Go further with Arcade. Every sprite of a kind, functions and parameters, gravity and jumping, levels from lists, and power-ups that run out, ending in a power-ups challenge and a game of your own. Each unit points to a MakeCode skillmap that practises it.
★ Challenge completeDo something to every sprite of a kind, name a job as a function, and hand it a value.
Get a list of every sprite of a kind, and use a for element loop to do something to each one.
Name a job once as a function, call it wherever it is needed, and see that every event block is a function too.
Give a function a parameter, so each call hands in a value and the job is done a little differently each time.
Gravity, a floor, and a jump that works only from the ground.
Give a sprite gravity with ay, so it falls faster and faster, and a jump rises, slows and comes back down.
Put the jump inside an if that asks whether the player is on the floor, so it only works from the ground.
A level that goes up where the score changes, and a list of what each level is like.
Keep the level in a variable and change it where the score changes, with a goal that moves up each time.
Keep what changes from level to level in a list, and look it up with the level as the place, counted from 0.
True or false to remember a power-up, and a number that makes it run out.
A variable that holds true or false remembers whether a power-up is on, so an overlap can ask about it.
A number that counts down limits a power-up, and the event checks it first, so it never goes below zero.
A prize box of power-ups in milestones, then which games suit Arcade. An optional lesson builds your own game.
Challenge: grow the shield game into a prize box: a blaster with limited ammo, a smart bomb, then a power-up of your own.
Work out which games Arcade is built for, which take extra work, and which it cannot really do, then pitch and prototype a game that fits.
Turn your pitch card into a real game. Get the core loop working, add a way to win and lose, then polish it with one idea from the course.
Progress is saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
For teachers: Teacher guide (notes, answers, solutions, slides and worksheets)