Creating a kart

Now that we have a racetrack, the next important thing to create is a race kart. Again, we will use images from the original Mario Kart game.

Prepare for lift off

Go online and find a Mario Kart sprite sheet depicting Mario in his race kart. A sprite sheet is a special type of image that's often used in professional 2D games. It collects all of the costumes that belong together into a single image. That way, an image only has to be loaded once. The game program only shows a small part of the sprite sheet at any given time. With scripts, the window through which you view the sprite sheet can be moved. This has an effect similar to changing costumes in Scratch; it creates animation.

We will assemble a row of costumes that shows the character in his kart from all angles. By moving through the costumes, the sprite will appear to rotate by a full circle. We will use these costumes later to indicate the direction the character is facing in the game.

For this stage, an external image...