[kde-edu]: Custom Turtle / Re: Kturtle

[Niels Slot]

2009/5/28 Mauricio Piacentini <piacentini at kde.org>

> On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Niels Slot <nielsslot at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> There was a proposal to add multiple sprites and the ability to change
> >> the sprite visual. I believe it is not that difficult code-wise, and
> >> Niels have laid the groundwork for it already. It is just that not
> >> much happened between 4.2 and 4.3 (our fault)...
> >
> > Not sure which groundwork you're referring to. I did some work on
> allowing
> > multiple turtles to exist, but that wasn't directly related to different
> > sprites. Starting with the KTurtle version in KDE 4.0, it hasn't been
> hard
> > to change the sprite file, since KTurtle uses SVG.
>
> Yes, I was referring to the multiple sprite work. Changing the graphic
> is really simple compared to it. Of course, there is the issue of how
> to package...
>
> > I think we should ultimately try to have some sort of packaged option. I
> > hope we can reuse some of the code used in Plasma for their packages. A
> > KTurtle program would then consist of the script, and all the SVG files
> and
> > other resources (sounds, backgrounds anyone?) required by the program.
> >
> > This approach should also work great in combination with GHNS as
> Anne-Marie
> > suggested in another mail. We could maybe also use GHNS for these SVG
> files
> > themselves. This way a user would be able to use GHNS to make his KTurtle
> > program look nicer by just clicking on the 'Download more sprites'
> button.
>
> Looks interesting. But maybe it is too complex? Not sure, if it can be
> made simple to the user and complex for us I am ok with it.


I think this can be made very easy for our users. This save and open dialog
should just allow users to save and open KTurtle packages.

The GHNS dialog can be integrated nicely in KTurtle. As Anne-Marie wrote, we
could have a "File -> Download example.." or a "File -> Download sprite..".

The thing I'm not sure about is how much work this is going to be for us.
Most of the pieces seem to be used somewhere in KDE allready. With a bit of
help we should be able to make use of them.


>
>
>
> >> settheme "myfile.svg"
> >
> > Putting a filename in a KTurtle command seems wrong to me. I think it
> would
> > be better to change the sprite by a more human name. Ideally this would
> be a
> > translated name for the sprite or theme. For example, in the English
> version
> > a 'settheme "hedgehog"' command would be possible. The Dutch version
> would
> > have the command 'zetthema "egel"' ('egel' being the Dutch word for
> > hedgehog).
>
> Have a look on how we do in the games, using the svg ids to identify
> the elements. We could use a translated name for the theme, for
> example
>
> settheme "Egyptian"
>
> For this to work you will have an egyptian.desktop metadescription of
> the theme, and this would be translated automatically by the existing
> infrastructure in KDE. In this .desktop file you could also list the
> element names. It would look like:
>
> Name=Egyptian
> Turtle=Turtle
> Propertyn=avalue
> ....
>
> Scripty takes care of extracting these and exposing it to translators,
> and they are regenerated from the .po files. So eventually it turns
> into:
>
> Name=Egyptian
> Name[pt_BR}=Egípcio
> Name[nl]=xxx
>
> All you have to do in KTurtle is to get the localized string for the
> Name key, and it will automatically work.
>
> Notice that I would also add the ability to setsprite, not only
> settheme. So it could be:
>
> settheme "Egyptian"
> setsprite 1, "Pharaoh"
> setsprite 2, "Crocodile"
> setbackground "Sand"
> ... and make them run into each other :)


I was kinda hoping that you'd bring this up. I've implemented a
KGameThemeSelector for Magazynier a while back. I noticed how the theme's
are handled in the games. I think the solution could also work for KTurtle.

I'm still not sure about the whole theme thing. I think just a sprite makes
more sense and is easier to understand by users.


>
>
> Niels, I remember we discussed multiple sprites last year, but do not
> remember the conclusion. I have a vague recollection of Cies not being
> too enthusiastic about it, but not opposing it as well. Do you
> remember this?


I had a quick search through my old mails, I found this e-mail from Cies:
http://groups.google.com/group/kdeedu-kturtle/msg/93018e7efcd76f70

It's mostly that he likes the feature, but feels that there are more
important things still missing from KTurtle. (Most notably the contextual
help.) After that e-mail the discussion went kind of dead.


Niels


>
>
> Regards,
> Mauricio Piacentini
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