Are you a beginner at developing games? Or do you just want to make things easy by using a simple platform yet gives the result needed?
Whatever your reasons are, you can choose to develop your game using Scratch.
The Scratch programming platform is user-friendly as it uses visual coding technology. This means that instead of the usual coding through text, Scratch offers the option to code graphically or visually. The developer can utilize blocks and drag-and-drop processes for your chosen action or feature.
Before we learn how to develop games with Scratch, let us know its programming language basics.
- Sprites- In the world of Scratch, a Sprite is an object. It can be anything- a character like animals, things, or even a clickable button. What makes Scratch convenient is that every project has Sprites loaded in it. The code blocks can control these Sprites.
- Code blocks- Like what we have said earlier, Scratch uses blocks in coding. The code blocks control all configurations for the game and stories. There are different types of code blocks, such as motion blocks, looks blocks, sound blocks, event blocks, and control blocks.
Here are Some Tips on How You Can Develop a Game with Scratch
Brainstorm and Create a Plan
As Dale Carnegie emphasized,” An hour of planning can save you ten hours of doing.” You are not limited to an hour of planning, though, but make sure that you allot time to brainstorm and create your plan for your intended game. Having a good game design can make it a breeze later on when you do your coding.
Think of the details of your game. First, what is the objective of the game? Do the players need to click on as many falling objects within the given time? Or do they need to drag as many items in a specific location without getting hit by someone chasing you?
Then, think of your theme. The theme makes the game more appealing to the players and can create a good experience for the users. When you have decided on your theme, you can incorporate an appropriate backdrop and characters for the game.
Plan the level of difficulty for your game as well. Find the right balance of easiness and difficulty to keep your players engaged. You can use your java skills to make extensions for Scratch 2.0.
Lastly, brainstorm and draft the mechanics of the game.
Add a Suitable Backdrop
Once you have finalized your plans, you can now add a suitable backdrop based on your chosen theme. To do that, click the “Choose A Backdrop” button in the lower right-hand corner. This button will show you different background art options for your project.
When you hover over that button, it will show you various options like creating your background, uploading your own background image, or choosing from the readily available backdrops.
Create Your Sprites
Now that you have your backdrop, it is time to create your Sprites or characters. Like creating backdrops, you need to click the lower right of the screen and hover at the Sprite icon. After doing that, a menu will appear, showing your options like upload, paint, or choose a ready-made Sprite.
Add the Code
In this step, your mechanics and instructions for the game will come in handy. Tell the game when to begin by choosing a “when clicked block” (green flag). Choose the applicable code blocks based on what you want to happen for your game. You can now incorporate Sprite’s movement, difficulty level, and scoring based on your code blocks.
Make it Engaging with Sounds
Attach a sound block to add sound options for your game. You can record your preferred sound or choose from Scratch’s library.
Keep Going
Once done, you can keep adding more codes to customize your themes, visuals, difficulty levels, and outcomes. You can also maximize Scratch extensions such as timer players’ lives to make the game more exciting. From a single-player, you can also level up in creating multiplayer games on Scratch.
What Kinds of Games can You Develop?
There are plenty of games that you can develop from Scratch- from the simple ones like collecting games, dodging games, and question games to complex games. Some of the best Scratch games include Geometry Dash, Paper Minecraft, Pokemon Clicker, and Flip3D.
To improve your skills in Scratch, you need to practice until you get better at developing games. It would also help you to look at how other games were programmed. Learning Java and other programming languages can aid you in improving as well.
To Sum Up
Use your creative juices by developing your own game. Scratch is a versatile and easy programming platform that you can explore. Plan the game you want to come up with, and build your code with this programming language. Later on, you can level up from a beginner to a master game creator!
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