Li Ying, Huijing and Dinang. - 2021

For this project we were assigned to a group and tasked to create an interactive activity with p5js. The concept of which must be unique to our group and showcase our creativity in any forms such as influence, imagination―- which by extension proves our own understanding of these codes. Our group decided to do something involving the night sky. As the sky is something that always changes with a variety of different intricacies within it, we thought that this would be a good starting point for the seed of an idea that turned into this.

The project that we did was something involving, as said previously, the night sky. The process of which involved a number of trial and errors. The first trial was something that was said to be too similar to the example that was given to us, thus we branched out and brainstormed on what we could do. We decided we wanted to do something related to changes― morning and evenings, the seasons, and the state of the night sky. We ended up with the night sky, though we thought that perhaps we could go even further with the idea of a night sky and add a number of imaginative elements to it. This then turned into a list extending from simple shooting stars to fireworks to UFO’s. But, we kept it simple and chose: UFO, Clouds, and Shooting Stars. So, we then dispersed the interactive features among us and then compiled them together/ integrated them into the main code.

Nightsky, Change of time, Space.

– Natalie Wood, 1948.

Some of the more difficult parts of this project were combining the various pieces of code together, and doing so in a way where it didn’t cause patterns or errors that were inevitably bound to happen. Some of the reasons why the code was the way it was could be blamed on sometimes forgetting symbols and code or writing a line with an error that was unnoticed. In addition, there were also some coding languages that we struggled to remember and implement into the main, causing us to go back ro review them in addition to asking for assistance (from the lecturers). A number of times we had to look into other peoples coding references to see how to do certain tasks/interactions within the code.

Although it was a little different from the sketch we had imagined, we were all satisfied with the final result. Exercise 3 also uses mouse and keyboard coding. Huijing uses coding to change the colour of stars on the keyboard press 1,2 and 3. and 3. Dinang made a UFO shape that followed the cursor as it moved. Then Li Ying added floating clouds, UFO light, added gradient colours for the background, and used Keyboard press Q, W, E, and R to change the shape of the moon.

The following sketch was created using the creative coding environment p5js and is called Night-Night!, its original source can be found here.

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Excerpt

You are an alien, and your commander has assigned you to visit earth. As you move across the area you notice the stars in the background. Click the 1,2, and 3 keys to interact with the stars. "Strange" you think. You remember the star technology given to you. You press the "Mouse Key" to activate it. Shooting stars appear in the background. The clouds begin to move as you watch the stars fall, like raindrops on a summer day or snow during christmas. You notice the moon in the background, bright as ever. With the technology of your kind you press the buttons “Q,W,E, and R” on the “keyboard”. It moves and shifts very unnaturally. The clouds part and slide across the sky as you do this. “Huh, Earth is weird”, you think as you continue your search across the forest landscape of this planet.

Through the feedback we received, our overall operation was good and users felt that the overall design drawing style was cute. We introduced to users the playability and interactive parts of our whole design, for example, users can choose the color of stars by the number 1 to 3, control the number of shooting stars by clicking the mouse, manipulate the movement of the UFO by moving the mouse, and control the change of the moon by "QWER". Users liked our design and found it very cute and playable, with interconnected elements and a story.

All in all, we had a variety of plans for this project, but ultimately chose this theme because we thought it was the most feasible. Throughout the project, Dinang provided a lot of constructive ideas at the beginning of the design process, he designed and drew our initial drawings, which gave us a good start to the project, and he was responsible for the design of the cute UFO throughout the design process. She was responsible for the design of the background, the cloud, the moon and the overall combination and adjustment of the final design. Throughout the cooperation process, our group actively faced difficulties, had a good atmosphere of cooperation, and actively shared their insights, all of which I think are valuable.

Made by Li Ying, Huijing, Dinang in 2021.