

Empire of Code – Space Strategy Game from CheckIO - minerb50
http://www.checkio.org/blog/empire-code-space-strategy-game-checkio/

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WilliamMayor
I know it doesn't matter but it strangely bothers me that the example code
defines a function's keyword arguments as __kawargs.

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random28345
That is the standard python convention.

[https://docs.python.org/2/faq/programming.html#how-can-i-
pas...](https://docs.python.org/2/faq/programming.html#how-can-i-pass-
optional-or-keyword-parameters-from-one-function-to-another)

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thinkt4nk
That's not what they meant. They were referring to the typo: kawargs

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TeMPOraL
Since we're talking games and code: 'tptacek, I have a question for you, and
you already know what it is :).

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tptacek
You will perish in flames!

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patio11
By which he means "Development on Starfighter's first game continues apace.
It's, like every development project ever, slower than we expected it to be,
and has involved some going down dead alleys as we explore how to make fun
core game systems. We've got some of the core systems built and are firming up
the other ones, and starting to build levels on top of them. We optimistically
think folks will have a lot of fun with this when it launches, which will be
when it launches -- we don't want to jinx ourselves by committing to a ship
date."

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tptacek
You will perish in flames!

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TeMPOraL
Thank you both for detailed and comprehensive answers.

Next reminder due in one month, context allowing :).

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foxpc
I do not like these types of posts when I can't actually see, try the product
and it is kind of annoying since I kind of got hooked but will have to drop my
email to some company that hopefully won't sell it to some ad company :(

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omfgnuts
Hi! CheckiO community manager here.

We're about to begin sending invitations, just subscribe on empireofcode.com
and you'll get your invitation really soon!

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random28345
You responded to a complaint about the website providing insuffcient
information about the game and simply asking for an email address... with no
information about the game and a request for an email address.

I hope the game itself is more logical than this.

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omfgnuts
Have you tried scrolling landing page? There's more info on the bottom of the
page :)

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lukewrites
I love CheckIO and can't wait to play with this!

I'm an elementary school teacher, and this past semester I taught programming
to 4th and 5th graders. We progressed through Code.org to independent Scratch
projects to writing Python. Taking that last step from graphics to
text/Scratch to Python was a hard one for the kids. I'd been thinking about
using something like CodeCombat with them next year, but I'm excited to see if
Empire of Code could be a viable option!

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dbpokorny
What are your thoughts on scheme vs. python for teaching programming grades
4-8? UC Berkeley switched from SICP to (SICP - Scheme + Python) and I love
both scheme and python but haven't the foggiest idea which is _actually_
better for the student. I grew up on Simply Scheme (by Brian Harvey and Matt
Wright) and SICP. In the mid 90s, python wasn't available as an option for me.
After using HyperTalk '92-'95, learning Scheme was enlightening, and it was my
language of choice '96-'04\. Then I found python in '04, which addressed the
"thicket of incompatible implementations" problems Scheme had and provided
more powerful data structures (list and dict) out of the box. Python code is
easier on the eyes as well; the human eye is not designed to quickly
differentiate six ")" in a row from five ")" in a row.

The added syntactic readability of python comes at the cost of increased
complexity of the parser, complicating the design of the meta-circular
interpreter (SICP ch. 4).

The added power of the built-in data structures (list and dict) comes at the
cost of increased complexity of the implementation of the built-in library,
complicating the design of the explicit control evaluator (SICP ch. 5).

What are your thoughts? Is there any hope of adapting the ideas of SICP for
4th-8th graders?

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WalterBright
The original Empire -
[http://www.classicempire.com](http://www.classicempire.com)

I had often thought of making the computer strategy pluggable, so that players
could build their own bots and have them compete. It would be fun, and an
enormous time waster :-)

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robertfw
I grew up playing this as a kid, and I still have a copy installed. It is a
simple, unassuming game, with the curious property of erasing large blocks of
time from memory

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WalterBright
I also keep thinking I should port it to javascript, so it can be run in a
browser. Just think on those interminable waits at the airport you could be
playing Empire!

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crimsonalucard
I hope it's not programming puzzles tacked on to a strategy game. I much
prefer the programming part to be an integral portion of the gameplay.

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kauegimenes
Looks awesome! I would love to start playing the beta =)

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XorNot
Wow, that had to be fastest and least I had to question whether I wanted to
know more. Yes...Yes I do.

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drew-y
Am I the only one getting an empty black screen on the signup page?

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nemmonszz
No, I'm getting it too.

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mesdf
When is that going to come?

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yavramen
July 16

