Anurag Bhandari

Remember the little, cute Jumbled Words Game I prepared in Python? More than 4 months had passed since I made it, and now it was time it got some makeover. So, featuring a host of new improvements, here I am making the improved game available for download.

Installing and playing is easy. Just to remind the readers, the game is made in Python using the wxPython libraries for the graphical interface (GUI).

The Python source was converted into a Windows executable (.exe) using py2exe. An installer was made out of the executable using InnoSetup. Both are freely available for download and very easy to use. I’ll come up with a Linux executable soon. And maybe a Python Egg?

Changelog:
1. Words are now read from a text file
2. The words read from text file are jumbled automatically & randomly
3. Changed splash image
4. Improved font system
5. Score system
6. Improved overall interface

The various downloads are:

• Setup – install the game from this like any normal application (Windows)
• Zipped – just extract the zipped file and double-click on JumbledGUI.exe to play (Windows)
• Source – the source code of the game in a zipped file (cross-platform)

I hope you like it. You may encounter bugs. If so, do let me know. Also, I would be happy to get some feedback from you regarding this little app.

Credits: The game was improved with suggestions and inputs from DaniWeb.com.

The Downloads page here has been updated by new stuff, like a report-cum-seminar on Introduction to Linux – A beginner’s approach. I have also updated the Resume page with the latest version of my resume. Further updates have come in the Movies section too, with myself giving my views and reviews on the about the movies I watched recently – Ocean’s Twelve, Good Will Hunting, Rock On!!, Equilibrium and The Spiderwick Chronicles.

I am also working on improving the Jumbled Words game I prepared in Python some time ago.

The college is going fine but with tight schedules. Also, perheps, it’s time to change my modem as it has been giving my constant annoyances since more than two weeks and giving me hindrance in coming online. I am just frustrated due to it!

Assignments from college are pouring in, and so are the little and big projects from the HOD and the Computer Center in my department in college.

Cricket season is off these days. I am waiting for the forthcoming Australia-India test series to begin.

I am finding the Cryptography subject, a part of my college curriculum, very interesting.

PC-BSD 7 has been released which is looking pretty interesting at the moment, though I have yet to try it out. A pretty software I tried out recently was Elisa (media center application), built entirely in Python. It’s a good app, though not fully functional yet and hosts quite some annoying bugs. But the aesthetics are pleasing.

As promised in my last post about my Python-based jumbled words game, here I am posting the game for download in various forms. As of now, the first and second forms are for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista only.

First is the normal setup in which you install the game by following those usual Next buttons.

Second is a zip file. Extract it, open the extracted folder and click on the JumbledGUI.exe file to start playing it.

Third is the zipped source code file + other required stuff.

Let me know about your experience with this little game. Any suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Note: There is one little bug in the setup / installer, and that is the shortcuts for the game executable created in the Start menu and (or) during the installation process won’t work. You’ll have to start the game by running the JumbledGUI.exe file in C:\Program Files\Jumbled Words Game, assuming that you have installed the game in the default location.

[ Icon from Indeepop.com ]

I talked about a jumbled words, GUI-based, game in my last post. I made that game just for fun. It was not at all hard to make when you are using a write-less-do-more-language, like Python.

I would like to share the code of that program with you and give a short tutorial on how to create your own Jumbled Words game. The tutorial is platform-independent. So, no matter if you are using Windows or Linux or Mac, the tut will work out in all the cases.

Here’s a screenshot of the Jumbled Words game running in Linux.

Read more…

Posting after about a month. So, what happened in the past one month with me? Read on….

• In my Python learning quest, I have reached the most interesting and core part – OOP (Object Oriented Programming). Before that, I had been reading the functional programming part, which is also interesting in itself, but of course not as interesting as implementing classes . You might be thinking why I am too slow in learning Python. That’s because of a simple reason that I get to read my Python book only when I get some time (which I rarely get in continuation).
• Last month, I also created a Python based Jumbled Words game. It’s a GUI-based game which uses wxPython as the front-end. I have already prepared a setup file for this little game (for Windows) which I will be posting for download soon.
• As a part of a college project, last week I was all too busy coding a light-weight Forum System (prepared in PHP and uses MySQL as the database backend). If you are interested in checking out how it looks like, visit: http://www.granularproject.org/sandbox/forum/. Currently, it doesn’t boast of many features, but at least provides all the basic functionality in a cool looking interface. And well, I don’t intend to introduce any more features in it. It is better left as it is!
• On Granular development front, I had been slow since the last 2 weeks. But now, I intend to devote some good amount of planned time as the next Granular Linux release date is approaching soon.
• The recently launched IPL (Indian Premier League) has been quite a success. I myself love watching it. the major matches are very addictive and high scoring. Gosh, due to IPL I am worried about my forthcoming end semester exams!
• And did you remember I was reading Skipping Christmas by John Grisham? Well, I haven’t gotten any far in it yet. I am still there where I left it the last time I gave a mention of it.