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 1 (Beginner)
Escape Game
Today you will create an escape game in which a player must avoid other sprites that move randomly. Click on the link below and follow the instructions in the videos.
Scratch 2 (Intermediate & Advanced)
Finish Off the Google Chrome Dino Game
Part 1 – scrolling the ground:
(graphics here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HHHACJn-fGwXVyZXQ9mUL-_UgnE9pP3o)
Part 2: Get T-Rex to jump
Can you do this bit yourself without any instructions? Try to add some scrolling cactuses for T-Rex to jump. Do you know how to jump? If you’ve coded platformers before, you know ow to make a sprite jump.
If you’re stuck, here’s a ‘quick and dirty’ tutorial showing one way to do it (these instructions are a bit hard to follow so ask Aidan for help if you can’t follow it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShVggPFWavk
Part 3: Add the cactuses for T-Rex to jump over
The code for this will be very similar to the code for making the ground scroll.
Part 4: Add pterodactyls and clouds. Add scoring.
The cloning and scrolling code for the pterodactyls and clouds will be similar to scrolling the cactuses. The clouds will scroll a bit slower so that they appear in the distance (parallax scrolling). The pterodactyls will scroll a bit faster so that they appear to be moving relative to the ground.
Part 5: Finish the game
Can you finish it yourself?????
Here’s what needs to be done:
- Day/Night – no need for additional costumes, you can use brightness! (note: if you add 100% brightness to black it becomes white!)
- Print scores using custom font (see this video tutorial to learn how to render text)
- Speed up as game goes on – Should be as easy as changing the scrollspeed variable!
Graphics and sounds for the game
You can find all the graphics and sounds here:
Graphics and sounds for T-Rex Runner
Introduction to Robotics
This session is run by Nathalie. An introduction to robotics using mBot robot kits and a block programming language called mBlock which is similar to Scratch.
Raspberry Pi (with Microcontrollers and other cool stuff)
A collaborative group exploring how computers can interact with the outside world through a range of sensors and controllers. Primarily we’ll be using the Raspberry Pi (http://raspberrypi.org) computer in conjunction with Arduinos (http://arduino.cc) and along the way we’ll learn about Python, C and C++ programming, digital and analogue electronics and about working together.
Electronics, Microcontrollers and Raspberry Pi session information