Try Space Quest: The Journey to Mars for fun Scratch Project!

Space Quest: The Journey to Mars

Platform: Scratch

Level: advanced

In this project, students will create an interactive adventure where the player controls the spaceship, which must avoid asteroids while collecting magical items from the fairy. The Wizard will appear at intervals to give tips and challenges. A custom block can be created for the spaceship's movement and for collision detection with asteroids. The students will use lists to keep track of collected items and a timer to measure how long it takes to navigate through space.

Backdrop And Sprite Images For The Project

background

1280 x 896

Dragon

1024 x 1024

Wizard

1024 x 1024

Fairy

1024 x 1024

Space Quest: The Journey to Mars: Solution Outline

These are the high level steps to create this project. Try to create the project on your own first as much as possible, before checking the detailed solution samples below.

Set up the stage and characters.
Create custom blocks for spaceship movement and collision detection.
Use lists to track collected items.
Implement a timer to measure navigation time.
Add Wizard interactions for tips and challenges.

Space Quest: The Journey to Mars Sample Solutions

This section provides detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to build the project. There are many ways to create a project, so feel free to explore different approaches. Please note that these instructions are Al-generated, so errors may occur and the coding blocks may not map to Scratch exactly. But it should serve as very valuable references. Stay attentive as you follow along, and enjoy!

1. Set up the stage and characters.

Begin by selecting a space-themed backdrop for the stage. Add the spaceship, asteroids, and magical items as sprites. The spaceship will be controlled by the player, while the asteroids will move randomly across the screen. Add the Wizard and Fairy sprites to provide tips and magical items respectively.

2. Create custom blocks for spaceship movement and collision detection.

Create a custom block named 'move spaceship' to handle the spaceship's movement using arrow keys. Another custom block named 'check collision' will detect if the spaceship touches an asteroid or collects a magical item. This will help keep the code organized and reusable.

3. Use lists to track collected items.

Create a list named 'Collected Items' to keep track of all magical items collected by the spaceship. Each time the spaceship collects an item, add it to the list and display the list on the screen.

4. Implement a timer to measure navigation time.

Add a timer to the project to measure how long it takes for the player to navigate through space. Use the 'timer' block in Scratch to start the timer at the beginning of the game and display the elapsed time on the screen.

5. Add Wizard interactions for tips and challenges.

Program the Wizard sprite to appear at intervals, providing tips or challenges to the player. Use the 'broadcast' block to trigger these interactions at specific times or events during the game.

Common Potential Issues in Space Quest: The Journey to Mars Project

It is common to have bugs in the code. Here are some of issues you might run into.

Ensuring the spaceship's movement is smooth and responsive to player input.
Managing the timing of Wizard interactions so they do not overlap or interrupt each other.
Keeping track of collected items accurately in the list, especially when items are collected quickly in succession.

Extra Challenges For Space Quest: The Journey to Mars

Add a scoring system that awards points for each collected item and deducts points for collisions with asteroids.
Create multiple levels with increasing difficulty by adding more asteroids or faster movement as the player progresses.