Video-games 101: Unleashing the potential of students and teachers to create fun stuff Presented at Scratch Conference 2013, 25-27 July, Barcelona. Since 2006, hundreds of learning resources about Scratch have been developed and shared through the Internet. Therefore, learning how to install Scratch, arrange the blocks, upload projects, or create simple animations is straightforward for younger scratchers. However, they often realize that knowing how to use the Scratch programming environment does not necessarily mean knowing how to develop video-games. Moreover, teachers are usually not aware that their Mathematics, Physics or Arts knowledge can easily turned into video-game programming skills. With the purpose of helping both students and teachers to develop their own video-games in mind, we have created an online course that will be open and freely available for everyone. The course covers several kinds of video-games and provides step-by-step tutorials to build them from scratch. The first section explains typical videogame mechanisms (i.e., scores, stages, etc.). The second section shows how to build a simple “snake” game using Scratch 2.0 new features like cloning or saving high scores in the Cloud. Section 3 is aimed to create a “Pang” version where simple Physics knowledge is needed to define the movements of the balls. In the fourth section of the course, we use a “Pac-Man”-like game to introduce basic concepts of Artificial Intelligence. Section 5 is focused on horizontal scrolling games like “Super Mario”. Non-arcade video-games are explained in section 6 with a two-player “Checkers” videogame. Finally, miscellaneous demos and proof-of-concepts are shown in section 7. We want to explain how to create completely finished games, not simple demos. Therefore, each section shows every aspect involved in their development (i.e., architecture, design, fx, coding). In summary, our aim is to create an environment where students and teachers could learn how to use their Mathematics, Physics, or Arts knowledge in a fun-oriented way.

1. Scratch Conference
25-27 July 2013, Barcelona
Rubén del Río
Pablo Garaizar
Universidad de Deusto
VIDEOGAMES 101:
UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL OF
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO
CREATE FUN STUFF

2. Outline
● Yet Another Video-game Course?
● Video-games 101:
● Basics.
● Video-games: Snake, Break-out, Checkers,
PacMan, Super-Tux.
● Roadmap
● Conclusions

3. Yet Another Video-game Course?

4. There are hundreds of Scratch tutorials
Literally
http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/

5. Most of them are about video-games
Not all of them
http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/history-poison-american-food

6. But usually they are too simple
No stages, no high-scores, simple physics, etc.
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11438647/

7. The 1-hour tutorial syndrome
I already know EVERYTHING about Scratch
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmannion/6453262489/

8. Let's face big challenges
Design and create a real video-game, not a demo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwinton/1805350177/

9. But... Why a MOOC?
Nobody told you that 2013 is the anti-MOOC year?

10. Not everybody learns at the same pace
Some get it immediately and get bored, some others need more time
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwinton/1805350177/

11. Video-tutorials are just canned content
But there is still place for creativity in their projects
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnak/3632943359/

12. We can overcome the 1-hour tutorial syndrome
Not only in Programming, but also in Maths, Physics or Arts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/7694808786/

13. We wanted a simple platform
The course is currently at Udemy
http://udemy.com/scratch-20

14. Video-games 101

15. The basics
Loops, levels, scores, high-scores, end of the game, etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waagsociety/8535813901/

16. Snake
Clones, high-scores, destroy
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10111373/

17. Break-out
Basic physics, levels, power ups, destroy
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10114215/

18. Checkers
Mouse-based interactions, limited movements by the rules, 2-players, matching & destroy
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10124912/

19. Pac-Man
Tile-based game development, simple IA for ghosts, fancy scoring display, avoid & destroy
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11416867/

20. Super-Tux
Horizontal scrolling, relative physics, different levels, avoid
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11549583/

21. Roadmap

22. Roadmap
There is still work to do
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/videogames-101

23. Conclusions

24. Up to 60 videos & 40 activities
From the basics to real video-games
http://udemy.com/scratch-20

25. There is still work to do
New video-games, new activities, new editions of the MOOC, etc.
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10266404/ http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10028395/

26. We want to share it with the community
All the content is copyleft, we are open to suggestions, comments or criticism
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waagsociety/8536919460/

27. Thank you ;-)
and... happy scratching!
2rurio txipi

28. References
● Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., Rusk, N., Eastmond, E.,
Brennan, K., ... & Kafai, Y. (2009). Scratch: programming for all.
Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60-67.
● Czikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience.
Praha: Lidové Noviny.
● Salen, K. (2004). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. The MIT Press.
● Scratch 2.0, http://scratch.mit.edu.

29. All rights of images are reserved by the
original owners*, the rest of the
content is licensed under a Creative
Commons by-sa 3.0 license
* see references in each slide