Program and Play with Python Parker 8/1 by CodeNinjas_CastleRock

Overview

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

For this activity, we created our own Mad Libs using Python's input( ) and print( ) functions.

input( ) will prompt the user to type something in the command line then store the user's response into a predefined variable

color = input('What is your favorite color?')

print( ) will display a pre-coded message onto the command line

print('Your favorite color is ' + color + '. That's mine, too!')

Game Video

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Overview

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

This week we worked through "Code This Game!" by Meg Ray. This instructional book walked the students through some very important coding concepts (listed below) and building a game called Attack of the Vampire Pizzas! where the goal is to prevent the vampire pizzas from reaching the delivery trucks using a variety of different traps and boosts (think Plants vs. Zombies).
What we learned this week:
- Classes (described in greater detail under the Monster Class Activity section
  - Methods
    - Ex: def x(self):
  - Attributes
    - Ex: self.x = x
- Loops:
  - For Loops
    - Ex: for x in range(y):
  - While Loops
    - Ex: while x:
- Booleans
  - Ex: x = True, y = False
- Variables
  - Definitions
    - Ex: x = 100
  - Increment/Decrement
    - Ex: x += 1, y -=1
- Game Window
  - Defining the size
    - display.set_mode(WIDTH, HEIGHT)
  - Displaying images
    - game_window.blit(self.image, (self.rect.x, self.rect.y))
    - draw.circle(GAME_WINDOW, (r,g,b), (x,y), radius, thickness)
    - draw.rect(GAME_WINDOW, (r,g,b), (x,y, width, height), thickness)
- Conditionals:
  - If/Else statements
    - Ex: if x:, elif y:, else:
Thank you for the week! It was super awesome to get to know all of you/your kids. I hope they had fun, learned something this week, and formed an interest in this kind of stuff!
The completed code (through Chapter 13) is attached in the Attack of the Vampire Pizzas! Overview section. This can be used to help the students finish up their basic game and/or be used as a base line to work on Part 3 - Break This Game!, where students will modify, hack, and rebuild their game to make it even more fun and spectacular.

Day 1

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

MadLib Activity
- Students programmed their own MadLib using Python's input( ) function to prompt the user for a variety of word types (different nouns, verbs, etc.) then used Python's print( ) function to display their story using the user inputs.
Began working on the Vampire Pizza Attack! game
- Students worked through roughly Chapters 1 - 2 of "Code This Game!" to create their game window, add their background and first enemy image to the screen.

Day 2

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Continued working on the Vampire Pizza Attack! game
- Students worked through roughly Chapters 3 - 6 of "Code this Game!" to practice drawing and displaying shapes to the game window, create the background grid, and define and create their enemy object.

Day 3

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Monster Class Activity
- Students used a pre-programmed file to obtain a better understanding of how to define and instantiate (create) class objects.
Continued working on the Vampire Pizza Attack! game
- Students worked through roughly Chapters 7 - 9 of "Code this Game!" to make their enemies move, create interactive fields, and create collision detection.

Day 4

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Continued working on the Vampire Pizza Attack! game
- Students worked through roughly Chapters 10-11 of "Code this Game!" to add a points system and apply traps for the Vampire Pizzas.

Day 5

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Continued working on the Vampire Pizza Attack! game
- Students worked through Chapters 12 - 13 to finish up the basic concepts of their game by connecting the traps to the grid and add win/lose conditions
Camp Celebrations!
Thank you for the week! It was super awesome to get to know all of you/your kids. Hopefully they had fun, learned something this week, and formed an interest in this kind of stuff!
The completed code (through Chapter 13) is attached in the Vampire Pizza Attack! Overview section. This can be used to help the students finish up their basic game and/or be used as a base line to work on Part 3 - Break This Game!, where students will modify, hack, and rebuild their game to make it even more fun and spectacular.

Step 1

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Follow the link to download the latest version of Python

Step 2

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Double click the download to open the Python Installer
Be sure to select "Add Python to PATH" (towards the bottom of the installer window)
Click Install Now

Step 3

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Windows OS Computers

Type "Command Prompt" in your Windows search bar and open the application
In Command Prompt, Type "python --version" to verify Python installation
Type "python -m pip install -U pygame --user" to install Python's game development module, called Pygame
Wait for the message "successfully installed pygame"

iOS Computers

Type "Terminal" in the search bar and open the application
In Terminal, Type "python3 --version" to verify Python installation
Type "python3 -m pip install -U pygame --user"
Wait for the message "successfully installed pygame"

Step 4

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Create a new directory (folder) using the command line

While still in Command Prompt or Terminal, type "mkdir vampire_pizza_directory" to create the directory
Type "cd vampire_pizza_directory" to go into the new directory

We practiced getting to this folder several times through out the week, but the path will be slightly different on your home computer. A general guide to locate this folder on your computer is as follows:

Windows OS Computers
** Open the Files app
-> This PC
-> Local Disk (C:)
-> Users
-> ** Your User Profile **
-> vampire_pizza_directory

iOS Computers
** Open Finder App
-> This Mac
-> vampire_pizza_directory

Also feel free to just search your computer for this folder!

Step 5

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Download MadLib.py and/or VampirePizzaAttack.py. Once downloaded drag these program files into the vampire_pizza_attack folder.
To download the additional assets required for Part 3, follow the above link and click "Download image asset package!"
Click the .zip file downloaded to open the images
Copy and paste all images (it is not necessary to copy the folders included and shown at the top) into vampire_pizza_directory

** If your VampirePizzaAttack.py and game asset images are not in the same folder, your game will not run correctly! **

Step 6

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Open IDLE, Python's own Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This was downloaded as a part of a Python package. To open it, just search your computer for IDLE
Open your program file (.py) of choice in IDLE:

File -> Open
Browse for the vampire_pizza_directory using the path given in Step 4

Make sure that when trying to edit a program file in IDLE you are not in the Python shell! If you are in the shell you will see red arrows ( >> ) over towards the left hand side of the window.

Overview

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

This linked file was used to help the students to become familiar with the syntax of defining and instantiating (creating) a class object in Python.

A class is one of the core ideas of object-oriented programming. A class can hold a multiple different things called methods and attributes. It can also contain other classes, making it a "super class."

When this code is run, it takes inputs (using the input( ) function) from the user and prints (using the print( ) function) certain responses depending on the user input.

Overview

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Coding this game was the meat and potatoes of our camp! It allowed us to put into practice the concepts we learned in other activities, as well as several others, in order to create a playable and detailed tower-defense-style game.

Students put in a lot of hard work and coded hundreds of lines of code this week.We still learned a lot of very important coding concepts (described in the About this Camp Overview section) and gained the necessary skill of debugging!

The above file is the completed and working base code (through Chapter 13). Students can use this file to compare and continue working on their own code and/or use is as a launching pad for working on Part 3 -- Break This Code.

Please use the linked file rather than the one seen on the GitHub linked on odddot.com as there are several bugs on that version that have been taken care of for you above!

Important Checks

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Follow Step 5 of Installing Python and Pygame to ensure both the game assets and program files are inside your vampire_pizza_directory. If these items are not in the same folder, your code will no run correctly!

Creating a New File

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

In IDLE, go to File -> New File
IDLE will open a new untitled program file window (be sure you are seeing a program file and not a shell window, you should not see any red arrows ( >> ) on the left side of your screen)
File -> Save As
Browse to the directory you wish to save the file in (this could be vampire_pizza_directory or another directory you created using Step 4 of Installing Python and Pygame)
Name the file (make sure sure there are no spaces in your file name, only letters and underscores!)
Click "Save"

Opening a File

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

In IDLE, go to File -> Open
Browse to the directory you wish to save the file in (this could be vampire_pizza_directory or another directory you created using Step 4 of Installing Python and Pygame)
Double click on the program file you wish to open (be sure you are seeing a program file window and not a shell window, you should not see any red arrows ( >> ) on the left side of your screen)

Run a File

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

In IDLE, with your program file window selected, go to Run -> Run this Module

Overview

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

If you/your child is interested in making the additional modifications and features (listed below), the additional code required and lessons covered in the book are given, chapter by chapter, in the program files linked below.

Code This Game Assets

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

To download the additional assets required for Part 3, follow the above link and click "Download image asset package!"
Click the .zip file downloaded to open the images
Copy and paste all images (it is not necessary to copy the folders included and shown at the top) into vampire_pizza_directory
- If you do not put the images in the correct location, you will not be able to use them in your code!

Chapter 14 - Customize Your Game

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Chapter 15 - Mod Your Game

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Chapter 16 - Hack Your Game

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

Chapter 17 - Explore New Games

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 14:45:09 UTC

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 18:57:37 UTC

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 18:57:39 UTC

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 18:57:41 UTC

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 18:57:44 UTC

ninjascr — 2022-08-05 18:57:47 UTC

Troy

2022-08-05 19:06:33 UTC

Dane

2022-08-05 19:07:35 UTC

Evan

2022-08-05 19:09:25 UTC

Holden

2022-08-05 20:18:42 UTC

Aidan M.

2022-08-05 20:53:56 UTC

Josh

2022-08-05 20:55:07 UTC

Gwyn

2022-08-05 20:56:03 UTC

Aiden R.

2022-08-05 20:57:09 UTC