Chapter 1. Getting to know your way around Scratch

 

Scratch is a drag-and-drop programming language made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Each block (piece of code) is written in ActionScript, Adobe’s programming language, which means your game will need Adobe Flash to run. That’s important to know because Scratch won’t work on any device that doesn’t have Flash, such as iPads, so you’ll need to work on a computer.

To make a game, you snap the virtual blocks together like LEGOs, and Scratch implements the code behind the scenes to run your program. That’s what makes Scratch a visual, drag-and-drop language. MIT programmers assigned pieces of code to each block, and now you can snap those blocks together to create a program.

What can you make with Scratch? The short answer is anything. With this book, you’ll learn how to make multilevel platformers, fast-paced shoot-em-ups, and reflex-testing games worthy of an arcade. Rather than wait for companies to make the next hot game, you’ll be the designer making the games everyone wants to play.

Before you begin making games, you need to learn about the various sections of the Scratch workspace. In this chapter, you will learn

  • How to navigate the five main areas of the Scratch workspace
  • How to locate the tools you’ll use when making your games
  • How to snap together blocks to build a program
  • How to manage your sprites

Building your first program

Answer This: What Does the Stop Sign Do?

Navigating your way around the screen

Answer This: Can You Make the Cat Go to the Left?

Answer This: Can You Change the Speech Bubble?

Answer This: Is There More Than One Way to Copy a Sprite?

Answer This: Is There Really a Third Way to Clone a Sprite?

Answer This: What Is the Timer Counting?

Answer This: Does Changing Numbers Change What Happens?

Wrapping up the tour

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