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This wikiHow teaches you how to create a basic racing game using MIT's free Scratch program. The main point of this racing game is to complete the track in as little time as possible without crashing.
Steps
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Open Scratch. Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/ in your computer's web browser.
- Scratch is a free programming resource for beginners.
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Click Create . It's a tab at the top of the page. Doing so opens the Scratch interface.Advertisement
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Close the "All Tips" sidebar. Click the X in the list of tips on the right side of the page. While not completely necessary, doing this will make it easier to work in Scratch's interface.
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Enter a title. In the text box with "Untitled" written in it that's in the upper-left corner of the page, enter your game's title (e.g., "My Racing Game").
- You may first have to enable Adobe Flash by clicking the Allow prompt or logo.
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Delete the cat-shaped sprite. Right-click the cat in the "Sprites" window that's in the lower-left side of the page, then click delete in the resulting drop-down menu.
- On a Mac, you can hold down Control while clicking the sprite to prompt the drop-down menu.
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Click the Backdrops tab. It's at the top of the Scratch page.
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Fill in the background. Before you can draw your track, you'll need to create the background on which the track resides:
- Click the paint bucket icon that's below the T icon.
- Select your track's background color (e.g., green for grass) at the bottom of the page.
- Click the background on the right side of the page.
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Draw your track. You can make your track as uniform or irregular as you like:
- Click the brush icon that's at the top of the list of tools.
- Select a color for your track (e.g., black) at the bottom of the page.
- Increase the brush width by dragging right the slider at the bottom of the page.
- Draw the track in a cyclical (not necessarily circular) shape.
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Add a finish/start line. Select a color that's different than the one you used for the background and the track, then decrease the brush's width and draw a line across the place in which you want the race to finish.
- This is also the point in front of which your car will start the race.
- You may want to use the straight line tool, which resembles a back slash ( \ ) below the brush icon.
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Click the "Paint new sprite" icon. It's a brush-shaped line in the upper-right side of the "Sprites" pane, which is in the lower-left side of the page.
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Zoom in. Click the "Zoom in" icon, which resembles a magnifying glass icon with a + in it, at least four times. You should see the large ＋ icon in the middle of the right-hand pane grow larger.
- If you didn't do it earlier, you may first have to close the "Tips" sidebar on the right side of the page by clicking the X icon in the sidebar's left-hand corner.
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Draw your racer. Using the brush, draw your racer however you like.
- If you're making a car, you might want to use the rectangle tool (the rectangle-shaped icon) to draw the body and then add the car's wheels with the circle tool.
- The ＋ icon in the pane represents the center of your racer.
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Draw a crashed racer. Click the brush shaped "Paint new costume" icon below the "New costume" heading, then draw a crashed (or otherwise different) version of your racer. This is the version which will display if your racer touches the grass or any other obstacles you define later.
- For example, if your current racer is a happy face, you might make the "crashed" costume a sad face.
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Select your first racer. On the left side of the pane in which you were drawing your racers, click the first one you drew.
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Drag your racer to the starting position in front of the finish line. You'll do this in the left-hand pane. Doing so will ensure that your racer is in the correct starting position when you go to create your script.
- The racer will stop once it touches the finish line, so make sure the racer is in front.
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Click the Scripts tab. You'll find this at the top of the Scratch page.
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Click Events . It's an option just below the Scripts tab. Doing so brings up a list of event-based code brackets.
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Add the "when flag clicked" event to the pane. Click and drag the "when [green flag] clicked" icon onto the right-hand pane, then release it there.
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Click Motion . This blue link is in the Scripts section.
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Add your racer's starting location. This will determine where your racer starts whenever you begin a new game:
- Place your mouse cursor over your racer.
- Review your racer's x and y coordinates just above the upper-right side of the "Sprite" window.
- Drag the "go to x: 16 y: 120" event to fit under the "when flag clicked" event.
- Double-click the "16" text box, then type in the x value.
- Press the Tab ↹ key, then type in the y value.
- Press ↵ Enter .
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Change the starting position. Drag the "point in direction 90" event from the "Motion" menu to fit under the "go to x y" box. This will ensure that your car is facing the correct direction when the flag is clicked.
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Indicate which costume to use. Click Looks , then drag "switch costume to costume2" to fit below the starting position, click the "costume2" box, and select costume1 . This causes your racer to revert to its non-crashed costume when you reset the game.
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Add a movement script. This is the script which your racer will use to move forward: [1] X Research source
- Click Events .
- Drag the "when flag clicked" event onto the pane, separate of the first "when flag clicked" script.
- Click Control .
- Drag the "forever" event to fit below the "when flag clicked" script.
- Click Motion , then drag the "move 10 steps" option to fit in the "forever" slot.
- Change the "move 10 steps" variable from "10" to "2", then press ↵ Enter .
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Create controls. You'll use the following script to assign turning controls to your racer:
- Click Events , then drag the "when space key is pressed" event onto the pane twice. You should have two separate "when space key is pressed" events.
- Click the "space" text box on one "when space key is pressed" event, then click left arrow in the drop-down menu.
- Click the other "when space key is pressed" event's "space" box, then click right arrow in the drop-down menu.
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Add motions to the controls. This is how you'll use the arrow keys to turn your racer:
- Click Motion .
- Drag the "turn [right arrow] 15 degrees" event to fit below the "right arrow" control.
- Drag the "turn [left arrow] 15 degrees" event to fit below the "left arrow" control.
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Create an out-of-bounds rule. Using this rule will ensure that, should your racer touch the background color (not the track), it will "crash":
- Click Control , then drag the "if then" option onto a blank space.
- Click Sensing , then drag the "touching color" option into the "if then" option's blank space (between the "if" and "then").
- Click the current color next to "touching color", then click once the background for your racer's track.
- Click Looks , then drag "switch costume to" to fit in the "if then" gap.
- Drag the entire "if then" assembly to fit in the "forever" gap below the "move 2 steps" rule.
- Click Control , then drag the "stop all" option to fit below the "switch costume to" option.
- Click "all", then click this script in the resulting drop-down menu.
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Make a finish line reaction. The following script will create a victory message once your racer crosses the finish line:
- Click Control , then drag the "if then" option onto a blank space.
- Click Sensing , then drag the "touching color" option into the "if then" option's blank space (between the "if" and "then").
- Click the current color next to "touching color", then click once the finish line.
- Click Looks , then drag the "say hello for 2 secs" option to fit inside the "if then" gap.
- Change "hello" to say "You won!", then change the "2" to whatever amount of time you want to use and press ↵ Enter .
- Drag the whole "if then" assembly into the "forever" bracket below the other "if" bracket.
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Test your game. Zoom out by clicking the - icon in the bottom-right side of the backdrop area, click the green flag above the left-hand pane, and then use the arrow keys to maneuver around your track. You should be able to reach the finish line without crashing.
- If you determine that the track is too narrow or irregular to complete, you can adjust it by clicking the track's icon in the lower-left side of the page, clicking the Backdrops tab, and drawing in the areas which need fixing with your track's primary color.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionHow do I create a character for a game?Community AnswerLoad a picture, find a picture, or make your own. Look at the doll on the create screen and you can find a doll. Next to that are options to make your own, take a picture, or load your own.
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QuestionI cannot use the Scratch website because the scratch team is making changes to scratch.mit.edu. What can I do?Community AnswerJust be patient and do something else in the meantime. This happens to all websites occasionally, and usually doesn't last longer than a few hours to a day.
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QuestionHow do I upload it on the website?Community AnswerClick the "see outside" button in the top right corner, add a description and notes, then click "share." The project will be saved and uploaded.
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Tips
- You can save a Scratch project to your computer from the Scratch "Create" page by clicking File , clicking Download to your computer , selecting a save location, and clicking Save . You can then re-open the project later by clicking File , clicking Upload from your computer , and selecting your Scratch file.Thanks
- If you need to undo an action, press Ctrl + Z (Windows) or ⌘ Command + Z (Mac).Thanks
- It will be significantly easier to troubleshoot and edit your code if you keep the different segments organized rather than randomly spread out over the pane.Thanks
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Warnings
- Scratch is a fairly simple tool geared toward beginning programmers, so using it to create a complex racing game isn't recommended.Thanks
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References
About This Article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 322,738 times.
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