The [I]Arty-fishL Scripter[/I] has now become a [B]new addon[/B] (renamed to [I]Super Scripter[/I]).
More info [URL="http://www.alice.org/community/showthread.php?p=41042#post41042"]here[/URL].

[U][B]New Addon - Alice CMD[/B]
[/U]This [B]new addon[/B] could be making its way into the project sometime in the near future, but for now it is in its early days and [B]will not be released with the main release[/B], therefore nothing more will be said about it.

[B][U]Alternative Gallery Addon Issues[/U]
[/B]I am having big problems with the [I]Alternative Gallery[/I] addon and therefore its future is uncertain. This addon looks likely to [B]not be released with the main release[/B] and [B]may never[/B] ever see the face of Alice any time.

[U][B]Texture Tools 99%[/B][/U]
Texture tools is on the verge of being finished and is [B]almost ready[/B].
[U][B]
New Installer Format[/B][/U]
I have added a [B]second addon installer format[/B] which is a package install (the other one was a textual install), this allows for extra files to be installed with an addon to make it much better.

Many other features not mentioned have been added, tweaked, refined and updated; progress is really coming along. :)

I hope you finish this soon. You're one of the best Alice programmers ever! :D

[QUOTE=DensetsuNoKaboom;41055]I hope you finish this soon. You're one of the best Alice programmers ever! :D[/QUOTE]

What he said.

[QUOTE=DensetsuNoKaboom;41055]I hope you finish this soon. You're one of the best Alice programmers ever! :D[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=x2495iiii;41061]What he said.[/QUOTE]
Thanks guys

Wow. This has made so much progress.

Forgot to mention Themes is also 100% done.

Major code overhaul (the one I've been putting off for ages).

I needed to do this as the code was so confusing, I was getting nothing done. This has made the code much less messy, much safer (less ambiguity, less need to track names in use) and much more professional.

This has probably introduced a bazillion hidden bugs, but I've eradicated the ones I could find. The good thing is I've fixed and updated the error messages and logging, so that helps.

Unfortunately though there are no surface changes, just mega changes under the bonnet.

Awesome. You know, your system is very complicated at start, and some little kids might not be able to use it, so what is the age range that you are shooting for with this system. Everyone?

[QUOTE=jediaction;45108]Awesome. You know, your system is very complicated at start, and some little kids might not be able to use it, so what is the age range that you are shooting for with this system. Everyone?[/QUOTE]
I'm simplifying the whole thing, so hopefully everyone.

[quote=densetsunokaboom;41055]i hope you finish this soon. You're one of the best alice programmers ever! :d[/quote]

ditto

I just wish that you had a little for time to set aside for my forum (which is slowly becoming a very active place). You would be an amazing asset!

Latest Update
 

[SIZE=3][U][B]Latest Update[/B][/U][/SIZE]

[B][U]Several at 100%[/U][/B]
[I]Gloo, Texture Tools [/I]and[I] Themes[/I] are all [B]100%[/B] finished.
[B]
[U]Updating no longer works[/U][/B]
The update feature of Addons no longer works, I kinda broke it, but I realised it was inadequate anyway, so this is quite a major hurdle standing in my way.
[B]
[U]Progress on Super Scripter is Good[/U][/B]
The [I]Super Scripter[/I] is really coming along. It has some lag issues though. This will [B]not[/B] be released in the main release.

[B][U]Alternative Gallery Addon Issues - Still[/U]
[/B]What I said in my last update post above is looking increasingly likely[U][B]

Support for Jars[/B][/U]
Addons now has a Jar installation feature. This means worlds and Addons have extra support for things like the use of joysticks/game-pads (see below) with Alice.

[U][B]New Addon - JJoy[/B][/U]
I had intended to just finish what I started and not add more, but the temptation was too much. JJoy brings in support for the use of joysticks/game-pads in Alice. I will provide a little tool object (like my IOTool) that works with it. By using an Addon as well as an object it means it can receive easy updates and can also save controller configurations.
[U][B]
Major Code Overhaul[/B][/U]
As I said in a post above, major code overhaul, lots of changes to be made, lots of bugs :(.

As always, many other features not mentioned have been added, tweaked, refined and updated; progress is coming along ... gradually. :)

JOY TO THE WORLD!(pun intended.)

[QUOTE=room14;45230]JOY TO THE WORLD!(pun intended.)[/QUOTE]
nice

I've got the joystick input working almost properly:
[IMG]http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5613/joystickinputscreen.png[/IMG]
There's a glitch where the Z Rotational isn't working (in the image it calls itself [I]Axis 3[/I] because it fails to get the name).
It also seems to detect the motherboard as an input device (two actually), but that's not much of an issue; you could play a game with the motherboard as the controller if you really wanted to, not that it would be very easy to control.
The items above are that spaced out because on the other tab the motherboard has 256 buttons, all nicely spaced, which means the other tabs have gaps.

Ok, you are probably the most advanced Alice user in the world. Actually, correction, you are. This is amazing. Having a controller in Alice is just to cool. But, if you are going to spend this much time doing all this stuff in Alice, I think it's to advanced for kids anyway, and even when they get old enough to understand, they should be moving on from Alice. I think your pushing Alice more than people can handle. This is amazing work, but Alice is a programm to start kids in the field of Programming.

I know I talk advanced about it, but the aim of this project is to make it easier for everybody.

Anyway, moving on is my objective, first I've got to get what I am still working on in Alice done, then move on to Java properly, but still keep updated with Alice every now and then.

How do you install it once the final version releases? Is it a jar you copy over the alice.jar file?

Awesome work. :) Are there any plans for online profiles and leaderboards? I guess that's probably hard to implement. However, with scripting you could do almost anything...

[QUOTE=Dj Tech42;45255]How do you install it once the final version releases? Is it a jar you copy over the alice.jar file?

Awesome work. :) Are there any plans for online profiles and leaderboards? I guess that's probably hard to implement. However, with scripting you could do almost anything...[/QUOTE]To install the main part you run a friendly Alice world :), then to install separate addons you just pull up a little menu and open the files in a file chooser.

Online profiles and leaderboards are in the works, online live gaming - not so much - that would require a good server, but online profiles (linked to Alice community profiles), leaderboards and possibly cloud saving I am working on and they should be simple enough to do.

are you able to give a rough guess on when it will be completed?

Complications
 

I did say I was going to release the beta soon ... a while ago. Unfortunately I had some other things that required doing. Upon recommencing work I have discovered some new complications

Firstly, the built in updater has quite a few bugs, that shouldn't be too hard to tackle.

Secondly, the latest (unreleased) version of Alice has had a few major changes under the bonnet. Specifically, the introduction of Spanish as a language it can be used in.

I am not one to leave people out, so I want to make this fully compatible with people using the Spanish version. Plus I need to make some changes to make it work in English too.

As you can probably guess, I am not going to write a Spanish version of Addons (mainly as I only speak English and poor French). The issues that are there though are file structure changes and changes to component labels in Alice.

This shouldn't set me back too far. I also fully respect the work of aikmin and any other Alice devs (I presume none for 2.2 currently), so I'm not in any way in a bad mood about the changes. Time to get to work then.

Can you possibly make a collision detection addon and a addon that makes alice less laggy (I know its a huge amount to ask but we need that more then ever).

[QUOTE=beachbum111111;47279]Can you possibly make a collision detection addon and a addon that makes alice less laggy (I know its a huge amount to ask but we need that more then ever).[/QUOTE]Well, the best answer I can give is - no.

I am quite bogged down as it is, but that is not the issue. The problem is that you are better learning how to manage your code properly and make it yourself.

I cannot make Alice less laggy, Alice was never designed for big projects, so the lag lies deep within the software. I can, however, make worlds less laggy by refining their code. Another problem I have is that my computer is a gaming computer, hence worlds with extreme lag (ie Halo) play fine for me, so I can't really tell if lag has been reduced or not.

A collision detection engine would be better implemented in the code of a world. Be it manually or through a tool/object/thing I make, it would not work as an addon. I could make a tool object, but this project is top priority right now, so maybe later.

Sorry if that was not the answer you were hoping for.

You wouldn't believe the frustration I'm having with this. I'm trying to implement the update feature properly. I've been putting this off for so long as it is horrifically tedious work. The code is the most ridiculous sloppy code ever. I will get it working ... eventually.

Beta Released
 

[IMG]http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8804/addonslogo.png[/IMG]
I am pleased to announce that I have released the Addons Beta to several lucky people. Hopefully with some testers in the field I can have this released very soon. :D