Games Information for teachers Haileybury Haileybury Edrington Powepoint animations
Every Tuesday afternoon, Tony Forster runs a computer-programming club for those who enjoy the pastime. We currently use the program Gamemaker, as well as Python and SMA. We work at our own pace, and are rewarded by our tenacity and sufficient self-teaching, when we finish the end product. The games we produce are of our own making and imagination; we try to deviate from the norm with our ideas, creating original and innovative games. Like Arjun’s Bear game where a bear can shoot in various directions, or Reuben and James’ game; the two have created a game similar to Pokemon, only more original in plot, as well as more comical.
As well as games, the club also entices us into making ‘Claymation’ movies and robotics. To make ‘Claymation ’ movies we use Lego as our characters and we move the objects one step and take an image using a webcam, on the software Anastazi. It’s quite time-consuming, but it’s worth it, as it looks as though it is a live video-recording. This depends on whether how high the frames per second are, meaning how many of these shots are played per second. This is a great way of filming a movie of this genre, as it allows room for error as well as visual effects.
Robo-lab is another thing you will find computer club students using. Robo-lab is a Lego based software designed for programming Lego models running on the platform ‘Mindstorms’. Using the software, we program the device via infared, which programs the wheels and axles in various directions and timings. Lights and sensors can also be attached, which can be programmed simultaneously with other objects. The rewarding thing about this is that you can actually see the programming you have done in real movement and, time rather than seeing it in the form of a computer game.
Computer Club this year has been a challenging yet enlightening experience, and I look forward to making new and more difficult games in the near and present future.
William, year 6 2005