Beginning Alice - 1

Maybe in the first two posts in this thread I'll only address some intro materials without experimenting with the Alice environment directly. 


Again, What Is Alice?

• A modern programming tool


• 3-D objects, automatically keeps track of: Which objects are in virtual world, Types of objects, Positions of objects in the world


• Animation: Objects can be made to move in world


• Written in Java – runs on PC and Mac


• A Program for building virtual worlds populated by 3D objects; Objects in Alice can move, spin, change color, react to the mouse, & more.

Alice Elements:

• Virtual world: Started by playing a virtual world; Can play like a movie, or played like an interactive game; Developing a world begins with a template (e.g. ground & sky)


• Object: Objects are added to the world (e.g. a person, a robot, a ball); Objects are chosen from a gallery of 3D models; Objects are commanded to do things


• 3D Model: Created by Alice developers; Is a blueprint for objects – size, color, actions, …


• Programming: Build methods containing commands for objects; Build methods to respond to events


• Event: Pressing a key on the keyboard, etc.

Alice:

• Emphasizes programming fundamentals: Programs are composed of methods; Methods contain Alice instructions; Objects are asked to do things they know how to do; Events can trigger execution of program components


• Programs always run


• The Alice editor is user-friendly: its a smart editor with visual drag & drop features

Kinds of Animations:

• Movie: Passive user watches the animation; "machine-centric"


• Interactive: Active user clicks on mouse, types a key on keyboard …make into a game - "user-centric" & "event-driven"; Actions of user are called events

Setting up a World:

• Gallery is used to obtain objects


• Mouse is used to approximately position objects in the scene


• Camera Navigation is used to set the camera point of view


• Drop-down menu methods are used to: resize objects & position objects in the scene


• Quadview is used to: position one object relative to another object & precise positioning of objects in the scene

An "object" is any thing that can be identified as unique from other things. How is an object unique? Well, ok,  it has a name; it has properties (width, height, color, location); it can perform actions / methods (associated actions it can perform; tasks it can carry out).

Objects are categorized into classes. Each object is an “instance” of the class. All objects in a class: Have similar properties; Generally can perform the same tasks.

A 3D object has 3 dimensions (height, width, depth) & 6 degrees of moving-freedom.


In Alice, each 3D model is a class of objects: e.g. chicken, chicken2, chicken3 & it has colors (red, white, blue, grey, black, etc.). Objects Have Multiple Parts that are moveable.


Alice Interface:

• World window


• Object tree


• Details area


• Editor area


• Events area