A Very Quick Guide to Kodu

2

Starting Kodu

Resume takes you to the last world that you were editing. Load World allows you to open your projects. Options allow you to modify the site wide options. Help takes you through an explanation of how kodu works. Quit allows you to exit Kodu

Quick Reference

Kodu is made up of bots and objects that can responded to things which happen in the game, or what they are told (programmed) to do.

Each bot or object can be then programmed to do something, by writing a script.

A script is made up of pages and each page is made up of scores. Like music!

You decide how the game plays and how someone wins (or loses).

Moving Around Kodu

1. Home button (main menu)

2. Play your game 3. Move camera, terrain or rotate around world.

4. Add and program objects / bots.

5. Add / Edit Paths 6. Paint / Make Terrain 7. Raise or Lower Terrain

8. Make Terrain Smooth or Hilly

9. Make Terrain Level or Spiky

10. Add, Raise or Lower Water

11. Delete Objects 12. Change Game Settings

When using the above options:

Left clicking when using tools adds / increases (e.g. adds terrain, adds water etc).

Right clicking when using tools removes / decreases (e.g. removes terrain, removes water etc).

3

Objects & Bots

Here are all the different objects and bots you can have in your game. Use this as a reference guide when building your games.

Kodu is a little slow and has trouble getting up steep slopes.

The Apple tastes great and they're fun to launch

Flyfish hovers and turns quickly - great for snappy action.

Cycle is quick, can climb steep hills, and jump

.

Saucer is the fastest and most nimble character. They can change direction instantly

The Blimp flies around slowly

Jet cruises along close to the ground, it can Move Up and Down

Balloon floats slowly in the air watching over everything. This makes it a good referee for games

Sub works best under water

Cannon is big and slow but very powerful

The Puck is great for fast games since it flies around with no friction and can bounce without losing speed

The Wisp moves fast leaving glowing trails behind

The Turtle can fly through the air and can hide in its shell using the Open and Close actions. When the turtle is closed it is invulnerable to attack

The Pushpad is big and strong

The Sputnik makes a great companion to the Saucer

Stick doesn't move but can hide underground by closing. Invulnerable when closed

When other characters jump on the Drum they get launched into the air

The Mine has spikes which can be exposed or withdrawn. Use the Open action to show the spikes and the Close action to hide them

The Cloud is in honor of our Redmond weather.

The Fish does best in water. On land its just stranded

Ship is a boat that can float on top of water, but can't move on land

The Light moves fast and can light up the world

Rocks can be programmed just like everything else

Stars can be programmed just like everything else

Coins are a "must have" for every classic arcade game

Program it or just kick it around. Either way, it's just a ball

The Castle doesn't move much

The ACME Factory makes a great landmark for any game

The Hut makes a great landmark for any game

Hearts work great for health packs

Ammo works great as ammo packs

Trees can also be programmed

4

Tutorial: Building a Very Basic Game

1. To begin, once you have started Kodu, click “Load World”

2. In the menu that appears click “Empty

World”

3. Once your game environment loads, press

“Escape” to edit your game.

4. Now we will build a small basic piece of land

by adding terrain. Use the building tools.

4a. Click on the icon that looks like a brush (numbered 1). 4b. Click on the terrain selector (numbered 2). 4c. Select a terrain. Then paint your terrain on your ground.

Left clicking adds terrain, right clicking removes terrain. Use the HAND to move the camera if needs be. You can move forward and back (left click), and also rotate the camera (right click)

Once you have your basic terrain, add some apples. You can do this once and copy and paste it:

5. Click on the add object icon

6. Click on “Apple”

5

7. Right click on the apple and go to Change

Size.

8. Change the size by dragging the green bar up. Press on the ‘X’ when done.

9. Right click on the apple again, and select “Copy”

10. Right click somewhere else in your land and press Paste. Repeat this 6-8 times, to get apples spread all over your land.

11. Add another object (see if you can remember how). This time add a KODU. He will appear on your land.

Drag your Kodu to the beginning of your terrain (somewhere near the front).

12. With Object mode already selected, right click on your newly added Kodu, Click “Change Height.”

Set the height to 0.60. Press ‘X’ when complete.

Time to Save

Click on the House Icon Select ‘Save My World’ Enter a name and description Click Save

6

Programming the Kodu

When we use the word “Program” or “Programming” we mean, telling the computer what to do, by giving a bot or object a set of instructions.

Code is made up of PAGES (up to 12)

…

PAGES are made up of SCORES of code (up to 7 per page)

A SCORE is a line of instructions for a particular object or bot.

E.g. WHEN: see apple, DO: Eat it. (i.e. when you see an apple, eat it)

1. With the add objects icon selected, Right click on your Kodu object and click PROGRAM.

Notice you are on PAGE 1 of your code for this object.

2. Click on the + next to WHEN (Circled)

3. Select Keyboard

Your WHEN block will be updated on SCORE 1

4. Click on the + next to keyboard.

5. Click on “Misc”

6. Click on “Up”

7. Click on the “+” next to DO

7

8. Click on “Move”

9. Click on the “+” next to “Move” (circled)

10. Select Forward

11. Click on the + after forward on your score.

12. Click Quickly

You should end up with this score. If you make a mistake, move the pencil with the arrow keys and click DELETE on your keyboard.

13. Add two extra scores to your KODU object. (Stuck? Go over Step 1 in this section again) Score 2: WHEN: Keyboard, Left, DO: Turn Left Quickly

Score 3: WHEN: Keyboard, Right, DO: Turn Right Quickly

14. Press ESCAPE when done.

15. Save your work

Click on the House Icon Select ‘Save My World’ Enter a name and description Click Save

16. Press ESCAPE to TEST Your game so far, or press

8

Adding Game Play Its time to add additional game code to your game, to make it into a real game (a simple one, but real!)

1. Add code to your KODU object to score 4-6. Not sure how to do this? Follow step 1 in the previous section to get to the program screen.

Add the following scores: Score 4: WHEN: Keyboard Space is pressed DO shoot a blue blip:

Score 5: WHEN: Shot hit at an Apple DO: Add 5 points on to the score.

Score 6: WHEN: Score reaches 300 points, DO: Blue player WINS

2. Press ESCAPE when done.

3. Save your work

4. Press ESCAPE to TEST Your game so far, or press

9

Changing Settings (Optional) You can change the way in which your objects work, and also your entire game.

1. Click on your object tool

2. Right click on your kodu object and click “Change Settings.”

3. Here you can change many of the settings for Kodu, such as the speed. Explore these and adjust these.

4. Also explore this button, to set the WHOLE game settings such as backgrounds etc.

KODU can do SO much more. You just need to Explore Practice Tasks

1. Explore the objects you can add (Objects and Bots page). Try and add code to them to see what they can do.

2. Add to your world by extending the size, building, mountains, water etc.

3. Add another player to your world and program it.

4. Paths allow objects and bots to move along them (as well as acting as walls etc). Add them, and see

if you can get an object to follow the path.

5. Build a new world which involves two CYCLE bots race around a track and collect coins. Add suitable objects, paths etc. Every coin a cycle collects, earns them 30 points. Once a cycle earns 500 points, they win the game.

6. Try editing an existing game to do something else. Look at the code and see how it is made.

7. Explore Kodu to make your own simple game.

Further Help: http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Getting_Around_Kodu http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Getting_Started http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Kodu_Introduction http://www.chris-alexander.co.uk/2163 http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu.html KODU DOWNLOAD

10

http://www.youtube.com (Search Kodu Tutorials)