| ThingMaker Documentation Chapter 4) Working With Tools

| Putting the tree into position Now we are going to start creating a game using the Tree Thing. You'll want the tree to appear at the bottom of the Scene and then to slide up and out of view. To do this, you must set the Tree Thing's starting position outside the Scene Frame.

1. Drag the tree below the Scene Frame, so it isn't visible in the Scene.
You may have to use the Scene's scroll bars to move the Scene Window so that you can work in the area below the Scene Frame.

The Scene Frame indicates the area of the Scene that will be visible on a web page.

2. If the Path isn't visible, select it in The Settings Palette.

3. If you haven't already simplified the Path, use the Smooth Button to reduce the Control Points on the Path to two.

4. Click and drag the last Control Point, so that it goes up and out of the Scene Frame.
You must drag it so that the Tree Thing moves out of the top of the Scene Frame at the top. Again, you may have to use the Scroll Bars to see the work area above the Frame.

5. Test your Scene.
The tree should move up through the Scene.

Adjust the Path if necessary. You might want to adjust the rate at which the Tree moves along the Path - but not too fast! You'll see why shortly.

Adding the Drag Action to a Thing
Now we are going to add a Ski Thing that you can drag to the Scene.

1. Drag the Ski Thing to the Scene, placing it at the top of the Scene in the Path of the Tree Thing.
If you're curious about how the Ski Thing was put together, take a look at the Settings Sheet for this Thing. It's reasonably simple: a single image in Default and a two frame animation in the MouseOver and MouseClick states.

2. Add the Drag Action to the MouseClick state.
Drag the Action from the Actions Palette to the MouseClick Tab of the Thing's Settings Sheet.

3. Test the Thing.
Click Play. The Scene begins playing. Move the cursor over the Ski Thing. It should change to a hand cursor. Now you can click and drag the Thing, and it will move around the Scene.

Restricting Movement
To make the game more interesting and challenging, you can restrict the movement of the Ski Thing.

1. If it's not open and selected, find the Drag Settings Sheet for the Ski Thing.

2. Click the Limit Horizontal Movement check box.
Notice that the arrows disappear. This means that with the current left and right settings at zero, the Thing cannot be moved left or right, although you can still move it freely up and down, as the blue vertical lines in the box indicate.

3. Type 400 into the Field on the right.
This displays the number of pixels the Thing can be moved to the right. It's dependent upon the width of your Scene Frame (which you can find at the bottom of the Scene Window.) If the Scene Frame is about 450 pixels wide, a width of 400 pixels will be sufficient.

Limiting Movement to the Left

4. Click the Limit Vertical Movement check box.

5. Test the Thing.
You should be able to drag the Thing to the left and right, but not up and down.

6. Limit Vertical Movement to 50.
Test the Thing. It should move left and right and up and down, but only in the region which you have defined.

What's next?
You now understand how to make Things move by using the Path Tool and by using the Drag Action. The next Tutorial introduces the Shape and Color Tools and further develops the game. Tutorial 6 explores the Layer and Swap Actions. Tutorial 7 makes the game really interesting by adding Collision detection, but don't jump ahead. There's lots to learn!

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