A quick tour of MicroWorlds:
Making a computer game in 15 minutes.

This tour is to be taken in a playful spirit. Everything here is a suggestion. A lot of things to do, but you do what you want. Try is the most important word.  Don’t be afraid, let things come. You won't understand everything. Don't worry! Just think how upset babies would be if they worried about all the stuff around them that they don't fully understand. But they are learning all the time!  You'll pick up enough to make it easy to make your own project. How much further you go after that is up to you.

 

Run your eye over everywhere on the MW page.  All those little pictures are icons for tools you can use to work with MicroWorlds. You can stop reading here and just explore, or you can read on if you feel you need more direction. To show you how easy MW is to use right now I’m going to teach you how to make a game, a real computer game that you program, which you’ll be able to play.  And it’s only going to take 15 minutes, maybe 20.  After we’ve made the game I’m going to ask you to explore.  The best way to learn is by trying, messing up, and trying again.  We Like Mistakes.  But I know there’s still someone out there who is worried, so I’m going to take you step by step through the first project.  Now don’t be nervous, follow me, here we go.

  1. Start by clicking on the Free Mode button .... if I was truly teaching as a constructivist I’d have let you find that yourselves.  But we’ve got limited time, so let’s go.
  2. Open the paint tools, get the paint bucket and paint the entire screen green.
  3. Remove or use the rectangle tool to make a sidewalk, any color but green.
  4. Hatch a turtle.
  5. Make a button whose properties are FD 10 wait 2 (forever,) place it in the green.
  6. Make a button whose properties are RT 90 (once,) place it in the green.
  7. Make a pot of gold at the end of the path.
  8. Make a ten-note melody, make it invisible.
  9. Hold down the control key as you click you mouse on the green.
  10. Make the properties: Announce [Stay off the grass] home
  11. Hold down the control key as you click you mouse on the yellow.
  12. Make the properties: Melody1 Announce [You Win!] home Stopall.