Project 19: Don't Fall in!

 Page 1


Don't fall in!
Introduction
This                      project guides you to use your new skills and encourages you to make design choices based 
on your interests.
1
What you will make
You will create a top-down parkour game where your character navigates obstacles or platforms. The goal is 
to jump, glide, bounce, or ?y to reach moving platforms and make it to the ?nish.
Top-down, or bird’s-eye view, games are designed so the player looks down on the game from above. In 
some games, this view is used throughout, while in others, it appears only in speci?c modes, such as a design 
or strategy mode. Can you think of any games you’ve played that use a top-down view?
Play
To play the game, click the spacebar or tap the Stage to jump to the next platform. Time your jumps so you 
don’t fall in the custard. 
Open the URL (rpf.io/cc-d?) in your browser to play the game and try to ?nd out the answers for the questions 
given below.
? How does the game create a top-down view?
? How does the character’s size change when it 
?ies?
? What happens if you don’t land on a platform? 
(Go on, do fall in the custard!)
Get ideas 
You are going to make some design decisions to make a top-down platform game of your own. You’ll choose 
the theme, colours, character, number of platforms, and the difficulty level.
Explore these example projects to get more ideas:
Baby bird: To explore the project more, open the URL 
(rpf.io/cc-bb) in your browser.
Log hopper: To explore the project more, open the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-lh) in your browser.
Page 2


Don't fall in!
Introduction
This                      project guides you to use your new skills and encourages you to make design choices based 
on your interests.
1
What you will make
You will create a top-down parkour game where your character navigates obstacles or platforms. The goal is 
to jump, glide, bounce, or ?y to reach moving platforms and make it to the ?nish.
Top-down, or bird’s-eye view, games are designed so the player looks down on the game from above. In 
some games, this view is used throughout, while in others, it appears only in speci?c modes, such as a design 
or strategy mode. Can you think of any games you’ve played that use a top-down view?
Play
To play the game, click the spacebar or tap the Stage to jump to the next platform. Time your jumps so you 
don’t fall in the custard. 
Open the URL (rpf.io/cc-d?) in your browser to play the game and try to ?nd out the answers for the questions 
given below.
? How does the game create a top-down view?
? How does the character’s size change when it 
?ies?
? What happens if you don’t land on a platform? 
(Go on, do fall in the custard!)
Get ideas 
You are going to make some design decisions to make a top-down platform game of your own. You’ll choose 
the theme, colours, character, number of platforms, and the difficulty level.
Explore these example projects to get more ideas:
Baby bird: To explore the project more, open the URL 
(rpf.io/cc-bb) in your browser.
Log hopper: To explore the project more, open the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-lh) in your browser.
Planet bounce:To explore the project more, type the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-pb) into your browser
 
2
In this step, you will add a character and backdrop, 
and create start and end platforms.
Choose your theme
Open the URL (rpf.io/scratch-new ) in your browser 
to open a new Scratch project. Delete the cat sprite. 
Create a solid colour backdrop.
You will be taken to the Scratch Paint editor with 
the new backdrop highlighted. If you have other 
backdrops in your project, you will also see them 
in the list:
Make sure you can see the full backdrop canvas, you might need to use the Zoom out tool:
To set the main colour of the backdrop, click on the 
Rectangle tool then use the Fill colour chooser to 
select a colour:
Paint a single colour backdrop
Click the Choose a Backdrop menu and select Paint.
Page 3


Don't fall in!
Introduction
This                      project guides you to use your new skills and encourages you to make design choices based 
on your interests.
1
What you will make
You will create a top-down parkour game where your character navigates obstacles or platforms. The goal is 
to jump, glide, bounce, or ?y to reach moving platforms and make it to the ?nish.
Top-down, or bird’s-eye view, games are designed so the player looks down on the game from above. In 
some games, this view is used throughout, while in others, it appears only in speci?c modes, such as a design 
or strategy mode. Can you think of any games you’ve played that use a top-down view?
Play
To play the game, click the spacebar or tap the Stage to jump to the next platform. Time your jumps so you 
don’t fall in the custard. 
Open the URL (rpf.io/cc-d?) in your browser to play the game and try to ?nd out the answers for the questions 
given below.
? How does the game create a top-down view?
? How does the character’s size change when it 
?ies?
? What happens if you don’t land on a platform? 
(Go on, do fall in the custard!)
Get ideas 
You are going to make some design decisions to make a top-down platform game of your own. You’ll choose 
the theme, colours, character, number of platforms, and the difficulty level.
Explore these example projects to get more ideas:
Baby bird: To explore the project more, open the URL 
(rpf.io/cc-bb) in your browser.
Log hopper: To explore the project more, open the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-lh) in your browser.
Planet bounce:To explore the project more, type the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-pb) into your browser
 
2
In this step, you will add a character and backdrop, 
and create start and end platforms.
Choose your theme
Open the URL (rpf.io/scratch-new ) in your browser 
to open a new Scratch project. Delete the cat sprite. 
Create a solid colour backdrop.
You will be taken to the Scratch Paint editor with 
the new backdrop highlighted. If you have other 
backdrops in your project, you will also see them 
in the list:
Make sure you can see the full backdrop canvas, you might need to use the Zoom out tool:
To set the main colour of the backdrop, click on the 
Rectangle tool then use the Fill colour chooser to 
select a colour:
Paint a single colour backdrop
Click the Choose a Backdrop menu and select Paint.
Drag the shape over the full backdrop canvas:
Choose: Will your character move from left to right, 
or bottom to top?
3
Paint a new Start platform sprite.
Start with a simple single coloured shape. You can 
turn the outline off by choosing the red diagonal line.
You can add more detail later.
Centre your costume in the Paint editor.
Centre your costumes
? Sprites rotate around their centre. You can 
see if your sprite is centred by looking at the 
small grey crosshair shown in the Paint editor:
? If the crosshair is not at the centre of your 
costume, you can use the Select tool to 
highlight the full costume. A cross will then 
show in the centre of your highlighted 
costume:
? You can drag the highlighted costume so that 
the cross in the costume aligns with the 
crosshair:
Page 4


Don't fall in!
Introduction
This                      project guides you to use your new skills and encourages you to make design choices based 
on your interests.
1
What you will make
You will create a top-down parkour game where your character navigates obstacles or platforms. The goal is 
to jump, glide, bounce, or ?y to reach moving platforms and make it to the ?nish.
Top-down, or bird’s-eye view, games are designed so the player looks down on the game from above. In 
some games, this view is used throughout, while in others, it appears only in speci?c modes, such as a design 
or strategy mode. Can you think of any games you’ve played that use a top-down view?
Play
To play the game, click the spacebar or tap the Stage to jump to the next platform. Time your jumps so you 
don’t fall in the custard. 
Open the URL (rpf.io/cc-d?) in your browser to play the game and try to ?nd out the answers for the questions 
given below.
? How does the game create a top-down view?
? How does the character’s size change when it 
?ies?
? What happens if you don’t land on a platform? 
(Go on, do fall in the custard!)
Get ideas 
You are going to make some design decisions to make a top-down platform game of your own. You’ll choose 
the theme, colours, character, number of platforms, and the difficulty level.
Explore these example projects to get more ideas:
Baby bird: To explore the project more, open the URL 
(rpf.io/cc-bb) in your browser.
Log hopper: To explore the project more, open the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-lh) in your browser.
Planet bounce:To explore the project more, type the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-pb) into your browser
 
2
In this step, you will add a character and backdrop, 
and create start and end platforms.
Choose your theme
Open the URL (rpf.io/scratch-new ) in your browser 
to open a new Scratch project. Delete the cat sprite. 
Create a solid colour backdrop.
You will be taken to the Scratch Paint editor with 
the new backdrop highlighted. If you have other 
backdrops in your project, you will also see them 
in the list:
Make sure you can see the full backdrop canvas, you might need to use the Zoom out tool:
To set the main colour of the backdrop, click on the 
Rectangle tool then use the Fill colour chooser to 
select a colour:
Paint a single colour backdrop
Click the Choose a Backdrop menu and select Paint.
Drag the shape over the full backdrop canvas:
Choose: Will your character move from left to right, 
or bottom to top?
3
Paint a new Start platform sprite.
Start with a simple single coloured shape. You can 
turn the outline off by choosing the red diagonal line.
You can add more detail later.
Centre your costume in the Paint editor.
Centre your costumes
? Sprites rotate around their centre. You can 
see if your sprite is centred by looking at the 
small grey crosshair shown in the Paint editor:
? If the crosshair is not at the centre of your 
costume, you can use the Select tool to 
highlight the full costume. A cross will then 
show in the centre of your highlighted 
costume:
? You can drag the highlighted costume so that 
the cross in the costume aligns with the 
crosshair:
4
Occasionally, you might want to choose a point to 
rotate around that is not the centre of the costume. In 
that case, you can align your chosen costume 
rotation point with the crosshair in the Paint editor:
Position your Start platform sprite where you want 
your character to start the game.
Create a simple End platform sprite. You can add more detail later.
Centre your costume in the Paint editor.
Position your End sprite on the Stage where you want your character to ?nish the game.
Create a character sprite.
Choose: Do you want to add or paint a character 
sprite?
You might want to add a top-down character sprite 
such as Tatiana, Taylor, or Trisha.
Or, paint your own character sprite. Start with simple 
shapes and add details later. Centre your costume in 
the Paint editor. Steps to paint your own character sprite 
is given below. 
Drawing sprites
? Use the drawing tool in the Costumes tab to paint your new sprite.
? When you are ?nished, don’t forget to give your new sprite a sensible name.
Your character sprite needs a start script to get everything set up for the beginning of the game.
Make a variable called landed, and set it to the size your sprite should be when it has landed and is not 
jumping.
? Click Paint on the Choose a Sprite menu to Paint new sprite.
Page 5


Don't fall in!
Introduction
This                      project guides you to use your new skills and encourages you to make design choices based 
on your interests.
1
What you will make
You will create a top-down parkour game where your character navigates obstacles or platforms. The goal is 
to jump, glide, bounce, or ?y to reach moving platforms and make it to the ?nish.
Top-down, or bird’s-eye view, games are designed so the player looks down on the game from above. In 
some games, this view is used throughout, while in others, it appears only in speci?c modes, such as a design 
or strategy mode. Can you think of any games you’ve played that use a top-down view?
Play
To play the game, click the spacebar or tap the Stage to jump to the next platform. Time your jumps so you 
don’t fall in the custard. 
Open the URL (rpf.io/cc-d?) in your browser to play the game and try to ?nd out the answers for the questions 
given below.
? How does the game create a top-down view?
? How does the character’s size change when it 
?ies?
? What happens if you don’t land on a platform? 
(Go on, do fall in the custard!)
Get ideas 
You are going to make some design decisions to make a top-down platform game of your own. You’ll choose 
the theme, colours, character, number of platforms, and the difficulty level.
Explore these example projects to get more ideas:
Baby bird: To explore the project more, open the URL 
(rpf.io/cc-bb) in your browser.
Log hopper: To explore the project more, open the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-lh) in your browser.
Planet bounce:To explore the project more, type the 
URL (rpf.io/cc-pb) into your browser
 
2
In this step, you will add a character and backdrop, 
and create start and end platforms.
Choose your theme
Open the URL (rpf.io/scratch-new ) in your browser 
to open a new Scratch project. Delete the cat sprite. 
Create a solid colour backdrop.
You will be taken to the Scratch Paint editor with 
the new backdrop highlighted. If you have other 
backdrops in your project, you will also see them 
in the list:
Make sure you can see the full backdrop canvas, you might need to use the Zoom out tool:
To set the main colour of the backdrop, click on the 
Rectangle tool then use the Fill colour chooser to 
select a colour:
Paint a single colour backdrop
Click the Choose a Backdrop menu and select Paint.
Drag the shape over the full backdrop canvas:
Choose: Will your character move from left to right, 
or bottom to top?
3
Paint a new Start platform sprite.
Start with a simple single coloured shape. You can 
turn the outline off by choosing the red diagonal line.
You can add more detail later.
Centre your costume in the Paint editor.
Centre your costumes
? Sprites rotate around their centre. You can 
see if your sprite is centred by looking at the 
small grey crosshair shown in the Paint editor:
? If the crosshair is not at the centre of your 
costume, you can use the Select tool to 
highlight the full costume. A cross will then 
show in the centre of your highlighted 
costume:
? You can drag the highlighted costume so that 
the cross in the costume aligns with the 
crosshair:
4
Occasionally, you might want to choose a point to 
rotate around that is not the centre of the costume. In 
that case, you can align your chosen costume 
rotation point with the crosshair in the Paint editor:
Position your Start platform sprite where you want 
your character to start the game.
Create a simple End platform sprite. You can add more detail later.
Centre your costume in the Paint editor.
Position your End sprite on the Stage where you want your character to ?nish the game.
Create a character sprite.
Choose: Do you want to add or paint a character 
sprite?
You might want to add a top-down character sprite 
such as Tatiana, Taylor, or Trisha.
Or, paint your own character sprite. Start with simple 
shapes and add details later. Centre your costume in 
the Paint editor. Steps to paint your own character sprite 
is given below. 
Drawing sprites
? Use the drawing tool in the Costumes tab to paint your new sprite.
? When you are ?nished, don’t forget to give your new sprite a sensible name.
Your character sprite needs a start script to get everything set up for the beginning of the game.
Make a variable called landed, and set it to the size your sprite should be when it has landed and is not 
jumping.
? Click Paint on the Choose a Sprite menu to Paint new sprite.
5
Get your character to go to the Start when ?ag clicked. 
Add a go to front layer block, so your character is on 
top of the platforms.
Tip: Uncheck the landed variable in the Variables 
Blocks menu so that it doesn’t show on the Stage. The 
user doesn’t need to see this variable.
Tip: It’s a good idea to broadcast a start message at 
the end of your setup script to let other scripts know 
when to start, otherwise they might start before 
everything is ready.
Debug:
My sprite is pointing in the wrong direction
The Direction property in the Sprite pane can be used 
to control the direction the sprite is pointing in. Turn 
the wheel to make a sprite point in the direction you 
need.
Give your project a title that describes your game.
Jump, hop, bounce, or glide!
In this step, you will code your character to jump 
from start to end platforms.
You are going to make your character jump across 
the Stage. Don’t worry about falling in yet
Choose: Add a jumping sound that suits your 
character.
Adding a sound from the library
? Select the sprite you want to add the 
sound to:
? Click the Sounds tab, and click Choose a 
Sound:
Note: Remember to save your project.