Y4 LF Using hyperlinks to design a Roman Villa adventure

Jan 172022
 

Please leave a comment if you would like any help

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/z7k8q6f

1 Explore an example

2 The project

We are going to create an adventrue around a Roman Villa by using “hyperlinks” between pages in j2e5 – this is how website links work – you make something on the page into a button that sends the viewer to another place when you click on it.  These “buttons” could be pictures, text or even invisible areas on the page.  Where you send them could be another part of that page, a different page or even to play a sound clip.

Here is a starter project – you could find more pictures and add more pages:

3 How to create an invisible link (eg for a doorway)

  1. Draw a rectangle or any shape
  2. Select it and untick “outline” and “fill”
  3. Place it on the doorway or where you want to click
  4. Make sure it is selected (blue square)
  5. Click “link”
  6. Type for example “#page 3”
  7. Make sure it is the correct page number!  Click “ok”
  8. “View” to test it

Ideas

  1. What’s the point of the game? Add an information box
    1. Include an instruction at the start
      1. Find the lost Roman necklace – leave clues…
      2. Find information about the Roman villa – have pop up info boxes using animate
  2. How to make an Information box appear
    1. Make an information box
    2. Select it then click “animate” (instead of “link”)
    3. Make it appear when it is clicked on or hovered over.
    4. Information box video
  3. Zoom into a picture
    1. Use the same picture but crop then enlarge to a detail
    2. Add something extra to the zoomed in page, eg a note, sign or clue
    3. Zoom into a picture video
  4. Include a sound
    1. Go to one of the garden pages
    2. Click on pictures then shared pictures
    3. Drag on the “calm garden” sound.
    4. Select it and tick: “autostart” and “loop”
    5. Send it to the bottom layer to hide.
    6. Add a sound – video instructions
  5. Record a sound 
    1. Click and “record sound”.  Record and save a sound.
    2. Add to page – you could set it to autostart or loop when the page is loaded.
    3. Or draw an invisible shape or select an picture
    4. Click “link” and “to sound” – “my sounds” and drag it into the box
    5. Record and link a sound video
  6. Website
    1. http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/houses/roman.htm

Success criteria

  • First page – Aim of the game – box
  • All rooms linked up
  • Aim – eg hidden item, answer to question
  • End – winning screen, losing screen – option to restart
  • Fade in between pages
  • Challenge
    • ** Secret tunnels
    • ** wrong turns
    • ** information boxes
    • l** link to info website eg primary homeork help Roman houses
    • ** Sound clips
    • ** What have players learned about the Romans/Roman houses by playing your game?

Y6: Scratch Blackout Game

Feb 252020
 

We are going to make a WW2 Blackout game

LF1 Computational Thinking

LF2 Game brief – decompose

A game company would like you to make a WW2 blackout themed computer game featuring, the landscape of a UK city threatened by the Blitz.  The aim is to put up blackout curtains in the daytime before nightfall so that the bombers will pass harmlessly overhead during the night.  Successive screen will become harder with more windows to cover and bigger buildings.  Wardens will be patrolling.  You may have to find or buy blackout material.  Depending on how completely you blackout the city, bombs will fall.  How long can you keep your city from being destroyed – a percentage score could drop after each night of bombing….

  • Work through CT principles for the brief
    • 1 Don’t panic – understand the problem
      • Questions and answers, notes
    • 2 Break it down (decomposition)
      • Make a list of characters, backgrounds, objects
      • What do each need to do?
      • Make a list of simple steps – these need to be as small as possible
    • 3 Use your knowledge and experience
      • In Scratch – remind yourselves of the different types of blocks and what they do
    • 4 Create a plan (algorithm)
      • Take your steps from stage 2 one at a time and use Scratch blocks to code them
    • 5 Try it!
      • Test it out often
    • 6 Evaluate
      • What works?  What do you need to change? Tinker

Here is an example of decomposing – just looking at the main character, break it down into what we will need to code:

LF3 Drawing sprites, costumes and backgrounds

  • Refer to your notes from last week  (in j2e – Scratch Blackout Game)
  • Draw new sprites and costumes
  • Draw the background
  • By the end of the lesson, you must have at least a sketch of every sprite, costume and background.

Example video 2

LF3: Triggers and actions

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step ~ Ancient Chinese proverb

Take one single simple idea at a time and turn it into Scratch code.

For every thing you want to happen, there are two parts

  • Trigger – what sets it off
  • Action – what the consequence is

Examples of triggers:

  • Beginning of the game  
  • When keys are pressed 
  • When one object touches another object 
  • When one sprite touches a colour
  • When a play button clicked  
  • Other examples in Events blocks

Examples of actions

  • Turn the background dark (night time approaching) – repeat, change brightness effect by -10, wait 1 second
  • Sprite walking – forever, costume 1, costume 2
  • Keyboard controls move right – when right arrow pressed, change x by 5
  • Bomb dropping – go to random position, set y to (top of page), repeat 20, change y by -10
  • Bomb exploding – next costume, play sound

Example video 3

LF4 One step at a time

  1. Keep working on little bits of coding
  2. Feedback – How did that go? form
    1. List what you have coded, eg boy steps, keyboard controls, bomb drops

Y4 Create a dragon maze with hyperlinks

Feb 012018
 
  1. In my files, make a new folder and call it “Dragon maze”
  2. Page 1 – LF Insert pictures and shapes
    1. Make a new j2e5 page
    2. Change the size to 640×480
    3. Add a picture of a castle entrance
      1. I have shared some pictures with you
    4. Draw a shape ScreenHunter_145 Jan. 09 07.52 around the door
    5. Untick the outline so the shape is invisible
    6. Save as “Castle entrance”
  3. Page 2
    1. Make a new j2e5 page
    2. Change the size to 640×480
    3. Add a picture of an entrance hall
    4. Save as “Entrance hall”
  4. LF Organise pages into folders
    1. In my files, drag both your pages into the “Dragon maze” folder
    2. Each time you make a new page, drag it into the folder
  5.  LF Link pages
    1. Open “Castle entrance”
    2. Select the invisible door shape
    3. Click link
    4. Browse
    5. Select “Entrance hall”, link
    6. Ok
    7. Save
    8. View – to test your link
  6. LF Add more pages and links
    1. Add more pages and links to build up a journey through the castle
    2. You could make a j2e5 page which is a map of the rooms like this one: Castle map
  7. LF Refine your design!
    1. Check pages are correct size
    2. Make pages same size
    3. Choose font carefully – keep it consistent
    4. Change background colour?
    5. Link to map/beginning on each page – same

Success criteria

  • Change size of page
  • Insert shared images
  • Draw and format shapes
  • Create links to other pages
  • Use a folder in my files

Finished?

  • Hide a dragon in one of the rooms
  • Get someone else to play your game and suggest improvements.  Then take their advice and improve it!
  • Add animations (magic items)
  • Hide clues or doorways (behind objects that disappear when you click on them?)

 

  • Red – use text, shapes, pictures
  • Orange – resize, move, change font, colour
  • Yellow – working links
  • Green – lining up, page size, detail, map
  • Blue – style choices, intro, animations, seek on and act on advice
  • Purple – polished work