Hello, I'm AnkokuCore, and by my ‘New Scratcher’ status, I think you know what I'm here for.

So, on this site, what I aim to do is make games. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to figure some aspects out. I can do a basic scroller, sure, but I don't quite get the coding. I'd like to figure things out, but I'm not quite sure where to start. So, here are a couple of questions, and if you can help me by answering them, I would be very grateful.

1. What sort of games do you typically make?
2. How did you learn to make them?
3. Aside from the help tab (I know how to do those), are there any helpful links you can link me to?
4. Any tips for a rookie?

Thank you very much, I appreciate your help.
~ Ankoku Core

1. Tower defense and RPG
2. When I started Scratch, I knew completely nothing. I began with a very simply move the ball to the end and avoid all the red colors, a common game to begin with. To be honest, I just learned over time. The #1 reason why people probably quit is because they are not patient enough. Trust me, you can't become an expert game maker in one week, but sure can over months. It takes months of slowly progressing to more advanced concepts. Many users who are new to programming join and want to make really complex games. Baby steps are needed.
3. Scratch Wiki
4. Be patient, and ask any questions on the forums.

For a sidescroller, I made a tutorial project here.

1. Puzzle games and Skill games (e.g. avoiding stuff) Example1 Example2
2. I've known Scratch for about 2 years and over that time, I've learnt about all of the features of Scratch so that I can in theory make anything that I want to. When I was starting out, I played a lot of projects on the Scratch website. When I saw something interesting, I downloaded the project into a folder called “Scratch Project Examples” and had a look at the scripts that the creator used. At first, I had trouble doing basic things such as showing and hiding sprites, but as I looked at the scripts in other's projects, I quickly picked up nifty tricks.
3. The Scratch Wiki. I used it a lot when I was starting out.
4. Start simple and build your way up. My first project was a Rock, Paper, Scissors game (which I have deleted now…) but when I made it, I felt really satisfied with myself as it was the first time that I had used the “Broadcast” blocks. Also, try to “play around” with scripts. For example, you have a scrolling script but aren't sure how it works. Just have a look at what changing a few numbers in the script affects the project. And if you have any questions, just ask on the forums.

Good luck!

AnkokuCore wrote:

1. What sort of games do you typically make?

Hmm.. Well in the 1.4 days (I had my profile but didn't upload anything) I tryed to make platformers. My first games were actually a spaceship shooting aliens. I used simple scripts with the “key pressed” block at first, and later learned about if statements.

Now I am working on scrolling games that are a lot fancier than my first ones.

AnkokuCore wrote:

2. How did you learn to make them?

I saw that the “key pressed” blocks fit into the if block slots. I also later realized how to make variables and how cool they were after being confused about a project I opened that was on my school computer in which it was counting “score”. I wanted to make a score counter too.

I also read pretty much all of the help screens that were for each block. In 1.4, you could right click and read some stuff, but that feature is gone now.

1. You can look at my projects - I make games I've played before. (Usually)
2. I was interested in scratch, so I made a bunch of projects (offline editor >1 year ago) for testing what everything did.
3. Yes, the scratch wiki.
4. Before you really try to make something, figure out what a lot of the important blocks do. (You need to know a lot of them to make good game projects)

1234abcdcba4321 wrote:

4. Before you really try to make something, figure out what a lot of the important blocks do. (You need to know a lot of them to make good game projects)

I figured them out as I went, and that worked alright for me.
Of course, my projects weren't the best, but…
(^good advice^)

Anyway:
1. I don't even know… It's varied a lot in the past. I'm currently focusing on a maze-ish game.
2. A lot of experimentation. I made quite a few pointless projects just to see how blocks worked. The most help, however, came from looking at other people's projects and checking out the scripts. I didn't understand half of what I saw at first, but other scratchers helped me figure things out.
3. I know it's been mentioned twice already, but the scratch wiki can be really helpful.
4. If you have an idea for how to do something, do it. Test it. Experiment with EVERYTHING. Scratch is built to make that easy, take advantage of it.

2. My first ever online project was a basic maze game I remixed. I'd have a poke round some scratcher's old projects. They are usally quite basic, and nice for beginners to remix and learn the scripts. If you want to start with my maze game, just click here.

1. Platformer, interactive stuff…
2. I looked that other peoples projects, read the scripts, study them. After I think I understand, I would try to remix.
4. Be patient, be active on the forums, and don't be afraid to ask!

Thank you all for your advice, I greatly appreciate it!