Game Project Progress Report #1

I have come up with a game for my course project. Actually, it's more of a simulation, and it's an extensive rework of a project I completed in 2001. It is a computer simulator, and the user can actually write and execute their own programs using a limited instruction set. It's written entirely in JavaScript, and it's a pretty cool program if you're into this kind of thing. Anyway, here's what the original looks like:


As you can see, the original was entirely text based. Well, I was profoundly affected by Gee pages 84-87, especially the comments about situated meaning, embodied experiences, and abstraction. It occurred to me that my computer simulator could be made less abstract if it was more visual. So I came up with a Powerpoint storyboard, the last slide of which appears as follows:

In this example I am using labeled bins to show the contents of memory rather than a text based "memory dump" as shown in the first image. I sent the storyboard to our professor, and he said to go with it, and so that's what I have done. He also suggested that I post my progress here. (I have an advantage over most of you in this area because I am a Java programmer by profession. And work is slow right now, so I have some time to kill.)

As I thought about it some more, I decided I want to make this as "visual" as possible. Now here is where you all have the advantage over me: I am not artistic at all! But the first thing I came up with is the use of buckets. Over the years I have often heard the term "bucket" used by programmers when referring to some place in memory to hold the contents of a variable. So I found a bucket on the web...

Now Java is a great programming language, but when it comes to designing the GUI; that is, laying out the screen, it is a terrible language. Creating the layout can be very time consuming, and usually involves a lot of trial and error. Anyway, here is my game so far...


Buckets will show their contents in text boxes. Buckets are "lettered" and the user will refer to the buckets (memory locations) by letter. I tried to come up with a clever name for my simulator, and the best I could come up with is "BucketLogic". What do you think of the name? I welcome your suggestions. I will keep you posted of my progress.