Re: Exception while previewing

Sorry to copy this to the mailing list, Gordon, but i would like to  
share your comments with the others on the list so that maybe a  
discussion is prompted.

i've become enthusiastic enough to write some fluidiom code nearly  
every evening now (kind of part of my daily ritual) so what i need is  
to know what should be done according to users.  your comments were  
very useful, and i thought others might also have opinions.

btw, i think i will be making a few new movies for the websites this  
week, so if people have favorite creatures they'd like filmed, let me  
know.

On 10-Nov-05, at 23:06, Gordon P. Hemsley wrote:
> That's the thing... Designing a creature is a really counter-intuitive
> process. Most people don't think in triangles, terahedrals, or
> octahedrals.

rather than "counter-intuitive" (which sounds really negative), can i  
suggest "novel"?  it's no suprise that people aren't already good at  
building tetrahedron/octahedron creatures while in outer space.  i  
can't really stick to what people already know, however.  :)

> And I'm pretty sure that real organisms aren't designed
> that way, either. I'd say vamp up the design process so that it's
> easier to make things that actually move. Most of the creatures are
> little wormy things, with short legs if you're lucky.

what you're saying is that it doesn't work well the way it is so just  
vamp it up so that it works well.  thing is, i don't see better ways  
to do it, so i have no driving force to guide me in the vamping.

tell you what i am thinking of though:  i would very much like to  
have the structures appear as a consequence of evolution (perhaps  
even based on aesthetic selection) so that nobody has to build  
anything.  i've got a plan as to how to have the structure built by  
instructions (DNA?) and that's why i've always stuck to tetrahedra  
and octahedra.

> Also, the preview/evolve switch thing is weird. I can't really
> describe how, though. Oh, and isn't it kinda strange that the one that
> travels the most distance often dies off before most of the others?

the one that travels the furthest during a fixed lifetime is the one  
that doesn't die off before the others, but rather this is the one  
that eventually creates the most offspring.

> Shouldn't the ones that travel farthest be the ones that live the
> longest and reproduce the most?

that's what happens.  the furthest in the live population has the  
most potential kids.

> The ancestry tree could be a little
> more accessible in terms of who travelled the farthest and who's where
> now.

do you think i should take away the ancestry tree altogether?  i  
really wonder if it's useful to people.

> And the little library thing that holds people's creations should
> be expanded upon. First and foremost, it should have a separate list
> for a person's personal creations.

okay, for the things that you have built yourself but not yet  
evolved.  i see what you mean.  that's a good idea.

> They may tend to not fit into
> favorites nor recent, and it should be easier to keep track of them.

yep.  "created" alongside favorites and recent.  i'll get right on it.

> Also, the list of "saved" versions of creatures should be listed in
> numerical order, with the farthest-travelling at the top.

do you mean "evolved"?  after saving and before evolving they don't  
really have any ability to travel fast.  also, since the physics is  
different for different creatures, it's not really fair to compare  
them with respect to speed, so i'd prefer either alphabetic or  
something based on the time they were created.  what do you think?

> I think that's about all I can think of at the moment, other than the
> fact that the program needs more menus at the top. Things like "Help"
> and such should be easily accessible.

i don't have any "help" screens, and i'm not sure i have the time to  
write them.  are there other menus you have in mind?


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