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- dunvegan5
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4 posts
My thoughts on Scratch 2.0 (very helpful, Scratch Team, please read)
Okay, I hope the Scratch team sees this because I have some important things to note. Also, I have had several people teach me how to give helpful feedback so this should be pretty helpful. (This is addressed to the Scratch Team).
Irrelevant note all but Lightnin can skip: [Note from dunvegan5 of the future: I hadn't read the main post in this section of the forum by Lightnin when I wrote this, and it doesn't matter because I would have written it the same anyways. But if Lightnin reads this, I would love an atomic lambda 3d recursive sine function so you can use Scratch to calculate pi to 96 trillion digits. Unfortunately, that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I know each of those things individually, but just no. (You made me smile, I love that mathematical/scientific improv combo.) But now I really want an atomic lambda 3d recursive sine function so you can use Scratch to calculate pi to 96 trillion digits because I really want to know what that is. (also knowing 150 digits of pi simply doesn't suffice, trust me, I know.)]
Good things (keep!)
1. The interface is amazing. As opposed to the blocky interface of the website and program of 1.4, this is smooth, fast, and sleek. Actually, it is all of those things anyways, it just directly contrasts the old interface in a very, very good way.
2. You added a Hide/Show lost! Yes! Very useful!
3. Morphing shapes in the paint editor. Wonderful! This is great! Extremely helpful!
Things that need to change/be added:
1. In Scratch 1.4, there is a color palette selector that shows the gradient with all the colors (I forget what it's called, but it allows for the use of several hundred colors as opposed to clicking a block for a color on a board). This either is not present in 2.0 or is too hard to find. If it is not there, I think it is necessary. I love that you made the color selector have more colors, which is great, because quick color selection like that is wonderful. On the other hand, scratchers need a variety. And taking away that palette won't stop us from using those colors, we will just make the color in paint, and import it into Scratch. And that would waste an enormous amount of time. If it is there, you should really make it more prominent, because somehow I missed it while particularly looking for it. And I generally am pretty observant. I will look again after I post this.
2. New function for costumes? I noticed that one can use the webcam to create costumes. But, unless I missed it, there is not a block that sets the current costume (or adds a new costume) with what the webcam is showing. This really restricts the potential for the camera. Yes, you can use a sensor and it will display the camera on the screen. But I don't think that is enough. I think there should be a block that adds a costume to the sprite (or background). And if you have that, you might as well allow the user to import a picture, or even draw it. This would open up so many possibilities, especially in mock Operating Systems. Now, I don't know Squeak, regrettably. So what I am about to say (type) might be totally wrong, but based on past programming experience, I do not think that would be too terribly difficult. (Maybe the paint editor would be slightly challenging.)
3. Motion sensor is not great. When I show the variable about video motion, the number pulses between 0, 72, and 100 rapidly. When I'm sitting completely still (besides breathing). Also, I have no idea what the direction is supposed to do. I assumed it would show the direction (-180-180) corresponding to the motion of the video. Again, I get a pulse. This time it is between 0, 72, 84, 100, and 102, whether I am staying still or moving a lot. (By the way, I have my camera on, I know, it's not a human error here.) So, better video interpretation would be good.
4. Panning. This would be a major function added, so at this point, you wouldn't be able to add it in 2.0. Maybe in a later update? (Please still read). I think that in backgrounds, you should be able to make a background far larger than the screen, and have it scroll in different directions. This could either be done by linking screen-sized backgrounds, and scrolling the giant image accross the screen, or by simply drawing a huge image. For games in which you walk around a world, especially, this would be majorly helpful. I am very profficient in Scratch (although I haven't uploaded anything halfway decent), and I still haven't perfecting panning the background. Not even close. So a feature like this would be awesome, especially to new Scratchers. (Because new scratchers tend to be immediately drawn to that sort of game, but you have to have an advanced knowledge of Scratch in order to execute it.)
5. Drawing fast in the paint editor. Just a little glitch I encountered. When you put the editor into paintbrush mode, and draw really fast, it starts making straight lines and bending (not just painting like it should). This could cause problems to people drawing very fast, especially since ctrl+z will undo the whole thing.
6. Erasing in the paint editor. I am a little confused. It erases the outlines of shapes regardless of the layer, but never the fill? Really confused. I expected this to work like a paintbrush on clear mode. (Which would be good). Instead, I am befuddled by it. I honestly think I will never use the eraser tool if it is like this.
7. Layers in the paint editor. I would like more control over the layers. It would be difficult, but adding a layer tool to manage and skip to layers would be extraordinarily helpful. What it could do is show all the layers, and allow you to go to one (and edit it) instead of each thing you do creating a new layer. Also, a flatten tool would help (see #6 of this section).
8. Text in the paint editor. It is improved, but I was hoping for a change in my least favorite thing about the 1.4 paint editor. You can only have one text box. It can't even have multicolored, or differently sized text. It is just one box. This REALLY restricts what you can do with the editor. To add more text, you have to export the sprite and import it again, and hope you don't have to edit or move the old text, because it got flattened. This could be solved by having the text tool create a text box on the click, unless you click within a text box, in which case it would edit that box.
This is what I have after the first 15 minutes of using 2.0, and so far it is GREAT!
I will add more below later, when I explore more.
a. Clicking “show new posts since last visit” in the forums gives me an internal server error, or something like that.
b. This account I have is empty of everything I made in the past year (galleries, projects, etc.) Will they be back? Even if I upload them? (Haven't tried yet.)
c. Organization on My Stuff page. I had it on last touched, or edited, and at the top were things I hadn't touched in years. Is it random?
d. I like the new profile stuff. And you can write on people's pages? AWESOME. Now I just have to figure out how many comments you can have on top of each other. I hope its an even number greater than 6.
e. Okay edit on d. It is technically infinite. Because it uses an @ selector (I suppose one could call it that) to select who it is replying to! Brilliant! I will ignore that infinity isn't even! But it is bigger than 6! I would have NEVER thought of that, AWESOME!
f. I see that replacing the link to a project or gallery with (link to project) or (link to gallery) is gone. Sigh. That was great.
g. I see you are already working on some of my suggestions for paint editor stuff. (I read the more information page). Great move going from bitmap to vector.
-dunvegan5
Irrelevant note all but Lightnin can skip: [Note from dunvegan5 of the future: I hadn't read the main post in this section of the forum by Lightnin when I wrote this, and it doesn't matter because I would have written it the same anyways. But if Lightnin reads this, I would love an atomic lambda 3d recursive sine function so you can use Scratch to calculate pi to 96 trillion digits. Unfortunately, that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I know each of those things individually, but just no. (You made me smile, I love that mathematical/scientific improv combo.) But now I really want an atomic lambda 3d recursive sine function so you can use Scratch to calculate pi to 96 trillion digits because I really want to know what that is. (also knowing 150 digits of pi simply doesn't suffice, trust me, I know.)]
Good things (keep!)
1. The interface is amazing. As opposed to the blocky interface of the website and program of 1.4, this is smooth, fast, and sleek. Actually, it is all of those things anyways, it just directly contrasts the old interface in a very, very good way.
2. You added a Hide/Show lost! Yes! Very useful!
3. Morphing shapes in the paint editor. Wonderful! This is great! Extremely helpful!
Things that need to change/be added:
1. In Scratch 1.4, there is a color palette selector that shows the gradient with all the colors (I forget what it's called, but it allows for the use of several hundred colors as opposed to clicking a block for a color on a board). This either is not present in 2.0 or is too hard to find. If it is not there, I think it is necessary. I love that you made the color selector have more colors, which is great, because quick color selection like that is wonderful. On the other hand, scratchers need a variety. And taking away that palette won't stop us from using those colors, we will just make the color in paint, and import it into Scratch. And that would waste an enormous amount of time. If it is there, you should really make it more prominent, because somehow I missed it while particularly looking for it. And I generally am pretty observant. I will look again after I post this.
2. New function for costumes? I noticed that one can use the webcam to create costumes. But, unless I missed it, there is not a block that sets the current costume (or adds a new costume) with what the webcam is showing. This really restricts the potential for the camera. Yes, you can use a sensor and it will display the camera on the screen. But I don't think that is enough. I think there should be a block that adds a costume to the sprite (or background). And if you have that, you might as well allow the user to import a picture, or even draw it. This would open up so many possibilities, especially in mock Operating Systems. Now, I don't know Squeak, regrettably. So what I am about to say (type) might be totally wrong, but based on past programming experience, I do not think that would be too terribly difficult. (Maybe the paint editor would be slightly challenging.)
3. Motion sensor is not great. When I show the variable about video motion, the number pulses between 0, 72, and 100 rapidly. When I'm sitting completely still (besides breathing). Also, I have no idea what the direction is supposed to do. I assumed it would show the direction (-180-180) corresponding to the motion of the video. Again, I get a pulse. This time it is between 0, 72, 84, 100, and 102, whether I am staying still or moving a lot. (By the way, I have my camera on, I know, it's not a human error here.) So, better video interpretation would be good.
4. Panning. This would be a major function added, so at this point, you wouldn't be able to add it in 2.0. Maybe in a later update? (Please still read). I think that in backgrounds, you should be able to make a background far larger than the screen, and have it scroll in different directions. This could either be done by linking screen-sized backgrounds, and scrolling the giant image accross the screen, or by simply drawing a huge image. For games in which you walk around a world, especially, this would be majorly helpful. I am very profficient in Scratch (although I haven't uploaded anything halfway decent), and I still haven't perfecting panning the background. Not even close. So a feature like this would be awesome, especially to new Scratchers. (Because new scratchers tend to be immediately drawn to that sort of game, but you have to have an advanced knowledge of Scratch in order to execute it.)
5. Drawing fast in the paint editor. Just a little glitch I encountered. When you put the editor into paintbrush mode, and draw really fast, it starts making straight lines and bending (not just painting like it should). This could cause problems to people drawing very fast, especially since ctrl+z will undo the whole thing.
6. Erasing in the paint editor. I am a little confused. It erases the outlines of shapes regardless of the layer, but never the fill? Really confused. I expected this to work like a paintbrush on clear mode. (Which would be good). Instead, I am befuddled by it. I honestly think I will never use the eraser tool if it is like this.
7. Layers in the paint editor. I would like more control over the layers. It would be difficult, but adding a layer tool to manage and skip to layers would be extraordinarily helpful. What it could do is show all the layers, and allow you to go to one (and edit it) instead of each thing you do creating a new layer. Also, a flatten tool would help (see #6 of this section).
8. Text in the paint editor. It is improved, but I was hoping for a change in my least favorite thing about the 1.4 paint editor. You can only have one text box. It can't even have multicolored, or differently sized text. It is just one box. This REALLY restricts what you can do with the editor. To add more text, you have to export the sprite and import it again, and hope you don't have to edit or move the old text, because it got flattened. This could be solved by having the text tool create a text box on the click, unless you click within a text box, in which case it would edit that box.
This is what I have after the first 15 minutes of using 2.0, and so far it is GREAT!
I will add more below later, when I explore more.
a. Clicking “show new posts since last visit” in the forums gives me an internal server error, or something like that.
b. This account I have is empty of everything I made in the past year (galleries, projects, etc.) Will they be back? Even if I upload them? (Haven't tried yet.)
c. Organization on My Stuff page. I had it on last touched, or edited, and at the top were things I hadn't touched in years. Is it random?
d. I like the new profile stuff. And you can write on people's pages? AWESOME. Now I just have to figure out how many comments you can have on top of each other. I hope its an even number greater than 6.
e. Okay edit on d. It is technically infinite. Because it uses an @ selector (I suppose one could call it that) to select who it is replying to! Brilliant! I will ignore that infinity isn't even! But it is bigger than 6! I would have NEVER thought of that, AWESOME!
f. I see that replacing the link to a project or gallery with (link to project) or (link to gallery) is gone. Sigh. That was great.
g. I see you are already working on some of my suggestions for paint editor stuff. (I read the more information page). Great move going from bitmap to vector.
-dunvegan5
Last edited by dunvegan5 (Feb. 14, 2013 05:27:25)
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