Home > Sean's Technology and Writing Blog

Cool Scratch Project: Discover the Magic Mirror

28 July 2016

Now I've finished writing Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps, I'm going to start uploading the examples and supporting content as we approach publication. By publication day, you will be able to find the projects in the official Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps studio on the Scratch website. I hope that you'll agree that the projects in this book bring something fresh and exciting that you won't have seen somewhere else, and that they can live up to the label of being 'cool'.

The projects won't necessarily be shared in the order they appear in the book, but I thought I'd start with the first one. Magic Mirror is a new spin on the 'cat going for a walk' project which starts many tutorials, including my previous book Scratch Programming in Easy Steps. In Magic Mirror, you move the cat using the left and right arrow keys, with the up key to jump. When you walk in front of the Magic Mirror, you see your reflection. Jumping into the buttons changes the mirror's settings, with different distorted reflections available. It's like a fairground's hall of mirrors, reimagined. This is a fun short project that shows you how to use graphic effects and layers, and introduces some ideas that are used in the more advanced projects later in the book.

Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps is available for pre-order now and will be released 31st August. Amazon's pre-order guarantee means that you will pay the lowest price they offer until the publication date if you pre-order now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below, although we're saving a surprise for a bit later on so I might not be able to answer everything...

The project is embedded below:

Permanent link for this post | Blog Home | Website Home | Email feedback

Dip into the blog archive

Credits

Visit www.sean.co.uk for free chapters from Sean's coding books (including Mission Python, Scratch Programming in Easy Steps and Coder Academy) and more!

Discover my latest books

100 Top Tips: Microsoft Excel

Power up your Microsoft Excel skills with this powerful pocket-sized book of tips that will save you time and help you learn more from your spreadsheets.

Scratch Programming IES

This book, now fully updated for Scratch 3, will take you from the basics of the Scratch language into the depths of its more advanced features. A great way to start programming.

Mission Python

Code a space adventure game in this Python programming book published by No Starch Press.

Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps

Discover how to make 3D games, create mazes, build a drum machine, make a game with cartoon animals and more!

Raspberry Pi For Dummies

Set up your Raspberry Pi, then learn how to use the Linux command line, Scratch, Python, Sonic Pi, Minecraft and electronics projects with it.

Earworm

In this entertaining techno-thriller, Sean McManus takes a slice through the music industry: from the boardroom to the stage; from the studio to the record fair.