We hope you are enjoying the content from our January release. We released loads of great content this month. Without further delay, here are the details of our February release:
Games Pathway
Sidetrack #2 - Detect changes in code editorWe have added additional code to detect if the user has solved errors in the code editor, and added it into the second part of the Sidetrack quest. We've also made some small changes to improve the guidance for FlipToHack, as well.
Sidetrack #3 - The Wall
A new instruction opens up new possibilities to solve Sidetrack’s puzzles! This is the third part of the series, available after completing Sidetrack #2.
Terminal 2 - Missile Math
A new game from Endless Studios. Dodge the missiles and shoot down the enemy planes, using the power of mathematics, in this fast-paced flight shooter!
Art Pathway
P5JS - Painting with SoundOver the course of this 3-part series, you'll learn to build a program that lets you visualize any sound that your computer's microphone can pick up!
Blender - Modeling and Animating a Low-Poly Person
Another great Blender quest series! In part 1 of this activity, you’ll create a 3d model of a realistically-sized low-poly person, for use any any later projects you want to make. In part 2 of this activity, you’ll learn to rig and animate your low-poly person to do whatever cool moves you like! In part 3 of this activity, you’ll get the sources for part 1 and 2, to compare against your own efforts.
Krita - Fun With Photos
Start with a photo, end with a work of art! You’ll learn to change the look of a photograph and add all kinds of decorations.
Krita - Just My Color
Start with a simple picture, then change its color and add a background. Quick and easy!
Web Pathway
Bootstrapping your way to faster websitesLearn to use Bootstrap, one of the fastest and most popular web libraries out there!
Maker Pathway
Clouds in a JarYou probably see clouds a lot - but do you know how they work? Let's capture your very own water cycle in a jar!
Operating System Pathway
New CursorCreate your very own mouse pointer (cursor) that you can use across the entire operating system!
The Command-line - Cat and Mouse
Some fixes to the instructions based on playtest feedback.
Other Improvements and Changes
Visual representation of chained questsWe have recently introduced the concept of chained quests - such as the Sidetrack quest series. For example, in order to play Sidetrack #2, you must first complete Sidetrack #1, and so on. Previously, unavailable quests were hidden - Sidetrack #2 was not visible when Sidetrack #1 was incomplete. We have changed this, and now display all available quests. However, locked quests are grayed out and can not be flipped. Hovering over the grayed-out card will show a tooltip explaining the requirements to unlock that quest.
We hope this will more accurately represent the available content. We’re always refining the Hack UI, though, and we welcome your suggestions and feedback. Let us know in the forum or at #madetohack on social media!
Visual representation of narrative quests
It might be a surprise to some of our users that we have two major types of quests available in the Clubhouse - First are the activities that help your learn and create, but there’s also a second type, narrative quests. Narrative quests drive the story of the world of Hack and its characters, and tell how you, the player, fit in!
Our users and play testers have given us the feedback that it’s difficult to tell the difference, and that’s important - when you want an activity, we don’t want to force you to sit through a story! Hovering over the cards for narrative quests will now display a “book” icon, to help identify them.
Canceling of quests
Quests can be canceled by clicking the ‘x’ icon of the dialogue. For narrative quests, that button wasn’t available, so there was no correct way to cancel them, which wasn’t ideal. With this change, the play button for all running quests will turn into a cancel button, allowing you to cancel any quest.
New instructors/mentors
We are very happy to have grown the guild of Hack mentors! We’ve added 2 new instructor avatars, cousins of your friend the Daemon, from other systems! Look for them in current and upcoming quests… especially in this month’s Krita quests!
