Hack February Release Notes

We hope you are enjoying the content from our January release. If you have any feedback, please fill out the at the bottom of the page.

Games Pathway

Sidetrack #2 - Detect changes in code editor

We have added additional code to detect if the user has solved errors in the code editor, and added it into the second part of the Sidetrack quest. We've also made some small changes to improve the guidance for FlipToHack, as well.

Sidetrack #3 - The Wall

A new instruction opens up new possibilities to solve Sidetrack's puzzles! This is the third part of the series, available after completing Sidetrack #2.

Terminal 2 - Missile Math

A new game from Endless Studios. Dodge the missiles and shoot down the enemy planes, using the power of mathematics, in this fast-paced flight shooter!

Art Pathway

P5JS - Painting with Sound

Over the course of this 3-part series, you'll learn to build a program that lets you visualize any sound that your computer's microphone can pick up!

Blender - Modeling and Animating a Low-Poly Person

Another great Blender quest series! In part 1 of this activity, you'll create a 3d model of a realistically-sized low-poly person, for use any any later projects you want to make. In part 2 of this activity, you'll learn to rig and animate your low-poly person to do whatever cool moves you like! In part 3 of this activity, you'll get the sources for part 1 and 2, to compare against your own efforts.

Krita - Fun With Photos

Start with a photo, end with a work of art! You'll learn to change the look of a photograph and add all kinds of decorations.

Krita - Just My Color

Start with a simple picture, then change its color and add a background. Quick and easy!

Web Pathway

Bootstrapping your way to faster websites

Learn to use Bootstrap, one of the fastest and most popular web libraries out there!

Maker Pathway

Clouds in a Jar

You probably see clouds a lot - but do you know how they work? Let's capture your very own water cycle in a jar!

Operating System Pathway

New Cursor

Create your very own mouse pointer (cursor) that you can use across the entire operating system!

The Command-line - Cat and Mouse

Some fixes to the instructions based on playtest feedback.

Other Improvements and Changes

Visual representation of chained quests

We have recently introduced the concept of chained quests - such as the Sidetrack quest series. For example, in order to play Sidetrack #2, you must first complete Sidetrack #1, and so on. Previously, unavailable quests were hidden - Sidetrack #2 was not visible when Sidetrack #1 was incomplete. We have changed this, and now display all available quests. However, locked quests are grayed out and can not be flipped. Hovering over the grayed-out card will show a tooltip explaining the requirements to unlock that quest.

We hope this will more accurately represent the available content. We're always refining the Hack UI, though, and we welcome your suggestions and feedback. Let us know in the forum or at #madetohack on social media!

Visual representation of narrative quests

It might be a surprise to some of our users that we have two major types of quests available in the Clubhouse - First are the activities that help your learn and create, but there's also a second type, narrative quests. Narrative quests drive the story of the world of Hack and its characters, and tell how you, the player, fit in! Our users and play testers have given us the feedback that it's difficult to tell the difference, and that's important - when you want an activity, we don't want to force you to sit through a story! Hovering over the cards for narrative quests will now display a "book" icon, to help identify them.

Canceling of quests

Quests can be canceled by clicking the 'x' icon of the dialogue. For narrative quests, that button wasn't available, so there was no correct way to cancel them, which wasn't ideal. With this change, the play button for all running quests will turn into a cancel button, allowing you to cancel any quest.

New instructors/mentors

We are very happy to have grown the guild of Hack mentors! We've added 2 new instructor avatars, cousins of your friend the Daemon, from other systems! Look for them in current and upcoming quests... especially in this month's Krita quests!