How to make a Dragon Maker using Scratch

I love making dress-up games, and its even more fun to get feedback from people on them. Normally, those people are your family and friends, but there are websites where you can post to get reviews on your work. One such of these sites is called Scratch. I've used Scratch for a while, I originally joined it under the user SunsetShimmer, so maybe you've heard of me?

Anyways, I deleted that account a while ago however, to get a new start. I now go by Shadow-Wing, and make -creators and dress ups! I haven't made one in a while, so I thought that this would be a good time to make one.

Back to the How-To.
For this example, I will be using a Dragon Maker. a Wings of Fire Dragonet Maker to be exact. I will be making this as I write the steps, so this time I will be able to provide step-by-step instructions, as well as images. I will be using the Offline Scratch Editor 2 for this, but feel free to use whatever version you have on hand, or even use the editor provided on the website, if you have an account.

Are you ready to begin? Then Let's GO!!!

Alright, so first off get rid of the little Scratch Cat sprite with a quick click of the scissors. Next, make a quick little background to work with. I typically just do a white background with the word 'create' in all-caps in the background and enlarged, like this;

But you can customize your background however you wish. This will be my starting background, and I will add in more later, so don't worry, the dragonets won't be stuck on this screen forever, just until we are closer to the end.

Once your background is done, create a new sprite, by clicking the paintbrush in the Sprites toolbar.
You will now get a blank canvas, on which to draw your sprite!

This is going to be the sprite that is all of our little dragonets. For this maker, there will be two templates for each dragonet, color variation 1, and color variation 2, so there will be two different colors for each of the tribes. At some point I might go in and change that, especially for the RainWing, but for now, just 2 colors per tribe.

Anyways, so draw up your first sprite variation. I'll be starting with a base template, that I can edit to make look like all the different tribes, but keep them all in the same pose. No color yet, just gray lines, that are easily editable, with white on the inside to make it show over the backdrop.

Here is my finished Base Dragonet

Now you don't have to do a Base picture, if you are offering two options that are very drastic from each-other [standing and sitting for example] but even then you will copy them to make your minor adjustments, and even in dress-ups, you copy the base picture, and draw the outfits over that, then erase the unneeded parts, so it's always a good idea to keep a base-pic on hand, even if you never use it.

Next up, copy your image for as many times as you need it. But be careful for how you do it. For example, I'm only going to copy until I have half as many images I need. I will then edit each one individually until it is a blank template for a single tribe, and copy it so I have a second, that way I don't have to edit two images for each tribe, only one. I'll still have to do two for color, but that is way easier than trying to get the bases to look exactly the same.
Anyways, make sure you label each costume, otherwise you might get in trouble later down the road

<If you can't read that, then from top to bottom:
Skywing, MudWing,SandWing, IceWing, RainWing, and NightWing.
The SeaWing is hidden from view up above, I couldn't get it to scroll enough in the editor, so in case you were wondering why you can only see six, when there are seven tribes, that's why











Anyways, once you have your base pictures all set up, now is the time for editing.Take your copies of the base sprite, and edit the heck out of them until you have your final product, and then go ahead and give them all some color!

Aren't they awesome? There are more sprites, obviously, but you'll have to play the game to see them ;)
You may be wondering why there's only one MudWing...well, that's because there's really only one color of MudWing scales, so there wasn't really anything I could do.

Anyways...now that you have your main sprite all ready, it's time to work with the code for it.

The first code, should look like this;

Always make sure that 'switch costume to' is set for the first costume

 Next you're going to make a new sprite. This one should look like a button of some sort. I made mine a wing, because it's 'Wings' of Fire.

Now set up code in the button's script. It needs to have the Green Flag and the When Backdrop Switches code, but you can change the wording of the broadcast message so that it fits your theme, or just leave it as message 1. [I took the liberty of setting up a backdrop, and a sprite to go along with it. I'll show it in a moment]

Now go over to your character sprite, and add in something like this;

That's actually pretty much all of the code you will require for your character sprite. Crazy isn't it?

Now, we get to add in some fun things! Drag and Drops :D

First off, design the things you want to add. Maybe a flower? Or a strand of pearls. Once you have them ready, make sure ALL of them have the 'Can Drag in Player' box checked

When you're ready, head over to one of your sprites, and set up this code to go in all of the drag and drop sprites. I only did three, the leather jerkin, the rose armband, and the gold necklace, simply because that will motivate me to update with more features. If you're wondering about eyes, don't worry,I haven't' forgotten, but I'm going to go more in-depth with them in a moment.
Anyways back to the code, this is the code you  need in your drag and drops;

Now you are probably trying to figure out why 'message1' keeps popping up. Well for one it's the default message, and for another, it's what we are going to use when the player is done with their dragon, to get to the end scene. If you like, you can alter the code, so that the player can re-set their character, by adding in this;

Alright, time for the messages.
Create another button, keeping the theme you made for the change base sprite one, and write the word 'Complete' on it, and if you did the optional code, make another that says Reset.

^Code for 'Complete' Button

^Code for 'Reset' Button

Alright, we're almost done. Just a few more things left to do. First off, It's finally time for the eyes to be made. Make them just like the other drag 'n drops, but add in multiple costumes, and the following code.

Do the same for the mouth.


Next up, troubleshoot. Click the expand button, and play the game, just to make sure that everything is working the way it's supposed to. If it's not, go back up through the pictures, and see where your code messed up. I already troubleshooted this game, so all the code is working correctly.

And finally, upload your project. As time goes on, you can update it with more costumes, more drag n' drops, and more features in general.
I really hope this was helpful for you, and if you ever do use it to make a -Maker, Please! Leave a link in the comments, I'd love to check out what you guys are all making!

Here's a link to the completed dragon game if you are interested. Who knows? Maybe by the time you read this, it's been updated. Leave a comment with a screen-shot of the dragon you made, I'd love to see it!

Remembering the Classics.

So lately, me and my family have had this awful sickness. Headaches, stuffed noses, gunked up throats, and tired out muscles. Not fun. As we've been sick, well, I went to the Library shortly before we all got sick, and discovered a DVD set called 'The Super Mario Brother's Super Show' and I had remembered watching a few of these a few years prior, so I decided to grab it.
 It ended up sitting in our Library baskets, until we ended up sick, and I was looking around up there for something to do.
I re-found the set, and decided to bring it downstairs, and put it in.

My siblings and I fell in love with the show. It was a little corny, but it was adorable. I couldn't believe that so many people didn't like it. Having watched a few episodes previously, I recognized most of the first disc, but by the time we hit disc 2, I was unfamiliar with a majority, and disc 3 was all new for me. Sadly, disc 4 was ruined beyond repair, but what else can you expect when you're getting a disc from the library, especially one as old as a show from 1989?

I later found, with some shock, that the show premiered on September Fourth 1989, and the final episode was aired, you ready for this? December First, 1989. Almost exactly four months after premiering. The re-runs lasted until September 6th, 1991. Alright, so the show was technically continued with Club Mario, but it just wasn't the same, and Club Mario ended rather quickly.

Many people today have forgotten the classics, yes they were rather corny, and at times, the animation was messy, but you know what? Think about the time period these came from. These weren't being produced by Disney, this was great animation for it's time and company.

So many people didn't like this show, and I can't really imagine why. But, it is what it is. You know...if more people ended up remembering the classics, the good ol' days of Traditional Animation, which is hands down my favorite kind, and I'll explain why in a moment, then maybe we wouldn't have lost such a great show.

Alright, so back to the topic of Animation. I love the Traditional style used by Disney up until their final traditionally animated film, Home on the Range, in 2004. Shortly afterwards, Disney began to produce their CGI films (CGI meaning Computer Generated Imagery). Sure some of these movies are great, but so many people have forgotten the classics. What about The Little Mermaid? Lilo and Stitch? I wouldn't be surprised if I found out there were people out there who had never seen, perhaps never even heard, of Disney's first big movie....Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

This animation amazes me, I find it amazing, because of several reasons. The main one, and the only one I will be elaborating being, the only thing they would have used tech for, would be to place the characters on the backgrounds. You can watch a video, though it may take a while to track down, on how one of Peter Pan's artists, used a sketchbook to animate Captain Hook.This was a time when they put effort into their art, actually took the time to make sure everything went smoothly. You'll find a lot less animation errors in these classic films and shows, than you will in the newer movies.

I want to challenge you all to try your hand at this, draw an animated scene, on a piece of paper.

Have you ever done anything like this? What are your favorite classic films and shows.

Step-by-Step - Make a Custom Pin for your blog!

Remember this post here? I said I was using PicMonkey to make Pins for one of my mom's blogs. Well, before you get all excited, no this is not me saying you can order these from me. This is a step-by-step post. A post that will show you how to make these pins for your own blog!

So Step One; Make sure you have a PicMonkey account, the site requires an account for usage, and Step Two; make sure you have Flash enabled on whatever Internet browser you are going to be using.
Step Three, pic a color pallet. My mom uses a bright green, and a bright pink.

10 Simple Ways to Extend Reading Time

Ain't that pretty?

You can use whatever colors you want, but remember to stick to them, and if you change them, to change all your previous ones, that way people recognize them later on, and say  "Hey, I know that blog!" and click on the links, thus getting your posts read quickly, and by more people, because the people that clicked on the pintrest pins are likely to re-pin, and then their followers will read it and well, you get the idea.

PicMonkey offers a ton of editing options, so I'm going to have to stop the step by step here, as I can't tell you how to customize. Will you use hearts? Stars, maybe a checkerboard patter?
It's all up to you!

What design did you choose for your pins?

How to Create a Style

When you look at images other people have drawn, you can sometimes recognize a picture by their style.
Look at this image.

Can you tell me who it is? I sure hope you can. In case you can't, this is younger Simba, from the movie Lion King. Note the style of the art. Study it really closely, and then look at this picture of younger Kovu, from the second movie

See the similarities? If not, take a real close look at the ears, eyebrows, jaws, and eyes.
Now do you see them?
Even if you couldn't, you could recognize these as Disney characters from the movie Lion King. Unless of course you've never seen any of the movies, in which case I suggest you go do right away, as it is an amazing movie.

The artists for Lion King developed a style, a pattern for their characters. That's what the topic of this post is today.
When you draw, do you do something specific to mark it as your drawing?? And I don't mean signing it. I mean drawing hands a certain way, or maybe doing the face in a certain design. If you are having trouble coming up with your own way of drawing, draw up a quick picture in the same design as the original, then look at the places you feel could use some improvement. Maybe you didn't draw the eyes just so, or maybe the hands, paws, talons, or wings turned out horribly. Draw the picture again, but leave out the parts where you messed up. Unless of course the entire image was ruined by some accident, in which case simply just re-draw it completely before doing this step.

Now, in the parts you left out, take a new piece of paper, and experiment drawing them in different ways until you come up with a way you like. When you are positive you can draw the way repetitively, draw it onto your image.  Repeat this step, until your picture is once again complete. And hey...what do you know? You've created a style for those parts!

I once had issues drawing feet, they were just super hard for me! Then I started drawing them a more cartoon-like way, shorter and more round, and suddenly they looked....right.

So keep experimenting with your images, until they feel right to you.

In what ways have you improved your art?
Do you have a specific style you can show off?
I'd love to see it!