Interactions Between Objects in Alice


  1. Methods Affecting Current Object
move Causes the object to move up, down, left, right, forward, or backward.
turn The object turns left or right, (tilts) forward or backward.
roll The object tilts to the right or left (imagine the barrel roll of an airplane).
resize Changes the object's size by a specified amount
say Creates a cartoon-like speech bubble containing the specified message.
think Creates a cartoon-like thought bubble containing the specified message.
play sound The object plays a specified sound.  Alice provides some for you, or you can import MP3 or WAV files.
set pose After positioning an object and its subparts in a particular way, you can capture it as a pose.  This method causes the object to assume the pose.
stand up The object "stands up", which aligns the object's Up axis with the world's Up axis.
move at speed The object moves in the specified direction at the specified speed for a particular time.
turn at speed The object turns in the specified direction at the specified speed (in revolutions per second) for a particular amount of time.
roll at speed The object rolls in a specified direction at a specified speed.

 

  1. Methods Relating Current Object to Another Object
move to Causes the object to move to another object.  When the method completes, both objects' center points will be at the same location.
move toward The object moves in the direction of another object.  Specify the distance in metres.
move away from The object moves away from another object.
orient to The object turns so that the Up, Right, and Forward axes align with the target object.
turn to face Causes the object to face (i.e., point the Forward direction at) another object.
point at Similar to "turn to face", except the Forward direction will point at the center of the other object.  The object may be tilted when this happens.
set point of view to Most useful with the camera object.  Changes the point of view of the object to the target object.
constrain to face The object instantly turns to face the target object.
constrain to point at The object instantly points at the target object.

 

  1. The vehicle property 

 

This object property allows you to synchronize the movements of two objects.  It is found in the Property tab, and it allows you to specify a vehicle for the current object.  When the target object (vehicle)  moves, the riding object will follow that movement.

 

  1. asSeenBy 

 

It is possible to specify the movement of an object from the perspective of a second object.

 

Programming Tasks

  1. Create a world where a penguin waddles toward a hole in a frozen lake, tips over, and falls in.  The Penguin class can be found in the Animals gallery, and the FrozenLake class is in the Environments gallery.  Use the Circle class (coloured gray) from the Shapes gallery to make the hole.
  2. Create a world that shows a combination lock being dialed and then the latch opening.  The combination should have three numbers (e.g., 15-35-5, turning right, left, then right).  The CombinationLock class is in the Objects gallery.
  3. Create a world showing a fight between a troll and a wizard (see the Medieval gallery).  As the troll swings his club down to hit the wizard, the wizard points at the club and it goes flying out of the troll's hand.  Then the wizard casts a spell and sinks into the ground saying "Farewell" as he goes.