ThomasfamilyZA & BrendsZA

GC3B0EJ – MEGA South Africa 20126 September 2012

http://www.thomasfamily.co.za/geocachingpresentations

AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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Agenda• Wherigo Players

Wherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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Wherigo playersiPad/iPhone

official Groundspeak Wherigo app

Garminsome Nuvis, Colorado and Oregon

PocketPC devicesPocketPC player

Android/HTCWhereYouGo app

Nokia Symbian phonesOpenWIG

Test your Wherigo player using the Wherigo Player Tutorialhttp://www.wherigo.com/cartridge/details.aspx?CGUID=4b3fa42a-26af-4120-97ce-4333dd34db04

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AgendaWherigo Players

• Wherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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Wherigo BuildersWherigo cartridges are written in Lua

Powerful light-weight scripting languageUsed in Sim City 4 to customise rewards & some contentUsed in World of Warcraft for interface customisationUsed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for user interface

Wherigo Builders help create Wherigo cartridges

Without knowing any Lua programming codeUsing essentially plain English to set the actions

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Wherigo BuildersGroundspeak WherigoBuilder

Still Alpha softwareLast updated 2008Mixed reviews about using it

EarwigoOnline onlyReviews seem goodActive forum on groundspeak forumsWe didn’t try it out due to online designing only

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Wherigo BuildersUrwigo

http://www.wherigo.cz/urwigo/#enActive forum on groundspeak forumsLogic is flowchart drivenWe learnt to use it in a few daysActive error trapping tells you about

Missing informationProgram interface logic errors

Works offline, other than:When you design zonesWhen you test the cartridge

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Useful links - Generalhttp://geocass.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/wherigo-caches-%E2%80%93-part-2-building-cartridges/http://www.earwigo.net/WWB/wiki/doku.php?DokuWiki=75ddf31e0c2b71bcc7d8954bd9fe54e3http://wherigobuilder.wikispaces.com/http://www.wherigo.com/faq.aspxhttp://www.cacheupnb.com/a-quick-guide-to-designing-wherigos/

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Useful links - Urwigohttp://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?s=b696a7ee7185e77e63eb7d80fadf4c29&showforum=62http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=242148http://members.home.nl/huyzer.koens/

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo Builders

• PlanningDesigningBuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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PlanningSpend time in the area you will use

Explore it properlyLook at the landmarks and structuresNote the zones you want to useMake sure that zones are:

Large enough for player to enter it, especially smartphone userFar apart enough that the GPS won’t get confusedNot where muggles will get in the way

Find final locationCheck availability with reviewer

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PlanningPlan the Wherigo

Plan the conceptPlan the story lineAlign the story line with the areaUnderstand the distances to be travelled and time requiredPlan the detailed logic to get through the cartridge

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanning

• DesigningBuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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Designing - objectsZones

Places the player needs to go to

CharactersPeople or animals that the player interacts withPlaced in zones

ItemsThings that the player interacts withPlaced in zones or in player inventory

TasksThings that the player must do

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Designing - logicVariables

Programming items to store logic or information

CountersValues you use repeatedlyTrue/False indicatorsTrack progress

Timers to do/check time based tasks

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Designing - logicInputs

Player responses from message boxesCan be text input or choices

Random eventsCan be used to create different stories each time

Consider asking some realworld questionsPrevents players from playing whole cartridge on an emulator and just going to ground zero

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanningDesigning

• BuildingTestingImplementingExamples

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BuildingBuild ZonesBuild CharactersBuild ItemsBuild TasksBuild Variables

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BuildingCreate Media and link to objectsPlace Characters and Items

Put them in starting zonesHave images and descriptions for all objects

Check that display starting status is correctCheck that active starting status is correct

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ProgrammingBuild events

Zone activationsCharacter activationsItem activationsInteractions

Between player and CharactersBetween player and ItemsBetween Characters and ItemsBetween Items

Message inputsAll player responses need to be allowed for

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Cartridge requirementsWith all the different players and screens, for the cartridge to be universal, must design for lowest common denominator

ImagesMust be jpg formatSuggested to be 230 x 130 pixels

Icons must be 32x32 pixels in jpg format

Sound only works on Pocket PC devicesCreate sound as mp3 files smaller than 512KBAdjust sampling to get balance between size and quality

We used Audacity (free open-source sound editor)6 September 2012 GC3B0EJ – MEGA South Africa 2012 22

Cartridge requirementsOnZone commands do not work on Garmin devicesOnClick for characters do not work on Garmin devicesOnClick for items do not work on Garmin devicesOnClick for tasks do not work on Garmin devicesMaximum of 5 active zones at a timeGarmin software has problems with emulation protection so leave it off

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuilding

• TestingImplementingExamples

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Testing the logic - emulatorPlay all options repeatedly

Check it doesn’t crash or get stuckCheck zones and logic all work

Try stuff in an illogical order Enter and leave zones partway through interactionsTry do things in the wrong order

Don’t assume players will do things the way you do

Check spelling

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Testing the cartridge – real worldDownload to as many devices as you canTest them in the field as you did the logic

Play different optionsDo it several times

Confirm the time takenCheck the distance involved

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuildingTesting

• ImplementingExamples

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ImplementationListing on wherigo.comListing on groundspeak.comCheck downloads and links

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AgendaWherigo PlayersWherigo BuildersPlanningDesigningBuildingTestingImplementing

• Examples

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Some practical examplesTaken from GC326H6 Bezuidenhout Park Adventure Story

Example 1Zone setups

Example 2Basic character inputs & random events

Taken from GC3M703 Fairytales and FablesExample 3

Changing object details and playing sound

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