Coding For Kids For Dummies

Project 11

UFO Pilot

UFO Pilot is a side-scrolling game set in an asteroid field surrounding a distant planet. You’ll use real space photos from the web to create your graphics. Then you’ll write the code to let a player take on the role of a little alien piloting his UFO!

But now that you’re becoming a master coder, you’re not going to make this an easy game. You’ll write commands to simulate gravity so that the UFO constantly falls towards the planet. And you’ll build in single-key keyboard control so that the player can make his alien fire thrusters to counteract gravity. New coding concepts, including keyboard input, scoring, and mirrored motion apply here and in future programming!

Brainstorm

UFO Pilot is a side-scrolling style video game in the tradition of Flappy Bird. It can be adapted to a wide variety of formats including Defender (which includes shooting). Think about how you want to create your game:

• A ghost haunting a city as witches fly by on broomsticks
• A butterfly gliding through a rainforest full of flying insects
• Superman speeding through the air over rooftops and below toxic clouds
• A genie floating on a magic carpet, avoiding wild geese, meteor shower debris, and hostile missiles

Start a New Project

Start a new project for your UFO Pilot game as follows:

1. Start MicroWorlds EX.
2. From the yellow MicroWorlds EX startup screen, select Free Mode.

   A new project opens. ...