Python Programming: Building Character

I recently posted a YouTube video showing how to quickly generate the beginnings of a role-playing character for Traveller, using Python 2.5.4.

The source code is below:

from random import randint

char_name = ['STR', 'DEX', 'END', 'INT', 'EDU', 'SOC', 'PSI']

char = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0]

for i in range(len(char_name)):
    char[i] = randint(1,6) + randint(1,6)
    
for i in range(len(char_name)):
    print '%s: %d' % (char_name[i], char[i])

I may do more such posts here in the future, now that I've recently learned how to properly post program code.

High-Resolution Mandelbrot in Obfuscated Python

Read the article here.

Python 3 is not Python

There was a time when Python was mature enough as a language for me to leave other languages I didn't care for and program strictly in Python. There was a time when Python programming was fresh and fun, yada yada. A time when print was a statement and not a function. A time when all the more interesting modules were written for Python, etc etc.

That time was Python 2.5.

Now Python has regulated itself to being updated just for the sake of being updated, making it less compatible or interesting for those that enjoyed the programming language enough to leave other languages.

Python 2.5 is for the computer programmer.

Python 3.x is for the software developer.

It's an entirely different mindset that Python 3 users come from. It's a job now, rather than a hobby. It's a corporate regulation rather than a computer artist's tool. Python 2.5 follows the Zen of Python, while Python 3 does not.

If I had my way, Python 3 would be renamed to something else. Because it is a different language, I mean, different development solution. And it doesn't run Python 2.5 code. Period.

Lessons From '70s Star Trek Arrays

Star Trek: The Mainframe Game was based on two-dimensional arrays. One for mapping sectors. And one for mapping quadrants. These were the short and long-range sensor scans that were routinely performed. These 2D arrays were stored as DIM S(8,8) and DIM Q(8,8) in the HP-2000F computer which ran its own version of BASIC.

Now fast-forward 40 years.

Star Trek: The Python Game is now in the works. And arrays have been poo-poo'd on over the years, but that doesn't matter. Arrays are a non-issue for Python. Its format may look different is all, as it uses [ ][ ] for its indexing.

Here is some Python code to get started with:

It seems pretty straight forward, as it initializes a ten by ten array with zeros. Then assigns an integer value of 807 to a location in the array. The program refers to the array as "grid". This is the output from the Python code:

And there you have it. The makings of an old-school 2D array using Python.

Run Your Old QBASIC Programs in Windows 7

Conway's Game of Life for Python

Importing OBJ Models Into PyOpenGL Using PyGame

Getting Py2exe to Work With PyOpenGL From PyGame (The Missing Win32 Module)

Lots of people have posted their problems, over the years, with missing Win32 modules, when running their EXE programs they converted from Python using Py2exe. None of their posts received answers. So I had to rough it and figure out a fix on my own.

And so here's my easy fix in HD.

Olympus Mons Using 3DEM and Vue Infinite

I Gave Blender Another Shot

Every once in awhile I get an urge, or an itch, to try out a new 3D modeler just to see how tools work in it and if it does things better (faster) than the tools I'm used to using. Well, early this morning, I thought I'd give Blender 2.63a a try. It's been a couple years since I gave version 2.4 a shot. So what the heck, right?

First thing, of course, is that the GUI is much better. Way better. I think it got revamped back in version 2.59. This time around, I actually played with the progarm for more than ten minutes. I was pretty much happy with its installation and that I couldn't mess up the GUI beyond repair.

But there was one problem though. The docs. The PDF manual. The online manual. The help file. There is none of that. Ok, I thought. I'll just go on the YouTube and see what's what about how to do simple texture painting on a cube, since I was unsuccessful trying to guess how on my own. But such videos were slim pickin's and, what I did see, involved doing the texture painting in Photoshop, which was not the direction I wanted to go in.

Oh, well. I've un-installed Blender and will try again another time. The idea of having to spend time learning another 3D modeler that I didn't really see as an improvement over the tools I have now was not appealing to me.