Google SketchUp Tutorials

How to Make Animated Images on Photoshop

A tutorial on how to use the frame animation tool on Photoshop CS4. The sound quality in the begninng sounds terrible due to the electricity, but gradually gets better.

How to Extract Text Out of Images

Click the pictures to enlarge for better viewing.

How to Customize Motion Paths in PowerPoint

1. Press “Start” at the bottom left hand corner of the screen if you're on Windows XP, or the Windows Vista icon if you're running Vista. You will see a list there that shows recently run programs. Then press “All Programs,” which then opens up a column. From that list, find a folder that reads “Microsoft Office.” After clicking it, find Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or whichever version you have. Doing this should open up the program called PowerPoint.


2. Next, you will see “Animations” at the top in a row beginning with “Home.” When you click it, you should see a slight change in the toolbar. Near the very left of the toolbar is an icon with “Custom Animation” beside it. When you click that, a sidebar should pop up on the right.


3. Click the picture you want to make a motion path with. Then, click “Add Effect” from the sidebar on the right. A small list of four options with appear as a drop-down. The one you’ll want to click is Motion Paths. Then select the second last choice listed as “Draw Custom Path” and one last set of options will show up. Which one to use is entirely you choice. The first two – a line and curve are self explanatory. The line can only go straight while the curve allows you to make a smaller or wider loop. Freeform is used to draw shapes or just connect a series of straight lines. With this tool, however, you are also able to draw freely like the scribble option. To end the path, simply double click and the connection will end.


4. After drawing in the motion paths, you can preview how the picture will show up. It is possible to disable AutoPreview by un-checking the setting in the bottom right. If the path is not to your liking, you can delete it by clicking the “Remove” beside “Add Effect.” Also, if you wish to make the path slower, you can change it by selecting “Very Slow”, “Slow”, “Medium”, “Fast”, or “Very Fast”. To preview this change, click “Play” on the bottom left of the Custom Animation sidebar.


5. You are now done! If you want to remove the Custom Animation sidebar from your PowerPoint, press the x on the top right.

Sploder Game

Make a Free Flash Game

Peer Evaluation

Briefly describe the game, including its objectives.

I played Trials and Tribulations by Chris. The game is large and very well thought-out. Instead of one clear path to get to the finish, it uses a broad variety of features available in making the game itself and has many different alternate openings to explore different places. The objective of the game is to collect all 7 crystals, which are very well hidden and require the player to overcome many different obstacles and monsters.


List two strengths of the game.

The game's design is very unique from many of the other games, as it has paths and openings leading to other places. Having the crystals in different places across the map also ensures that people will have to explore the entire map so that they won't miss any crystals. A great deal of knowledge is displayed in the different obstacles that are set out, as they will take not only just controlling the character, but figuring out how to pass them.

Also, the game shows that lots of time has been spent into making it. There are several areas that have decorations spread all over the background. It also includes different components other than the typical stone block, which makes the game more interesting.

List one weakness of the game.

A weakness of the game would be that some of the "blocks" such as the windmill are sometimes too closed in with surrounding walls that it is extremely hard to get by. With the game's lag, this makes it possible to glitch through to the other parts of the map that are not supposed to be accesible. This occured to me when collecting a certain crystal and I got glitchd through the wall and got stuck, provided the three walls enclosing one side and the game boundaries making it impossible to get out.

Were the enemies/obstacles too much of a challenge?

I thought the enemies right off the bat and obstacles were extremely challenging. Perhaps it would have been different for a more advanced player, but the very first time I played it, I died within the first minute without collecting even one crystal. In my best game, I only managed to retrieve three crystals, so yes, it was a bit of a challenge for me.

Were the 'lags' induced by the size of the game much of an issue?

I didn't find that there was much lag while playing the game, except for certain tiles that took a little longer to appear than the already existing ones. Occasionally, they alerted me and slowed me down to confirm that it was possible to walk past, but otherwise, there were no major problems.


Was the complexity of the caverns and canals (the orientation, passages, etcetera) too confusing?

The radar was a huge help in telling me which direction I had to head over to. At first, I was very confused in where I should go, as the map showed many different openings that I could take. Eventually, I picked a certain path and found my first crystal. Retracing my steps back to the beginning, I found my second crystal and so forth. There was a point, however, in which I was completely lost and wandered back to places I had initially passed already. Overall though, I didn't think the orientation was too confusing, and with the use of luck and the radar, it was easily passable.

Evaluation

Describe your game (including a title).

The title of my game is Risk it or Leave it. The reason for this is because it is a Platformer with many obstacles where receiving weapons or power-ups come with many dangers. You could risk getting the power-up to help you with the rest of the game or you could leave it to conserve your health, as helpful items such as railguns and armour are not completely necessary.


What is the objective of the game?

The objective of the game is to collect 3 different keys in which you’ll need to use in order to battle the “boss” that guards the crystal that you seek.


Discuss two strengths and one weakness of your game.

The strengths of my game are that you’ll need to strategize to get through. Once you fail one obstacle, you will need to start all over because you only have that one chance to get it right. Another strength is that it uses a variety of the different functions of a game. There are jump quests, fighting against monsters, and tricks that are hard not to fall for. A weakness could be that it is a little confusing because it is necessary to move all over the map to get keys to enter certain areas to get more keys. People could find it frustrating if they did not know the path they had to follow.


What improvements could be made?

I think at some points, the game could be too hard, so I could have removed a little of the monsters. Though the bats are of least danger, they are definitely most annoying. I put tons of these bats as alternatives for harder monsters, and that could have been changed, seeing as I have trouble completing my own game.


What difficulties did you encounter while creating your game?

I found it difficult to make sure people would use every single path I laid out for them. It was also hard to come up with the certain blocks for the jump quests to ensure that it wasn't impossible to get to the little room containing the key. The hardest part was making sure people couldn't get by into certain areas they were not supposed to be in, so I had to lock up lots of areas with doors that only opened with either blue or yellow keys.


What did you have to modify or change from the original design?

Instead of keeping two separate paths, I connected them together to make one whole path. Other than that, there was little change from the initial design of my game.


Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your performance during this assignment.

My strengths are that I was very focused into making the game. I spent a lot of time thinking through what could make it challenging, yet not impossible. I also implanted many obstacles that required time to come up with. My game continued to expand so much that it took many hours to complete, along with a minimum required playing time of 10-15 minutes, thus becoming a weakness in my performance.


What did you do well at?

I think I did really well with coming up with obstacles that required strategic thinking. I thought one of my best ones was where there were three wheels, and if the person playing it didn't get two of the wheels into the ditch, it would be impossible to get past.


What could you have done better at?

I think I could have done better with the overall design. I tried to use different varieties of blocks and colours, but I felt that the background design and additional decorations were lacking. I could have spent more time with making my game look more aesthetically appeasing.


Questions:

Was the game confusing as to where you were supposed to go, or which keys to get first?

Were the obstacles (i.e. three wheels, jump quest, perm blocks/rings) past the monsters you had to fight hard enough, too hard or did you not even get there?

Did you feel that after failing the game for the first time, you felt frustrated, or did you want a second go at it?