Visual Programming with Scratch

Dr. Matthew Farber introduces making games in Scratch with visual programming

Eion Carroll takes us through how to make and use sprites, which are interactive images such as the player(s), game characters, obstacles, and other moving elements.

This lesson covers:

1. What are sprites?
2. Using Scratch costume blocks to animate sprites
3. Changing size of sprites
4. Rotating sprites
5. Adding additional sprites to projects
6. Uploading personal images, as well as drawing images, which then can become Scratch sprites
7. Assigning movement to sprites

This video covers:

1. Adding event blocks to sprites such as using arrow keys to control sprite movement
2. How to use Variable Blocks to create starting and ending points for moving sprites
3. How to change variables to move sprites across an x-, y- plane

Here Eion goes over more advanced ways to use animated sprites using Costume blocks.

This video covers:

1. Using costumes in the “Looks” menu
2. Selecting multiple costumes to give the illusion of animation (e.g., two cat blocks that are slightly changed to look like it is walking)
3. Adding if-then logic statements to sprites that trigger animation
4. How to move characters forward and backward
5. How to rotate images so sprites animate in the directions that they will move

Eoin talks through adding in backgrounds by selecting them from Scratch’s backdrops folder.

This video covers:

1. Adding existing backdrops into Scratch projects
2. Learning to upload a background, or paint your own
3. Having sprites interact in front of backdrops
4. Adding costumes as part of the backdrops (e.g., butts on the sky backdrop)
5. Change colors and shapes in background items
6. How to have backdrops change when the sprite leaves the edge of a game’s screen

Learn how to turn your Scratch environment into a game by adding variables.

This video covers:

1. Having a sprite interact with onscreen collectibles
2. Making collected sprites disappear and hide
3. Practice how to make enemies too.
4. Assign a scoring system using variables to track collected items
5. Making collectable or enemy sprites randomly appear and disappear
6. Assign randomness to actions
7. Havin actions repeat in a loop

Remix other Scratch users’ games, as well as take elements from other people’s projects, to make them your own.

This video takes us through:

1. How to explore and find other people’s projects
2. How to adapt and remix other people’s projects
3. Seeing inside projects’ codes people use
4. How to change the imagery of games but maintain the mechanics
5. Copy someone else’s project to be in your Project Page