Step-by-step to make new Hark The Sound games

These are simple directions that will take you through how to make specific text game (Name that Color), wav game (Name that Musical Instrument) and repeating wav game (Counting). The same directions can be generalized to make any text, wav or repeating wav Hark game. Thanks to Diane Brauner for these directions.

The quotation marks are to indicate what YOU type in. Do NOT type the quotation marks.

Definitions

To make a game with text files

If you are making a text-file only game, you may want to try the Game Maker that comes with Hark The Sound. It currently only does text-only games but it is much easier than the manual approach described here.

1. To open the Hark Games Folder: Click on Start > All Programs > Hark the Sound > click on Games Folder.
2. Mouse click on the File Menu > click on New > click on Folder. Type in "Name that color" hit Enter, hit Enter again. Mouse click on File Menu > click on New > click on Text Document Type in "Question" hit Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) Type in "What color is this?" click on File > Save >. Then click on File > Exit to close the window.
(to close window)
3. Mouse click on File > click on New > click on Text Document Type in "Yellow_1" hit Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) "The sun." Click on File > Save. Then Click on File > Exit to close the window.
4. Mouse click on File > click on New > Click on Text Document "Red_1" hit on Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) "A fire truck." Click on File > Save >. Then close the window.
5. To add a second option (example two "red" choices, a fire truck and a cardinal): Mouse click on File > click on New > click on Text Document Type in "Red_2" hit Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) "Cardinal." Click on File > Save. Then close the window.

To make a game with sounds in "wav" files

1. To open the Hark Games Folder: Click on Start > All Programs > Hark the Sound > click on Games Folder.
2. Mouse click on File > click on New > Click on Folder Type in "Name that Musical Instrument" hit Enter, hit Enter again.
3. Mouse click on File > click on New > click on Text Document Type in "Question" hit Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) Type in "What instrument sound is this?" click on File > Save. Close the window.
4. Minimize screen by clicking on _ in top right corner of the tool bar.
5. Go on-line (Internet Explorer or what ever is on your computer). Use a search engine (such as Google) OR type in your favorite wav site. (If using a search engine, type in the sound you want plus "wav". I suggest you type in "free wav" so that you eliminate sites that cost money.) Example: "cat" free wav . If you have a favorite wav site you can go directly there. Example: www.tintagel.net/resources/Multimedia/Audio . Move down the page until you find Instruments. Click on instruments.
6. Click on the instrument sound that you want to hear. Example: bugle. Listen to the bugle sound. X out of bugle.
7. If you want the bugle sound, then RIGHT click on bugle > Click on Save Target As > Then rename file ( "bugle_1.wav" ) > BEFORE YOU SAVE, check to see that you are saving bugle in the Name that Musical Instrument file. The first time you save to a new file, you will have to tell the computer WHERE to save the file. You will find the Hark Instrument File by clicking on My Computer > Double click on C: > double click on Program Files > Double Click on Hark the Sound > Double click on Games > Double click on Name that Musical Instrument. Now you are saving the wav files (bugle) in the Name that Musical Instrument file. Click on Save. (Save is at the bottom of the screen by the renamed Bugle_1.wav) When download is complete, Click on Close. (Previous screen with instrument choices will now be back on your computer screen.)
8. If you want to choose another instrument sound, Click on the instrument sound that you want to hear. Example: harp. Listen to the harp sound. X out of harp.
9. If you want the harp sound, then RIGHT click on harp > Click on Save Target As > rename file ( "harp_1.wav" ) > (You should now automatically be saving your harp_1.wav in the Name that Musical Instrument file.) Click on Save.
10. When download is complete, Click on Close. (Previous screen with instrument choices will now be back on your computer screen.)

To make repeating wav files

To make sounds repeat, for example: counting, simple addition, categories, etc. follow these directions.

1. To open the Hark Games Folder: Click on Start > All Programs > Hark the Sound > click on Games Folder.
2. Mouse click on File > click on New > Click on Folder Type in "Counting" hit Enter, hit Enter again.
3. Mouse click on File > click on New > click on Text Document Type in "Question" hit Enter, hit Enter again (notepad is now on the screen) Type in "Can you count these sounds?" click on File > Save. Close the window.
4. Minimize screen by clicking on _ in top right corner of the tool bar.
5. You can go to the web and download new sounds (follow directions "to make a wav file") OR you can use sounds that have already been placed in another Hark game folder.
6. To use wav sounds that have already been placed in a Hark folder: Click on Start > Click on Sound Recorder >File >Open You want to be in the Hark Game folder. If you are not in the Hark Game folder, click on My Computer > double click on C: > double click on Program Files > double click on Hark the Sound > double click on Games Folder > double click on the folder that you want to use (for this counting game, we are going to use either Name that Animal or Sound folders); for now, double click on Name that Animal folder.
7. Double click on Cow > click on the play arrow (picture of one arrow pointing to the right). Listen to the sound of the cow. If you want to use that sound in the counting game and want to repeat that sound, click on Edit > Insert File > click on Cow again. (If you are not in the Name that Animal file, click on the down arrow beside the name of the folder. Click on Name that Animal file. (If for some reason you are completely out of the Hark game, follow the initial directions (above) to get back to Hark game.).
8. Click on Edit > Insert File > click on Cow again. Repeat these directions until you have the Cow (moo) as many times as you would like for the counting game. (Example: moo, moo, moo, moo would be to count four times.)
9. If you do NOT want to use that sound in the counting game, Drag the bar back to the left hand side. You can start again by going to File > Open > double click on Name that Animal folder and click on a different animal.
10. To listen to the recorded sound (four moo's) in the sound recorder screen, drag the bar all the way to the left side. Click on the play arrow.
11. To save the sounds (four moo's) click on File > Save As > rename file by the number of sounds (In this example four_1.wav ) BEFORE YOU CLICK ON SAVE, make sure you save in the correct folder. You are currently in the Name that Animal folder. Click on the down arrow (beside the file name) > click on Counting. Now you are in the Counting Folder and can click on Save.
12. If you use different sounds for the same number, be sure to change the number before saving the file (example: four_1.wav ; four_2.wav ) You may choose to use the same sound for more than one number so that the kids do not memorize that a moo is always the number four. (Moo could also be number seven!)
13. To record the next sound/number be sure to drag the bar back to the left side. When you record a new sound, it will automatically erase the first sound. (Remember, to record multiple sounds, the bar must be on the right side when the additional sound is inserted.)

Hint #1: Longer sounds work better for higher numbers. Example: the phone ringing (from Name that Sound Folder) works better for a large number like ten, than a quick sound.

Hint #2: Choose an animal that only has one sound. Example: the dog barks multiple times, so it would be difficult for the student to know when to count the barks.)

Hint #3: Gary suggested using Google Searches (without Popups!): Go to http://toolbar.google.com/ to download the toolbar. You can do searches right from the toolbar AND it kills popups.

Hint #4: Good music (songs) website: Laurasmidiheaven.com

To email a new game to Gary (USING A ZIP FILE)

A zip file is a basically the file (in this case a new Hark game) that has been compressed. This makes it easier (smaller) to send via email.

To open the Hark Games Folder: Click on Start > All Programs > Hark the Sound > click on Games Folder. Click one time on the folder that you want to zip. (Example: Name that Musical Instrument) (Folder is now highlighted.) > Click on File > Click on Send To > Click on Compressed (zipped) Folder. You have now created a zipped folder of Named that Musical Instrument. (You will see a folder called Named that Musical Instrument with a zipped folder symbol beside the title.)

To email the zipped folder, click one time on the zipped folder. (Folder is now highlighted.) Click on File > Click on Send To > Click on Mail Recipient. (Screen will now show your email screen.) Type in gb@cs.unc.edu (in the address line) to share the new Hark game.

This page last updated: 4 December 2003.