[gcompris-devel] Re: GCompris: some help and feedback...

[Bruno Coudoin]

Herman,

Many thanks for your mail. It is very important for me to have users
telling me what's good or bad in gcompris.
You suggestions are also very usefull for me to decide what's next on
the implementation list.
I probably won't have time this week to go in deep through your mail.
I just completed a new board which is a memory game. Any edu-app has a
memory game, gcompris had to follow the trend ;)

For the list of words, on my mandrake after install they are in 
/usr/share/gcompris/boards/wordsgame/wordslevelX.LL
Where LL is the language and X the level in which they are displayed.
For ex if you create a wordslevel3.nl, then it will be used when your
are at level 3 in the board. X = max is the default file is no level
matches.

I am sory for the I18N that is still lagging, it needs more works
because I now uses XML for data file and it needs to be merge with a
specific tool to be translatable from po files. 

Bruno.


On ven, 2001-09-21 at 23:53, Herman Bruyninckx wrote:
> Dear Bruno,
> 
> first of all, congratulations with the hard work on GCompris! I've
> been updating it for my kids from 0.3 or so, and the progress is
> great.
> 
> I've updated the .po for Dutch. (In attachment.)
> 
> I also found some small errors in the gcompris.pot:
> - `bellong' -> belong (line 70)
> - I don't quite understand what happens exactly in
>      src/boards/shapegame.c
>   around line 1140; especially the meaning of line 1142 is not clear.
> - src/boards/reading.c:99: ``Read a list of word'' ->
>    ``Read a list of words''
> - src/boards/reading.c:550: ``Yes I saw it'' -> ``Yes, I saw it''
> 
> I also have the impression that the gcompris.pot is not completely
> updated for 0.7.3?
> 
> The interface of the weight balance is confusing: it's not clear when
> the exercise is correctly finished.
> 
> Where do the words in the reading board come from? How can I replace
> them with a set of words that fit my childrens level and vocabulary?
> Something similar for the algebra board: is it possible to configure
> the range of numbers used a bit more interactively?
> (A side comment: you have five buttons on the left-hand side: +,-,x,/,
> and then the button to switch from horizontal to vertical mode; this
> last button is quite confusing, because it made me think it was an
> algebraic operator too :-) I would place it in another position...)
> 
> I would also give a bit more explanation (on screen) about what is
> expected exactly. For example, the paratrooper interface is not very
> intuitive. It is also not clear what the children have to do in the
> algebra board, and whether or not they have to hit enter after filling
> in a number.
> 
> Clock: would it be possible to give inputs in words, e.g., ``quarter
> to four'', ``half past six'', ``twelve to ten'', ...
> (BTW my clock board crashes (floating point exception) on my Alpha
> with Debian.)
> 
> Puzzle: is it difficult to make puzzles with more pieces?
> 
> I also have a feature request: is it difficult to make the choice of
> language be configurable through the `Game' menu of the window? This way,
> gcompris would be a good language learning tool for my older daughter :-)
> Especially if I could fill in the vocabulary myself. (And contribute
> it to a larger vocabulary of gcompris lists of words.)
> 
> Another suggestion: a typing board, where the children must type a
> letter with the left hand and then with the right hand. Of course,
> the program cannot check whether they do it correctly :-) But the
> parent could.
> 
> Or a number square (2x2, 4x4, 5x5, 10x10 or so), where some numbers
> are filled in already, and where the children have to place some
> others interactively.
> 
> Another one: displaying only the consonants of a word, and the
> children have to type the word in full.
> 
> Another one: play a sound of the name of a color, and the children
> then have to click on the correspondingly coloured square on the board.
> Or let them connect the color and the written word of the color.
> 
> Another one: connecting the numbers. I.e., a figure is displayed
> without lines, but only with increasing numbers on the vertices of
> lines. The children have to push on the numbers in the correct order.
> A photo could appear once the whole figure has been given in.
> 
> Another one: dictée. A parent could make a set of sound files with
> words or sentences, and the child must type them.
> 
> Another one: a simple crossword or scrabble board.
> 
> There seems to be one constant in my suggestions: parent configurability.
> 
> Sorry for making so many suggestions without concrete help...
> 
> Thanks again, and best regards,
> 
> Herman
>