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Purple Computer Room Reference

A comprehensive guide to how each room works, including all the mechanics, tricks, and techniques for creating engaging demos.

Table of Contents

  1. Music Room (F2)
  2. Art Room (F3)
  3. Play Room (F1)
  4. Demo Scripting Reference

Music Room (F2)

The Grid

A 10×4 grid that mirrors the keyboard layout:

Row 0:  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0
Row 1:  Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P
Row 2:  A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   ;
Row 3:  Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   /

Each cell displays its key character and can be colored.

Color Cycling

Every key press cycles through 4 states:

Press # Color Hex Index
Start Off (default) -1
1st Purple #da77f2 0
2nd Blue #4dabf7 1
3rd Red #ff6b6b 2
4th Off (default) -1
5th Purple (repeats) 0

Key insight: Colors PERSIST. Press a key once = purple. Press again = blue. Press again = red. Press again = off.

To draw a picture: Press each key exactly ONCE to make it purple. Avoid pressing the same key twice unless you want a different color.

To make multi-colored patterns:

  • Press some keys once (purple)
  • Press other keys twice (blue)
  • Press other keys three times (red)

Sound System

Letter Keys (A-Z): Marimba Notes

Pitch by row (frequency increases left to right within each row):

Row Keys Frequency Range Character
QWERTY Q W E R T Y U I O P 392-988 Hz Bright, high
ASDF A S D F G H J K L 196-494 Hz Warm, middle
ZXCV Z X C V B N M 98-247 Hz Rich, low

Within each row, left keys are lower pitch, right keys are higher:

  • A = 196 Hz (lowest on row)
  • L = 494 Hz (highest on row)

Sound character: Full marimba with resonator tube harmonics, soft mallet attack.

Number Keys (0-9): Percussion

Key Sound Character
0 Gong Deep, sustained
1 Kick drum Punchy, low
2 Snare Crispy, mid
3 Hi-hat Bright, short
4 Clap Hand-like
5 Cowbell Metallic, fun
6 Woodblock Hollow tick
7 Triangle Ding, sustain
8 Tambourine Jingly
9 Bongo Mid-range drum

Demo Tricks for Music Room

Drawing Shapes

Important: The grid is only 10 wide × 4 tall. For a proper smile (curving UP), the mouth's ENDS must be HIGHER (lower row number) than the CENTER.

To draw a smiley face (smile curves UP):

Col:  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
      . . . 4 . 6 . . . .   ← Row 0: Eyes (4 and 6)
      . . . . T . . . . .   ← Row 1: Nose (T)
      . . D . . . J . . .   ← Row 2: Smile CORNERS (UP)
      . . C V B N M . . .   ← Row 3: Smile BOTTOM (DOWN)

Keys to press: 4, 6 (eyes), T (nose), D, J (smile corners), then C, V, B, N, M (smile bottom)

This creates an upward-curving smile because the corners (D, J) are ABOVE the bottom (CVBNM)!

To draw a simple house:

Col:  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
      . . . 4 5 6 . . . .   ← Row 0: Roof peak
      . . . R . Y . . . .   ← Row 1: Roof sides
      . . . F G H . . . .   ← Row 2: Upper walls
      . . . V B N . . . .   ← Row 3: Lower walls + door (B)

Keys: 4, 5, 6, R, Y, F, G, H, V, B, N

Then press B twice more to make the door blue!

Multi-Color Patterns

To make alternating colors:

  • Press row 1 keys once (purple eyes)
  • Press row 3 keys twice each (blue smile)

Musical Sequences

Ascending scale (sounds good): Z, X, C, V, B, N, M Descending scale: M, N, B, V, C, X, Z

Chord (multiple keys at once): Any keys pressed rapidly together blend into a chord.

Melodic patterns:

  • Arpeggios: A, D, G, K (skipping keys)
  • Octave jumps: A then Q (same column, different row)

Clearing the Grid

Switch away from the Music room and back, or use ClearAll() in demo script to reset all colors to off.

Art Room (F3)

Two Sub-Modes

Text Mode (Default)

  • Cursor: Purple vertical bar ▌
  • Typing: Characters appear at cursor, cursor moves right
  • Auto-wrap: At right edge, wraps to next line
  • Background: Subtle tint based on keyboard row (15% strength)

Paint Mode

  • Cursor: 3×3 blinking ring of box-drawing characters
  • Typing: Stamps colored blocks and advances cursor
  • Drawing: Hold Space + arrows to draw lines
  • Toggle: Press Tab to switch between modes

Color System

Keyboard Row → Color Family

Row Keys Color Family Tint (text mode) Paint colors
Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Grayscale None White → Black
QWERTY Q W E R T Y U I O P Red Dark red Light red → Dark red
ASDF A S D F G H J K L Yellow Gold/mustard Light gold → Dark gold
ZXCV Z X C V B N M Blue Dark blue Light blue → Dark blue

Within Each Row: Light to Dark Gradient

Left keys = lighter, right keys = darker:

QWERTY (Red family):

  • Q = #BF6C6C (light salmon)
  • T = #A32C2C (medium red)
  • P = #801C1C (dark burgundy)

ASDF (Yellow family):

  • A = #BFAF40 (light gold)
  • F = #AA7F40 (medium gold)
  • L = #875F40 (dark brown-gold)

ZXCV (Blue family):

  • Z = #6C8CBF (light periwinkle)
  • V = #3C5CAA (medium blue)
  • M = #1C3495 (dark navy)

Number row (Grayscale):

1: #FFFFFF (white)     6: #606060
2: #E0E0E0             7: #404040
3: #C0C0C0             8: #202020
4: #A0A0A0             9: #101010
5: #808080 (gray)      0: #000000 (black)

Color Mixing

How It Works

When you paint OVER an existing painted cell, the colors MIX using realistic paint physics (Kubelka-Munk spectral mixing):

First Color Second Color Result
Yellow (F) Blue (C) Green
Red (R) Blue (C) Purple
Red (R) Yellow (F) Orange
Any color Same color Same color

To mix colors in a demo:

  1. Draw with first color (e.g., yellow F)
  2. Draw OVER the same cells with second color (e.g., blue C)
  3. The overlapping cells become green!

Text Mode Background Tints

In text mode, backgrounds get subtle tints (15%) but don't mix. Typing over an existing cell replaces the tint.

Cursor Movement

Arrow Keys

  • Up/Down/Left/Right: Move cursor one cell
  • Diagonal: Hold two arrows simultaneously
  • Edge behavior: Cursor stops at edges (no wrapping)

Positioning the Cursor

To get to the center of the canvas:

# Assuming ~80 wide × ~24 tall canvas
# Move right ~40 times and down ~12 times
for _ in range(40):
    PressKey("right")
for _ in range(12):
    PressKey("down")

Or use a helper in the demo script to estimate center based on typical terminal size.

Enter Key

Moves down one row, keeps column position. Useful for vertical typing/drawing.

Backspace

  • Single press: Erase character, fade background 50%
  • Hold 1+ second: Clear entire canvas

Drawing Lines

Space + Arrows

  1. Enter paint mode (Tab)
  2. Select a color (press a letter key with Shift to select without stamping)
  3. Press and hold Space
  4. While holding Space, press arrow keys to paint in that direction
  5. Release Space to stop drawing

Each arrow press while Space is held:

  • Moves cursor in that direction
  • Paints the cell you moved INTO

Directional Typing

Hold an arrow key while typing to advance in that direction instead of right:

  • Hold Left + type → text goes leftward
  • Hold Down + type → text goes downward

Paint Mode Tricks

Shift + Letter = Select Color Without Stamping

In paint mode:

  • G = Select gold color AND stamp at cursor
  • Shift+G = Select gold color, DON'T stamp

Use this to "load your brush" before drawing a line.

The Brush Ring

The 3×3 blinking ring shows:

  • Your current brush color (in the box-drawing characters)
  • What's under the cursor (the center "hole")

Combining Text and Paint

  1. Paint a colorful background
  2. Press Tab to switch to text mode
  3. Type text over the painted area
  4. Text appears with readable foreground on colored background

Play Room (F1)

Input Types

Pure Math

2 + 2           → 4 (with dots: ••••)
3 * 4           → 12 (×4 displays as multiplication)
10 / 2          → 5 (÷2 displays as division)
(2 + 3) * 4     → 20 (parentheses work)

Emoji Expressions

cat             → 🐱
3 cats          → 🐱🐱🐱
cats            → 🐱🐱 (bare plural = 2)
cat + dog       → 🐱 🐶
3 * 4 cats      → 12 🐱 (with label + 12 cats displayed)

Color Mixing

red + blue      → Purple swatch (Kubelka-Munk mixing)
red + yellow    → Orange swatch
blue + yellow   → Green swatch
3 red + 1 blue  → Weighted mix (more red)

Combined Expressions

2 + 3 cats      → 5 🐱 (math attaches to emoji)
red + 3 cats    → Red swatch + 3 🐱
what is 2 + 3   → "what is 5" (text preserved)

Speech/Sound

Triggers

Input Effect
cat! Shows 🐱, speaks "cat"
!cat Same (! anywhere works)
say cat Speaks "cat"
2 + 3! Shows 5, speaks "2 plus 3 equals 5"
Enter (empty) Repeats last result aloud

What Gets Spoken

  • Simple word: Just the word ("cat")
  • Math: "input equals result" ("2 plus 3 equals 5")
  • Emoji math: "3 times 4 cats equals 12 cats"
  • Colors: The resulting color name ("purple")

Color Mixing Details

Same Kubelka-Munk algorithm as the Art room:

Mix Result
red + blue Purple
red + yellow Orange
blue + yellow Green
red + blue + yellow Brown-ish

Weighted mixing: 3 red + 1 blue leans more red than 1 red + 1 blue.

Autocomplete

  • Appears after typing 2+ characters
  • Shows matching emojis and colors
  • Press Space to accept suggestion
  • Shows both emoji icon and color swatch for words like "orange" (both 🍊 and color)

Demo Tricks for Play Room

Quick Impressive Queries

hello!              → Shows greeting, speaks it
red + blue          → Purple swatch (magic!)
3 + 2 cats          → 5 🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
blue + yellow       → Green swatch
what is 5 * 5       → "what is 25" with 25 dots

Color Mixing Showcase

red + blue          → Purple
blue + yellow       → Green (realistic paint mixing!)
red + yellow        → Orange

Fun Emoji Math

3 cats + 2 dogs     → 🐱🐱🐱 🐶🐶
5 * 2 bananas       → 10 🍌 (with visualization)
(2 + 3) apples      → 5 🍎 (parentheses trigger label)

Demo Scripting Reference

Available Actions

TypeText

TypeText("hello!", delay_per_char=0.08)

Types characters one at a time. Works in any mode.

PressKey

PressKey("enter", pause_after=0.5)
PressKey("space", count=2)  # Toggle paint mode in Art
PressKey("space")    # Accept autocomplete or type space
PressKey("up")       # Navigate/scroll

PlayKeys

PlayKeys(
    sequence=['e', 'i', 'a', 'l', 'c', 'v', 'b', 'n'],
    seconds_between=0.5,
    pause_after=0.5,
)

Special sequence items:

  • 'a' = single key
  • ['a', 's'] = chord (simultaneous)
  • None = rest (silence)

DrawPath

DrawPath(
    directions=['right', 'right', 'down', 'down', 'left'],
    color_key='f',        # Yellow (ASDF row)
    delay_per_step=0.1,
)

Automatically enters paint mode if needed.

SwitchMode

SwitchMode("music")   # F2
SwitchMode("play")    # F1
SwitchMode("art")     # F3

Pause

Pause(1.5)  # Wait 1.5 seconds

ClearAll

ClearAll()  # Reset all modes to clean state

Demo Design Tips

Music Room Pictures

Plan your key sequence on paper first:

Grid planning:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L ;
Z X C V B N M , . /

Mark which keys to press for your shape.
Assign colors by press count.

Art Room Drawings

  1. Position first: Use multiple PressKey("down")/("right") to get to starting position
  2. Draw shapes: Use DrawPath with directions
  3. Mix colors: Draw overlapping paths with different color_keys
  4. Add text: Press Tab to exit paint mode, then TypeText

Play Room Wow Moments

The most impressive demos:

  1. Color mixing (red + blue → purple)
  2. Emoji math with visualization (5 * 3 cats)
  3. Speech (hello! with sound)

Timing

seconds_between controls the gap between each key press:

  • seconds_between=0.5 = half a second per note
  • seconds_between=0.33 = fast
  • seconds_between=0.67 = slow, dramatic

Multi-Color Music Room Patterns

To get different colors on different keys:

# First set of keys: press once (purple)
PlayKeys(sequence=['e', 'i'], seconds_between=0.6)

# Second set: press twice (blue)
PlayKeys(sequence=['a', 'a', 'l', 'l'], seconds_between=0.4)

# Third set: press three times (red)
PlayKeys(sequence=['c', 'c', 'c', 'n', 'n', 'n'], seconds_between=0.3)

Art Room Color Mixing Demo

# Draw yellow square
DrawPath(directions=['right', 'right', 'right'], color_key='f')
PressKey("down")
PressKey("left")
PressKey("left")
PressKey("left")
DrawPath(directions=['right', 'right', 'right'], color_key='f')

# Draw blue stripe through it (creates green where they overlap!)
PressKey("up")
PressKey("left")
DrawPath(directions=['right', 'right', 'right', 'right'], color_key='c')

Quick Reference Tables

Music Room Grid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0   ← Percussion sounds
Q W E R T Y U I O P   ← High marimba (392-988 Hz)
A S D F G H J K L ;   ← Mid marimba (196-494 Hz)
Z X C V B N M , . /   ← Low marimba (98-247 Hz)

Art Room Color Keys

1-0: Grayscale (white to black)
QWERTY: Red family (light to dark)
ASDF: Yellow family (light to dark)
ZXCV: Blue family (light to dark)

Color Mixing Results

Red + Blue = Purple
Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green

Room Shortcuts

Esc (tap): Open room picker (Play, Music, Art)
Esc (hold 1s): Parent mode
F1: Play room
F2: Music room
F3: Art room
Tab (in Art): Toggle text/paint mode