Game Arcade

Beginner

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

200 points

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet

Space Shooter

In this step-by-step lesson, students will learn how to create a space-themed game using MakeCode Arcade. They will design a spaceship, control its movements, and program it to shoot asteroids. The lesson also covers setting up game rules such as scoring points and losing lives. A fun and engaging way to learn coding!

Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Teacher Notes Lesson Files

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1 Introduction
2 Create a new Arcade project
3 Create your spaceship sprite
4 Control the spaceship
5 Set the number of lives
6 Create the asteroids
7 Program the asteroids
8 Fire rockets
9 Destroy asteroids
10 Lose a life
11 Game On!
Challenge
Quiz

1 - Introduction

Welcome to the Space Shooter game creation lesson! In this exciting course, you will learn how to create your very own space-themed game using MakeCode Arcade. You will control a spaceship that needs to dodge and shoot asteroids. Ready to start your space adventure? Let's dive in!

2 - Create a new Arcade project

Go to the arcade.makecode.com website and create a new project.

Arcade: How to create a new project

Create a new Arcade project using the makecode.com website.

5 points

3 - Create your spaceship sprite

In this game you will control a spaceship that has to dodge and shoot asteroids that come flying at it.

Add the following code to create the spaceship sprite and use the sprite editor to design your spaceship. It should point towards the right as that's where the asteroids will be coming from.

Rename your sprite to spaceship.

let spaceship = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . d d d . . . . . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 1 1 1 d d . . . . . . 
    . . 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . . . 
    . 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    2 4 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d 
    2 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    . 2 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 d d d . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 d d d d . . . . . . . 
    . . . . 2 d d . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)

Arcade: How to create a sprite in Arcade

Click on the gray box in the sprite block to open the Editor. You can choose a sprite from the Gallery or you can paint your own sprite using the Editor.

15 points

4 - Control the spaceship

Now add the following new code to control the spaceship with the arrow keys and set it so that it cannot go off the screen.

let spaceship = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . d d d . . . . . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 1 1 1 d d . . . . . . 
    . . 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . . . 
    . 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    2 4 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d 
    2 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    . 2 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 d d d . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 d d d d . . . . . . . 
    . . . . 2 d d . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)
controller.moveSprite(spaceship, 150, 150)
spaceship.setStayInScreen(true)

Make sure each block has the spaceship variable selected in it.

Click on the + on the move with buttons block and put in vx 150 and vy 150 to set the velocities for the x axis and y axis.

Once you've added the code test that you can move your spaceship around with the joystick (or the arrow keys on your keyboard).

20 points

5 - Set the number of lives

Now let's set the number of lives that the player will start with.

Add the following new code:

let spaceship = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . d d d . . . . . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 1 1 1 d d . . . . . . 
    . . 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . . . 
    . 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    2 4 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d 
    2 2 4 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 d d . . 
    . 2 2 4 4 1 1 1 1 d d d . . . . 
    . . 2 2 2 d d d d . . . . . . . 
    . . . . 2 d d . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)
controller.moveSprite(spaceship, 150, 150)
spaceship.setStayInScreen(true)
info.setLife(3)

Notice that there's 3 hearts on your screen that represent the number of lives.

10 points

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