Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Scratch makes use of the Adobe Flash Player, so you need to have this installed.
Many computers already have Flash installed since it's used quite frequently in websites
and web games. But if you sill need to get it, you can ind the installaion package at
get.adobe.com/flashplayer
.
Website overview
While opening the Scratch home page, we are greeted by a familiar sight. The main page
hasn't changed a lot compared to the previous site. It sill shows a sample of recently added
or interesing projects from other Scratchers. You can sill view/play with these projects by
clicking on the images. It might have a few more featured categories than before.
At the top of the site is a row of butons to other useful pages. We will have a look at the
Create
,
Explore
,
Discuss
, and
Help
links to see what they have to offer. We'll look at
Join
Scratch
and
Sign In
in the next step of this overview.
Engage thrusters
The
Create
buton brings us to the heart of the Scratch website, the Scratch editor. This is
where all the magic happens and where we can create projects. We'll have a closer look at
the editor and its features later.
The
Explore
buton brings us to a greater selecion of projects posted by other Scratchers.
We can look at featured projects that are currently in the spotlight. This is based on how
well-liked a project is in the Scratch community. We can also make a selecion based on the
arisic category the projects belong to. If we're looking for something really speciic, we
can search on tag words. We can also switch to a studio overview. These show collecions of
projects belonging to a specific Scratch member or an event.
The
Discuss
buton leads to the Scratch forum. This is the place to ask quesions and to ind
answers. The forum is divided into categories to make it easier to find what you need. Just
look for the appropriate general topic first and then search for something specific within that
category. There is a link at the top of the forum to search for subjects based on keywords
and other restricions. To post your own quesion or comment in the forum, you need to be
logged in as a member. It's not possible to place anonymous comments.
If you're new to Scratch, you can use the
Help
buton. On this page, you will ind all kinds of
useful informaion for new Scratchers. The let-hand column ofers a range of tutorials and
cheat sheets to get you started quickly. The right-hand column offers some more specific and
in-depth informaion. It's useful for teachers and parents, or if you want to know more about
the technical side of Scratch.
