X2o (activity)
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Overview
x2o (X to O) is a puzzle solving and critical thinking game similar to the Incredible Machine. It uses Box2D for it's physics engine and is being written by Alex Levenson.
A level consists of a stage (or canvas) that starts out with a few fixed (non-user editable) components (see list of components below), a certain quantity of components that the user can add to the stage, an X, and an O. The X does not move, and the O is like a ball, it falls and bounces off the other objects in the scene. The goal is to get the O to land on the X (thus x2o, I know, it's backwards) making the XO logo. Thanks to Patrick Thomson for the name "x2o".
Please see my git repository for a log of what's going on with x2o currently.
Components List
These are the "things" that can be in a level and affect the physics of the level. Bold indicates already implemented.
- Ramps are fixed in space (they don't fall or move obstacles). They can be used as walls, or as ramps for things to slide on, or as a surface to bounce off of.
- Bouncy Balls are small, light, and bouncy!
- Bowling Balls are big, heavy, and not bouncy at all...
- See-Saws consist of a solid immovable base/fulcrum and a board hinged to the top of the base. They make good dynamic ramps (switches?) and catapults
- Fans blow air (and objects) straight up. Good for keeping things airborne!
- Gears, Joints, pulleys and the like very soon to come
- Baseballs, light but not bouncy
- Balloons, move upward because they have "Helium"
- Basket, can prevent balls from rolling
- Spring, can bounce balls up
- Dripping Paint bucket, heavy at first but slowly loses weight over time as paint drips out
- Motors, Piston
- Connectors, think of it as a rigid rope
Got an idea for a component? Leave a note below!
- Conveyor belts
- Pipes
- Magnets
- Breakable Objects, glass boxes, balloons that can pop
Suggestions
- Standard Sugar UI compatible activity icon -- Alex: Done!
- Tool bar icons to fit with Sugar UI design -- Alex: How so? Shouldn't be in color?
- Custom mouse pointers for different tools
- How about a palette for components? Then you can drag and drop them onto the canvas. -- Alex: yes! Good solution to the bad UI, thanks!
Name not Optimal
x2o might be too short of a name, and the play on words (2==to) is English only :( Anyone have a better idea? Put it here or in the discussion! --Alex
Needs to be Added
- Sound
- Animation
How to Use
Playing Levels
When you first open x2o you are brought to the level editor. Click on the 'Run' tab, and then load a level from the drop down menu. Or click the button next to it to load a level from the journal. You can always get back to the level editor by loading the level titled "Make your own levels". Once a level is loaded, click on the 'Insert' tab to add components to the level. Remember, your goal is to get the O to land on the X. If you want to see how much of each component you have, click on the component and the blue banner should tell you.
After you've added components, and would like to run the level, go to the 'Run' tab and click the green arrow. Clicking reset will reset and pause the level, and the revert button will reset and remove all the changes you've made.
You can use the move and remove tools to modify the components you've added.
Making Levels
There are two ways to make a level. One ways is to load the level editor ("Make your own levels") or to load an existing level. The process is the same for both, but if you load an existing level, you'll have to hit unlock on the modify tab in order to move the initial components.
Once you've created your scene, go to the activity tab and name the level. Then set the amount of each component the use should have (excluding the one's you've placed already). Then hit keep, that's it! The level is now saved in the journal. It's actually just a file generated by pickle.dump(), so if you pickle.load() it you'll get a python dictionary which you can edit as well.
So you made a cool level
If you make a cool level, then post it here on the wiki! In order to get the level file you can use browse to upload it (browse will open up the journal for you) or to email it to yourself or you can use the journal to drag the level onto a USB stick.
Activity Info
Activity Summary
| Icon: | Sugar icon::Image:Activity-x2o.svg |
| Genre: | Activity genre::Games |
| Activity group: | ,|x|Activity group::x}} |
| Short description: | Short description::A puzzle solving and critical thinking game similar to the Incredible Machine. |
| Description: | [[Description::A level consists of a stage (or canvas) that starts out with a few fixed (non-user editable) components (see list of components below), a certain quantity of components that the user can add to the stage, an X, and an O. The X does not move, and the O is like a ball, it falls and bounces off the other objects in the scene. The goal is to get the O to land on the X (thus x2o, I know, it's backwards) making the XO logo. Thanks to Patrick Thomson for the name "x2o".]] |
| Maintainers: | ,|x|Contact person::x}} |
| Repository URL: | Source code::http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=activities/x2o |
| Available languages: | ,|x|Available languages::x}} |
| Available languages (codes): | ,|x|Language code::x}} |
| Pootle URL: | |
| Related projects: | Related projects,|x|Related projects::x}} |
| Contributors: | ,|x|Team member::x}} |
| URL from which to download the latest .xo bundle | Activity bundle::http://dev.laptop.org/~alevenson/x2o-9.xo |
| Last tested version number: | Activity version::9 |
| The releases with which this version of the activity has been tested. | ,|x|Software release::x}} |
| Development status: | Devel status::5. Production-stable |
| Ready for testing (development has progressed to the point where testers should try it out): | ,|x|Ready for testing::x}} |
| smoke tested : | |
| test plan available : | |
| test plan executed : | |
| developer response to testing : |
| URL from which to download the last .xo bundle that works with old releases | Activity bundle::http://dev.laptop.org/~alevenson/x2o-9.xo |
| Activity version number: | Activity version::9 |
| The releases with which this version of the activity has been tested. | ,|x|Software release::x}} |
| Development status: | Devel status::5. Production-stable |