Poke Dino

Using Scratch generate and its many features I created a mini-game called Poke Dino.

When met with making a project I wanted to create something that was entertaining and that was fun. I played a game that was feeding a cat till it got so big that it overtook the screen and I really enjoyed the game aspect of it. So I decided that I would too create a game that was fun and involved some sort of variables.

I first got started by sound hunting and creating my characters. I knew that I wanted it to walk so I found a sound I like from Berd to create a type of walking effect. Originally Berd used this sound so that "John Wick" could build a tower but I decided that it made a good walking effect.

Next was drawing a character, I originally was going to use an old sprite but decided to create something different. After pondering for a bit, I decided to draw a Dino. I simply made a green Dino with three frames to it. One where his legs were lifted in a walking way, and another where he was screaming. The I did a simple stance pose.

For the last part was creating the code to make my dream possible. The first thing I worked on was enabling him to be click to move. This was actually harder than I thought it was and I had to think in math terms. I wanted Dino to move after a certain amount of times he was clicked. I quickly learned how to use variables to my advantage and had to think in terms of math to set it right. Essentially, Every time Dino is clicked its sets x by 1 point and when x is 10 it'll set itself back to 0 and broadcast a message as well as change the background. It also moves Dino to a random position.

The code waits till message '1' is broadcasted and when it does it'll play the "walking" sound as well as change his hue. Scratch also switches his costume to the walking frame I made and he'll say, "Stop poking me." After he picks a spot to settle the code stops all sounds.

After creating all this, I decided that I wanted him to get annoyed. I had been taking small TikTok breaks and heard this glorious sound by sinmineral. I added a click counter so that it would display how many times Dino had been clicked. Scratch reads the times he was clicked and when it hits the magic number (155 in this case) it broadcasts message '2'. When Scratch detects message '2' it drags Dino to the center of the page, changes his costume, and plays the scream sound while also saying "S T O P."

This process was very satisfying to me because I always wanted to create a game of some sort. The difficult part was trying to think in code. I wanted to create this mini-game but I couldn't figure it out. At first I tried adding too many variables and it wasn't working. I then cut it down to one and it still wasn't working. Then that's when I had to stop and think to myself. I discovered by saying what I wanted I could think of it better. I told myself "I want Dino to move around after I click it 10 times." By doing this I was able to think math and when looking at all the possible blocks I could play with, I began to think in code. I could make my 'x' variable and use a '=' block. By thinking in code, I was able to pull my project together.

For my future students, I want them to play with Scratch and create any type of game. Not only is it educational but its also fun and challenging. They are able to think of something and create it and I want them to explore this type thought-process. Just like me, they too will learn how to think in code and create their imagination through a programming language.

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