Task 1: Manipulating Objects
Its back to your infant years.........playing with wooden blocks ! The task is to stack as many blocks on top of each other without them toppling over. There is a neat digital stopwatch included, by which you can time your attempts if you want to. [F1] will display the mouse usage instructions on the whiteboard. Post a screenshot on the "3DRad Forum" if you succeed in stacking all eight blocks !
User comments on version 0.0 (Apr 16, 2009)
1) The blocks feel soft on the edges and "sinks" a bit, doesn't feel like hard blocks.
2) Challenging !
3) Using the mousewheel to adjust the to/from distance of the blocks should be reconsidered... it is not inuitive and it creates a dexterity puzzle in itself when holding down the left mouse button, trying to point the mouse, and then rolling the mouse wheel... i would suggest using the same controls that you move in and out with (the arrow keys) to move the blocks when a block is selected (being grasped).
4) There are no shadows cast on the blocks by other blocks... this would provide a visual cue which would help in the final positioning of the blocks.
5) There is no sound... it would add immesely to the immersion factor if the blocks made some noises when they impacted each other or impacted the table.
6) As you raised the final blocks higher, they seemed to rotate on their own (skewed from the original angle they were picked up at)... this is a minor fault, and can be corrected, but it is a lil disconcerting.
Improvements based on above comments
1) The 'soft' edges are due the sphere-based composition of their dynamic rigidbody structure. By re-arranging the sphere positions slightly, I was able to get a more stable block which now makes it possible for a column of 8 blocks to be assembled (without resorting to trickery!)
2) Maybe less challenging (less impossible!) now that the blocks are more stable.
3) I kept the mousewheel (mainly because I'm used to using it), but added an alternative to use key[1] and key[2] to accomplish the same forward/back movement.
4) Shadows added.
5) Sound added.
6) This is now corrected. It was caused by the mass centre being ever so slightly off from the rigidbody centre.
1) The blocks feel soft on the edges and "sinks" a bit, doesn't feel like hard blocks.
2) Challenging !
3) Using the mousewheel to adjust the to/from distance of the blocks should be reconsidered... it is not inuitive and it creates a dexterity puzzle in itself when holding down the left mouse button, trying to point the mouse, and then rolling the mouse wheel... i would suggest using the same controls that you move in and out with (the arrow keys) to move the blocks when a block is selected (being grasped).
4) There are no shadows cast on the blocks by other blocks... this would provide a visual cue which would help in the final positioning of the blocks.
5) There is no sound... it would add immesely to the immersion factor if the blocks made some noises when they impacted each other or impacted the table.
6) As you raised the final blocks higher, they seemed to rotate on their own (skewed from the original angle they were picked up at)... this is a minor fault, and can be corrected, but it is a lil disconcerting.
Improvements based on above comments
1) The 'soft' edges are due the sphere-based composition of their dynamic rigidbody structure. By re-arranging the sphere positions slightly, I was able to get a more stable block which now makes it possible for a column of 8 blocks to be assembled (without resorting to trickery!)
2) Maybe less challenging (less impossible!) now that the blocks are more stable.
3) I kept the mousewheel (mainly because I'm used to using it), but added an alternative to use key[1] and key[2] to accomplish the same forward/back movement.
4) Shadows added.
5) Sound added.
6) This is now corrected. It was caused by the mass centre being ever so slightly off from the rigidbody centre.
| virtualworkbench_task1_install.zip |
Go to The Virtual Workbench Go to Task2