Game On B

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LittleMissNyan
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Re: Game On B

Post by LittleMissNyan »

GetPengu wrote: October 28th, 2019, 1:13 pm Is there a way for you to have pre-made sprites at the event. Because last year at states I think they allowed it but I did not know. if you're allowed to then how can you get them at the competition.

Welllllll Scratch does have default costumes (click the Costumes tab on a sprite and click the round icon of a cat head with a plus sign) but you can only get a maximum of 1 point if you use a default costume. If you edit the costume that number goes up to 2, but it's best to make your own costumes to get the most points.

sciolynewcomer wrote: In your experience which of these constitute a valid concept?

1. The user accelerates, so acceleration
2. If the autonomous sprite accelerates, would it be considered another concept or is it covered in 1 ?
3. If the user always walks on ground, can we claim 'gravity', especially if it jumps and lands back down ?
4. Speaking of the above, is 'jump' a scientific concept?
5. If the sprite shoots missile, is 'shooting' a concept?

6. In your experience what counts and what does not?

1. If you can see the obvious change in speed, yes
2. Pretty sure it would be covered in 1 since it's the same thing happening
3. Gravity would be more of a scientific theme than a concept so probably not
4. Assuming the scientific theme at the competition is 'gravity' jumping would show how gravity exists, so yes
5. Shooting would also seem more like a theme with concepts within it? That would be an interesting theme

I'm probably not the best person to ask #6 sorry
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Re: Game On B

Post by karinaec2 »

I have ran this event at regional competition and had helped a school team win NorCal State competition. Here is how I would approach this.
1) Study the Rubric and Scoring Rubric Explained on the https://www.soinc.org/game-b page. The Rubric Explained is your friend. Study and follow it. If it says something should move, make sure it moves. If it says it should have advanced movement, do it.
However do not over do it unless it is necessary, as it will take up your valuable time. For example, 2Ce, you only need to pick one of the movements (diagonal or acceleration, not both) to get the point.
2) Develop a base game where you can maximize the number of points on the left column of the Rubric. That is purely mechanical. That is 50 points you should try to maximize.
3) Practice variation on your base game. One person should be busy coding the base game while the other person should be thinking about what to do with the given theme. This gives a bit of thinking time to develop the scientific concept and how to enhance the basic game.
4) Get a list of generic themes and practice developing scientific thoughts on that theme. Try to ask questions like what is the basic concept, how can this happen, where can this occur, what is needed to get this, when does it happen, what is the application, etc. Some of these questions on the scientific theme will give you idea on Rubric IIIa which is a hefty 12 points. List them clearly some where in the instruction or explanation page of your game so the grader can immediately figure out what you have.
5) Try to practice draw your own sprites (custom sprites), make sure you know how to use the tools. An artistic team member will help.
6) Get others to play your game. Get feedback on everything in the Rubric Explained. Make sure everything is covered.
7) Practice! Practice! Practice! Until the team has everything down so smoothly that you maximize the usage of the 50 minutes.
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Re: Game On B

Post by weinhold »

In your experience which of these constitute a valid concept?

1. The user accelerates, so acceleration
2. If the autonomous sprite accelerates, would it be considered another concept or is it covered in 1 ?
3. If the user always walks on ground, can we claim 'gravity', especially if it jumps and lands back down ?
4. Speaking of the above, is 'jump' a scientific concept?
5. If the sprite shoots missile, is 'shooting' a concept?
6. In your experience what counts and what does not?
My interpretation is that the "scientific concepts" all fall under the "Science of Theme (12 points)" in the rubric, so those concepts are judged in accordance with the competition's overall science theme.

If the science theme were MARSHES, then gameplay-related acceleration / velocity are probably not valid concepts unless they've been tuned for the aquatic theme. E.g., buoyancy of fish, surface tension of striders, suction of frogs, etc. I think explaining jumping with gravity would be appropriate. However, if I were a judge, I'd really be looking to reward science concepts that reflect the big theme, like feeding (frog shoots his tongue out to catch flies), metamorphosis (tadpole to frog), mating (frog chorus, fish eggs), water quality, toxic blooms, etc..

But that's just my impression. I still don't understand how to balance the 12 "Science of Theme" points with the 0.67 multiplier when the game doesn't follow the theme.

E.g., if a team turns in a beautiful GRAVITY game with science concepts of (1) heavenly bodies, (2) space ships, (3) asteroids, and (4) lasers, but they've replaced all the sprites with frogs, bugs, and fish. Do I give them 12 points for great science concepts, but multiply their score by 0.67 because the game is clearly not an aquatic ecosystem and frogs don't shoot lasers? Or do I take their MARSH game at face and knock down the 12 "Science of Theme" points because the concepts presented aren't appropriate or properly applied to the MARSH theme?
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Re: Game On B

Post by LittleMissNyan »

weinhold wrote: October 29th, 2019, 12:27 pm
In your experience which of these constitute a valid concept?

1. The user accelerates, so acceleration
2. If the autonomous sprite accelerates, would it be considered another concept or is it covered in 1 ?
3. If the user always walks on ground, can we claim 'gravity', especially if it jumps and lands back down ?
4. Speaking of the above, is 'jump' a scientific concept?
5. If the sprite shoots missile, is 'shooting' a concept?
6. In your experience what counts and what does not?
My interpretation is that the "scientific concepts" all fall under the "Science of Theme (12 points)" in the rubric, so those concepts are judged in accordance with the competition's overall science theme.

If the science theme were MARSHES, then gameplay-related acceleration / velocity are probably not valid concepts unless they've been tuned for the aquatic theme. E.g., buoyancy of fish, surface tension of striders, suction of frogs, etc. I think explaining jumping with gravity would be appropriate. However, if I were a judge, I'd really be looking to reward science concepts that reflect the big theme, like feeding (frog shoots his tongue out to catch flies), metamorphosis (tadpole to frog), mating (frog chorus, fish eggs), water quality, toxic blooms, etc..

But that's just my impression. I still don't understand how to balance the 12 "Science of Theme" points with the 0.67 multiplier when the game doesn't follow the theme.

E.g., if a team turns in a beautiful GRAVITY game with science concepts of (1) heavenly bodies, (2) space ships, (3) asteroids, and (4) lasers, but they've replaced all the sprites with frogs, bugs, and fish. Do I give them 12 points for great science concepts, but multiply their score by 0.67 because the game is clearly not an aquatic ecosystem and frogs don't shoot lasers? Or do I take their MARSH game at face and knock down the 12 "Science of Theme" points because the concepts presented aren't appropriate or properly applied to the MARSH theme?
So my interpretation of the rubric is that there's a theme, and then there's principles within the theme. Like if we're using MARSH as an example each concept has to be somehow relevant to the theme, like the fish buoyancy and water strider surface tension. Using that explanation the 'science of theme' points would be knocked down because they're following the theme but not explaining related concepts. I could be wrong though
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Re: Game On B

Post by megrimlockawesom »

I'm trying to come up with a topic for my middle school team's tryouts. Does anybody know any good examples of topics they have encountered in the past?

(has to be bio related)
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Re: Game On B

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megrimlockawesom wrote: October 31st, 2019, 5:42 am I'm trying to come up with a topic for my middle school team's tryouts. Does anybody know any good examples of topics they have encountered in the past?

(has to be bio related)
Natural Selection is bio, right?
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Re: Game On B

Post by jwerner75 »

Do they allow the rubric to be brought into the testing room?
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Re: Game On B

Post by NyanEric »

Is there a good way to think of themes? I can never think of any and I don't just want to limit myself to waves, fire, sports, Newton's second law, and frogs.
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Re: Game On B

Post by Kyky »

NyanEric wrote: November 5th, 2019, 6:27 am Is there a good way to think of themes? I can never think of any and I don't just want to limit myself to waves, fire, sports, Newton's second law, and frogs.
Just think really broadly (i know that isn't that specific). So first I take a huge course like biology for example and break it down. I think about what units in school we learn for bio and some of the key concepts tested on like a regular school test. Then I can turn those into themes. So some could be cell reproduction or like level of organization in an organism (cells, tissues, etc.) this works with like other courses; chemistry, physics, etc. I also ask teammates because they do other events that could relate to a Game On topic. I can ask the circuit lab kids for a topic, and they can spit back electromagnetism, i can go to crime buster kids and they can give back forensics as a topic. I also just stare at my surroundings for a topic. I'm currently sitting on my piano bench so I could like think of sound as a topic.
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Re: Game On B

Post by Guriy »

jwerner75 wrote: November 4th, 2019, 11:48 am Do they allow the rubric to be brought into the testing room?
I did the event last year and they do not. The only things you are allowed are a mouse (even that wasn't allowed at a certain competition I went to) and a pencil to draw/write ideas on scrap paper.
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