Alice v2.0 known bugs (04/05/2005)

Function-related:

When playing a world including a "ask user for a number" function, user is prompted twice

When dragging a "ask user for a string" function into a statement, user is prompted to enter a string (twice)

  1. Create an object-level function and call it from within an object-level method
  2. In the drop-down list for that function, under expressions there will be two identically titled choices for that function name
  3. Choosing one over the other can sometimes yield an error when manipulating a property of what the function returns. For example, if the function returns an object and statement reads: "[object function] set color to [red]" you will not be able to change the color once it has been set.

  1. Create a new function
  2. Make a call to it
  3. Right-click tile and select "make copy"

  1. Create a new function containing a parameter
  2. Make a call to it
  3. Right-click tile and select "make copy" --or-- drag tile to the clipboard and drag into the method

Printing functions does not appear correctly (print [bunny distance to camel] appears as "the value of world.my first method.__Unnamed0__.__Unnamed1__ is x"

Proximity functions don"t always calculate the exact value. If the distance of one object to another is 5, printing the value might come up with 5.0000000004 or 4.00000000098, etc.

Advanced math functions appear in a larger font than normal when inserted into methods

  1. Drag a print tile into a method and select anything
  2. Drag any question into print and select anything
  3. Drag the question (sans print) into an event

Parameter- and Variable-related:


  1. Create a new parameter/variable
  2. Right-click on the tile and select "watch this variable"
  3. Create a new world
  4. Play the world
  5. Variable is still being watched

  1. Create a new parameter/variable
  2. Make a call to it
  3. Right-click tile and select "make copy"

  1. Create a new parameter/variable
  2. Right-click tile and select "watch this variable"
  3. Create a statement which changes the parameter/variable value
  4. Add a print statement
  5. Play world
  6. Note how Print output displays the correct value but Watch displays only the initial value

Copying a statement containing a method-level variable from one method to another (where the variable is non-existent) will cause an error

Parameter and variable names do not appear as black text in the method editor

Color parameters do not work.

  1. Create a method that passes in a color parameter
  2. Set the color to red
  3. If the color passed in is red, print the color, if not, print something else
  4. It will always print something else
  5. If you create another print statement that outputs the object color directly, it will print red

A parameter/variable cannot be deleted if created within a method and then made global by dragging into World's details > properties

If you drag a parameter of type object into an if statement and select object.eventsStopAscending, object.isBoundingBoxShowing, or who.isBoundingSphereShowing, Alice throws an error

When calling methods of functions containing parameters and defining them, sometimes the tiles will appear squished or truncated; this can also occur when undoing such changes

Define a passed numerical parameter with an object (opacity or specularHighlightExponent) and then try to undo. It will take multiple tries.

Export as a web page-related:

Export as a web page doesn't display say bubbles

When checking the "add code for this world to this page" option, the author's name does not appear under the code section

"Ask user" functions do not work

Sound does not work

Miscellaneous:

Alice does not handle large worlds (in terms of hard disk space) well

Alice gradually slows down after continued use

Clicking on a drop down list and dragging the mouse vigorously back and forth across the list will cause an error

  1. Create a tile "[object function or parameter/variable] set color to [any color]"
  2. "Color" drop-down list does not show colors; selecting a non-color from the list will produce an error when world is played
  3. Note that the same problem occurs for other "set ___ to" methods

Creating variable random integers can be a problem with if/else statements. For example:

  1. Create a new variable x and set it a random integer with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 2
  2. Create an if-statement "if [x] == 1"
  3. That if-statement will always return false, as the "1" in step two is initialized to a double instead an integer
  4. To resolve this problem, add a step after the random integer is set:

"[x] set value to [x * 1]"

This will change x from an integer to a double.

In the Add-objects screen, when manipulating the vertical object positioning using the mouse, the cursor does not move with mouse. When the mouse is released, the cursor will snap back to its starting point. Again, this is only with vertical objecting position.

Connecting external drives such as flash drives while Alice is open will not be recognized.

When you create a comment of more than one word with the last word being a known Alice unit (second, meter, revolution, times, etc.), that word will not be in green text.

By itself, the letter "v" does not appear correctly in user-defined fields, like names of variables, comments, methods, etc.

When generating a random integer from x to y, y will never be generated. This is unintuitive.

A one-shot set pose cannot be undone (well, it can be, but one frame at a time)

Printing colors does not display the physical color; it displays the color value

You are allowed to drag object tree groups into methods (although an error is thrown)

Alice will throw an error if, during world playback, user input is requested and nothing is entered or the wrong type is entered

Font resizing can make dialog boxes and the welcome screen look strange

Your machine will need to support multiple monitors for this bug:

  1. Start up Alice.
  2. Connect a 2nd monitor and activate it from display properties (or disconnect and deactivate it if already attached)
  3. Alice will throw and error and ask if you want to redraw the scene. Retry.
  4. Another dialog box will pop up saying hardware rendering is not up to snuff...resorting to software rendering. OK.
  5. Redraw screen comes up again. Retry should do nothing. Give up.
  6. Error dialog comes up. Close it.
  7. Now, add the bunny to the world.
  8. Error pops up. Close it.
  9. Save out the world. An error should quickly pop up and then disappear mysteriously.
  10. World won"t load.

  1. Create a new world
  2. Add an object
  3. Create a line of code for that object
  4. Copy the code to the clipboard
  5. Delete the code
  6. Delete the object
  7. Paste the code from the clipboard

Alice cannot handle changing screen resolutions while running

Alice will throw an error if you try to drag a method tile from the world's details pane into the world window

Numerical keypad does not work in Alice

Object-related:

Adding an object, duplicating it and then undoing the duplication can yield unexpected results, including: no response, an error (after undoing multiple times), duplicate object to disappear from world window but remain in object tree, duplicate object to remain in world window but disappear from object tree.

Add happyTree object to world, duplicate it and try to delete original

  1. Add an object
  2. Select that object
  3. In the "add objects" screen, click the resize button
  4. Drag the mouse down to shrink the object; make it very small
  5. Undo
  6. If it's too small, Alice will either crash or the object will be deformed

  1. Drop a dummy object at the camera
  2. Do a "camera point at dummy" one-shot

Alice fails to highlight sounds

  1. Add cow
  2. Duplicate cow
  3. Delete original cow

Resizing objects a set amount and with a set duration produces unpredictable results.

  1. Add Circle to world
  2. In a method, print Circle's diameter, resize Circle 2 with a duration of 1 second, and then print Circle's diameter once again
  3. Play world and restart; notice the results

Using the speed slider on worlds where objects move and turn at the same time can change the ending location of that object. This is most noticeable when maxing the slider out to 10x. (The attached world to bug report 3570 is a good demonstration of this.)

Cannot undo creation of duplicate objects

  1. add an object (for example, the chicken).
  2. Make a copy of it.
  3. undo. (nothing happens)
  4. undo again

Setting an object to point at another object which is extremely close in proximity to it will cause unpredictable behavior (i.e., objects that are set to the same point of view)

In the object "raceHorseGame" (local gallery), the individual horses orientation is incorrect. When commanding a horse to move forward, it moves backward.

  1. Add an object and move it to a new group in the object tree
  2. Add the same object again and move it into the group containing the previous object
  3. Alice will throw an error, the object disappears from the tree, but remains in the world window

  1. Add an object to a world
  2. Code object to roll, so it is not oriented as it was added to the world
  3. Code object to stand up
  4. Play the world, then restart it several times
  5. The orientation of the object when the stand up method is used is not consistent. It will often stand up to a different position

When using the method Euripides.subpart turn to face camera or Socrates.subpart turn to face camera or Magician.leftArm turn to face camera, the subpart enlarges in size

Highlighting doesn"t handle texture maps:

  1. Add an object which is using a texture map (Roommate, for example)
  2. Drag the texture map to the trash
  3. Alice will throw an error
  4. If the object's texture has multiple references, Alice will throw an error after every reference you remove

Zeus "boltshoot" pose is broken

Webgallery chicken's (378kb) "peck" method is broken

Cup's spill method is broken

Roommate's rightLeg pivot is reversed (forward is backward and left is right)

Bird1's Fly[birdObj] method is broken

Knight's AnimateBreathing[breaths] method is broken

All preset poses from characters created in the person builder are broken

Mantis's react method is broken

Tutorial-related:

On Page 69 of the Penguin Tutorial, if you click on the black space above and below the picture, Alice throws an error

Starting tutorials with the Properties or Functions tab in focus in the World's details will cause the tutorials to break

Event-related:

  1. Create a new event "Let the mouse move <list> and create a new list containing the ground
  2. Delete the ground object

Start-up Dialog Box related:

The "open a world" box does not always highlight the corresponding file to what is displayed in the "file name" text box. This can happen if a file has been added or removed from the directory, or the directory has been changed. As a result, if you click "ok" and the directory is incorrect or the file in the "file name" box isn"t there, you will get an error; otherwise, the previous world will open instead of the desired one.

When attempting to load a world from the Recent Worlds list which has been either deleted or moved from the location it was last loaded, Alice throws an error; not very intuitive.

Save-related:

When saving a world to write-protected media, Alice does not provide an easy-to-understand error to notify the user of this problem.

  1. Create a new folder
  2. Save a world in that folder
  3. Delete the folder and its contents (Alice and the recently saved world is still open)
  4. Save world again (Alice will ask you if you want to save in the folder you just deleted); Alice throws an error

Trying to save worlds with special characters ("!", "@", "#", "=", etc.) can cause a world to throw a critical error or an exception, depending on the character; an exception will also be thrown if you do the same for a recorded sound

Gallery-related:

If you open the web gallery and navigate the various subdirectories without waiting for everything to load, strange things happen (like an object that doesn"t belong in the directory will appear)

Running Alice:

Alice will not run if you have installed IomegaWare software (latest version 4.02). There are a number of workarounds:

  1. Run SlowAndSteadyAlice.exe instead of Alice
  2. Go into the Windows Task Manager and kill the process "ImgIcon.exe" before using Alice
  3. Uninstall IomegaWare software

Array-related:

Print ArrayVisualization.elements displays "ArrayVisualization.elements.__Unnamed0__

(same thing for lists)

Resizing arrays is bad (can't undo, when saved and reopened, looks squished [or stretched])

If you drag ArrayVisualization.elements into clipboard, you cannot drag it out

If you create a command: item[0] from ArrayVisualization.elements turn right 1 revolution and drag "item[0] from ArrayVisualization.elements" onto the clipboard, upon dragging it out, Alice throws an error

Sound-related

Alice can play most but not all mp3 and wav files


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