Here are the activities that each group will be working on today:
Newcomers
If you are new to CoderDojo and new to computer programming this is where you start:
Scratch – Guided
NOTE: Make sure your computer has sound that works because you will need to listen to instructions in videos. If the sound is not working switch to a different computer if one is available.
1. Build a Basic Platform Game
Follow these instructions to build a basic platform game.
Click here for instructions for the Platform Game
After you complete the basic project try to complete all the add-ons to improve the game. If you don’t have time to do all the add-ons the best ones for improving the game are:
1. Bug Fix: Land on your feet … or not
2. Splash! You loose
3. Moving platforms
2. Make more improvements
Even with the add-ons, our platform game is still very basic and not working so smoothly. Here are some more things that could be improved:
- Have you noticed that if you keep pressing the up arrow key the player will keep rising? In a platform game the player should only be able to jump when he is on the ground or on a platform. Fortunately we can fix this easily with an if block.
- After the game is over you can still move the player. Why? Look at what events are being used to move the player. What do you notice? Do you see that these key press events will always be active? We can solve this problem by changing the way we move the player.
3. Build your own Platform Game
Using what you have built so far as a starting point build your own platform game.
Scratch – Freeform
Next Mission: Make a role-playing/adventure/quest game
A role-playing game (RPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a main character immersed in some well-defined world. Usually the character explores the game world and can interact with objects and other characters, collect objects, solve puzzles and complete quests in order to complete the game.
Here is a tutorial for making a basic Quest type role-playing game:
https://www.cs-first.com/studentpage/introduction-quest-game
You can use the starter project that comes with this tutorial as a starting point for your own RPG/adventure game or start from scratch if you prefer. Today you can start by completing the tutorial to get some basic game mechanics and ideas. Then in the next few weeks you can work on making your own unique RPG. We will finish off this term with a really spectacular show and tell of your games!
Learn JavaScript
Continue working through the lessons on Codecademy to learn JavaScript, just click the link below to get started. Use the login you have already created or if this your first time, start by clicking the Sign Up button in top right corner of screen and create an account for yourself to track your progress.
Learn Python
Python is the language that the Raspberry Pi group is using to program the Raspberry Pis. Use the login you have already created or if this your first time, start by clicking the Sign Up button in top right corner of screen and create an account for yourself to track your progress.
Raspberry Pi
John Paul is away for the rest of this term, he’ll be back next term. So instead of working on Raspberry Pi today, you can choose to work on Python which will help you with your Raspberry Pi work, Javascript or Scratch.
Raspberry Pi session information