How to Code a Ninja Jumping Game (Game Design Class) Ages 10-15

Students will learn to make a ninja jumper game, which simulates various jumping games where players must continuously jump from platform to platform to keep the player above the bottom of the screen. The player gains points by touching a coin that jumps to various places on-screen, making the player have to use strategy and take risks in order to get a higher score. Students can choose from two different ninja designs for their character. 

Students will practice the using the game engine interface to program actions that respond to events. We will also discover how to create new objects while a game is running, and learn how to code platforming game by detecting collisions. Once we have built some skills programming objects, we learn how to program a timed loop so that we get an unlimited stream of platforms to jump to. We will also program a .

The class will follow along with me live, watching my screen and doing what I do. As we code, I'll explain what how the code we are using works. We'll get as far as we can in two hours, which should be plenty to finish the game. 

There is a learning curve to getting the game engine set up initially, but no previous coding experience is required to understand these lessons! Work through projects in a logical, strategic series of steps that introduces students to a powerful video game engine using real code. The visual blocks of code, similar to the visual style of the Scratch platform by MIT, can be converted into the actual text code at any time. 

Students will need a desktop or laptop computer for this course. ***A Chromebook, tablet, or smart phone are not sufficient.***

REQUIRED: You must have downloaded and installed GameMaker Studio 2 before the first day of class. You must also open up the .zip test project file provided before the day of class. The download comes with a free 1-month trial license, so you are encouraged to download and activate the software 1-2 days before class starts. If you have trouble with this, you can send me a message on Outschool and I'll help.

PLEASE NOTE: All of my sessions with Outschool are recorded. I will post a link to the recording of each meeting in the classroom within a day or two of the meeting. If you miss a class, you'll be able to watch the videos for each project. I wouldn't recommend missing many sessions because part of the fun is working with the class and interacting live!