Day 5 (April 30, 2015)

Welcome to Day 5! Today we will continue to learn about If-Then statements and their effects on computer code.

Activity 1 - 

If you completed Day 3  on CS First then you will complete Day 4 today. If you completed Day 4  on CS first then you will complete Day 3 today.

Go to CS First using this link: http://www.cs-first.com/user/login

Follow along with the videos, they have all the directions you need to complete today's activity. 

Activity 2

Today you're going to build a "Launcher Game." You may have played other games that launch a character, for example, "Angry Birds." The Launcher Game, features a player who is launched through a sea of enemies. When the player touches the finish line, a new enemy appears. This game introduces cloning in Scratch, as well as a game development concept: increasing difficulty.

Go to CS First using this link: http://www.cs-first.com/user/login

Follow along with the videos, they have all the directions you need to complete today's activity. 

Activity 3 - Exploring Scratch

Modding on Scratch! Video game designers will often look to games that have already been created for inspiration. Scratch has a fantastic feature that allows us to look at how people have coded their game to help us learn how to do more complex tasks.

Follow the directions below to complete this activity. Write down any unique code you find and what it does. You never know where you find a discovery that will help you creat your fantastic game.

1. Find a game on Scratch that you really enjoy play.

2. Press the button that says REMIX in the top right corner.

3. Now you should see the code that makes the game. Try changing the code and see what affect it has on the game. Remember to record your observations.

Activity 4 - Working on your Game

Continue Brainstorming!  Below is list of the types of games that CS First has or will be teaching us to make. You are not limited to these types of games but these types of games are often the foundation for others (plus they will be easier to make since we have learned how.)

CS First Topic:
Racing Games ------------- An example of a real racing game would be Drive Club
Maze Games  -------------- An example of a real maze game would be Amnesia or Pac Man
Platform Games ----------- An example of a real platform game would be Mario or Limbo
Escape Games ------------- An example of a real escape game would be Slender
Launcher Games ---------- An example of a real launcher game would be Angry Birds
Falling Objects Game ---- An example of a falling objects game would be Tetris

Cave Surfing Games ----- An example of a cave surfing game would be Badland

Day 4 (April 16, 2015)

Welcome to Day 4! Today we will continue to learn about If-Then statements and their effects on computer code.

If you completed Day 3 last week on CS First then you will complete Day 4 today. If you completed Day 4 last week on CS first then you will complete Day 3 today.

Don't forget to check out our showcase of the week!

Activity 1

Go to CS First using this link: http://www.cs-first.com/user/login 

Follow along with the videos, they have all the directions you need to complete today's activity. 

Activity 2

Modding on Scratch! Video game designers will often look to games that have already been created for inspiration. Scratch has a fantastic feature that allows us to look at how people have coded their game to help us learn how to do more complex tasks.

Follow the directions below to complete this activity. Write down any unique code you find and what it does. You never know where you find a discovery that will help you creat your fantastic game.

1. Find a game on Scratch that you really enjoy play.

2. Press the button that says REMIX in the top right corner.

3. Now you should see the code that makes the game. Try changing the code and see what affect it has on the game. Remember to record your observations.

Activity 3

Brainstorming! Begin creating a list of ideas that you have for games. Below is list of the types of games that CS First has or will be teaching us to make. You are not limited to these types of games but these types of games are often the foundation for others (plus they will be easier to make since we have learned how.)

CS First Topic:
Racing Games ------------- An example of a real racing game would be Drive Club
Maze Games  -------------- An example of a real maze game would be Amnesia or Pac Man
Platform Games ----------- An example of a real platform game would be Mario or Limbo
Escape Games ------------- An example of a real escape game would be Slender 
Launcher Games ---------- An example of a real launcher game would be Angry Birds
Falling Objects Game ---- An example of a falling objects game would be Tetris
Cave Surfing Games ----- An example of a cave surfing game would be Badland

Day 3 (April 8, 2015)

Whoo! We have made to Day 3! Today is an action packed day - we are going to do two CS First activities in one day!

Game Design Concept: If-Then Statements

Read the statement below:
Think of game or video game that uses boundaries or walls to control where a player can go. [for example football, Pac-man, the Legend of Zelda, etc.] In today's games, and in most video games, If-Then statements are used to create these boundaries. These if-then statements are programmed to read: "If a player is touching the boundary, do something, like deduct a point, or stop them. Think of If-Then statements as cause and effect statements (or like a hypothesis in science class!):

• If I fall down, then I will hurt myself.
• If I give a plant more water, then it will increase in height.

Answer the question below in your VGD Notebook.

1. Explain If-Then statements in your own words.

Activity 1  

We will be learning to make to make two types of games this week: a maze style game and a platform game.

Activity 2 

Play a game on Scratch and complete the Game Design worksheet in your VGD Notebook.