Re: [pygame] Introduction + call to join project for creating gameframeworks

On 10/3/07, Clare Richardson <clare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Not exactly. The goal of the program is to get these girls to take a
Computer Science class, so yes, we want them to do "real" programming.
But at least for right now, the girls aren't interested in programming
for programming's sake.  They're excited about the end product: their
educational game that we'll make available to the OLPC XO laptop.

Because we don't have much time with the girls (this is an after-school
club, not a formal class), we want to give them as many resources as
possible so they don't get stuck.  Maybe a better word than framework is
a simple template for different kinds of games, like maze games or
adventure games.  A great example is the PyMan tutorial, since many of
our girls want to make a PacMan-like game:
http://www.learningpython.com/2006/03/12/creating-a-game-in-python-using
-pygame-part-one/

Does that better explain what I'd like to do?

-- Clare

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pygame-users@xxxxxxxx [mailto: owner-pygame-users@xxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Marcus von Appen
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 7:21 AM
To: pygame-users@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [pygame] Introduction + call to join project for creating
gameframeworks

On, Tue Oct 02, 2007, Clare Richardson wrote:

[...]

> We have an IMMEDIATE need to create game frameworks on top of Pygame
for
> several game genres (maze game, adventure game, arcade game, etc) that
> can be easily used by budding programmers creating their first Pygame
> project. Over 90% of our girls have zero programming experience and,
to
> be honest, not much interest in programming. Their main interest is in
> creating a product that makes a difference. So, we want to make it as
> easy as possible for them to succeed in making their games. I've taken
a
> look at the libraries on the Pygame website and I can't find anything
> that fits our needs, so we need you to...

Just to get it right: you want the girls to create games by not
programming them, because they do not have any interest in programming.
Wouldn't it be better to change the orientation of the project then?

Encouraging people for something by avoiding stuff they apparently never
have done before (such as programming) - that just sounds silly to me
and will mostly cause a negative result in the end, like "you never told
us that in reality it has to be done _that_ way".

If you want a framework, where people just have to do some clicks to
create a working game, you might be better of with a game maker instead
of pygame and co.

Regards
Marcus