Powerpoint Gameshows

[MrGameShow]

[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'165907\' date=\'Oct 8 2007, 12:07 PM\']
Is Flash one of those things that was meant to do one thing (show simple animations), and now is entirely meant to do something else (be an in-browser replacement)?[/quote]

I think that's a fair statement to make. It was meant to take the place of Animated GIFs back in the day, then people saw there was potential to make it do more.. and the rest, as they say, is history.

Yes, Flash has a learning curve and is picky at the best of times. But if you figure out what you want to do as a whole, then break it down into managable pieces, you CAN get through it.

Take it from people like myself, Dazztardly, Particleman, and parliboy -- you NEVER stop learning in Flash. But along the way you learn some tricks to figure out to do something a little easier, and when a new challenge comes along, there are tons of people online to ask in a multitude of forums!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'165895\' date=\'Oct 8 2007, 05:51 AM\']
I've always used Tutorialized or a search engine.  I had to adapt a lot of stuff to make it work (trust me, there isn't a one-stop "create a buzzer system" tutorial).
[/quote]
I'll look at those, thanks. I'm not looking for a hand-holder...I know the logic behind making a buzzer system, I just need to know how to get it to handle the hardware side of things and whatnot.

The problem with asking people online is that in the mass majority of cases, the "STFU n00b" factor of the independent programming-help forums makes our little corner of the world look positively cordial.

[tpirfan28]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'165913\' date=\'Oct 8 2007, 12:57 PM\']
I'll look at those, thanks. I'm not looking for a hand-holder...I know the logic behind making a buzzer system, I just need to know how to get it to handle the hardware side of things and whatnot.

The problem with asking people online is that in the mass majority of cases, the "STFU n00b" factor of the independent programming-help forums makes our little corner of the world look positively cordial.
[/quote]
I've never used any external hardware to control my Flashes (except keyboard/mouse...duh)...so I donno what your setup needs/wants are.  From prior knowledge (and light dabbling), you'll need to make any keypress received be a keystroke (assign a key to it).  Then you can use the "keypress" function to do anything.

EG: press yer buzzer, it sends the "k" key.  Then set up "k" do lock in.

If you destroy a joystick to do it, then use Joy2Key.  Might work with other things as well.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'165915\' date=\'Oct 8 2007, 10:09 AM\']
From prior knowledge (and light dabbling), you'll need to make any keypress received be a keystroke (assign a key to it).  Then you can use the "keypress" function to do anything.
[/quote]
Yes, thank you, that would be that whole "logic" thing I've been talking about.

If you destroy a joystick to do it, then use Joy2Key.  Might work with other things as well.

I've been using this for years. Rest assured, though, I'm a little beyond joystick-breaking.

[mmb5]

[quote name=\'MrGameShow\' post=\'165909\' date=\'Oct 8 2007, 12:26 PM\']
Yes, Flash has a learning curve and is picky at the best of times. But if you figure out what you want to do as a whole, then break it down into managable pieces, you CAN get through it.
[/quote]
I will try my best to keep the sarcasm to a minimum here, I'm a 14-year-IT professional, I sort of know how to a learn a development platform.  I was just commenting on what a backwards step Flash is as a development platform compared to other ones I've used.  I had the extra fun of sort of crash-learning "client-server Flash" -- trying to use a Flash ActionScript to call media from a Flash Media Server to return media.  All I really needed to do was to learn enough Flash to make sure the Media Server worked.

The problem is, if you've never used Flash before, or never used the server before, you're trying to learn two environments at once.  I've set up other media servers before (Windows, Real/Helix) and was able to get returned media pretty quickly.  With Flash Server, it's all proprietary, can't be tested in a browser, its admin tool is a joke, and since so few people use it, finding good information on the 'Net is very difficult.

Remember, there's also a difference between programming because you want to, and programming because you have to.  I'm learning Flash because my paycheck and the paycheck of others depends on it.  At least now I can put Flash on the resume.  I'll put it next to COBOL.


--Mike, who apologizes for those who don't care, I've had a very frustrating weekend with this, and I needed to vent, but was very happy at 10:30 this morning when I pressed the button and the CBS Special stinger finally played.

[tim]

There are a number of powerpoint game show templates out there for education. Some teachers have created them. There is WWTBAM, Hollywood Squares, Jeopardy. They aren't too bad and even use the music cues from the shows.

I've used them for team building exercises at work. They went over great!

[Particleman]

mmb5, I think I'll have to slightly disagree with you on just one point.  I was required to produce a product using Flash within a month's time and I found it to be much more approachable than other languages and development environments I've worked with in the past.  I believe beginners get better results from the beginning with Flash than, say, Visual C or Java.

I have to say I'm impressed with how far you were able to get with such a short amount of time.  Good job.    And yes, there's a big difference between having to and wanting to learn any development tool.  That's why I can't stress enough to beginners to start off small and work their way to larger projects.  ...if only I could go back and do it all over again...

[jmangin]

You can easily assign a character value to a simple button in Flash using the following:

on (keyPress=="q") {
//actions here
}

that will execute a command whenever you hit the q key, or whatever character you put there.

If you order the USB lockins from buzzers.com, they will preset each of the buzzers to a specific letter using binary switches if you ask them.  They'll also give you the binary code you need to set the switches at for any other characters.

Here's the set I have, and they work fantastically:
http://www.buzzers.com/buzzer/store/produc...27c865aae8edf92

Feel free to message me if you want some help or need code to get pointed in the right direction.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Particleman\' post=\'166035\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 06:04 AM\']
...if only I could go back and do it all over again...
[/quote]
*coughPyramidcough*

[mmb5]

[quote name=\'Particleman\' post=\'166035\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 09:04 AM\']
mmb5, I think I'll have to slightly disagree with you on just one point.  I was required to produce a product using Flash within a month's time and I found it to be much more approachable than other languages and development environments I've worked with in the past.  I believe beginners get better results from the beginning with Flash than, say, Visual C or Java.
[/quote]
It would depend on what you need to do.  It seems very good if you're doing stuff of little material substance, but would be cumbersome for anything beyond simple scripting.   I would rank Flash ahead of Java's environment.  I would not rank it ahead of .NET, or pre-.NET VB, or Delphi.  

[quote name=\'Particleman\' post=\'166035\' date=\'Oct 9 2007, 09:04 AM\']
I have to say I'm impressed with how far you were able to get with such a short amount of time.
[/quote]
I wasn't.  It should have taken an hour.


--Mike