I am new to processing, i found it by searching for "draw with coding" , and i tried it, seems every time i modify the code, i have to stop and render again to get the final result
Is there any way to get updated graph without re-rendering? that can be much more convenient for creating simple figures.
if not, is there any alternative to processing that can draw a graph with coding?
I've used Tikz in Latex, but that is just for Latex, I want something that can let me draw a figure by coding, I've suffered enough though using software like coreldraw, it lacks the fundamental elegance of coding..
thanks alot！
Please have a look at the FluidForms libraries.
easy to setup
documentation and video tutorials
as long as you don't run into exceptions, live code comfortably
if you prefix public variables with param you also get sliders for free :)
Do check out the video tutorials, especially this one:
Also, if using Python isn't a problem I recommend having a look at:
NodeBox
Field
Python is a brilliant scripting language - which makes prototyping/'live coding' easy(although it can be compiled and it also plays nicely with c/c++) and is easy to pick up and a joy to use.
In Processing, you must re-run your program to see the changes (graphically), unless you write code to receive input from the user to dynamically adjust what you are drawing. For creating user interfaces there's for example the controlP5 library (http://www.sojamo.de/libraries/controlP5/).
It doesn't support "live coding" (at least that I know of).
You must re-run the code to see the new result.
If Live coding is what you're looking for, check out Fluxus (http://www.pawfal.org/fluxus/) or Impromptu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impromptu_(programming_environment)
Related
I'm wanting to make an application with node have a cli interface, as it needs to be ran in a terminal. I want to split the terminal into several sections, one with some identification as to who is viewing the application, another with some other random info, a menu on the side that you can use the arrow keys to move up and down the options, a main logs section, and another that you can type, and press enter to send text in. I've drawn up a little diagram of how I want to make it: (I know this looks awful, it was made in mspaint)
I've gotten the console input part working by using the readline module, but I don't even know where to really start with designing the terminal how I want it, setting text in certain sections, etc. I've looked around at things like terminal-kit, and clci, but either they didn't seem like what I wanted, or their docs/examples were a mess.
I would prefer to do this with node only, not using another application in another language, as all of the stuff going to the console sections will be from the same node application.
I found the blessed library at https://github.com/chjj/blessed. It is based on the ncurses library (written in C, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ncurses) and it allows you to create different sections with specified heights, widths, etc. in different areas of the terminal. Very useful in theory, and you can follow the advice on the github page, clone the repo into your desktop, look into the test folder, and then run the different files ie. node test/widget-form.js to see the different types of interfaces that you can create in your terminal.
It hasn't really worked for me, because it keeps crashing on my end, but I see that there are a lot of open pull requests and that people are still trying, so it might be working for some, although I think that the usage for some "widgets" is limited. The next best thing I can recommend is either blessed-contrib or neo-blessed, the former being developed by some dude from Facebook. Blessed-contrib is newer so you might have more luck with it, but it's essentially made for visual output, so you'd be able to create a section for a log, a selection menu, a paragraph section, etc. but nothing to create an area where you can input text (so 4/5 of what you need), based on my reading of the documentation, which you'll find here https://github.com/yaronn/blessed-contrib.
I personally think it's dope. Good luck with it, I'm going through the motions of understanding the documentation better myself, and I've delved pretty deeply in it, so feel free to reach out if you need any help.
On another note, let me know if you've found anything else other than the resources I mentioned, which would be very helpful for me, as the alternative right now is for me to code the text user interface myself using C and the ncurses library, which I'm trying to avoid if it's unnecessary :)
EDIT:
I found something for you and for me that might send us in the right direction. Good news. This is the gitter-cli. It uses the library I mentioned above blessed. If you clone the gitter-cli's repo, follow the instructions to get a token and create an account, and join one of the rooms (you can find the name of the rooms like 'gitterHQ/javascript' on the gitter.im website), you'll see that the chat works. There might be some optimizations I'm not aware of, but I recommend just delving into their code while also delving into the blessed documentation to understand how it works. It should give you an idea of what to do next.
It took me a lot of hours to find all these different resources and connect the dots so you should definitely check them out.
So...
I plan on doing an animation that pulls all the text from the screen to the middle and lets it pulse like a heart. For that I checked if I'm able to manipulate whole Strings and Chars the way I'm able to manipulate circles, for example. I found the libraries Nexttext and Fontastic, but those seem to be outdated, therefore I can't use them with Processing 3.0. Than there is the library Geomerative, which I manged to install through Processings library manager, but this one yields the error "duplicate libraries", which I can't find a , for me understandable, workaround for. I'm also using minim, since I combine the pulse with music input, minim works fine though.
Thus I'm asking if anyone here has an idea on how to fix this error, make the outdated libraries run or maybe someone has an alternative way/library to manipulate text.
Apparently the processing forum is not that active, hence I'm asking here, there was one suggestions tho, that I should search for similar Java libraries, which I yet have to do.
What exactly do you mean when you say you want to pull text from the screen? Do you mean you want to get text from another application and copy it into Processing? Or are you just talking about doing something inside the Processing window?
If you're just talking about manipulating text within the Processing window, then I'm not sure why you need a library for this. Processing has several functions that allow you to draw text, change its font, size, positioning, etc.
Anyway, the issue you've encountered is a known bug. Looks like the only solution for now is to use an old version of Processing. You can download them from the same place you downloaded Processing 3.
Both Geomerative and Fontastic work with Processing 3.2.3
Bare in mind is the bug Kevin mentioned.
However, the only issue I had was compiling examples that had this line:
import processing.opengl.*;
Simply remove or comment this line and the example should compile
I'm trying to program a Webpage, which allows to edit a text document simultaneously.
To program something like a Chat in Node.js is not very difficult, but working on the same text makes it kinda tricky.
I thought about sending the char position and the changes characters, but if someone types something previous to the change, the change would be placed on the wrong position.
What's the best way to exchange Modifications between my clients?
You should use Socket.io to have make your Real-Time application.
I just founded a nice blog article which speaks about real time edition, see here.
It's also providing a link to the github project and to an open source online editor project.
Take a look and try to understand how they do stuff like this, good luck !
Two people cannot be manipulating the same object at the same time from a different place. You basically have two choices.
1. Let them take turns with the object
2. duplicate it if they both want it, but that doesnt sound like it would end well
I want to code a trading bot for Magic: The Gathering Online. This bot should wait until someone offers to trade, accept, look through the cards available from the other trader (the information is shown on screen), and perform other similar functions. I have several questions:
How can it know that someone is offering a trade?
How can it know that the other trader has some card (the informaion is stored in pictures)?
I just cannot imagine right now how to do it, I have no experience with it, until now I've been coding only console programs for my physics neсessities.
First, you should note that some online games forbid bots, as they can give certain players unfair advantages. The MTGO Terms of Service do not seem to say anything about this, though they do put restrictions on anything that might negatively impact the service. They have also said that there is a possibility they will add an API in the future, so they don't seem to be against the idea of automation, but are not supporting it at the moment. Tread carefully here, but it looks like it should be OK to write a bot as long as it is not harmful or abusive. This is not legal advice, and it would be a good idea to ask the folks who run MTGO for permission. edit since I wrote this, it has been pointed out that there are lots of bots already, so there should be no problems writing bots.
Assuming that it is not forbidden by the terms of service, but they do not have an API, you will have to find a way to detect what's going on, and control the game automatically. There's a pretty good series of articles on writing poker bots (archived copy), which has some good information on how to inject a DLL into an application, scrape the screen, and control the application. That might provide you with a starting point for doing this sort of thing.
You might also want to look for tools that other people have already written for doing this. It looks like there are several existing MTGO bots, but they all seem a bit sketchy (there have been some reports of them stealing passwords), so be careful there.
Edit
Since this answer still seems to be getting upvotes, I should probably update it with some more useful information. Since writing this, I have found a great UI automation system called Sikuli. It allows you to write programs in Python that automate a GUI. It includes image recognition features which make it very easy to recognize buttons, cards, and other UI elements; you just take a screenshot, crop it down to include just the thing you're interested in, and do fuzzy image matching (so that changing backgrounds and the like doesn't cause the match to fail). It even includes a custom IDE that allows you to embed those screenshots directly in your source code, so you can see exactly what the code is looking for. Here's an example from the documentation (apologies for the code formatting, doing images inline in code is not easy given StackOverflow's restricted subset of HTML):
def resizeApp(app, dx, dy):
switchApp(app)
corner = find(Pattern().targetOffset(3,14))
drop_point = corner.getTarget().offset(dx, dy)
dragDrop(corner, drop_point)
resizeApp("Safari", 50, 50)
This is much easier to get started with than the techniques mentioned in the article linked above, of injecting a DLL into the process you are debugging. Sikuli runs entirely at the UI level, so you never have to modify the program you are automating or worry about changes to the internals breaking your script.
One thing it is a bit poor at is handling text; it has OCR features, but they aren't all that good. If the text is selectable, however, you can select the text, copy it, and then look directly at the clipboard.
If I were to write a bot to automate something without a good API or text-based interface, Sikuli is probably the first tool I would reach for.
This answer is constructed from my comments.
What you are trying to do is hard, any way you try and do it.
Arguably the easiest way to do it is to totally mimic the user. So the application presses buttons, moves the mouse etc. The downside with this is that it is dependant on being able to recognise the screen.
This is easier if you can alter the games files as you can then just skin ( changing the image (texture)) the required cards to a single unique colour.
The major down side is you have to have the game as the top level window or have the game running in a virtual machine. Neither of which is ideal.
Another method is to read the processes memory. You may be able to find a list of memory locations, which would make things simpler, otherwise it involves a lot of hardwork, a debugger to deduce the memory addresses. It also helps (a lot) to be able to understand assembly.
The third method is to intercept the packets, and alter them. This is easier that the method above as it (at least for me) is easier to reverse engine the protocol as you have less information to deal with. It is just a matter of setting up a packet sniffer and preforming a action with one variable different (for example, the card) and comparing the differences.
The thing you need to check are that you are not breaking the EULA. I don't know how the game works, but most of the games I have come across have a EULA that prohibits (i.e. You get banned) doing any of the things I have mentioned.
I am in the process of developping a game, and after two months of work (not full time mind you), I have come to realise that our specs for the game are lacking a lot of details. I am not a professional game developper, this is only a hobby.
What I would like to receive help or advices for is this: What are the major components that you find in games, that have to be developped or already exists as librairies? The objective of this question is for me to be able to specify more game aspects.
Currently, we had specified pretty much only how we would work on the visual, completely forgetting everything about game logic (AI, Entities interactions, Quest logic (how do we decide whether or not a quest is completed)).
So far, I have found those points:
Physics (collision detection, actual forces, etc.)
AI (pathfinding, objectives, etc.)
Model management
Animation management
Scene management
Combat management
Inventory management
Camera (make sure not to render everything that is in the scene)
Heightmaps
Entities communication (Player with NPC, enemy, other players, etc)
Game state
Game state save system
In order to reduce the scope of this queston, I'd like it if you could specifically discuss aspects related to developping an RPG type of game. I will also point out that I am using XNA to develop this game, but I have almost no grasp of all the classes available yet (pretty much only using the Game component with some classes that are related to it such as GameTime, SpriteBatch, GraphicDeviceManager) but not much more.
You have a decent list, but you are missing storage (save load), text (text is important in RPGs : Unicode, font rendering), probably a macro system for text (something that replaces tokens like {player} with the player characters name), and most important of all content generation tools (map editor, chara editor, dialog editor) because RPGs need content (or auto generation tools if you need ). By the way have links to your work?
I do this exact stuff for a living so if you need more pointers perhaps I can help.
I don't know if this is any help, but I have been reading articles from http://www.gamasutra.com/ for many years.
I don't have a perfect set of tools from the beginning, but your list covers most of the usual trouble for RUNNING the game. But have you found out what each one of the items stands for? How much have you made already? "Inventory Management" sounds very heavy, but some games just need a simple "array" of objects. Takes an hour to program + some graphical integration (if you have your GUI Management done already).
How to start planning
When I develop games in my spare time, I usually get an idea because another game lacks this function/option. Then I start up what ever development tool I am currently using and try to see if I can make a prototype showing this idea. It's not always about fancy graphics, but most often it's more about finding out how to solve a certain problem. Green and red boxes will help you most of the way, but otherwise, use Google Images and do a quick search for prototype graphics. But remember that these images are probably copyrighted, so only use them for internal test purposes and to explain to your graphic artists what type of game/graphic you want to make.
Secondly, you'll find that you need to find/build tools to create the "maps/missions/quests" too. Today many develop their own "object script" where they can easily add new content/path to a game.
Many of the ideas we (my friends and I) have been testing started with a certain prototype of the interface, to see if its possible to generate that sort of screen output first. Then we build a quick'n'dirty map/level-editor that can supply us with test maps.
No game logic at this point, still figuring out if the game-engine in general is running.
My first game-algorithm problem
Back when I was in my teens I had a Commodore 64 and I was wondering, how do they sort 10 numbers in order for a Highscore? It took me quite a while to find a "scalable" way of doing this, but I learned a lot about programming too.
The second problem I found
How do I make a tank/cannon fire a bullet in the correct direction when I fly my helicopter around the screen?
I sat down and drew quick sketches of the actual problem, looked at the bullet lines, tried some theories of my own and found something that seemed to be working (by dividing and multiplying positions etc.) later on in school I discovered this to be more or less Pythagoras. LOL!
Years and many game attempts later
I played "Dune" and the later C&C + the new game Warcraft (v1/v2) - I remember it started to annoyed me how the lame AI worked. The path finding algorithms were frustrating for the player, I thought. They moved in direction of target position and then found a wall, but if the way was to complex, the object just stopped. Argh!
So I first sat with large amounts of paper, then I tried to draw certain scenarios where an "object" (tank/ork/soldier) would go from A to B and then suddenly there was a "structure" (building/other object) in the pathway - what then?
I learned about A-star pathfinding (after solving it first on my own in a similar way, then later reading about the reason for this working). A very "cpu heavy" way of finding a path, but I learned a lot from the process of "cracking this nut". These thoughts have helped me a lot developing other game algortimes over time.
So what I am saying is: I think you'll have to think more of:
How is the game to be played?
What does the user experience look like?
Why would the user want to come back to the game?
What requirements are needed? Broadband? 19" monitor with 1280x1024?
An RPG, yes - but will it be multi-user or single?
Do we need a fast network/server setup or do we need to develop a strong AI for the NPCs?
And much more...
I am not sure this is what you asked for, but I hope you can use it somehow?
There are hundreds of components needed to make a game, from time management to audio. You'll probably need to roll your own GUI, as native OS controls are very non-gamey. You will probably also need all kinds of tools to generate your worlds, exporters to convert models and textures into something suitable for your game etc.
I would strongly recommend that you start with one of the many free or cheap game engines that are out there. Loads of them come with the source code, so you can learn how they have been put together as you go.
When you think you are ready, you can start to replace parts of the engine you are using to better suit your needs.
I agree with Robert Gould's post , especially about tools and I'd also add
Scripting
Memory Management
Network - especially replication of game object states and match-making
oh and don't forget Localisation - particularly for text strings
Effects and effect timers (could be magical effects, could just be stuff like being stunned.)
Character professions, skills, spells (if that kind of game).
World creation tools, to make it easy for non-programmer builders.
Think about whether or not you want PvP. If so, you need to really think about how you're going to do your combat system and any limits you want on who can attack whom.
Equipment, "treasure", values of things and how you want to do the economy.
This is an older question, but IMHO now there is a better answer: use Unity (or something akin to it). It gives you 90% of what you need to make a game up front, so you can jump in and focus directly on the part you care about, which is the gameplay. When you run aground because there's something it doesn't do out of the box, you can usually find a resource in the Asset Store for free or cheap that will save you a lot of work.
I would also add that if you're not working on your game full-time, be mindful of the complexity and the time-frame of the task. If you'll try to integrate so many different frameworks into your RPG game, you can easily end up with several years worth of work; maybe it would be more advisable to start small and only develop the "core" of your game first and not bother about physics, for example. You could still add it in the second version.