thehalcyonsavant / vocabularygame Goto Github PK

Testing is the best learning tool

        This is a very simple test game that accumulates points based on your correctly guessed choices. The question is on the top of the window and you must choose only one from five random choices to proceed to the next question.
Testing is the best approach to gain any knowledge and with this game it can't be easier.

###Installation

1. Download dictionary.xlsm to some permanent location on your disk (like My Documents)
2. Download VocabularyGame.msi, install and run VocabularyGame from your desktop
3. When the open file dialog pops up, locate dictionary.xlsm
4. Enjoy, the game is started !

##Game Rules         The game is simply played by choosing only one option from the five Radio Buttons. The choice you made should correspond to the question (the light-green text on the top of the window). If you choose correctly, you gain +5 points. But, if you are wrong, you loose all your points that you have accumulated so far. In meanwhile, if the Countdown timer is on and its time passes, then you loose -15 points instead of all of them.

When you click the sound icon (next to the question) you can hear and learn how to pronounce the phrase. These sounds are downloaded into the sounds/ folder.

When you gain 30 points for the first time, then you've made the first record. To break it again you must pass the best record made so far. To see all records go to File -> Records. The records are stored inside dat/{dictionaryWithNoExt}_records.dat file (e.g. dat/dictionary_records.dat) and saved upon leaving the application.

Right clicking the synonyms (the bold radio buttons) will bring up a tooltip with the corresponding Macedonian translation, if there is one. Every next right clicking on the same choice will cycle through the translations. Be careful right clicking the synonyms, after guessing the right answer you will loose -5 points instead of gaining.

##dictionary.xlsm         When you open the application for the first, an open dialog pops out and asks you to locate dictionary.xlsm. This is a Macro-Enabled Excel file that contains all the unique entries, important for this game to choose from. You must have installed Microsoft Office 2007 or newer version to edit this file.
This excel file contains 4 columns:
         A : English - this is the key column. The question is randomly generated from this column. Contains single word (e.g. affix), phrases (e.g. bundle up), also words with additional explanation in parenthesis like maiden (adjective);
         B : Lexicon - a meaningful explanations in English;
         C : Synonyms - words with same or similar meanings;
         D : Macedonian - direct Cyrillic translation.
         Columns B, C and D can have more then one meaning separated by semicolon and new line (e.g. see calf). Also, those columns can be empty if a translation or explanation is not necessary. The 5 random answers are generated from these 3 columns.

##User Settings

####Answer Types corresponds to 'dictionary.xlsm' columns: Lexicon, Synonyms and Macedonian. The 5 random choices are generated through limitation on these checked MenuItems (answer types). For example, if you check Lexicon and Synonyms, but uncheck Macedonian, then you will NOT see Macedonian (Cyrillic) words in the 5 random choices from the next question.

If some random choice is Lexicon, then it's displayed in Italic. And if it's Synonym it is displayed in Bold.

####Auto-Pronounce question Automatically pronounce the question on every new round.

####Countdown Timer When you check this setting, a "Timer" box is showed at the right of the answers and below the points. The time is set at 20 seconds and when the time is up you loose 15 points. The countdown starts from the next question.

####Don't show me choices I guessed more then This setting limits the repetition of displayed question-answer pairs. For example if you choose "Don't show me choices I guessed more then = 3 times" and if you have guessed question "virtue" with answer "merit" twice already, then this question with this particular answer will not be displayed again.
The repetitions history of these pairs are saved inside dat/{dictionaryWithNoExt}_repeats.dat file (e.g. dat/dictionary_repeats.dat).
This setting can be very handy if you want to filter very known words, but you want to avoid removing them from the excel file.

###Language User Interface localization language. Needs restart for this setting to take effect.

###Repeat the last 5 wrong choices Every time a wrong answer is chosen, the program accumulates them in dat/{dictionaryWithNoExt}_wrongs.dat (e.g. dat/dictionary_records.dat). After the fifth wrong choice VocabularyGame starts re-asking you with the same wrongfully answered questions, if this setting is checked.

####Reset All Settings Reset all settings in the main menu "Settings" to its default values. The default values can be edited inside VocabularyGame.exe.config file under configuration > userSettings xml node.

##Application Settings The application settings can be edited inside VocabularyGame.exe.config file in the program's installation directory under configuration > applicationSettings xml node:

• CountdownSeconds (Default: 20)
• GStaticLink (google link needed for downloading word pronunciations)
• RecordsSuffix (Default: _records.dat)
• RepeatsSuffix (Default: _repeats.dat)
• WrongsLimit (The amount of wrong choices limit - see Repeat the last 5 wrong choices user setting. Default: 5)
• WrongsSuffix (Default: _wrongs.dat)

Pavel Chuchuva for GifImage.cs
Google Dictionary for making this game "sounds" better ######Other repositories:         Use ExcelApp library if you want to compile this code successfully