getting started with kodu game lab -...

Getting Started with

MAS/INFO111 Macquarie University

KODU FOR INFO/MAS 111 ................................

LOAD A WORLD ................................................................

THE MAIN SCREEN ................................................................

THE LOAD SCREEN ................................................................

SORTING THE WORLD LIST ................................

USE TAGS TO FILTER THE WORLD LIST ................................

NAVIGATING WITHIN A WORLD ................................

STANDARD PC NAVIGATION CONTROLS ................................

ADD OBJECTS TO THE WORLD ................................

THE TOOL PALETTE ................................................................

ADD AN APPLE TO THE WORLD ................................

ADD A CHARACTER TO THE WORLD ................................

GETTING HELP ON INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS

MOVING AND REORIENTING CHARACTERS

CREATE A VERY BASIC PROGRAM ................................

ACTIVATE THE OBJECT TOOL AND CREATE A

OPEN THE PROGRAM EDITOR ................................

THE SIMPLEST POSSIBLE PROGRAM: “JUST MOVE

DECIDING WHEN TO DO SOMETHING ................................

CHANGE “MOVE ALWAYS” TO “MOVE WHEN YOU SEE SO

“MOVE FORWARD WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING GREE

MORE EXAMPLES ................................................................

GETTING HELP WHILE PROGRAMMING

LANDSCAPING: MOVING GROUND UP OR DOWN

THE UP/DOWN TOOL ................................

CREATING NEW TERRAIN ................................

THE ADD/REMOVE GROUND TOOL ................................

CHOOSING TERRAIN TYPE ................................

HOW TO MAKE ROUGH OR CURVY GROUND

ACTIVATE ROUGH OR CURVY TOOL ................................

MAKE ROUGH OR CURVY GROUND ................................

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION ................................

Getting Started with Kodu Game Lab

MAS/INFO111 Macquarie University – S2 2010 (Rev for PC)

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AL OBJECTS ................................................................................................

NG CHARACTERS ................................................................................................

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OOL AND CREATE A KODU ................................................................................................

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JUST MOVE” ................................................................................................

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MOVE WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING” ................................................................

U SEE SOMETHING GREEN” ................................................................................................

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ROGRAMMING................................................................................................

GROUND UP OR DOWN ..........................................................................................

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CURVY GROUND ................................................................................................

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Game Lab

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Getting Started with Kodu

HOW TO MAKE FLAT AREAS ........................................................................................................................... 19

PICK THE FLATTEN TOOL .......................................................................................................................................... 19

MAKE FLAT AREAS ................................................................................................................................................. 19

ADDING WATER TO YOUR WORLD ................................................................................................................. 20

MAKE LAKES AND RIVERS ........................................................................................................................................ 20

BUILDING YOUR FIRST GAME IN KODU .......................................................................................................... 21

GETTING STARTED ................................................................................................................................................. 21

BASIC MECHANICS OF SPACE INVADERS ...................................................................................................................... 21

CREATING ENEMIES ................................................................................................................................................ 23

OTHER FEATURES ................................................................................................................................................... 27

RESULTS .............................................................................................................................................................. 28

ASSIGNMENT NOTES .............................................................................................................................................. 28

KODU FOR INFO/MAS 111

Kodu is a videogame building environment. This very simple interface hides a huge amount of complex code,

allowing us to focus on concepts of design and mechanics rather than syntax and debugging. That said,

because of how much this program ‘does for you’ it isn’t as flexible as something like XNA, Unity or

UnrealEditor that some of you may be familiar with.

The first concept that Kodu assists us with is generating a 3D world. All the levels you will create for this

course will begin as a 3D world simply by loading a blank world in the program. The next step is to add some

terrain, whether it is an island or a pinball table—the word ‘terrain’ is used to describe the surface on which

your game occurs. The objects you can add into your world are assets built into Kodu, so no you cannot

import a model made in another editor and animate it here. You can always make a 2D game by fixing the

camera to one side, and only allow the character(s) to move in 2 dimensions.

The core of Kodu is the programming. Don’t be alarmed by this word, this is programming unlike anything

you’ve seen, and probably will see again. Kodu relies on a rule-based behaviours system that is accessed via

the same graphical interface as the rest of the environment. Fundamental behaviours are stored in individual

tiles, using plain English, that you can chain together based on a ‘When… Do…” clause structure. There is no

typing, and you’ll be hard-pressed to actually cause the program to crash (it might not do what you want, and

it might go into a loop, but I haven’t ever made it crash.)

So work your way through this booklet, keeping in mind that there may be more here than you can get

through in one week. Feel free to experiment as well, this environment is designed to be a rapid prototyping

model, so you can try things very quickly and see if they work.

This manual was originally written for use on an XBox 360, not a PC with keyboard and mouse controls. So,

occasionally there may be references to pressing a button on the controller that obviously doesn’t make sense

when using a computer. Most of the controls are fairly intuitive, though there will be a few that aren’t

‘Windows standard.’ You should be able to figure out most of the controls yourself after reading through this

manual, but if you still have trouble, speak to your practical instructor.

LOAD A WORLD

THE MAIN SCREEN

The Main screen provides four options:

- Resume: open whatever level I last edited

- Load World: load a level from the hard drive

- Community: download levels from the Internet

- Options: Self-explanatory

- Help

- Quit Kodu

We’re going to load a level from the local hard drive. Use the

mouse, click load world.

THE LOAD SCREEN

The load screen shows eight games at a time. Details for each game are below the current game tile.

You can show all the available worlds, or selected categories by using the large buttons near the top of the

screen.

PC Note: you can scroll through this menu either by using the left or right arrow keys, or clicking the green

triangles on either side of the screen. Most screens in Kodu follow this convention of keyboard option and on-

screen buttons. To launch the game, click the world once, then click Play on the pop-out menu.

World list

Left/right arrows on

keyboard or screen

to scroll

Current Game

Details for

Current Game

SORTING THE WORLD LIST

You can sort worlds by date, creator or

make it easier to find a world created by your friend

or created on a certain day. Press the

open the sort menu. Use the left stick to select

different menu items and press to sort.

To close the sort menu without sorting, press the

button.

PC Note: You will find the icon on the screen

which you can click with the mouse to activate the

same functions for sorting. This is another fairly

standard control convention for the PC version.

USE TAGS TO FILTER THE WORLD LIST

Sometimes the list of worlds is long and you wan

focus on a shorter list. Enter the tag menu.

may have several tags. Tags indicate, among other

things, the type of game (racing, shooter, puzzle, etc.)

To show only worlds having a given tag, press the X

button to open the tag menu. Select a particular tag

using the left stick, and press A to choose that tag. The

list of worlds will now show only worlds that have that

tag.

PC Note: Click on the icon then click the category you

want. Hit esc to show the games in that category

creator or title. This can

created by your friend

button to

Use the left stick to select

to sort.

To close the sort menu without sorting, press the

icon on the screen

which you can click with the mouse to activate the

same functions for sorting. This is another fairly

standard control convention for the PC version.

THE WORLD LIST

Sometimes the list of worlds is long and you want to

Enter the tag menu. Each world

may have several tags. Tags indicate, among other

things, the type of game (racing, shooter, puzzle, etc.)

To show only worlds having a given tag, press the X

a particular tag

using the left stick, and press A to choose that tag. The

list of worlds will now show only worlds that have that

icon then click the category you

want. Hit esc to show the games in that category


NAVIGATING WITHIN A WORLD

Let’s look at a very basic world so that we can learn how to move around and activate different modes.

1. Open the load screen.

2. Use the large category buttons to show only the Lessons worlds.

3. Open any world. You open the world by left clicking on it and selecting Play.

When you open a level, it is in “play mode.” How it looks and how you move around will depend on the game.

However, the following is pretty standard across all games:

STANDARD PC NAVIGATION CONTROLS

The cursor in the PC version is simply your normal Windows mouse cursor, not the white circle.

- Zoom the Camera with the mouse scroll wheel.

- Change the camera angle by Right-Click and Drag. (although note you often don’t have full 360 on the

camera – it may be limited)

When Editing you can move around using the move camera

command. In the move camera command you can zoom and

change the camera angle as above, plus move the camera by left

click and drag or use the WASD keys as in most 3D games. When

using any of the other editing commands you can temporarily access the move camera command by holding

down the space bar and then using any of the above camera operations.

ADD OBJECTS TO THE WORLD

THE TOOL PALETTE

When you first launch a world, you are in Play Mode. When you want to edit the world, you need to first press

ESC on the keyboard to switch to edit mode (also in the edit mode is the way back to the main menu).

Open the world we used on the previous lesson: “Empty Stadium v01.” The world will open in play mode. Not

that there is anything to do.

Press ESC to enter Edit mode.

The tool palette at the bottom of the screen lets you choose a new tool. Simply click which tool you would like

to use. The icon for tool you have selected will remain larger than the other tools in the palette.

With the object tool active, you can move it around the world with the mouse. Select the Object tool, and

notice how you can now ‘highlight’ objects in your world with the mouse cursor (well, you could if there were

any there, so let’s add one).

ADD AN APPLE TO THE WORLD

With the object tool still active, left click somewhere in your game

world. (Careful where you left click – that’s where the object will

appear). The object radial menu will appear

.Navigate this radial menu with the mouse. Note that a section

with a dark pointed outer edge has more objects nested inside.

Select the apple in the upper-right area of the menu by left clicking

it to add an apple to the scene. Hit escape to close the radial menu

If you place your cursor on the apple, the apple will be surrounded

by a yellow glow. If you move your cursor away it will stop glowing.

Some of the items in the Add Object Menu - such as the tree - will

open smaller menus.

Tool Palette

Selected Tool


ADD A CHARACTER TO THE WORLD

Let’s add another object:

- Move the cursor to a clear place in the world

- Left-click to open the Add Object menu

- Select the icon with the robots on it, as shown in the

image to the right

- Clicking on this icon will open another menu (below,

right.) This menu allows you to pick a specific

character.

NOTE: this is an example of a group menu. Group menus

are used to organize the menu items so they are easier to

navigate. You can identify a group menu because it has a

point on it (above right)

- Select the Cycle character (highlighted at right)

- Left-click to insert the Cycle character into your world.

GETTING HELP ON INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS

Kodu provides interactive help for all the characters and objects. If you’re not sure what a character does

you want to see examples of a how you can use it,

from a library of examples featuring that character.

Whenever the Add Menu is open (below,) you can press

selected character. PC Note: sometimes pressing th

activate the XBox-controller equivalent.

- Choose the character tool:

- Move the cursor to a place where you’d like to put a

character

- Press to open the Add Object menu (right)

- Navigate within the Add Object Menu to find a character or

object you’d like help for

- With that menu item active (don’t insert the character yet,)

press to open the help for that character

VIDUAL OBJECTS

provides interactive help for all the characters and objects. If you’re not sure what a character does

you can use it, you can open the Help to read about the character and pick

from a library of examples featuring that character.

Whenever the Add Menu is open (below,) you can press Y on the keyboard to get help on the currently

: sometimes pressing the corresponding letter (A, B, X, Y) on the keyboard will

controller equivalent.

Move the cursor to a place where you’d like to put a

to open the Add Object menu (right)

d Object Menu to find a character or

With that menu item active (don’t insert the character yet,)

to open the help for that character

provides interactive help for all the characters and objects. If you’re not sure what a character does, or

open the Help to read about the character and pick

to get help on the currently

e corresponding letter (A, B, X, Y) on the keyboard will


MOVING AND REORIENTING CHARACTERS

It’s common to create a character in one position and then realize

that he would work better somewhere else. It’s also common to

want to change which direction a character is facing. For both of

these, it is useful to understand the different selection states that a

character may be in: unselected, selected, and active.

Moving characters is easy.

- Select the Object tool. If you don’t have a character in the

scene, add one now.

- Move the cursor under the character that you want to

move. The character should change from its unselected

color (above right) to its active color yellow (middle right.)

- Left click and drag to pick up the character. It should

change to pink - the selected color (below right)

When a character is selected (pink) it “sticks” to the cursor.

To rotate the character, right-click the character and choose Rotate

from the menu. (There are lots of other options in the Right-click

menu worth checking out.)

Try moving the character around and reorienting it.

.

NOTE: if you have a lower-end graphics card, you will not see the

glow effect on the character - but the cursor will still change color.


CREATE A VERY BASIC PROGRAM

Return to the main menu and don’t save any changes. Now re-open Empty Stadium v01. You may use any

other level for this lesson, but it will be easiest if the level you use doesn’t have any other characters in it.

ACTIVATE THE OBJECT TOOL AND CREATE A KODU

Press ESC to activate edit mode. Choose the Object tool

from the palette.

Now use the character add menu to add a Kodu to the

scene. If you do not remember how to do this, please see

the “Add ” section above.

Keep the object tool active for the next steps. The object

tool serves to edit programs as well as adding and removing objects.

OPEN THE PROGRAM EDITOR

To enter the program editor, right click on your Kodu robot. Click “Program” from the menu that appears.

Here we see the program editor showing an empty program or, more precisely, a program consisting of one

rule, which does nothing.

I mentioned that this program contains one rule. A rule tells the bot what to do and when

The first part of a rule is the When Clause

make the bot react. You can say things like ‘when I see something red’ or ‘when I bump into a tree’ or even

‘when 2 seconds have passed.’

The second part of the rule is the Do Clause

activates or ‘fires’. Bots can do all kinds of things, such as shoot, move, or eat. Different bots have different

capabilities.

The plus sign in the rule lets you add more elements to the rule. We’ll talk more about that in a later section.

THE SIMPLEST POSSIBLE PROGRAM

On the PC, the pencil cursor still appears to show you which rule you are

currently editing, don’t worry about it too

To edit a rule simply click the + next to the clause you wish to edit

should see the Verb Menu (below right.) This menu shows different things

this bot can do.

Choose the move verb, and insert it into your program

program should now look like the picture on the bottom right.

The verb menu lets you specify what the bot is going to do when this rule

activates. Since we haven’t said when the rule should activate, it will be

active all the time.

In effect, what our program says is “always move.”

Since we didn’t say which direction or how to move, the bot will

direction.

To run your program, press ESC on the keyboard twice (ESC often

substitutes for the ‘Back’ convention that

will close the programming UI, return to the tool menu, and then return

to play mode. You should see your Kodu

Pencil Cursor

Do Clause

(empty)

When

Clause

(empty)

I mentioned that this program contains one rule. A rule tells the bot what to do and when to do it.

Clause. It says when something is going to happen; the condition that will


Do Clause. It specifies what the actor should do when the ‘when part’


e rule lets you add more elements to the rule. We’ll talk more about that in a later section.

E PROGRAM: “JUST MOVE”

On the PC, the pencil cursor still appears to show you which rule you are

currently editing, don’t worry about it too much.

To edit a rule simply click the + next to the clause you wish to edit and you

should see the Verb Menu (below right.) This menu shows different things

insert it into your program by clicking. Your

should now look like the picture on the bottom right.

The verb menu lets you specify what the bot is going to do when this rule

we haven’t said when the rule should activate, it will be

In effect, what our program says is “always move.”

on or how to move, the bot will pick a

ESC on the keyboard twice (ESC often

substitutes for the ‘Back’ convention that indicates on the XBox); this

will close the programming UI, return to the tool menu, and then return

Kodu move in a straight line.

Rule

to do it.

. It says when something is going to happen; the condition that will


It specifies what the actor should do when the ‘when part’


e rule lets you add more elements to the rule. We’ll talk more about that in a later section.

DECIDING WHEN TO DO SOMETHING

This lesson builds on the previous one. If you haven’t done it, please

do it now.

Activate the Object tool from the palette. Left click the gameworld

to bring up the Character Add radial menu.

Now use the Character Add menu to add

don’t remember how to do this, please see

CHANGE “MOVE ALWAYS” TO “MOVE WHEN YOU SE

Your scene should have one Kodu, and his program should look like this.

program, use the Object tool, right click on the character, and select Program.

matter what.” We want to change it to say

- Click the When clause in the rule to bring up the conditional

statements.

This shows you things that the bot can react to: he can react to things he

sees, hears, or touches, controller input

- Click see from the sensor menu

menu.

- Your program should look like this:

Go ahead and try your program now. Press

the program editor, and press the start

the green Play arrow in the palette) to run the program.

If you run this program in an empty world,

move, because he cannot see anything

tree, or anything else. Note that the ground and sky don’t count as objects.

empty, so depending where your Kodu starts he may see something.

can delete it. When you do, your kodu shouodn’t move.

SOMETHING

This lesson builds on the previous one. If you haven’t done it, please

Activate the Object tool from the palette. Left click the gameworld

to bring up the Character Add radial menu.

dd menu to add a Kodu to the scene. If you

t remember how to do this, please see Add objects to the world.

TO “MOVE WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING”

, and his program should look like this. (Reminder: to see a ch

right click on the character, and select Program. This program says “move no

We want to change it to say “when you see anything, move.”

Click the When clause in the rule to bring up the conditional

This shows you things that the bot can react to: he can react to things he

controller input and so on.

from the sensor menu to insert it in the

our program should look like this:

Go ahead and try your program now. Press (ESC) to close

start button (ESC again or

to run the program.

world, Kodu will not

, because he cannot see anything. If there are no objects in the world, use the Add menu to add an apple,

Note that the ground and sky don’t count as objects. The empty stadium isn’t quite

empty, so depending where your Kodu starts he may see something. There’s a tree on the far sode

can delete it. When you do, your kodu shouodn’t move.

(Reminder: to see a character’s

This program says “move no

If there are no objects in the world, use the Add menu to add an apple,

The empty stadium isn’t quite

There’s a tree on the far sode – see ifyou


“MOVE FORWARD WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING GREEN”

We’d like to change our program so that Kodu only moves when

he sees something green. To do this, we will add to the When part

of the rule. Open the program editor and put the pencil just after

“See” tile. (see right)

Click the + that follows “See” in the rule. Since you already have a see sensor in your program, opening the

menu after this sensor gives you options for modifying the see operation. You don’t usually have to think

about this; as you build a program, the menus will change

to show the right options automatically.

Let’s make our Kodu respond only to green objects:

- Select the Colors menu from the modifier radial

menu

- Select Green and add it into your program.

-

Your program should now look like the below. It means

“when you see anything green, move.”

MORE EXAMPLES

If you see a green Kodu, move.

If you see a green Kodu, move away from it. The rule assumes that you move away from the thing you saw.

Other modifiers include a ‘target’ aspect, ie. causing damage to itself or the thing it bumps into.

Try surrounding your poor initial Kodu with green Kodus and see what happens. Note that Kodu’s vision is not

360o and he doesn’t move forever with the program you’ve given him.

GETTING HELP WHILE PROGRAMMING

The program editor provides help for all the programming tiles. Whenever

you are looking at a tile in a tile selector menu, you can press

keyboard) to get help on that specific tile. The help system will also show

you help for the other tiles in your program. You can also find related

examples related to your program that you can easily insert into your

program.

- Select a character and press the

editor (right)

- Enter the program shown (or any program)

- With a selector menu open and a tile

selected (below right) press the

button for help on the selected tile

- The help for the selected tile will be displayed

- Note that the other tiles in your current row (

the top of the help screen. You can see help for those tiles by moving the left stick left and right.

- Examples related to your program are shown below. Move the stick up and down to select an

example and press to insert the code into your program

- You can scroll through the various examples using the mouse scroll wheel.

ROGRAMMING

The program editor provides help for all the programming tiles. Whenever

tile selector menu, you can press (Y on the

to get help on that specific tile. The help system will also show

n your program. You can also find related

examples related to your program that you can easily insert into your

Select a character and press the button to open the program

Enter the program shown (or any program)

r menu open and a tile

) press the

button for help on the selected tile

The help for the selected tile will be displayed

Note that the other tiles in your current row (see and Kodu in the below picture) will also appear at

the help screen. You can see help for those tiles by moving the left stick left and right.

Examples related to your program are shown below. Move the stick up and down to select an

example and press to insert the code into your program

ough the various examples using the mouse scroll wheel.

in the below picture) will also appear at

the help screen. You can see help for those tiles by moving the left stick left and right.

Examples related to your program are shown below. Move the stick up and down to select an


LANDSCAPING: MOVING GROUND UP OR DOWN

Making hills and valleys is fun, easy, and allows you to set up

interesting game mechanics. The shape of the ground affects

character behavior: hills block vision, and some characters can’t

climb steep hills.

THE UP/DOWN TOOL

From the Tool menu select the Up/Down tool.

You will see a flashing area on your terrain. It’s purple in the

picture at right but the color depends on the terrain. This is

your brush; it shows which part of the ground the tool will

affect. Most of the tools that affect terrain work like this.

You can change the size of the brush by pressing the Right

and Left arrow keys. (Notice the control tool tips on the left

side of the screen.) You can change the brush shape by

clicking on the blue images near the tool icon in the tool list.

Position your brush in an empty area. Left click briefly and

release it. You should see the area beneath the brush rise to

form a small plateau (below right).

You can lower terrain by right clicking.

You can also move the brush while you are raising or

lowering the ground. Try holding the right or left click while

moving the mouse cursor - with practice you can paint

mountain ranges and hills.

Brushes come in many shapes. With one of the terrain tools

selected, click the blue shapes in the top right of the icon to

bring up the brush menu. Some of the brushes have

different shapes and some of them work very differently.

Play around with different brushes to see how they work.


CREATING NEW TERRAIN

Kodu includes several stock worlds for you to use, but

sometimes you need a custom shape to make the

game you want. Using the Ground Brush tool, you can

make worlds of many different sizes and shapes. The

shape of the world is very important to game design

and can make simple game programs much more

interesting.

Clicking on the small icons just above and left of the ground brush lets you choose terrain colour, the blue ones

again control the brush shape

For this lesson, please open the Empty World v01 world.

THE ADD/REMOVE GROUND TOOL

Press the ESC to bring up the Tool Menu. This will

pause the game. Select the Ground Brush tool.

You will see a flashing square on your terrain. This

is your brush; this shows which part of the ground

the tool will affect. You can change the size by

using the right and left arrow keys.

Let’s get started:

- Move the brush to where you want to

create some terrain. You may want to

zoom out using the mouse wheel.

- Adjust the size of the brush with the arrow

keys

- Left click briefly

- Notice that you have created a new island

You can hold down the mouse button while moving

the mouse to continue adding terrain in a line.

Deleting terrain is just as easy:

- Position your brush so that it overlaps

existing terrain

- Right click

CHOOSING TERRAIN TYPE

Kodu includes many different building blocks for your terrain

different material and using it to extend the world

- With the Add Terrain tool selected, click the multi

- A list of cubes will appear

- Scroll back and forth in this list using the

- Pick a material with the button

Now that you have chosen a new material, create some more terrain using this material

- Use the mouse wheel to zoom out a bit

- Hold down the left mouse button

- Move the left stick to paint new terrain

includes many different building blocks for your terrain; we call these blocks materials. Let’s

extend the world.

With the Add Terrain tool selected, click the multi-coloured blocks on the left side of the icon.

Scroll back and forth in this list using the arrow keys

button (A on keyboard or left click.)

Now that you have chosen a new material, create some more terrain using this material

to zoom out a bit

left mouse button

Move the left stick to paint new terrain

. Let’s pick a

coloured blocks on the left side of the icon.


HOW TO MAKE ROUGH OR CURVY GROUND

The terrain you created above was flat – you may want something a bit more three dimensional. You can use

the Up/Down tool we’ve already seen or you can get some more dramatic effects from the Roughen tool.

The Roughen tool randomly changes the height of the terrain under the brush. It has two variants: spiky

creates truly random, spiky effects, and hilly creates a more rounded, softer look.

Use your world from the previous section

ACTIVATE ROUGH OR CURVY TOOL

Press the start button to bring up the Tool Menu select the Roughen

tool. You will see a flashing area on your terrain. This is your brush; this

shows which part of the ground the tool will affect.

MAKE ROUGH OR CURVY GROUND

Use the left mouse button to spike the terrain and the right

mouse button to make the terrain hilly. While you could do this

with the up/down tool and a very small brush, this tool makes it

easier to add visual detail over a large area.

If an area gets to spiky, you can smooth the terrain under the

brush by pressing the middle mouse button.

You can choose more brushes in the same way as the other

terrain brushes.

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

Try using the rough/curvy tool to create different visual effects: Create an ocean with a jagged bottom and a

smooth beach (see below for adding water). Make a world with a flat area, a smooth hilly area, and spiky

mountains. Create a mountainous terrain with a narrow path going through it - perhaps by using the

rough/curvy tool together with the flatten tool. Create a world with a mountain and a ramp that lets a

character move from the bottom all the way up to the peak of the mountain.


HOW TO MAKE FLAT AREAS

You will often find that you need a flat “arena” in which your gameplay can happen. The flattening tool makes

it easy to level an area to a consistent height.

PICK THE FLATTEN TOOL

Press the start button to bring up the Tool Menu select the “Create

Flat Areas and Ramps” tool. You will see a flashing area on your

terrain. This is your brush; this shows which part of the ground the

tool will affect. This brush behaves like the other terrain brushes

discussed earlier.

MAKE FLAT AREAS

When you paint with the flattening tool, it looks at the height

where you start painting and then raises (or lowers) everything

the brush touches to that same height. If you start at a

mountain peak and drag the brush across the terrain, you will

create a flat area at the height of that peak. If you start in a

deep valley, the brush will lower ground to that level.

Move the cursor to the location where you would like to start

flattening. Left-click to start flattening and hold it down while

you move the mouse to paint a flat area. Notice that ground is

lowered or raised as the brush touches it to reach the desired

height.


ADDING WATER TO YOUR WORLD

When you add water to a world, it is as though you are pouring the

water onto the ground at a particular point; the water will pool in

low-lying areas to form lakes and streams.

Select the “Water Tool” tool.

MAKE LAKES AND RIVERS

Choose a spot to pour water onto the

ground. Left click to add water at the cursor

and right click to remove (lower) the water.

Use this tool by moving the cursor anywhere

where you want the water to rise or sink.

Different bodies of water can have different

types. If two bodies of water touch, they will

take on the same appearance.

Use the left mouse button on some water to

raise the water level and the right mouse

button to lower it. Notice how the water

follows the shape of the terrain, pooling in

lower areas and stopping at higher areas.

There are different types of water. To change the type you are creating, click the coloured blocks above the

Water Tool icon. This type will apply to any new water that you create. To change existing water to use this

type, move the cursor over that water and press the middle mouse button (click the wheel) to set the type of

that water.


BUILDING YOUR FIRST GAME IN KODU

So far you’ve been tinkering with the tools that make up Kodu Game Lab. The next few pages are a step-by-

step instruction in creating a basic, working videogame. A good way to learn about a new development

environment is to attempt to clone an existing game that you are very familiar with. So we have chosen Space

Invaders as our model to clone in the Kodu environment. If you haven’t played Space Invaders for a while, go

to this link and play for a few minutes to remind yourself of all the various mechanics involved:

http://www.freespaceinvaders.org/

GETTING STARTED

Even with a game as simple as Space Invaders, and in an environment as intuitive as Kodu, there are

fundamental steps of planning to be done before you start touching any of the tools. Planning saves you a lot

of wasted time later on, and focuses your project so you can be sure you are done when you think you are

done. With this project, we already have a template game to work from, so the planning stage is easier—the

biggest reason to clone a game is to shorten your initial design time, and let you get into the development as

quickly as possible!

The process we will use throughout this course is fairly informal, but is most like the Rapid Prototyping Model.

A prototype is a simple version built quickly to get to the play-testing stage as soon as possible. The process

begins with some initial planning where we define our project goals and requirements. Our basic goal here is

to create a reasonable copy of Space Invaders. Our requirements will be a checklist of mechanics, aesthetics

and gameplay experience. The Analysis and Design stage breaks the larger ideas down into specific objects,

characters, mechanics and level designs. Implementation is the point when you dive into Kodu and start

building. As soon as you can, press Play and test the mechanic you’re trying to implement, and let the

information you discover during play-testing influence the next round of design decisions and requirements.

The cycle looks like this:

Image from Wikipedia.org

It is useful to take your game design apart, and build as many self-contained objects and mechanics

individually, and test them as you go—rather than trying to build the whole game, and only then hit Play.

We’ll find some opprotunities for isolated testing as we go.

BASIC MECHANICS OF SPACE INVADERS

A Basic Requirements Checklist:

� Space Invaders consists of one screen/level area.

� The player is a single ship at the bottom of the screen.

� The ship can only move left and right.

� The ship can shoot upwards.

� The enemies are a field of aliens descending in a grid from the top to the bottom of the screen.

� The enemies move left and right as well as downward.

� The enemies shoot at the player.

� If the player is shot, the game ends.

� If the player is touched by an alien, the game ends.

� If the player shoots an alien, it is destroyed and the player gains some points.

� There are shields at the bottom of the screen the player can hide behind to avoid being shot, but

won’t avoid being hit by the alien and destroyed.

� Sometimes special flying saucers go by the top of the screen for bonus points.

So these mechanics we’ve analysed from Space Invaders become our requirements list. A useful way to get

started is to determine which objects the game consists of. The first object we will need is a game field, so

let’s create a large square arena.

Open an empty world.

How big is large? Determine your proportions by placing your player’s ship on the empty field, and then use

terrain painter tool to create a large square field beneath your ship.

Next, reduce the size of your brush slightly, while keeping it centred on your bi

type to whatever you’d like the floor of your arena to look like, and paint another square, so you have two

concentric squares, or one square with a

different coloured border.

Choose the Raise/Lower terrain tool and raise

the whole square a bit. Keep the entire block

even by increasing the size of your brush so it is

slightly larger than the square of terrain you’ve

created.

Switch to the ‘Magic Brush’ in the Terrain

Raise/Lower tool, and with the same material as

your inner square still selected, right-click to

lower the middle area of your arena. This should create a perfect square with four straight walls around the

outside.

Let’s program our first mechanic chunk.

As mentioned above, we want to use

small chunks of programming so we can

test each piece as we go. For this step,

we’ll work on the player/character.

If you chose a saucer like I did, you’ll

notice that your saucer is probably

floating well above the floor of your

arena. You can change its height by

right clicking on it with the Object tool

selected.

Position the saucer at the bottom of your arena,

The ship can only move left and right.

The ship can shoot upwards.

The enemies are a field of aliens descending in a grid from the top to the bottom of the screen.

The enemies move left and right as well as downward.

ies shoot at the player.

If the player is shot, the game ends.

If the player is touched by an alien, the game ends.

If the player shoots an alien, it is destroyed and the player gains some points.

There are shields at the bottom of the screen the player can hide behind to avoid being shot, but

won’t avoid being hit by the alien and destroyed.

Sometimes special flying saucers go by the top of the screen for bonus points.

alysed from Space Invaders become our requirements list. A useful way to get


is large? Determine your proportions by placing your player’s ship on the empty field, and then use

terrain painter tool to create a large square field beneath your ship.

Next, reduce the size of your brush slightly, while keeping it centred on your big square. Change the material


concentric squares, or one square with a

Choose the Raise/Lower terrain tool and raise

he whole square a bit. Keep the entire block

even by increasing the size of your brush so it is

slightly larger than the square of terrain you’ve

Switch to the ‘Magic Brush’ in the Terrain

Raise/Lower tool, and with the same material as

click to


Let’s program our first mechanic chunk.

small chunks of programming so we can

test each piece as we go. For this step,

right clicking on it with the Object tool

Position the saucer at the bottom of your arena, in the centre.

Pro Tip: there are other ways to make

walls. Especially if you want a non

square arena, use the Path tool and

choose ‘wall’ instead of plain path,

then raise the height of your Path to

create a wall of whatever shape you

desire! You can modify the path by

clicking nodes and tweak the shape of

your arena even after it’s built

The enemies are a field of aliens descending in a grid from the top to the bottom of the screen.

There are shields at the bottom of the screen the player can hide behind to avoid being shot, but

alysed from Space Invaders become our requirements list. A useful way to get


is large? Determine your proportions by placing your player’s ship on the empty field, and then use

g square. Change the material



there are other ways to make

walls. Especially if you want a non-

square arena, use the Path tool and

choose ‘wall’ instead of plain path,

then raise the height of your Path to

create a wall of whatever shape you

desire! You can modify the path by

ng nodes and tweak the shape of

Right click to open the programming panel and input the following code:

This will cause the saucer to respond to the keyboard motion commands. Limiting the movement to

East/West will cause it to only be able to move horizontally, if y

‘up’ the screen.

We also want our saucer to be able to shoot, so I’ll use the

sub-category of the keyboard.

Let’s test these two mechanics and make any a

well so that it is free to move in the arena.

Hopefully you notice the problem straight away.

Correct his wild aim by adding a ‘North’ modifier to the shooting rule.

Kodu is such a fast programming environment that it is increasingly important to know what you want before

you try to build it, or you’ll be caught in a never ending loop of ‘fiddling.’ It sounds so easy to j

start building—and it is, but it’s also very easy to get lost playing with how the character shoots, and end up

wasting time that should be spent on giving it something to shoot at, for example. It’s also good practice to

get into because not all environments are as quick to implement and test as Kodu, and if you are spending

time implementing features that are not in your requirements brief, you’ll waste far, far more time in those

projects.

CREATING ENEMIES

Let’s create some enemies. In the original Space Invaders, the screen is fully

descending in a nice orderly fashion. I am going to change this up a little bit by populating the screen on

fly with enemies that will move along a path towards the play

be a bit more dynamic game than the original.

Invaders as a result.

First, pick an object from the Objects Tool; I’m going to use a Wisp for th

when you make them glow. Add the object to the scene.

Right click to open the programming panel and input the following code:


East/West will cause it to only be able to move horizontally, if you have oriented the camera so that North is

We also want our saucer to be able to shoot, so I’ll use the Space Bar for that. You’ll find Space Bar in the Misc

Let’s test these two mechanics and make any adjustments as necessary. It’s important to position your saucer

well so that it is free to move in the arena. Try driving your saucer back and forth and shooting some blips.

Hopefully you notice the problem straight away.

ng a ‘North’ modifier to the shooting rule.


you try to build it, or you’ll be caught in a never ending loop of ‘fiddling.’ It sounds so easy to just jump in and

and it is, but it’s also very easy to get lost playing with how the character shoots, and end up


not all environments are as quick to implement and test as Kodu, and if you are spending


In the original Space Invaders, the screen is fully-populated by a grid of aliens

descending in a nice orderly fashion. I am going to change this up a little bit by populating the screen on

fly with enemies that will move along a path towards the player, instead of in one big block. The effect should

be a bit more dynamic game than the original. The game may also resemble Centipede a bit more than Space

First, pick an object from the Objects Tool; I’m going to use a Wisp for this one because they look pretty cool

when you make them glow. Add the object to the scene.


ou have oriented the camera so that North is

You’ll find Space Bar in the Misc

s important to position your saucer

Try driving your saucer back and forth and shooting some blips.


ust jump in and

and it is, but it’s also very easy to get lost playing with how the character shoots, and end up


not all environments are as quick to implement and test as Kodu, and if you are spending


populated by a grid of aliens

descending in a nice orderly fashion. I am going to change this up a little bit by populating the screen on-the-

er, instead of in one big block. The effect should

The game may also resemble Centipede a bit more than Space

is one because they look pretty cool

Right-click to change some of the Settings of the

wisp. Firstly, let’s lower its health from 50 to 10 or

15 (remember the default value of your saucer’s blip

bullets is 5 damage). Secondly, enable ‘Creatable’ in

the settings list.

Making the wisp creatable causes it to be classed as

a template object, meaning the game can ‘create’

them on the fly. We don’t have to place each enemy

we want to shoot in the stage beforehand this way.

This makes for a much neater program and some interesting random play. However, when you make

something creatable, it also disappears from the stage

when you hit Play. Something has to create it!

Let’s use a Stick to create Wisps. Use the Object tool to

place a Stick in the top left corner of your arena. Sticks are

the little turret-like objects with a friendly name.

Program the stick with the following:

So now we have some code that will create a wisp for us. Test it

Not very interesting, because the wisps don’t do anything! Let’s fix that.

Firstly let’s change the height of those wisps to match your saucer.

For Space Invaders, we will use a Path to guide our

enemies across the board. The path for this game is pretty

simple, and looks like this:

You can make more turns or fewer, but the last one needs

to run right over your saucer.

The path should be invisible when you press play, but if it’s

not, check your world settings for Path Debugging and turn

it off.

click to change some of the Settings of the

wisp. Firstly, let’s lower its health from 50 to 10 or

15 (remember the default value of your saucer’s blip

llets is 5 damage). Secondly, enable ‘Creatable’ in

Making the wisp creatable causes it to be classed as

a template object, meaning the game can ‘create’

them on the fly. We don’t have to place each enemy

age beforehand this way.

neater program and some interesting random play. However, when you make

something creatable, it also disappears from the stage

when you hit Play. Something has to create it!

sps. Use the Object tool to

place a Stick in the top left corner of your arena. Sticks are

like objects with a friendly name.

So now we have some code that will create a wisp for us. Test it out.

Not very interesting, because the wisps don’t do anything! Let’s fix that.

Firstly let’s change the height of those wisps to match your saucer. Now let’s give them their marching orders.

For Space Invaders, we will use a Path to guide our

emies across the board. The path for this game is pretty

You can make more turns or fewer, but the last one needs

The path should be invisible when you press play, but if it’s

not, check your world settings for Path Debugging and turn

neater program and some interesting random play. However, when you make

Now let’s give them their marching orders.

Now let’s teach that Wisp to walk along the path. It’s as simple as:

You’ll notice that we have no ‘When’ clause here, me

comes into play based on some other conditions).

So if you test this, you should have

the stick spitting out wisps that go

racing down the path towards you.

This is where the play testing comes

in handy. You can see we already

told the Wisp to move ‘slowly’ but if

this is still too fast for your liking,

you can slow it down more. Perhaps

you think they are too tough—

change their maximum health so

you can kill them with one hit.

Now, the stick is spitting them out at regular intervals. I think this is prett

to change it up a little. In the stick’s program add:

This will cause the stick to wait 1 second, then 0, 1 or 2 seconds more before shooting enemies.

timing until you get something you like. You can

timer to make it more chaotic.

At this point you should be able to ‘play’ your game. We haven’t implemented any scoring or failure

mechanics though, so let’s do that now.

Firstly, let’s add some value to shooting those wisps, by adding this rule to the wisp class.

scoring variables in the Game menu category.

Pro Tip: Kodu uses colour to designate

different instances of objects. So the

White path I’ve designated here is the

white one we’ve drawn on the board.

We can change the colour and so have

different paths, and assign different

properties based on that distinction.

The score panels work much the same

way.

ow let’s teach that Wisp to walk along the path. It’s as simple as:

You’ll notice that we have no ‘When’ clause here, meaning that wisps will always do this (until some other rule

comes into play based on some other conditions).

Now, the stick is spitting them out at regular intervals. I think this is pretty boring. So let’s add the following

s program add:

This will cause the stick to wait 1 second, then 0, 1 or 2 seconds more before shooting enemies.

timing until you get something you like. You can even set up a second line of wisp creation with a different


mechanics though, so let’s do that now.

some value to shooting those wisps, by adding this rule to the wisp class. You’ll find the

scoring variables in the Game menu category.

aning that wisps will always do this (until some other rule

y boring. So let’s add the following

This will cause the stick to wait 1 second, then 0, 1 or 2 seconds more before shooting enemies. Play with the

even set up a second line of wisp creation with a different


You’ll find the

Now what happens if the player messes up and gets hit by an enemy? That ends the game of course! So add

this to the wisp as well.

The wisps are still missing something: their own missiles. Add this rule:

We’ve told the wisp to shoot the secondary weapon, the slow moving missile. Our board is level, so I’ve used

the level command, that way when it hits the back

the land, if you choose ‘cruise’ the missile can make its way over hilly landscapes.

Be sure to configure the timing to create enough of a challenge, but not so much that the game is too har

Also, check the wisp’s settings to see how much damage each missile does. Do you want the player to be able

to survive more than one shot, or is it one

it’s hit by a missile.

Now, if you play for long enough, eventually one of your wisps is going to shoot another one. That will

probably cause one wisp to destroy the other

kode:

So, whenever the shot hits a wisp, the damage will be zero

you want to introduce different enemies.

So now we have a scoreboard, but the game will go on forever!

to your player/character (in mine, the saucer).

So now when we hit 20 points, the game is over and we win!!


The wisps are still missing something: their own missiles. Add this rule:


the level command, that way when it hits the back wall it will explode rather than try to follow the altitude of

the land, if you choose ‘cruise’ the missile can make its way over hilly landscapes.

Be sure to configure the timing to create enough of a challenge, but not so much that the game is too har


to survive more than one shot, or is it one-hit-kills? We also need to add a game-over rule to the saucer when

you play for long enough, eventually one of your wisps is going to shoot another one. That will

probably cause one wisp to destroy the other—giving the player free points! Let’s change that with this line of

e damage will be zero. There might be better ways to do this, especially if

you want to introduce different enemies. This is a good time to do some testing.

So now we have a scoreboard, but the game will go on forever! Let’s create an end condition. Attach this line

to your player/character (in mine, the saucer).

So now when we hit 20 points, the game is over and we win!!



wall it will explode rather than try to follow the altitude of

Be sure to configure the timing to create enough of a challenge, but not so much that the game is too hard.


over rule to the saucer when

you play for long enough, eventually one of your wisps is going to shoot another one. That will

giving the player free points! Let’s change that with this line of

There might be better ways to do this, especially if

Let’s create an end condition. Attach this line

This is another obvious time to do some testing. Play the game through a couple of times and m

while you do so. Think about various settings: speed of the enemies, speed of your saucer. What about the

speed that your blips are fired/reloaded? Is 20 points too long, or too short? Is this level easy enough to be

level 1, or can it be made easier? How would I make it harder?

Finally, go back to the requirements list and check to see what’s missing.

OTHER FEATURES

Shields! Of course, the original cover system! Let’s add a shield to hide behind. First think about the

properties of the shields in the original: they will absorb enemy fire, but eventually get holes drilled in them.

The player can also punch holes through them with his own shots, so they aren’t invincible. Kodu won’t let us

make holes in objects, but we can approximate

So let’s pick an appropriate object to act as a shield, how about a rock? They could be asteroids! Place a rock

in your scene, and adjust its size to 2 or 3 so its big enough to be useful. Then check its

is where game balancing comes in, and where game documentation is important. How much health do your

rocks have? How much damage does a wisp’s missile do? How much health does the rock have compared to

the player’s saucer? These things all need to be balanced to make sense so that the rock can take a few hits

before it blows up, but the player’s saucer can’t. So perhaps if the missiles have a damage of 50, and the

player’s saucer is also 50 (so 1 shot destroys it), the rocks shoul

shots. It really pays to have this stuff written down so you can check it all at once. We’ve only got 3 game

elements here, what if we add 3 more enemy types with more than one kind of shooting capability?

Whatever you decide as your balance, place two or three rocks in your arena that your player can hide behind.

I suggest placing them in between the last 2 passes of the wisps so the enemies don’t run into them and get

confused.

Something we’ve hardly touched on is the look of this game. So far the level is pretty ugly. Let’s play with a

couple world settings to change that!

Firstly let’s set up the camera so we know what the player will be seeing each time. Click on the World

Settings at the end of the Tool menu,

and scroll to Camera. Choose Fixed

camera, then click the X icon to set your

camera’s position. This is the

perspective I’m using:

Now back in the World Settings Menu,

play with the Sky and Lighting settings

until you find something atmospheric.

I’m going for the sci-fi space aesthetic so

I’ve chosen some fairly dark settings.

That will make the glowing of my

This is another obvious time to do some testing. Play the game through a couple of times and m



e easier? How would I make it harder?

Finally, go back to the requirements list and check to see what’s missing.


e shields in the original: they will absorb enemy fire, but eventually get holes drilled in them.


make holes in objects, but we can approximate the deterioration of the shields using health.


in your scene, and adjust its size to 2 or 3 so its big enough to be useful. Then check its maximum health. This



hings all need to be balanced to make sense so that the rock can take a few hits


player’s saucer is also 50 (so 1 shot destroys it), the rocks should have 200 health, meaning they’ll only last 4







your

ettings Menu,

play with the Sky and Lighting settings

until you find something atmospheric.

fi space aesthetic so

Pro Tip: Saving in Kodu is a little

different to your average document

editor. There is a built-in version

incrementation option so you can

quickly sort through v00, v01, v02 of

the same project. Take a close look at

the save screen by pressing Home on

the keyboard, or clicking the house on

the Tool palette.

This is another obvious time to do some testing. Play the game through a couple of times and make notes




e shields in the original: they will absorb enemy fire, but eventually get holes drilled in them.



aximum health. This



hings all need to be balanced to make sense so that the rock can take a few hits


d have 200 health, meaning they’ll only last 4







Saving in Kodu is a little

different to your average document

in version

incrementation option so you can

quickly sort through v00, v01, v02 of

the same project. Take a close look at

the save screen by pressing Home on

the keyboard, or clicking the house on


objects stand out more, but I should probably add some lights to make things a bit more visible.

RESULTS

At this point you should have a working version of a Space Invaders-like game. There are a lot of things that

could be added to it, of course, but many of the basics of gameplay and the functions of Kodu have been

covered here. Feel free to experiment with this design and learn more.

ASSIGNMENT NOTES

We have referred to this design as being worth a Credit, but that isn’t entirely true. To get a credit with this

design, you’ll need to add at least one more enemy type to increase the difficulty at some point in the game.

You would also want to spend some time on the aesthetics, as indicated above. Even then, this would only be

a low credit. To get higher marks, we’d like to see something other than a straight clone of a primitive game.

Add something innovative, or polish it until it really shines. It also assumes that the accompanying

documentation with this game is of a very high standard. You can’t make a great game and provide terrible

documentation for this course. Both are important parts of the process.

getting started with kodu game lab -...

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