ScratchStang

I posted "How do you get ideas for projects?" on my profile and the previous interview. Here are the responses! :)


I don't have a quote for this mass interview because I recently wrote a post on how to get ideas. Click here to read it!

"Getting ideas for projects is actually quite hard, even if I'm the guy who gets inspiration from nearly everything. For games, just backgrounds, environments etc. For animations, music, lyrics, my own feelings, when I'm on the Internet etc. Usually I don't even know where I get these ideas from, like you see something and it triggers an idea from your subconsciousness?"
@cl0450

"Helping around and shop requests, but I also find a guide on the Raspberry Pi website and use it with my pi."
@banana439monkey

"I get ideas from the community around me and everyday life. What I really enjoy is when I get a totally random idea and just need to start working on it."
@Wahsp

"I really get ideas from scratchers who do cool things! A simple project such as, a chicken shooter, may give me great ideas! Just scratchers in general may give me ideas too! If I was to go to Driftersheep's profile, I would get good pixel ideas! If I were to go to Dragofish's I would get castle ideas."
@Vilix

"I get ideas by looking at popular games on the app store and seeing if I could make a similar game. If that does not work, I see what is popular on Scratch and plan my next game around it. Also, in my everyday life, I look around and see if I can find any new material for a game. Bouncing your idea off other Scratchers also helps..."
@RacingHans

"I get ideas by lots of things. Let's see, books, ads, real-life games, and lots of others. Sometime it's art that pops in my head, sometimes it's a game, and sometimes it's an animation."
@ Helveticaz 

"I have no idea how I get ideas. Maybe I can make an idea machine that thinks up ideas for the idea-less. Now there's an idea. (Reading and drawing a lot and generally just having an active imagination is great, but if you aren't naturally disposed toward that, try this: http://www.insanityjam.com/idea/ )"
@-TotallyEpic- 
Note: The link is really, really cool.

"I get ideas many ways. I can get ideas by thinking about what has happened to me, or some projects on Scratch I saw or made, or comments in projects."
@sushi77 

"I get ideas either from looking at other projects, or when something just pops into my mind."
@JBGT (@Tildo)

"I get ideas when I think about events in real life, or when I see a game I really like. I ask myself; "Is there a way to make it even better?" and make it. But, I never seem to finish it."
@EinsteinFans123

Thank you everyone who participated! We had a lot less respondents this time because I didn't ask around the community. However, I hope you all enjoyed reading this. If you have another method, feel free to comment below!

Thanks for reading, scratch on!

~ScratchStang

Flat design is a cool design style so here's a quick overview of it.

According to Wikipedia:

"Flat design is a style of interface design emphasizing minimum use of stylistic elements that give the illusion of three dimensions (such as the use of drop shadows, gradients or textures) and is focused on a minimalist use of simple elements, typography and flat colors."

In people-talk it's flat, generally simple and has no ambient shadows. Shadows have a gradient (they fade from one color to another) or are hard (a solid color). Flat design is useful because it removes all the clutter and cuts to the chase. It efficiently conveys info and looks great, too.

Here's some examples of flat design.


Flat design is commonly used in icons and logos.


It also looks great on websites.


In addition, it can be applied to games!


Thanks for reading! I hope this provided helpful insight or sparked your interest in flat design. Scratch on!

~ScratchStang

Run out of ideas for projects? Here's five tips to naturally think of creative ideas.

1. Fix a Problem
Had an annoying problem that you want to fix? You can make a funny animation about it if others can relate or remake it to show how to fix the problem. For example, one day I had the urge to play Minecraft but it kept crashing on me so I tried remaking it and ended up with a 3D building project.

2. What if?
Ever had any crazy ideas you wanted to share with the world? Now you can!

3. Challenge yourself
Instead of a boring old one-leveled fighting game why not make one with ten levels? Or fifty? A hundred? Challenge yourself to make epic, large-scale projects you'll be proud of. Or, if you see something you think is cool, like an OS, you can challenge yourself to make one but in your own style.


4. Dreams
Dreams can provide crazy ideas your conscious mind wouldn't have thought of.

5. Try something new
Try playing a new game, a new art style or activity. Sitting around purposely trying to force out ideas doesn't work well. Let the ideas come naturally. A new experience might just inspire your next great project idea! However, sometimes ideas can come from old things too, like favorite childhood toy or activity.

Also, Orteil's Game Idea Generator is a great website too! Check it out here.

Remember, it's fine if your project strays from the original plan. You might have to change some parts to fit and it might turn out better than expected!

How do you get ideas for project and what are your ideas? Comment below!

Thanks for reading, scratch on!

—Stang

What's it like to take a two-week, self-imposed break from an addiction?

Recently I took a two week break from Scratch to focus on school since final exams were right around the corner. At first I had a lot of trouble staying off Scratch. For the first few days, I still browsed around since the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) was really getting to me but I managed to restrain myself from commenting. After not being present on the site for a few days, I began to care less in a good way. I realized every petty thing isn't important. Despite minimal browsing and thinking about it, I stayed off Scratch for the next few weeks. Near the end, when I knew school was ending, I actually "sneaked" on (even though it was self-imposed) and animated a few things.

It was interesting to take a step back and see how the community was as a whole when I wasn't focused on replying to messages or merely what people I was following or close to were doing. This part is kind of self-centered but it was also interesting seeing who came back to visit my profile or say they missed me. (I wrote that I was busy on my What I'm Working On.)

To be honest, despite missing the community, it was nice to get this new experience. Unless you're super-humanly appreciative, doing the same thing over and over get tedious over time and you develop an immunity to the joys or woes it brings. Two weeks isn't that long so I returned to my original routine pretty quick but it was new and maybe even eye-opening.

Taking the break also gave me more time to think. On Scratch I felt a pressure to force out a new, creative project every week. Some weeks I had ideas. Some I didn't. (Thankfully I make one or two projects ahead of time, shhhh....) On my break, I didn't feel the pressure and ideas came naturally. They're very different from what I usually make but that's alright. I'm open to change. I just hope everyone else enjoys it too; I recently got into animating and, feeling comfortable with making games, decided to focus my attention and motivation on something new. I came up with some OCs which I got pretty carried away with and developed personalities, names, fears, likes, personalities and secrets. So watch out for an upcoming series. As you'll see soon, they're pretty detailed so I might turn them into comics or short animations.

I've taken a few breaks before this but none as long. All in all it was a new experience that paid off in the end. (The exams went very well.)

Anyway, thanks for reading! Stay tuned and scratch on!

—Stang

Hey everyone, I released my new project, Live Streaming TV! It's a collaboration with Geocashing and 8 other animators. The same animation shows up on every single device playing the project at the same time.

Click here to check it out!

—Stang

Here is the next installment of the Mass Interview Series! Numerous Scratchers shared their biggest goal on Scratch, which ranged from being featured to inspiring others.
Here are over thirty quotes.

"My biggest goal? Hmm that's a hard question, considering that I'll always be improving and moving forward, finding new goals to reach. My biggest goal on Scratch is probably to have such a large impact on the community that I will be remembered positively for a long time. I want to inspire others and bring joy to their lives. I want to be the reason why someone joined, decided to learn programming or try something new. I want to do something big. I want to positively influence numerous lives."

@ScratchStang

"My biggest goal in Scratch is to inspire as many people as I can. That may sound a little cheesy, but I believe that if I inspire one person to create a great project then they may inspire other people who inspire other people and so on. Anyone can create an amazing project if they just have the inspiration to do it. Anyway, that's my biggest goal on Scratch"

@CloudySkies

"Getting featured would be great but it's not about the amount of views or followers I amass. I think a lot of people forget that scratch was created not as a popularity site as whoever has the most amount of followers is the most respected and the best. It was created to give the feeling I can make anything that anyone else on this website can make if I put my time and effort into this. Now it might take a couple of tries (Look at my projects how they have evolved my first one is so bad lol). My goal on scratch has already been reached honestly. To make peoples eyes go wide and know that I amazed or inspired someone is great! That person might have clicked see inside and from that understood and learned and is now off and making there own games. It is a great feeling a hard one to describe but yeah to say what are my goals that is about it."

@EJTgames

"Hmm...well, to be honest, I don't exactly have a big "goal" for scratch? I really just wanna make funny little videos (and sometimes AMV's or more serious ones) and post my art and stuff, and once the time comes later on, I hope to go on to art college and once that happens I don't know if I'll have time for scratch anymore...although scratch is really special to me, so hopefully I'll find a way where I'll have time to keep doing it...I don't know..."

@PlZZAZZ

"My biggest goal in programming is to create a fully functional artificial intelligence with a slick interface and cute vector design. I've already been featured but still I have hopes of one day making an Artificial intelligence."

@Chameleon20

"My biggest goal is to be happy and helpful on Scratch. I like to try and make Scratch a better place to be."

@syang19

"My biggest goal in Scratch is to become an FPC and to get an episode of The Wand featured! And to become a front page curator, or get featured. Something like that."

@D_i_a_v_l_o

"I first saw Scratch browsing on the internet. It was 2 years ago. I found some people named "scratchU8" and "WazzoTV". They were my inspirations. After 2 or 1 year(s) of looking at projects, I wanted to make my own! Soon, StoneHedgehog15 was born. I was on scratch for 7 months. After having 365 projects, I wanted to change my name and stuff. That's when I came in. I haven't shared as much as my old account, but I'm still a old pro. That's my Scratch story."

@-_Thunder_-

"My biggest goal in programming is...well either to make an iOS game/app (that'll hopefully go viral...? Ok, never mind) and a DAW that'll be cheap, easy to use and professional."

@Tildo

"For Scratch I just wanna have fun, for programming, I wanna make some game I have come up with already that Scratch probably cant handle (cause they're 1st person 3D and stuff)."

@djherm2

"My goal in Scratch Programming is to get better!"

@makethebrainhappy

"To be as good as my mentors, You, Griffpatch, Ceebee, etc, etc."

@frenchornboy

"Yeah... just one, err... Top Loves."

@A-KouZ1

"I create many different projects in scratch but mostly in the form of drawings and my main goal is to make people smile with them. I draw things as gift to people I love, to show my appreciation, and giving inspiration for others. In short, my goal is to spread happiness in scratch as scratch gave me the happiness to express my feelings."

@Rosyda

"I would love getting featured or becoming an SDS curator, but that's not my biggest goal on Scratch. My biggest goal on Scratch is to inspire other scratchers to program and be proud of their work. Another big goal of mine is to have 1000+ followers, because that shows how much my hard work has payed off. Overall, I would like to be a role-model for other scratchers and to have 1000+ followers."

@SimplyUnliked

"I started scratch nearly 3 years ago with the help of @LionScratch- and made an account called @JacobLOLZ44. I then switched to a different account; @BananaMan444TV- and then I really changed. My art improved drastically, and I was very happy with my take on Scratch there. But then I moved again- to this account. I made a few animations, and then at 300 followers- without saying anything- I left. For over a year. ......... Then I decided to come back- and I re-shared a project that I had started before I left; Oreo. I finished the project- and had it up for a few days. Then- a couple people said "this is featured" and at the time I didn't know what that meant, but then I go onto the Scratch homepage- AND THERE IT IS! MESSAGES COME IN LIKE CRAZY - AND IT ULTIMATELY REACHES 10000+ FAVORITES!!! So I would say that is my biggest accomplishment on Scratch- getting Oreo featured. The rest is just project making history."

@FunnyAnimatorJimTV

"To get prepared for my future career as a computer programmer!"

@fireaction2001

"My biggest goal; personality: gentle, helpful, respectable; model: ScratchStang. Programming: 3D image, a nice long adventure game, etc. Model: ScratchStang. I'm not kidding."

@EinsteinFans123

"Leveling up my computer programming skills. That's now a bit now leaning to learn lots about Scratch, and give it back to Scratchers. (via the forums)"

@Econinja

"My biggest goal on Scratch is to meet as many people as possible, and I love working in the SDS so being a curator would be amazing."

@ellielocks

"My biggest goal would be to become a SDS Curator and a FPC."

@rainbow_waves

"To meet people on Scratch and become a senpai/mentor for someone. To someday become an SDS curator."

@Starflyer

"Become FPC!"

@-Coralreef-

"My biggest goal is to become Front Page Curator! I've actually applied 3+ times, so it's really important for me."

@cs96871

"My biggest goal on scratch is to be like Griffpatch and as boss as you! I would like to be like you and Griffpatch because all those followers would inspire me to make more interesting projects! I would also like to be a part of the Scratch Team because I have never been on a team for scratch before. But it would also be cool if I could be featured though! My 1 big goal in Scratch is to get 50 followers! 37 to go!"

@wghenry

"My biggest goal on scratch is to become as good as you (ScratchStang) and Unrealisation. I'm preparing for a future programming career, I already take camps. I have gone to MSU, Hope college, and this summer I'm going to university of Michigan for a java scripting camp."

@TylerHosman

"My biggest goal has to be having my animations be recognized enough in order to be used as an inspiration to other people."

@Jabox

"Probably earning enough experience with animation to earn me a well-paying job later on in my life."

@BIazeheart

"I'd have to say getting to be an SDS curator, or maybe helping out in the community some other way."

@SquiggleStudios

"Well, I guess my biggest goal on Scratch would probably be to just inspire those around me and keep the site together, I guess! Cheesy as it sounds, that's all I've really wanted to do!"

@XxwarriorwolfgirlxX

"My biggest goal... probably getting featured, as long as it's a project I'm really proud of and want people to see."

@Paperclips


Thanks everyone for participating! These goals are all amazing and will inspire us and many others to learn and scratch on.

If you haven't been interviewed twice yet, feel free to participate in the next one! Just answer:

How do you get ideas for projects?

You can answer it in the comments below (please say your username) or on my Scratch profile. Check out the series page for past interviews!

Thanks for reading, scratch on!

~ScratchStang

Here are the pros and cons of moving accounts.

Pros:

1. Fresh new start
2. If you had too many followers to be curated, now you have a chance to get curated again, plus your followers will come back too
3. Honestly not much else; this post is pretty biased since I don't like it

Many people have been asking the Scratch Team to create a previous costume block or drop-down menu option but they have not created it. Why? Because it can be solved using just two additional blocks.

Just do this:


If you can not read it because you translated the page or due to other reasons, it is [switch costume to (costume # - 1)].

Thanks to @DadOfMrLog for discovering/publicizing the method!

Hope that was helpful, thanks for reading and scratch on!

—Stang

Fantage is a multiplayer role-playing virtual world containing a range of online games and activities; players can customize their avatars from hair color to clothes and explore a town-like virtual world.

Numerous GIF creating websites leave a distasteful watermark in the corner and many programs that don't leave one may cost money.

I found a great website for making GIFs for free without a watermark! It's called GIF Creator. Click here to go to it.

Also, the program LiceCap can turn short recordings into GIFs which is very useful for game previews, as seen on the Games page of this website. Click here for a website to download it from.

Both programs are very useful. For example, if you want to make post-recording modifications to your LiceCap GIF, you can insert it into GIF Creator and edit it there.

—Stang

Welcome to the first lesson of Javascript! Today you'll learn how to draw shapes.

Don't know what Javascript is? Read this first.

Below are a list of shapes and the code for them. The things inside the parenthesis are represented by letters. Here's what they mean: