Fourth Prototype Phase COMPLETE!

Greetings, readers!

I think I should perhaps write "Complete" in all-caps for all of my Completion update titles from now on; make it easier to find them among the list of dull, dull post titles.

But yes, I have just finished the final touches of the Fourth Prototype Phase. As you may recall, the tutorials in question were three very basic demonstrations of Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 from their Developer Network site, which can be found here:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd492135.aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd492162.aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd553235.aspx

The main purpose of these tutorials was less to see C# in use, but more to get at least a basic understanding of Visual Studio and how to use it in a simple capacity. This includes things like creating tables and labels in the Form, and manipulating them in terms of size, context (such as text fields and colours).

On top of just working with these in a basic capacity through the program itself, I needed to learn how to access and work with the visual elements of the program through the built-in code functionality. Visual Studio has an interesting method of accessing elements through code; instead of linking the objects up to class files as I might with Flash or Unity, they're all considered children of the central class file, and so far I have only seen them being manipulated through that central file.

Visual Studio also has a tool for adding functions to the code rather elegantly; each object you place on the form (such as a field, button, or label) has certain Events which can be added to the code simply by double-clicking on them, or tied to an existing function in the class file. For example, you could build in a button, go to its Events list, and tie in an existing method in the code to call when the player clicks the button; or mouses over it, or any other number of pre-set possible Events tied into each object in the Toolbox.

This isn't that different from the way Flash and other programs use Event Listeners; the main differences are that each type of object is restricted in what Events can be tied into it, though the Events that can be used with it can be very easily scrolled through to find the right one that the creator is looking for. I imagine that Events that can't be found in the list of the object could be generated in the code if need be.

Overall, this it a fairly easy program to use, though I could see the pre-set objects in the Toolbox very quickly becoming stale, particularly in their appearance, which contains very few cosmetic options beyond colour.



Going forward, I still need to put some more thought into the game that I could create from the techniques demonstrated in the tutorials, as well as my existing knowledge. I'll create a blog post announcing the beginning of the Fourth Conversion Phase, and should describe what I plan to create there. Expect that tomorrow, or by Wednesday at the very latest.

Until then, readers, have a wonderful day.