Game Design Curriculum Multimedia Fusion 2 Before starting the class, introduce the class rules (general behavioral etiquette). Remind students to be careful about walking around the classroom as there are wires. Let students know that they are not to pick up and move around their laptops or plug them in. Students will have fun in this class making games if they pay attention, follow the directions on the projector and try to remember the steps. First, have students create a folder on their desktop with their name on it. Have students right click on the desktop, go to New and then create a New Folder. Students should then right click on their New Folder and rename it to their first and last name. Now the students are ready to open up their Multimedia Fusion. Students should double click on the MMF icon (which is blue with a red F) on their desktop or select it from the main menu in the programs section.
Students should select File from the top menu and select New. A new application should now be visible. The Workspace Toolbar should read Application 1 and beneath that it should read Frame 1. In the section adjacent to the Library Toolbar students should be able to see the Storyboard Editor with a thumbnail of the first blank frame. Explain to students what a Storyboard Editor is (a Storyboard Editor is where students will be able to see all the levels of their game, assign passwords and assign a fade in and fade out the transition to each level and change the size of their frame or level). Let students know that the Storyboard Editor is where you add the final touches to their overall game with passwords and whatnot. Then, have students double click on the Frame and explain to them what happens in the Frame Editor (the Frame editor is where students arrange the objects that go inside their game, add text, actions to their objects, lives, and a score). Have students press Ctrl-E to go to the Event Editor. Explain to students that the Event Editor is where they will add conditions with actions related to them. The Event Editor is where the actual programming of the game will occur, where students will add actions to their characters. After explaining to students the basics of the Storyboard Editor, Frame Editor, and Event Editor, quickly show students how to navigate around in the Multimedia Fusion 2 Platform. In case students accidentally close a Toolbar, they should access Editors and various Toolbars from the View option at the top main Toolbar.
Now students should start exploring their Multimedia Fusion 2 Library. Let students know that by pressing the plus symbol in the small box next to the different folders in the
library, they can access the objects within that category. To see what an object looks like students can double click on it. In order to see an objects animations or actions that come with the object, students need to click on it and drag it to their Frame Editor and then press F7 or Run and then Frame from the top menu. Show them how this works on the projector. Remind students to close their frame after they are done previewing their objects. Give students time to explore their library and find objects they like (10 to 15 minutes should be good). After about ten minutes have students save what they have so far into their desktop folder. Ensure students save their game in their desktop folder by reminding them that could possibly lose their game and be unable to find it if it is not in their correct folder. Next, let students know that they will be creating their first Bat and Ball game. Select a student to explain what a Bat and Ball game is to the rest of the class. Have students make a new application and double click on the blank frame. Students should then hit the plus button next to the Templates folder in the Library and select the Tutorials folder beneath it. Then have the students arrange the Sugar Horizontal, Sugar Verticals, ball, one chocolate brick and the main character as shown below. Explain to students how to resize objects and show them how to do it on the projector. Let students know that to resize an object they should click on it once and then pause, and then click on it again. Students should then see eight small dots around the edges of the object. By hovering their arrow over any of these dots, students will see a resize arrow which means they can click on and resize.
Now explain to students that you are going to show them how to duplicate the one brick to create an entire section of chocolate bricks. Explain that duplication will save them time so it is a basic concept that they should remember. Right click the object and say Duplicate. You will then get a new window which will ask about the rows, columns, and row and column spacing. Make sure to include some row and column spacing, and if you don t like the results, undo and begin again. Once satisfied, return to the event editor. Now click on the Player object, and click on the blue man in the properties toolbar to go to the movement section(see picture below). Click on Static Motion, and use the drop-down menu to select 8 direction movement. In directions(see the other arrow in the picture), de-select all but the left and right directions.
De-select the excess arrows until you have only two left-right arrows left as shown in the diagram. This is to prevent the player from being capable of moving up and down. We ll add a bouncing ball movement for the ball as well in the same manner, only by clicking the ball instead and choosing bouncing ball movement rather than 8 direction movement. You can hit F7 to test your game now. One of the first thing s you ll notice is that nothing stays on the screen. To fix this, let s go to the event editor. To do this, either go to View Event Editor, or just hit Ctrl-E. Once there, double-click on new condition. From there, right-click on the player object, go to position, and select Test position of Player From the new window which pops up, click on the two directions, left and right, that we wish to prevent the player object from exiting from. Make sure to choose the arrows that point outside of the white area(the white area represents the frame area, the visible area in-game). Hit OK.
We now have a new condition in the event editor. From here, let s add some actual events. Right click on the square where both the Player character on top and Condition 1 line up. From there, go to Movement, and select Bounce. Now, a checkbox should appear in the box, and we should be capable of testing our game again with another F7. Good, the player character should no longer be capable of exiting the play area, however, the ball hasn t yet got the memo. Let s add its event by heading back to the event editor. Right-click here Double click on New Condition again. This time, however, right click on the ball, and say Position, Test position. This time, also pick all four arrows for exiting the play
area (For those of you who have played this game before, we ll remove the bottom wall after we finish making the game; this is just for playtesting). From here, use the checkbox where Condition 2 and the ball line up and use movement bounce again. Now use F7 again to test your game. Now, both the ball and the bat stay in here, but the ball completely ignores the bat. So, more events! Double-click New Condition. Now, right click the player object, and select Collisions Another Object.
From here, click on the ball, and hit OK. In the events section, program the ball to bounce by going under the section for the ball that lines up with condition 3(I hope you re getting how this works now), and select Movement Bounce. Test it with F7. In the Event editor, hit New Condition. Right-click on the ball, and go to Collisions Another Object. Then click on the brick, and click OK. Now, during this collision, two things need to happen. One, the ball needs to bounce, and two, the brick needs to be destroyed. For the first, we go to the section under the ball and say movement bounce. For the second, we go to the section under the brick and click on destroy.
14. Hit F7 to test their game. If they still have time, go back to the Frame Editor(Ctrl-M), and click on the ball. Then click on the movement section(the running man), and you can go ahead and play with the speed, security, randomizer, and bounces, etc. You should also change the initial starting direction so that the ball doesn t go straight down at the beginning. They can fiddle with these until the end of the class. 15. Finally, it's high time we removed the lower boundary bounce. Go the event editor, and right-click on Condition 2 and say edit. Click on the bottom arrow (shown in screenie), and hit OK. Test it with F7
16. OK, we now need to create a new ball once the old one goes off the screen. In the event editor, create a new condition, and test for if the ball goes off the bottom of the screen. For the event, destroy the ball, and click on the checkbox under the Create new Objects section, and click Create object. When the box comes up, click on your ball, and then drag the square to where they think their ball should appear. Note: Make sure you make the event to destroy the ball, first! If not, odd things happen(3 balls in play sometimes, etc.)
1. OK, to finish up their ball game, we made a mistake last class. Get into the Frame Editor (Ctrl-M). Tell them to delete all of their blocks except 1. Then tell them to right click that block, and Duplicate(not clone) them, and to set rows, columns, and spacing to whatever they find right. 2. Now, for the event editor (Ctrl-E). They also need to click on the lightning bolt on condition 4(see the picture), and when the new window appears, the should click on what should be the only block(only one should appear, if multiple appear, they need to go back to step 1. When they re done, hit OK.
That one. Step 2 The Checkbox, Step 3 3. They need to right click on the checkbox on condition 4, and below the other lightning bolt, and delete. 4. They need to right click on the checkbox on condition 4 below the brick (I put an arrow there but did not label it) and say Destroy. Now let them test their game by hitting F7. It should now work properly(many were having balls blowing through certain bricks). Close the window of the running game. 5. Now, go back to the Frame Editor, and click on the ball. Then click on the movement section(the running man), and they can go ahead and play with the speed, security, randomizer, and bounces, etc. They should also change the initial starting direction so that the ball doesn t go straight down at the beginning.
6. Finally, its high time we removed the lower boundary bounce. Go the event editor, and right click on condition 2 and say edit. Click on the bottom arrow(shown in screenie), and hit OK. Test it with F7
7. OK, we now need to create a new ball once the old one goes off the screen. In the event editor, create a new condition, and test for if the ball goes off the bottom of the screen(the kids should know how to do this by now, show them if necessary). For the event, destroy the ball, and click on the checkbox under the Create new Objects section, and click Create object. When the box comes up, tell them to click on their ball, and then drag the square to where they think their ball should appear. Note: Make sure they make the event to destroy the ball, first! If not, odd things happen(3 balls in play sometimes, etc.) 8. Make a counter, and use events to make sure you only have a certain amount of balls. Once they re finished, make two more levels to denote success, and failure (success for destroying all blocks, failure for losing all balls). If you remember, you can make a highscore table(you can take a quick peek in the application tutorial under help if you don t; remember to set a score for brick destruction, under the joystick in the event editor). If not, go ahead and let the kids make their own fun, and we ll teach them about platforming later, or if you remember that(you saw where the motion editor was) you can start that.
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