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Scratch Cookbook
Scratch Cookbook

Scratch Cookbook: If want to get your programming know-how off the starting blocks in a fun, involving way, then this guide to Scratch is perfect. In no time you'll be building your own interactive programs that include animations and sound.

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Profile Icon Brandon Milonovich
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$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (8 Ratings)
Paperback Jul 2013 262 pages 1st Edition
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zł59.99 zł177.99
Paperback
zł221.99
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Brandon Milonovich
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4 (8 Ratings)
Paperback Jul 2013 262 pages 1st Edition
eBook
zł59.99 zł177.99
Paperback
zł221.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
zł59.99 zł177.99
Paperback
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Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Scratch Cookbook

Chapter 2. Storytelling

In this chapter, we will cover:

  • Adding words to a sprite

  • Adjusting the timing

  • Sprites interacting with other sprites

  • Basic broadcasting and receiving

  • Resetting parts of a program

  • Other fun graphic effects

Introduction


In the previous chapter, you learned about a lot of different basic things that we can do with Scratch. You learned specifically about the Scratch interface and created your first project, incorporating control and movement blocks. This chapter will focus on how you can use Scratch to tell a story.

We'll primarily be interested in learning more about the Looks blocks, Control blocks, and Events blocks. Take a look at each recipe to get a good understanding of these types of blocks. While these recipes focus on storytelling, we'll use a lot of these concepts in later chapters as well, for other types of projects we make.

Adding words to a sprite


One of the first things we need to know to tell a story using Scratch is to display words on the screen to convey the story. For this recipe, we'll need to use some of the concepts we learned in the previous chapter.

Getting ready

Start off by importing a new sprite (unless you like the default) as well as a background you like. Also, start thinking about a story you want to tell—or you can just follow what we do here!

There are two blocks that we are going to use to accomplish all of this, one of which we used already in the previous chapter. This family of blocks are the say and think blocks:

Recall that the first one in this list is the block we used in the previous chapter.

Tip

So what's the difference between all of these blocks?

Two of these blocks help with timing. These are the first and third in the picture that include a time condition. These are the ones we will focus on because we generally want to control how long the words are displayed on the screen.

The...

Adjusting the timing


There is a good chance that the story you have in mind includes more than one sprite. This means that you are also going to need to think about timing in your story since you don't want to have both sprites talking at the same time.

Tip

Timing can become more and more complex depending on the program, especially as you add more and more sprites and length to your story. A good way to handle this situation is to think ahead of time as to when you want your sprite to speak, and when you want them to simply observe. Having this planned out will help you program much more quickly.

Getting ready

Continuing with our existing story, add another sprite. For example, we added a frog to our program in the bottom center. Copy over the same code (that we used for the first sprite) to make the second sprite think and talk. Note that if you duplicated the sprite, this is done for you. You'll notice both of them talking at the same time, which is what we are going to learn to fix (see...

Sprites interacting with other sprites


When making your story, there is a good chance you will want to get movement on the stage so your story is a bit more exciting. This recipe focuses on how to have sprites react when they are touching or moving around other sprites.

Getting ready

For this recipe, we're going to continue working with the story we built in our previous recipes of this chapter. Our goal for this recipe is to get Frog to move across the screen and react to Monkey Mike when they touch.

How to do it...

We're going to bring back some scripting from our first chapter to get the job done. Let's get started:

  1. To begin the movement of Frog, the user will have to click on the sprite. We'll need to provide directions to the user in order to accomplish this. At the end of Frog's dialogue (from before), add another say block and give it the text Click me to get me moving.

  2. Now we'll introduce a new top hat block. This is the when this sprite clicked block, located under the Events blocks category...

Basic broadcasting and receiving


Broadcasting and receiving is conceptually one of the most challenging ideas we've gotten to so far. That's because the idea is slightly more abstract than some of the other things we've discussed. Let's first talk a little about the principle it is built on, and then go into how it works in Scratch.

Getting ready

We have two separate ideas to think about. The first is the idea of broadcasting. Think of it as a radio station that sends out a signal that only radios can hear. If you are walking around outside, you're not going to hear anything. If you turn on a radio though, you can hear everything being broadcast. Receiving is kind of like the radio. It listens for a specific signal being broadcast, and then will trigger the code placed under it.

In Scratch, we have two blocks that act in this way. The broadcast block and the when I receive block, both of which are Events blocks. We'll talk more about these in the How it works… section coming up.

For this recipe...

Resetting parts of a program


This recipe introduces, more formally, what we did at the end of the previous recipe when we began the process of resetting aspects of our story. Sometimes when we have a program running various settings, placement of objects, variables, and so on, are going to get changed. When we run the program next time, we'll want all of those things to start from where we originally had them.

Getting ready

The example that we'll go through here is resetting the placement of Frog on the stage. This way, each time you click on the green flag, Frog will return to the same starting position.

How to do it...

To get this started, follow these steps:

  1. Drag Frog (on the stage) to the place where you would like him to start each time the program runs. Examine the script -area settings and note the x: and y: positions that are given. From the following screenshot, we can see that Frog has an x -value of 18 and a y -value of -145:

  2. We'll need to know these numbers in just a moment. To reset...

Other fun graphic effects


Now that we have a lot of the other story-creating features, we can have a little fun changing graphics in our story! You might have already taken a look and played around with some of the Looks blocks we haven't really talked about yet. This is where we will formally look at a few more of these.

Getting ready

Here in this recipe, we're going to focus on changing the color effect. Later, we'll also see a few other things you can do with the appearance of sprites. Our time will be spent adding the following three blocks to what we have so far:

The first of these will help us give our sprites some fun effects while the other two will be used to reset those effects back to our starting place.

How to do it...

Let's get started:

  1. Let's begin by making sure that everything is reset at the start of the program, even though we know nothing has been changed yet. This will make sure we don't forget to have our graphic effects reset later.

    Note

    These graphic effects are sprite specific...

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Key benefits

  • Get started using Scratch, or take your programs to a new level using simple, easy-to-read recipes
  • Learn techniques for animating stories
  • Create fun and engaging games

Description

Scratch 2.0 is an easy to use programming language that allows you to animate stories and create interactive games. Scratch also gives you the capability of using programming to calculate complicated calculations for you. Scratch Cookbook will lead you through easy-to-follow recipes that give you everything you need to become a more advanced programmer. Scratch Cookbook will take you through the essential features of Scratch. You'll then work through simple recipes to gain an understanding of the more advanced features of Scratch. You will learn how to create animations using Scratch. Sensory board integration (getting input from the outside environment) will also be covered, along with using Scratch to solve complicated and tedious calculations for you. You'll also learn how to work through the exciting process of project remixing where you build on the work of others. Scratch Cookbook will give you everything you need to get started with building your own programs in Scratch that involve sounds, animations, and user interaction.

Who is this book for?

Scratch Cookbook is great for people who are still relatively new to programming but wish to learn more. It assumes you know the basics of computer operation. The methods of using Scratch are worked through quickly with a focus on more advanced topics, though readers can move at their own pace to learn all the techniques they need.

What you will learn

  • Navigate smoothly through the Scratch 2.0 interface
  • Animate a story or visual
  • Build a basic one player game
  • Learn about adding graphic effects and working with variables
  • Develop multi-level games and integrate sensor (Pico) boards
  • Perform advanced calculations

Product Details

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Publication date : Jul 24, 2013
Length: 262 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849518420
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Product Details

Publication date : Jul 24, 2013
Length: 262 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849518420
Languages :
Concepts :

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
Getting Started with Scratch Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Storytelling Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Adding Animation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Basic Gaming Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Spicing up Games Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Bringing in Sound Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Integrating PicoBoards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Programming to Calculate Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Project Remixing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.4
(8 Ratings)
5 star 62.5%
4 star 25%
3 star 0%
2 star 12.5%
1 star 0%
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SD Meijer Apr 13, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book (written by Brandon Milonovich) is divided in different recipes.Each recipe (=chapter) addresses a subject, like story telling, game design, sound.After reading chapter 1 (“Getting Started with Scratch”), you can skip chapters and jump right to a chapter which you’re interested in (without reading the rest).The book explains a lot about all the basics.Therefore it’s an excellent book for beginners.It’s also a must-read for parents, teachers and others who helps children with programming in Scratch.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Mr. T Feb 20, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The scratch cookbook not only covers the essentials of Scratch, it also provides you with some great recipes to help you get stuck further into Scratch and get more from it.Its a great book which will give its readers a good solid grounding when using or starting with Scratch. Highly recommended and one we will be recommending to our young coders in the future.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Orbit Oct 20, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
In sampling this book, I realized the recipes are not for the kitchen, but for the computer!! And yet I was very impressed. I found the directions easy to understand and very appetizing, enough so that I not only ordered this book, but sent it along to my son for use with his young children. I know they'll all enjoy learning from such tasty tech treats. Good job and bon appetit.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
comp Sep 28, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Well written book for those needing beginning or more advanced concepts in Scratch. Covers the digital storytelling and game design concepts.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Julie Altmark Apr 07, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I've used this book to help my 3rd - 5th grade gifted students learn programming in Scratch. It is clear, concise, and has examples to demonstrate strategies. It's useful for beginners - intermediate learners.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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