Can GameSalad do the following user input

slider17

HI

Using the latest Windows build of GS. I would like to know if GS supports user input via touch for the following scenario.

I am building a children's learning app, and one of the levels will require the user to 'draw out a letter/number' using their finger. If the user follows the predetermined path correctly they can progress to the next letter/number.

So really in a nutshell can GS support user input in relation to drawing.

Thanks

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Hmm a lot is possible in GS but that would prove tricky. Is there any easy way to do that, the short answer is no.

Armelline

Well drawing a line/path with touch is done fairly easily, so you could have the shape/letter traced, no problem. It would be trickier to accurately gauge how much of the predetermined path was followed correctly, but if you made the path out of actors, rather than a pre-drawn image, you could probably do it. Have a known number of actors make up the letter, require a certain number of them to be overlapped by the drawing actors etc.

Would be a lot of tedious setup making the letters.

JodyMitoma

Heck, it would probably take less time to make an app like this by learning Java!

Armelline

My recommendation would be to have a compromise between effort required to set it up and ease of use.

If you take a letter, for example the letter A, and "sowed" actors at key points on the letter, you require the player to trace the letter hitting those key points, perhaps in a certain order.

Doing something like that really wouldn't be that tricky at all.

mangasprai

my idea:
the user touch spawns actors.
the path is covered by actors that gives a +1,and get destroyed when touched.
outside the path, other actors that give a -1
if you go outside, then, you lose points.

let say there are 40 actors to make an A
if in the end you get 40 points it means that all the actors have been touched and you neger gone outside..

whad do you think?

JodyMitoma

Thing is, there are simply millions of different sized "A's" a person can draw out on screen, especially that of an tablet... And there are even different styled "A's" out there as well, so the predetermined outlines would be ever-so time consuming to make and implement.. I don't see this as being an easy app to accomplish, using what GameSalad provides. Have you looked into other engines to see if they provide touch motion stenciling such as this? Not trying to steer people away, just trying to help in such a specific case.

From my understanding, the app will NOT display the letter on screen whatsoever, and so the user has to draw out the letter using their finger, on a blank canvas. If this is true, than this is why I am saying what I am saying. If there is a predetermined path for the user to follow, then holy smokes this app will be MUCH easier to create, but not nearly as challenging nor teaching.

slider17

thanks for replies everyone!

Yes i intend to make the user input pre determined. An outline of a letter/number will be provided, the user just needs to follow the 'arrows' in the correct sequence to trace out the letter/number.

I like what @Armelline‌ suggested. Way point triggers as the user traces over the letter/number.
Anyone here know of an app/tutorial showing this off??

The_Gamesalad_Guru

You're in uncharted waters on this one so no know videos or tutorials. You're going to have to cobble together some different tricks to accomplish this. Best to do some basic tests until you have a structure that works.

Armelline

A good starting place might be one of the drawing demos that are out there. I was always partial to this one:

http://www.ezinterweb.com/gamesalad/draw-it

After that, it's just a matter of putting the 5-10 waypoint actors on the scene and requiring each to be overlapped by the line actor and you're well on your way. If you want to require the line to be drawn with a specific start/end point it gets a little trickier but nothing too complex.

Edit: Ignore the link above, I forgot that used replicate and so won't work here. But there are others that don't and will work!

StormyStudio

It can. You have to make use of a few varied ideas. I did it for my old escape artist game a few years ago. The player had to draw out the the shapes (spirals, stars. Skulls) by following the line and going over stars on the line. There were then invisible actors that were spawned at pre determined positions around the needed path. If an actor which was constrained to touch collided with one of the invisible actors it would affect your accuracy score. I'd certainly do it a bit tidier if I was to remake it now but the idea was pretty sound. Though a tad time consuming setting up the invisible collider's position values that spawn for each needed shape.

RThurman

GameSalad can readily handle gesture (and especially letter) recognition. As with most things GameSalad, it's really a matter of thinking through the logic needed.