Scratch Programming – The Platform Game
The platform game is a very simple version of a classic platform game. It uses a black square as its hero.
The game only has one level to start with. It's up to you to design and build the new levels needed.
There's a YouTube video of the game being played here:
Instructions:
1. Download the game
The basic Platform game – you may need to right click and save as to save the game to your computer
You will need to make sure that you know where your game is saved.
2. Open the file
- Go to the Scratch website
- Click Create
- File > Load from your computer > find the file and open it
You can download a full set of instructions or use the simple ones below.
3. Play the game
Click the green flag to play the game. Try and figure out how to move the hero (the black square) and what each of the blocks do. There is only one level at the moment.
4. Look at the code
The hero (the black square) is the only sprite. The code on this is quite tricky. Concentrate on the ways that colour blocks are used (the "if touching..." blocks). This is what makes the game work.
5. Design some new levels
On paper, design what you think will make 3 or 4 good levels. Try and make each level a little more challenging. Perhaps there are more red blocks, or the yellow block is high up? You could try and include some new blocks or power-up items if you feel brave.
6. Build the next level
- Click on the Stage area at the bottom right
- Now click on the Backdrops tab at the top left
- IMPORTANT: Right click on backdrop1 and Duplicate. This copies the backdrop so that you have a blank one to use later
- Build the level. It's easiest to use rectangles, circles and lines to do this and fill them with the colour you need
Colour codes - it's crucial that you use the right colour code.
Each level needs a black baseline drawn for the hero to bounce on.
A helpful improvement that you might want to try
Improvements
There are lots of things you can do to improve your game. Here are some good places to start: