The FAIL LOOP Association – Programming Club provides free online tools for anyone to learn programming and develop their creativity.
Hugo Simões, a professor at the Department of Computer Science (DCC) of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), has recently created the FAIL LOOP Association – Programming Club, an initiative dedicated to promoting programming languages and their applications, both within and beyond the University of Porto.
The association provides free access to the source code of a programming language compiler and a game engine, tools that allow anyone to create their own games through programming. The initiative also aims to bring these tools into educational contexts. “Teachers can copy the code of a game, for example, into a browser and use it with their students to teach programming,” explains Hugo Simões.
The games are based on a simple concept: creating single-colour convex polygons, which can then be rotated, moved and animated at up to 30 frames per second. From these basic elements, it is possible to build interactive experiences combining programming, images and sound.
In 2017, Hugo Simões created the programming language Prequel (Primitive RECursive driven programming Language). More recently, from September 18 to 20, he brought a new interactive game combining analogue and digital elements to Maker Faire Porto, held at Alfândega do Porto.
The prototype presented at the event consisted of four analogue controllers, integrated into four wooden discs with a printed code. Using these controllers, players could control the characters in the game AmoebaArena, displayed on a screen positioned vertically above a laptop equipped with a camera.
“People were surprised because they could see that, as they moved the discs, the amoebas on the screen moved as well,” says the Department of Computer Science professor.
“When we fail, we try again (loop)”
The FAIL LOOP Association – Programming Club aims to promote programming among people of different ages, encouraging learning through experimentation and creativity. “It is about enabling people to acquire a new skill simply for the pleasure of learning,” says Hugo Simões.
“Anyone, of any age, can take advantage of the power of combining a simple programming language with graphic design and music skills using this online tool,” he adds.
With the new prototype presented at Maker Faire Porto, the professor also aims to bring programming closer to older audiences, exploring the relationship between movement, games and technology. “Our games can have a social and physical well-being component,” he explains.
In addition to participating in events, the association plans to organize programming competitions and game jams combining programming and music. The game engine provided by the project also supports different forms of interaction: in addition to codes read by the camera, it can use a microphone to detect musical notes and subprograms that allow users to create subtasks, such as bots or agents within the game.
The association's name itself has a double meaning. FAIL LOOP refers, on the one hand, to the mathematics underlying programming and, on the other, to a play on words intended to convey a message about the learning process: accepting failure as a natural part of that process and continuing to try. “It is called FAIL LOOP to embrace the failures that naturally occur in any long learning process, while reinforcing the importance of not giving up: when we fail, we try again (loop),” explains Hugo Simões.
The initiative is therefore based on the idea that simple limitations can stimulate creativity. “We believe that creativity flourishes when there is a good balance between the different limitations intentionally imposed by the language and the game engine, which are kept simple to facilitate the creative process,” he concludes.