In this week’s game design video we finish up on our Scratch game Lockdown Letters. Click the video below to learn how to code the paper aeroplanes that the player flies to the targets that we looked at last week.
Never assume Scratch is something only younger children use! At First Coding, we regularly submit the games we make in Scratch to game design competitions, competing alongside Unity developers and other independent game designers.
In this episode we’ll be looking at how the random targets in the game are coded.
Every Friday they’ll be a new video showing how we make the game Lockdown Letters. Click the video below to learn how to build the title screen as well as the background.
Please consider subscribing to the First Coding Patreon page to get access to the Scratch file for Lockdown Letters as well as other creative coding resources.
Welcome to the first episode of our Scratch game design series. Every Friday they’ll be a new video showing how we make the game Lockdown Letters. Click the video below to learn how to build the title screen as well as the background.
Please consider subscribing to the First Coding Patreon page to get access to the Scratch file for Lockdown Letters as well as other creative coding resources.
JOIN FIRST CODING AS WE MAKE A LOCKDOWN COMPUTER GAME
Starting Friday 24th April
First Coding is about to start making its first computer game inspired by the current lockdown. We’ll be making Lockdown Letters step by step in a series of weekly videos, with a new one available every Friday.
We would love it if you followed along and made your own version of the game – adding your own ideas too. The concept is simple, you’re one of many people in a town currently under lockdown and you must circulate letters of encouragement to other households to keep the town’s spirits up. You can only communicate with people by writing notes on paper aeroplanes and flying them to their destinations.
We’ll be building the game in Scratch, and during the guide, you’ll find out how to make the game, converting it to HTML so that you can package it up for distribution, and even some tips on how you can earn some cash from your game.
About Scratch
At First Coding, we regularly submit the games we make in Scratch to game design competitions, competing alongside Unity developers and other independent game designers. Never assume Scratch is something only younger children use! You can see our recent Scratch competition entries at The Rocket Arcade if you’re interested!
Starting Friday 24th April on Facebook and YouTube!
Like our Facebook page and YouTube channel to follow your dreams of becoming a games designer. Open to all ages and abilities. Every week a new video will be posted, along with the opportunity to view previous sessions if you may have missed. There will be four weekly videos concluding with a fifth live Q & A session.
If you were one of the pupils who made their own Caesar cipher apps last term, you maybe interested to see this post from the Science Museum. Can you crack it? If you can solve it, then take what you’ve learnt and try and make your cipher more robust. Good luck!
Three new coding clubs kick off this week. The pupils will be learning how to code their own text adventure games in Python. These games were a huge part of most people’s childhood and if you would like to learn more about them then I would recommend books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. Here are my only surviving copies from the 80s and 90s.
Use handy game design guides to build your own games.
Help your child bring their ideas to life.
First Coding resources deliver creative and fun coding activities for ages 8 and above plus helpful guides and podcasts including game design tips, hacking Minecraft and making money from your creations.
For just $5 a month, get access to the complete resource archive – with more added every month. Take a look for free here: https://www.patreon.com/FirstCoding/posts
The summer workshops may not be over yet but I’m already so impressed with the standard of work being produced. Whether it’s the young coders who are giving Scratch a go for the first time or teens who are wanting to develop their Python more, along with building their own apps, your ideas and projects have been a great deal of fun. Keep up the great work.
Here are the titles from one of the games to come out of the app building workshop.
Weekly game jams such as the one held over at WeeklyGameJam are a great way of getting inspired and experimenting with new game design ideas. It’s also a great way to meet and interact with a community of people who share the same passion for games and coding as you do.
I decided to take my own advice this time and took part in the Can’t Touch It! theme where you have to build a game within a week that fits with the week’s chosen topic. After brainstorming a couple of ideas I got to work building a prototype in Scratch, then I worked on polishing it once I was happy the game mechanics were working. I’ve seen the most fantastic games that were built within a day, mine titled Circles was built in two days. I’ve detailed the process I followed over on my personal blog here.
The idea of the game is to continuously contain the smaller moving circle with the ever decreasing perimeter.
I have been so impressed over the last few months at the standard of work coming out of the various clubs and courses I run, I’ve always wanted to give the students further direction with regards to their creativity and coding. So I hit the ground running this year and after a great deal of hard work have produced this 24 page booklet on game design and distribution.
I used to make zines all time years ago and could see the layout of the booklets in my mind easily. It appears I’ve lost that skill these days but I managed to nail it with help from an old zine-making friend. Thank you!
