Treenimation

Olpcboxes Mike Hahn, volunteers welcome!

Treenimation is a software tool used for creating web-based (real-time), multiplayer board games (as well as email-based board games). Subsequent versions of Treenimation will add support for games with 2D animation, and ultimately 3D animation. Treenimation includes a powerful yet easy-to-learn object-oriented scripting language called Treescript.

I am Mike Hahn, the creator of Treenimation. I am currently in the early stages of implementing Treenimation for Windows, using Delphi. When I finish debugging the module I am currently developing (the TIL Loader), I plan to translate it into Python, and implement the rest of Treenimation in Python.

Easy to Learn

Treescript, which is the built-in scripting language included with Treenimation, is at once powerful enough for professional game programmers to use to develop Treenimation-compatible game prototypes, yet so easy to learn that XO Laptop users (even children) can use it to learn how to program simple games, with only minimal intervention by an adult instructor.

Language Features

• Operators precede their operand(s)
• Optional infix mode for experienced Python/Java programmers
• Structure Editor mode eases code entry for newbies
• Type a question mark (?) at any time to display a context-sensitive popup menu of valid code choices
  • This feature disabled inside comments and string literals
• RAD-style program development, in which user selects game components from a component palette, and edits their design-time properties
• Game Editors:
  • Board Games (static)
  • Level Editor (animated)
  • Vector Editor (a vector is an animated/static object, which may be composed of other vectors)

News

4-Oct-2007:

The Treenimation web site is now ready for public consumption. Thanks to AlbertCahalan for pointing me away from C# and towards Free Pascal. I look forward to installing Linux (on my old computer) in the very near future, and installing Free Pascal.

5-Oct-2007:

I have been advised that using Python instead of Delphi is probably the best way to go. So I plan to install Python on my main computer and Linux/Python/Sugar on my old computer, a Pentium II at 266 MHz, 128 MB of RAM.