lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) (03/16/91)
I have a few questions concerning AmigaVision.
First, is Commodore going to include AV with all of its computers?
How much control does AmigaVision give the user? I
have used a program called MacroMind Director 2.0 for the Mac. While I
am impressed by its sophisticated scripting language, its overall
performance and the poor scripting interface don't impress me. In fact
I am extremely turned off by it's serve limitations and
inconsistences. MacroMind Director does provides many object-orientated
programming features that allow the creation of interactive, "life"
simulations. Can AV handle this? The Object-orientated design is only
an extra benefit, can AV allow the creation of such a simulation even
if it doesn't offer oop abilities?
Lyle
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Everything stated or expressed in this post is strictly my opinion or viewpointpeterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (03/18/91)
In article <Mar.15.23.21.40.1991.24475@remus.rutgers.edu> lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) writes: > >First, is Commodore going to include AV with all of its computers? At least here it's only included with the bigger models, >= 1 MB RAM. >How much control does AmigaVision give the user? I >have used a program called MacroMind Director 2.0 for the Mac. While I >am impressed by its sophisticated scripting language, its overall >performance and the poor scripting interface don't impress me. In fact >I am extremely turned off by it's serve limitations and >inconsistences. MacroMind Director does provides many object-orientated >programming features that allow the creation of interactive, "life" >simulations. Can AV handle this? The Object-orientated design is only >an extra benefit, can AV allow the creation of such a simulation even >if it doesn't offer oop abilities? Hmm, don't know the Macrommind Director (as far as I understand, this is something completely different from the Amiga Director?) and also am not quite sure what you call object-oriented here. But you can fiddle with objects under AV and make them create any response you want dependant on given situations. -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
jurgen_schaub@outbound.wimsey.bc.ca (Jurgen Schaub) (03/22/91)
>Hmm, don't know the Macrommind Director (as far as I understand, this is >something completely different from the Amiga Director?) and also am not >quite sure what you call object-oriented here. But you can fiddle with >objects under AV and make them create any response you want dependant on >given situations. Well, I have done some playing with AV, and I definitely like the lack of scripts (a la HyperCard or MacroMind Director).. Let me state right now that I am a convicted mac junkie, but I must admit that AmigaVision is a much better/easier-to-use program than HyperCard. (one reason would be the absence of scripts in AV) There is another program called "Authorware" (for both Mac and Windows environments) that is very simelar to AV, both in it's "style", and in it's... (what's the word).. "modularity".. I didn't really DO anything with it, since it only is a limited demo-type version, unfortunately. The dragging of icons around on a screen to creat something seems so natural, it's very simelar to the way we think --in pictures, not words. ................................................ : _ : : _/._/ . jurgen_schaub@outbound.wimsey.bc.ca : :..............................................:
jlong@uhunix1.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (John Long) (04/12/91)
In article <969@cbmger.UUCP> peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: >In article <Mar.15.23.21.40.1991.24475@remus.rutgers.edu> lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) writes: >> >>First, is Commodore going to include AV with all of its computers? > >At least here it's only included with the bigger models, >= 1 MB RAM. > >>How much control does AmigaVision give the user? I >>have used a program called MacroMind Director 2.0 for the Mac. While I >>am impressed by its sophisticated scripting language, its overall >>performance and the poor scripting interface don't impress me. In fact >>I am extremely turned off by it's serve limitations and >>inconsistences. MacroMind Director does provides many object-orientated >>programming features that allow the creation of interactive, "life" >>simulations. Can AV handle this? The Object-orientated design is only >>an extra benefit, can AV allow the creation of such a simulation even >>if it doesn't offer oop abilities? > >Hmm, don't know the Macrommind Director (as far as I understand, this is >something completely different from the Amiga Director?) and also am not >quite sure what you call object-oriented here. Macromind Director for the Mac is a completely different program from the Director for the Amiga. No similarity at all. The Director for the Amiga came out long befor the Macromind product, and in my opinion, Macromind did a rip-off of the title. Amiga Vision is more like Macromind than the Director. AV is a true programming language in the strict sense of the word; has i/o, data structures, branching, looping, etc. You could use it for a data base. It also knows how to handle a laser disk. It is not for creating graphics. There are plenty of products which do that and AV knows how to load and disp- lay most kinds of graphic files, including DPaint3 anims. Good for AV for enhancing existing products, and not trying to replace them! It is duck soup to create a slide show where you go from HAM to anim to lores and so on. But AV is much more powerful than that. It can talk to a printer, handle input forms, feel user-defined buttons, play sounds (created by other progs) and so on... It is very capable for creating Multi-Media presentations. It is most definately an "amiga program". Well-concieved in purpose if not in implementation. Now, about the "object-oriented" stuff... I'm not so sure. In AV you "write" a program by dragging icons from a toolbox onto a grid, then you double-click on the icon and fill out a requester telling what the icon does. Then you drag another icon from the toolbox to just below the previous one, for the next event, and so on. You can have branching, create subroutines, and so on.. You fill out a flow-chart. And I don't care for it at all! The grid doesn't show enough information. You can only see a few icons at a time. The toolbox gets in the way. You can label an icon, and see the label on the grid, but you still don't get enough information about what is going on. The manual is not very encouraging either. Anyone familliar with a conventional programming language will have to start from square zero again. The object oriented buzzwords are there, all over the place, children, siblings, etc. And it is in a IBM style 3 ring binder, so if you try and flip through it, it will fall apart. The world would be a lot happier place if all manuals were spiral bound so that: 1. They open flat and stay open without holding, and, 2. You can turn the pages and flip through them... Pet Peeve #1 You can get into AV without reading the manual, to be sure. In fact, everything I've done with it, a tiny taste of the potential, I learned by playing. When ever I try the read the manual, I cuss and close it. Hypercard is closer to my idea of an object oriented language. But I DO like AV... It works just fine for my purposes, and it can do a lot. My wish list would be, A way to write programs with an editor. We may see this in the PD soon. A better manual. XCMD and XFCN like capabilities to extend the language. I think it's a good product! I'm saying what I don't like about it in hopes of seeing improvements. Aloha LongJohn
nguyent@balboa.eng.uci.edu (Thien Nguyen) (04/12/91)
In article <12422@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> jlong@uhunix1.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (John Long) writes: >In article <969@cbmger.UUCP> peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: >>In article <Mar.15.23.21.40.1991.24475@remus.rutgers.edu> lcs@remus.rutgers.edu (Lyle C. Seplowitz) writes: >>> >a rip-off of the title. Amiga Vision is more like Macromind than the Director. > >would be, > A way to write programs with an editor. We may see this in the PD soon. > A better manual. > XCMD and XFCN like capabilities to extend the language. > >I think it's a good product! I'm saying what I don't like about it in hopes >of seeing improvements. > >Aloha >LongJohn I hope they improve the text reader on Amiga Vision. It is the slowest text reader I have seen!