Author: Atomic Toddler

Graphics are important part of any video game. In this lesson we’re going to learn how to do some basic sprite tasks that will give you more control over how a sprite behaves on screen. You will definitely use what you learn today in your own games. Part A – Common Sprite and Image Options…

In the past several lessons we have used simple if statements to check the values of variables to help us decide whether or not to execute some code. While these simple conditions work well, sometimes you need slightly more complicated conditions in your code. In this lesson we will take a look at some of…

We’ve been making good use of variables in the past few lessons. The variables we have been using are called instance variables because each instance (object you create in the game) keeps the variable inside of itself. There are other types of variables in programming. One type is a global variable. Global variables are not…

‘Sprites are in the eye of the beholder’ – unknown An important aspect of any game is the graphics.  Everyone that has played a video game knows that an object sprite can change as the object performs different actions.  Think about a player that is walking, running, jumping, attacking, defending, and so on; the sprite…

Congratulations on making it this far in the course and surviving all those modifications in Level 04.  Now you are ready for Level 05. In this level we will introduce you to a few new concepts that you will find very useful in any game or program that you decide to create.  We will explore timing, introduce…

‘Practice does not make perfect.  Only perfect practice makes perfect.’   – Vince Lombardi So you’ve learned a good handful of basics and you are ready to show off.  Here’s your chance.  This level is purely about practicing what you’ve learned.  You will build up two of the projects you already have started: The Two Player Game…

‘Create, change, and check.  The three C’s of variables.’ This level is all about giving your games the power to create, change, and check game variables.  Variables like score, user name, hit points, items collected, best time, enemies defeated, which item they have selected, current stage number, energy levels – you get the point! After creating a variable…

‘The best part of this level is challenging a friend to a battle when you’re done.’ You are taking this course to make a game, so lets get right to making your first program – a simple two player battle game. Players will move around the level and be able to fire balls at each…

‘This level is like the first simple level in many video games that is so easy that even your mom could complete it.’ Get ready to have some fun learning to program!  The first step is, of course, to get what we need to start learning how to game program.  This level is like the first simple…

In the previous lesson/s you used random numbers in the step event to make objects perform tasks at random times. But sometimes you want an object to perform a task at specific time intervals. This lesson will cover two popular methods for making objects ‘time’ their actions. Part A – Using Counters Watch the video:  05-01-A Donefile:…