Benchmark 7 Programming and Probability Project
In this project, we explored the probability of certain events occurring and the mathematics behind them. We also used a programming website called Starlogo Nova to program video games. This coding website was created by MIT and allows millions of people to create a large variety of games from scratch. With this, we not only learned how to program using this website, but while doing so, we strengthened out minds and improved many of our skills. Our brains are muscles, and tackling complex skills such web development is a great way to strengthen them. Going into this project, we were presented a couple essential questions. The first question is, " How is probability mathematically modeled?" and the second is, "How can outcomes be predicted?".
We started this project conducting experiments about probability such as rolling die and working with the Game of Pig and Gamblers Fallacy. After we got a feel for the probability of certain events occurring and practiced using StarLogo Nova, we brainstormed video games we could program on a website called Starlogo Nova. One of the components in our video games had to be a concept of probability. As in, something would have to happen at random in the game we were planning to program. Turning in a paper describing our video game concept to our teacher, counted as the first benchmark in this project. After working with Starlogo Nova in class, we were able to grasp a stronger idea of how coding and programming works, which lead us to benchmark two, which is a paper with a detailed description about how we can program our game in Starlogo Nova. Benchmark 4 (our third benchmark) was a probability analysis where we explained in detail on a sheet of paper what aspects of the game we were programming was at random and how we programmed that part of the game. Once we completed our games, we had to show our teacher the completed version to get it checked off (this is benchmark 5). And to finish this project, we are required to make this webpage about the project.
The video game that I chose to program for this project was the game of billiards. The link to my game is here. To play, you press the "setup" and "forever" button, then use the up arrow to move forward, the down arrow to move backwards, the left arrow to rotate to the left, and the right arrow to rotate to the right. You are in control of the brown train shaped figure which represents the pool pole in the game of billiards and your mission is to get all pool balls to come in contact with the black cubes. If you are playing with someone else, you would have to play from the same computer, but you would each play as a different color, orange or green. You'l notice that one pool ball is white, which acts as the cue ball. If you hit the cue ball with the pole, it ill move and hit any pool balls that come in contact with it, but if you try to directly hit the other coloured pool balls with the pole, they will not move. You will also notice that there is one black pool ball. This one is the 8 ball. If you choose to play the version of billiards where you'd win the game if the you hit all your pool balls in then hit the 8 ball in lastly, then it is there along with a notice that will pop up saying "GAME OVER" upon hitting it in. I do have a couple quirks in the game that I was not able to fix, but I hope you can still enjoy playing the game.
I think this project was a lot of fun, however, I was disappointed that my game didn't turn out how I wanted and expected it to. I didn't include all the components of Billiards that I wanted to and there are a couple of bugs in the game that I spent so much time trying to debug, but never did. Its always been frustrating to me to start something, get heavily involved in it, then have to stop. In my case, I was spending so much time debugging my game, but when I ran out of time (because the project was over), I hadn't finished. Turning in an incomplete project i'm not proud of is never satisfying for me and when I spend so much time reaching something that I know I can eventually reach, but never quite reaching it, it can be infuriating. I suppose I've always had this struggle, but it doesn't really come up often enough for me to learn that I need to be better at letting go and not always expecting my result to be how I want it to be. When working in group projects, One thing I've had to do a lot is listen to my peer's ideas, explain mine, and decide on one collectively, however in 6th grade when I started attending High Tech Middle North County, I had a hard time adjusting to working on projects in groups because I wasn't able to accept that the outcome will almost never be what I expected or wanted it to be. Working with other people means making decisions collectively, whether we're all completely on board with them or not and sometimes, going through with your peers ideas can result in a very positive outcome that you would have never thought you would get from it. But even though I've learned that now, It took me a couple months in 6th grade to understand that, and once I understood it, it took me a while to accept it and adapt to it. I still struggle with that today on a small scale. Something similar, at least. I should know that no matter what I do and try, I might not always have the resources, time, and knowledge to get me to the result I envisioned and desired from the start.
The video game that I chose to program for this project was the game of billiards. The link to my game is here. To play, you press the "setup" and "forever" button, then use the up arrow to move forward, the down arrow to move backwards, the left arrow to rotate to the left, and the right arrow to rotate to the right. You are in control of the brown train shaped figure which represents the pool pole in the game of billiards and your mission is to get all pool balls to come in contact with the black cubes. If you are playing with someone else, you would have to play from the same computer, but you would each play as a different color, orange or green. You'l notice that one pool ball is white, which acts as the cue ball. If you hit the cue ball with the pole, it ill move and hit any pool balls that come in contact with it, but if you try to directly hit the other coloured pool balls with the pole, they will not move. You will also notice that there is one black pool ball. This one is the 8 ball. If you choose to play the version of billiards where you'd win the game if the you hit all your pool balls in then hit the 8 ball in lastly, then it is there along with a notice that will pop up saying "GAME OVER" upon hitting it in. I do have a couple quirks in the game that I was not able to fix, but I hope you can still enjoy playing the game.
I think this project was a lot of fun, however, I was disappointed that my game didn't turn out how I wanted and expected it to. I didn't include all the components of Billiards that I wanted to and there are a couple of bugs in the game that I spent so much time trying to debug, but never did. Its always been frustrating to me to start something, get heavily involved in it, then have to stop. In my case, I was spending so much time debugging my game, but when I ran out of time (because the project was over), I hadn't finished. Turning in an incomplete project i'm not proud of is never satisfying for me and when I spend so much time reaching something that I know I can eventually reach, but never quite reaching it, it can be infuriating. I suppose I've always had this struggle, but it doesn't really come up often enough for me to learn that I need to be better at letting go and not always expecting my result to be how I want it to be. When working in group projects, One thing I've had to do a lot is listen to my peer's ideas, explain mine, and decide on one collectively, however in 6th grade when I started attending High Tech Middle North County, I had a hard time adjusting to working on projects in groups because I wasn't able to accept that the outcome will almost never be what I expected or wanted it to be. Working with other people means making decisions collectively, whether we're all completely on board with them or not and sometimes, going through with your peers ideas can result in a very positive outcome that you would have never thought you would get from it. But even though I've learned that now, It took me a couple months in 6th grade to understand that, and once I understood it, it took me a while to accept it and adapt to it. I still struggle with that today on a small scale. Something similar, at least. I should know that no matter what I do and try, I might not always have the resources, time, and knowledge to get me to the result I envisioned and desired from the start.