Getting Started with Alice

When I did Assignment 1, it was kind of tough and hard, but when I got help with it from my mom, it was a little easy, and I got done.


Mr. Xeriland
camille_hlms@yahoo.com

It can be tricky, if you play around with it and not be afraid to mess up, you can learn easier that way. It helps me to play with it so I can pick up on the theings I did wrong and how I fix them. So have fun and play around with Alice...

Alice is really fun to work with. But you have to be alert when you are using it initially. I also felt difficulty in using Alice previously but I am much comfortable with it.

I'll be starting Alice Monday . Looking forward to knowing all of you and learning Alice too!

[todd0312]

Hello fellow noobs:

I finished assignment 1 for Professor Xeriland. A few bumps when I played around. At first, I set the rabbit's position leaning forward at a slight angle, so when it moved forward, it plowed into the earth. It's a "little bit" annoying that my animal just skates around, but I guess it would get pretty complicated to make it move about in a realistic manner.

Not sure how to reposition an object manually without "adding a new object." Ran into some weird issues when I tried to change the parameter "asSeenBy" during movement, but that wasn't part of the assignment. Well, it is the first assignment.

So far so good, I guess.

Todd

[Jdsoden]

Figuring everything out with the first program is the hardest. Don't be afraid to play around and break a few things to figure out how it works. You'll have a blast with it once you get rolling.

[todd0312]

Hello there:

I'm new to Alice, and as with anything new, the early stages can make you want to gouge your eyes out (well... maybe that's a bit extreme).

I had problems using roll, turn, and move in combination when positioning my character's body parts. I understand the concept of "roll" - sort of. It's like moving the body parts of a wooden art mannequin. The parts roll around their axis-joint. (Image attached in case you're going... wooden art mannequin... huh???

When I've rotated an object at an angle, I have difficulty moving or turning it in the direction I want. If I use the move right method 2 meters, for example, the result might be it moving "up" 2 meters.

Similarly, sometimes I'll use the "turn left" method, and it will move my object backwards. I don't understand how angle determines which "move" or "turn" method to choose. This will take some time.

My assignment was to have a penguin walk across a frozen pond to a circular hole in the ice and eventually... fall in. I had my penguin fall BACKWARDS into the fishing hole. One try, the penguin landed flat on it's face in the snow. another time it flew off the screen, although I finally did get it basically right. Frustrating. :

However, Mr. Penguin's ascent and descent into the icy cold water was less than graceful. Pretty awkard looking. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry - or too frustrated to think clearly, but what I got was not exactly what I had in my mind. I would often end up with slight pauses between the steps of what was supposed to be - almost - a backwards semi-circular rotation. It just looked clumsy. Lacked fluidity.

I played around a lot, so there are too many difficulties to even touch on here. My assignment was a bit more complicated than what was required, so there was a lot of guess work. There were also quite a few inaudible screams from me.

So - a lot more playing to do. And I did really enjoy it for the most part - but still - being a noob... whatever... kind of a drag.

I am very glad to have finished the assignment so I can erase that pesky penguin from my memory. Good riddance Penny. I hope what I witnessed upon this assignment's completion was your demise. On to the next thing.

Cheers,

Todd