Cartooning with Scratch

Scratch is used for making cartoons, games, tutorials and demonstrations.

The first project we undertook this semester was a cartoon.
The objective was to create a self-sustained animation sequence containing a minimum of two characters. These characters would tell a story during three scenes. The cartoon would have a logical beginning, middle and end.

This unit is an introduction to programming.
Students need to understand that all actions are determined, timed and sequenced. It takes time and patience to move the characters on the screen in the correct order.


First Scratch Project

Here are some screen shots of my game:

 

These shots were taken from an Ubuntu Linux distribution. 

The desktop is a bit different from versions you may have seen, but

Scratch works just as well on Linux as Windows or Macintosh.

House For Sale

My students learned how to create a house using a 3D program named Sketchup.
They had to follow a long series of instructions to create the final version.

Their projects should look something like this when done. I borrowed this file from a student.

Instructions:

Make the house.

in Sketchup create the scenes using the menus -File -->export-->animation-->video

Use MovieMaker to edit the movie. Place captions, subtitles and details including the price of

the house, location, number of rooms, etc. in the project.

Upload the finished movie .mp4 file to your blog and write about the creation process. This is your final Sketchup grade.

Coding Behind the Simon Game

At the end of our programming unit on Simon, a thorough explanation of all the code is necessary. The following slide presentation should walk you through the logic and design behind the game.

Making Your Own Blog

Part of what makes this class interesting is the fact that you are the game programmer, the artist and the idea-person behind everything you create. That also makes it pretty frightening. You get all the credit when things go right and all the blame when things go wrong. You shouldn't have to worry about your production right away, though. You are learning, and your blog is where you are going to write about what you create. Every week you will be contributing to your blog. The idea is to dedicate a blog to your gaming career. It probably will go a bit slowly at first, but the first assignment should be easy.

Here it is:
Write an entry on your favorite video game. The idea is to write about why you like it or what made it fun or what happy memories it brings to you to think about it. Obviously, there is a purpose behind this assignment, and that is to get you thinking about what other people did to make a game that you think is fun. After all, you won't be able to make a great game if you can't remember what made the first game you played fun in the first place. So knock yourself out and spend fifteen minutes reminiscing about what it was that made you enjoy playing games in the first place. For me, the game was Asteroids, what game caught your attention?

Welcome to Game Programming.
I will keep blog assignments in this section. You should bookmark this page for quick reference.

Assignment 1:
Look up the term algorithm in several online sources.
Make your own short definition based on what you have read. and write it in your blog

What would a real-life example of an algorithm be? State it and write it into your blog.

Answer this question:
Why are algorithms so important in game programming? Be specific. Think of a simple game and outline all the steps required to do one complete portion of it.