StarLogo Maze: Getting Started

Click to jump ahead to a section:

• Installing the files you need
• Starting StarLogo and loading a project
• Saving your project (and keeping backups!)
• Copying procedures between projects

To run the StarLogo Maze system, you need two things: the StarLogo software and a maze project file. First, let's download and install the StarLogo software, which you only have to do once.

1. Download the StarLogo Installer and save it on the desktop.
2. Find starlogo-1.2.2-installer on your desktop and run it. (Double-click it.)
3. After the install preparation finishes, select English as your language.
4. An InstallAnywhere window will eventually appear. Click Next to proceed through the installation. Your instructor has already read the License Agreement, so just select Yes on that screen and click Next again.
5. You will next be asked where to install StarLogo. Your instructor will tell you whether you need to change the folder that is already set. Click Install and the StarLogo program files will be placed in the chosen folder.

Now you need a maze project file to start with. StarLogo project files are traditionally stored in files whose names end with .slogo. On some days, your instructor will ask you to download a new starter project file. All of the project files you'll need for this project will be linked on the Maze Project Files page. To start with, you should download the project file unit1a_00.slogo (the first project file for Unit 1, Version 00) and save it somewhere you can find it easily (e.g., the Desktop). (We'll talk more about project versions below, under "Saving your project (and keeping backups!).")

1. Find and select StarLogo 1.2 under the Start menu's Programs submenu or open My Computer, find the folder where you installed StarLogo, and double-click StarLogo 1.2. Eventually, you will see three windows: a Control Center, a StarLogo window, and an empty, black window.
2. From the Control Center window's File menu, select Load Project.... Locate and open the project file you downloaded.

Before you go on, you should read more about the three windows that StarLogo opens when it starts. See "A Tour of the Interface."

Saving your work often and keeping extra copies of current and previous versions of your work are very important habits. If something unexpected happens (e.g., you accidentally mess up your project, erase some code, or maybe the power goes out), you don't want to lose your work. When you save a StarLogo project, everything from your code, the current contents of your Command Center, and the exact state of the graphics window (right down to the current turtle position) is saved.

Just as with loading projects, saving them is done through the Control Center window's File menu. You could just select Save Project, but this will save over (overwrite) the last version of the project you have on disk. If you find that you're on the wrong track as you're working later on, you might want to backtrack to this older version. Therefore, we recommend that you instead use Save Next Version, which saves your project to a new .slogo file whose name is automatically chosen based on the name of the project file you currently have open. More specifically, if you have a project file called unit1_00.slogo currently open, when you save a new version of it, it will be saved to a file called unit1_v01.slogo, instead of overwriting unit1_00.slogo. Each time you save a new version of your project, the number at the end of your filename will be incremented (increased by one). By saving a new version of your project often, you'll have a nice "history" of your project's development in these files, allowing you to go back to any one of them later. (You don't have to worry about running out of disk space, because these files are typically not very large: 20-30 kb each.)

If you open a project file and want to use procedures you defined in another project file, you'll have to copy and paste the procedures:

1. Open both projects at once. To do this, you'll have to run StarLogo twice.
2. Identify the Control Center window for the project containing the procedures you want to copy. In the Turtle Procedures part of the window, drag the mouse to select the procedures you want to copy.
3. With the procedures selected, from the Edit menu, select Copy. (You can also press Ctrl-C to do this.)
4. Switch to the other project's Control Center window.
5. In the Turtle Procedures part of the window, click where you want to paste the copied procedures.
6. From the Edit menu, select Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
7. Save this project and close the other one.