Quiz Show IV

Review — where we got to 5 min

Your show has questions, lives, cards, sounds and points. It starts the moment the flag is pressed and finishes with a number. Both of those change today.

• <() > ()> and an if inside an else, from Lesson 26.
• hide and show, from Topic 1.4.

Quick-fire

You give your project to somebody who was not in the room. What is the first thing that goes wrong?

Today’s Topic 3 min

• when this sprite clicked — a button that starts the show
• An if inside an else, giving three different endings
• A best variable that the green flag sets and a round does not
• A play-again button that resets everything a round owns

Learning outcome

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1. Start a project by clicking a sprite instead of the flag.
2. Turn a score into a medal.
3. Keep a best score across several players.

Learnt — button, medal, best 28 min

1 · A button is a sprite with a hat on it

There is a hat block that runs when somebody clicks a sprite. Any sprite. It is in Events, under the flag and the key blocks.

1. Add a sprite. Button1 is a round green one and needs no drawing.
2. Name it Start and put it near the bottom of the Stage.
3. Give it when this sprite clicked.
4. Under that, put hide and then broadcast [start v].
5. Press the green flag, then click the button.

when this sprite clicked
hide
broadcast [start v]
            

The host now has two jobs. The green flag sets the table; the start message begins the show.

when flag clicked
switch backdrop to [Theater v]
say [Press the green button to play.] for (3) seconds
            

when I receive [start v]
set [score v] to (0)
set [lives v] to (3)
broadcast [question 1 v]
            

2 · A medal instead of a number

“You scored 6” means nothing on its own. Gold, Silver and Bronze mean something instantly.

when I receive [result v]
if <(score) > [8]> then
  say [GOLD!] for (4) seconds
else
  if <(score) > [5]> then
    say [Silver.] for (4) seconds
  else
    say [Bronze. Play again!] for (4) seconds
  end
end
            

3 · A best score

score belongs to one player. best belongs to the whole classroom. The difference is one line, and it is where they get set.

1. Make a variable called best.
2. Put set [best v] to (0) on the GREEN FLAG stack, with nothing else.
3. Do NOT put it in the start script.
4. At the top of the result script, compare this score with the best so far.

when I receive [result v]
if <(score) > (best)> then
  set [best v] to (score)
  say [A new best score!] for (2) seconds
end
            

Basic — finish your show 25 min

Your quiz. Four passes, testing after every one.

Step 1 — move the setting-up

1. Find your green-flag stack. It probably sets the score, the lives and the backdrop and then broadcasts question 1.
2. Drag everything from set [score v] to (0) downwards off the flag and onto an empty part of the canvas.
3. Put a when I receive [start v] hat on top of it.
4. Leave the backdrop block and a welcome message on the flag.

Step 2 — the button

1. Add a button sprite and name it Start.
2. Give it a green-flag stack that puts it in place and shows it.
3. Give it a clicked stack: hide, then broadcast [start v].
4. Test. The flag should do nothing but greet you.

Step 3 — the medal

1. Work out the highest score your show can give.
2. Choose two numbers: one for gold, one for silver.
3. Build the if inside the else in your result script.
4. Test all three medals, by answering well, mediumly and badly.

Step 4 — the best score

1. Make best and set it to 0 on the green flag only.
2. Add the comparison at the top of the result script.
3. Play twice without pressing the flag in between. The best should hold.
4. Press the flag. The best should go back to 0.

Step 5 — play again

1. On the button, add when I receive [result v], then wait (4) seconds, then show.
2. Play a whole round, wait for the button, and play another.
3. Check the score really did go back to 0 for the second round.

A front page

Give your show a name and a proper welcome, before anything is asked.

• The name of your show is on the screen before the button is pressed.
• It says what the quiz is about.
• It tells the player what to press.

Play again, properly

One press should give the next player a clean show — not yours with a few things left over.

• The score starts at 0.
• The lives start at 3.
• The card goes back to the front page.
• The best score does NOT reset.

The cold test

You cannot see your own project properly while you still remember building it. So put time between you and it, and come back as a stranger would.

1. Save it and close the project.
2. Do something else for at least ten minutes — the next challenge will do.
3. Open it again with every script window shut, so only the Stage is showing.
4. Play it start to finish, following ONLY what is on the screen.
5. Write down every moment you had to stop and think.

• You start it without opening a single script.
• You finish the whole show without guessing.
• You have written down every moment you hesitated.
• You fix the worst one.

Who holds the record?

A best score with no name on it is not a leaderboard. Ask every player their name, and keep the name of whoever holds the best score.

• Every player is asked their name before question 1.
• Beating the best score also takes over the name.
• Not beating it leaves the name alone.
• The front page shows both, so the next player knows what to beat.

when I receive [start v]
ask [What is your name?] and wait
set [player v] to (answer)
set [score v] to (0)
set [lives v] to (3)
broadcast [question 1 v]
            

when I receive [result v]
if <(score) > (best)> then
  set [best v] to (score)
  set [champion v] to (player)
end
say (join [Best so far: ] (join (champion) (join [ with ] (best)))) for (4) seconds
            

Summary 4 min

The Quiz Show is finished, and it is the first project you can leave running for somebody else.

1. when this sprite clicked turns any sprite into a button.
2. The flag sets the table. A start message runs the round.
3. An if inside an else gives three endings, tested from the highest down.
4. A best score is set on the flag and nowhere else.

Button

A sprite with a clicked hat on it. Nothing else makes it a button.

Title screen

What the player sees before anything starts. It says what this is and what to press.

Grade

A word given for a range of scores. Gold, Silver, Bronze.

Best score

The highest anybody has managed. It survives the end of a round.

Next lesson: a new arc, and something that needs looking after — a pet that gets hungry whether you are watching or not.