Overview
Launcher Game: At-A-Glance
In this lesson, students create a launcher game using key press events, clones, and variables. In this game, a player must launch and navigate a sprite across a screen of bouncing enemies.
Topics introduced
- Cloning
- Increasing game difficulty
Video 1: Launcher Games and Randomness
In this video, students will:
- Open the starter project on the CS First Page.
- Add a sprite and shrink it.
NOTE: Students will not code any parts of this project until after watching the second video.
Video 2: Launch a Sprite
In this video, students will:
- Move the sprite forward when the spacebar is pressed.
- Use a “repeat until” and a “touching finish line” block to repeat moving forward until the sprite reaches
the finish line.
- Set the starting position using a “go-to” block.
Video 3: Turn the Sprite Left and Right
In this video, students will:
- Create arrow key press events.
- Program the arrow keys to turn the sprite right and left.
- Keep turning the sprite until the arrow keys are no longer being pressed.
Video 4: Spawning Enemies
In this video, students will:
- Add an enemy sprite.
- Create a clone of the enemy when the flag is clicked.
- Add a “when I start as a clone” event (found in control) to the code you already created for bouncing the sprite.
Video 5: Keeping Score
In this video, students will:
- Create a “score” variable for the player sprite.
- Make the score go up by 1 when the sprite touches the finish line.
- Create enemy clones and program the sprite so it stops moving if it touches an enemy.
- Make the game harder by having it create an enemy clone every time a point is scored.
Add-On 1: Finish Line Cheer
In this video, students will:
- Add a sound that will play when a player touches the finish line.
- Add a “play sound” Block.
Add-On 2: Shrinking Finish Line
In this video, students will:
- Make your finish line shrink using negative numbers.
- Reset the size of your finish line.
Add-On 3: Bonus Points!
In this video, students will:
- Create a bonus sprite and make it appear randomly.
- Reset the bonus sprite’s location to its starting position.
- Allow a player to earn points by touching the bonus sprite.
Experience:
- At least Scratch Introduction and Intermediate
Suitable Age Group:
- Preferably 9 to 14 years old
Class Capacity:
Class Schedule:
- Date: 9 Sep 2023
- Time: 1330 to 1630
Class Location: