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3,555 bytes added ,  18:29, 16 January 2010
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==Bugs/Fixes==
 
==Bugs/Fixes==
 
==Game Suggestions==
 
==Game Suggestions==
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Benjamin M. Schwartz (via email)
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I think it's great.  Three points:
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1)  Users probably don't want to play many games of the same operation
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(e.g. x+y=10), and the teacher probably doesn't want to create a new game
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for every operation.  You should allow users to select a range of
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operations (e.g. numbers up to 12, + - and *) and have the game select a
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random operation from the set for each game.
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2)  There are some interesting possibilities for using network collab
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between users and teachers, but work on that last.  To start, users should
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just punch in the operation (or range of operations) when the activity
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launches.  Teachers can just tell the students what settings to use, and
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then look at the screens to verify.
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3)  The visual structure of the game seems almost identical to Gnome's
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Tetravex.  In the spirit of Open Source, you should consider reusing the
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Tetravex gameboard display code.
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--Ben
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Wade Brainerd (via email)
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Looks great Mark!  Feel free to get in touch with me if you need any
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help with implementation.
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I agree with Greg that this would be a good target for PyGame.
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Regarding the game design, you should consider adding some sense of
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progress, or else players will get tired quickly. Some ideas:
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- Start with two cards, gradually ramp up to 9.
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- There needs to be a good "snapping" mechanism when dropping, so
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users don't get frustrated by trying to line the cards up.
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- Adding the ability to rotate the cards in 90 degree increments would
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add to the challenge.
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- Your notion of customization seems limited to replacing the square
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with a graphic, which might obscure the number.  Is this really a good
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way to customize it?
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- I agree with Ben that when you start the game you should first
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select which types of puzzles (* + - / etc) you want, how many
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squares, whether rotation is allowed.  No need for the teacher to be
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involved.
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- Why limit it to numbers?  E.g. how about comparisons like "X is
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heaver than Y" and on the sides of the cards are things like
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"elephant", "bacteria", etc.  Or "X is newer than Y", etc.  This is
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where customization would be cool.  Let the teacher define a
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relationship, and input a series of terms, and define which pairs meet
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that relationship.  This would be called a "set", and could be
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exported to the Journal.
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Good luck with your project!
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David Farning (via email)
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Very clever.  I just cut made a cut out of the game out of paper.  My
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1st grade niece played with it for over half an hour.  It will be a
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hit on her XO.
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david
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Greg DeKoenigsberg (via email)
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Mark, this looks like a brilliant little activity.  Simple, fun gameplay, extensible.  Really great.
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Some thoughts:
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1. I'd love to see this as primarily a PyGame activity, with just enough "Sugar" to run it on Sugar
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easily, but also easily available as a Windows or Mac activity.  If done well, this is precisely
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the sort of activity that could cross over.  (Which is, in fact, how I'd like to see most Sugar
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games built.)
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2. Always think a little bit (but not too much) about assessment.  The student knows they're
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getting better because they are "leveling up".  The teacher knows the kid is getting better
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because... how?  Game data is pushed up to a server... somehow?  Dunno if anyone is paying
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attention to this  question, but it would be great if there were a simple way to allow teachers to
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aggregate "high score" data, which really doubles as assessment data in cases like this.
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A great start.  I look forward to seeing what it becomes.
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--g
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==Comments==
 
==Comments==
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