Key Stage 3 ICT
A Very Quick Guide to Kodu
September 2010
This guide has been produced for educational purposes only.
Produced by C. Coleman for Conyers School
Full acknowledgments to Planetkodu.com for graphics and some descriptive content used in this guide.
Starting Kodu
Resume takes you to the last world that you were editing.
Load World allows you to open your projects.
Options allow you to modify the site wide options.
Help takes you through an explanation of how kodu works.
Quit allows you to exit Kodu
Quick Reference
Kodu is made up of bots and objects that can responded to things which happen in the game,
or what they are told (programmed) to do.
Each bot or object can be then programmed to do something, by writing a script.
A script is made up of pages and each page is made up of scores. Like music!
You decide how the game plays and how someone wins (or loses).
Moving Around Kodu
1. Home button (main
menu)
2. Play your game
3. Move camera, terrain
or rotate around world.
4. Add and program
objects / bots.
5. Add / Edit Paths
6. Paint / Make Terrain
7. Raise or Lower Terrain
8. Make Terrain Smooth
or Hilly
9. Make Terrain Level or
Spiky
10. Add, Raise or Lower
Water
11. Delete Objects
12. Change Game
Settings
When using the above options:
Left clicking when using tools adds /
increases (e.g. adds terrain, adds water
etc).
Right clicking when using tools removes /
decreases (e.g. removes terrain, removes
water etc).
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Objects & Bots
Here are all the different objects and bots you can have in your game. Use this as a reference guide when
building your games.
Kodu is a little slow and has
trouble getting up steep
slopes.
The Apple tastes great
and they're fun to launch
Flyfish hovers and turns
quickly - great for snappy
action.
Cycle is quick, can climb
steep hills, and jump
Saucer is the fastest and
most nimble character.
They can change
direction instantly
Balloon floats slowly in
the air watching over
everything. This makes it
a good referee for games
The Blimp flies around
slowly
Cannon is big and slow but
very powerful
The Puck is great for fast
games since it flies
around with no friction
and can bounce without
losing speed
The Wisp moves fast
leaving glowing trails
behind
The Turtle can fly through
the air and can hide in its
shell using the Open and
Close actions. When the
turtle is closed it is
invulnerable to attack
Stick doesn't move but can
hide underground by
closing. Invulnerable when
closed
The Pushpad is big and
strong
The Sputnik makes a great
companion to the Saucer
When other characters
jump on the Drum they
get launched into the air
The Cloud is in honor of our
Redmond weather.
The Fish does best in
water. On land its just
stranded
The Mine has spikes which
can be exposed or
withdrawn. Use the Open
action to show the spikes
and the Close action to
hide them
Ship is a boat that can
float on top of water, but
can't move on land
The Light moves fast and
can light up the world
Rocks can be
programmed just like
everything else
Stars can be programmed
just like everything else
Coins are a "must have" for
every classic arcade game
Program it or just kick it
around. Either way, it's
just a ball
The Castle doesn't move
much
The ACME Factory makes a
great landmark for any
game
The Hut makes a great
landmark for any game
Hearts work great for
health packs
Ammo works great as
ammo packs
Trees can also be
programmed
.
Jet cruises along close to
the ground, it can Move Up
and Down
Sub works best under
water
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Tutorial: Building a Very Basic Game
1. To begin, once you have started Kodu, click
“Load World”
2. In the menu that appears click “Empty World”
3. Once your game environment loads, press
“Escape” to edit your game.
4. Now we will build a small basic piece of land by
adding terrain. Use the building tools.
4a. Click on the icon that looks like a brush
(numbered 1).
4b. Click on the terrain selector (numbered 2).
4c. Select a terrain. Then paint your terrain on
your ground.

Left clicking adds terrain, right clicking removes
terrain.
Use the HAND to move the camera if needs be. You can
move forward and back (left click), and also rotate the
camera (right click)
Once you have your basic terrain, add some apples.
You can do this once and copy and paste it:
5. Click on the add object icon
6. Click on “Apple”
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7. Right click on the apple and go to Change Size.
8. Change the size by dragging the green bar up.
Press on the ‘X’ when done.
9. Right click on the apple again, and select
“Copy”
10. Right click somewhere else in your land and
press Paste. Repeat this 6-8 times, to get
apples spread all over your land.
11. Add another object (see if you can remember
how). This time add a KODU. He will appear on
your land.
Drag your Kodu to the beginning of your terrain
(somewhere near the front).
12. With Object mode already selected, right click
on your newly added Kodu, Click “Change
Height.”


Set the height to 0.60. Press ‘X’ when
complete.
Time to Save



Click on the House Icon  Select ‘Save My World’  Enter a name and description  Click Save
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Programming the Kodu
When we use the word “Program” or “Programming” we mean, telling the computer what to do, by giving
a bot or object a set of instructions.
Code is made up of PAGES (up to 12)
…
PAGES are made up of SCORES of code (up to 7 per page)
A SCORE is a line of instructions for a particular object or bot.
E.g. WHEN: see apple, DO: Eat it. (i.e. when you see an apple, eat it)
1. With the add objects icon selected, Right
click on your Kodu object and click
PROGRAM.

Notice you are on PAGE 1 of your code for this
object.
2. Click on the + next to WHEN (Circled)
3. Select Keyboard

Your WHEN block will be updated on SCORE 1
4. Click on the + next to keyboard.
5. Click on “Misc”


6. Click on “Up”
7. Click on the “+” next to DO
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8. Click on “Move”
9. Click on the “+” next to “Move” (circled)
10. Select Forward

11. Click on the + after forward on your score.
12. Click Quickly

You should end up with this score.
If you make a mistake, move the pencil with the
arrow keys and click DELETE on your keyboard.
13. Add two extra scores to your KODU object. (Stuck? Go over Step 1 in this section again)
Score 2: WHEN: Keyboard, Left, DO: Turn Left Quickly
Score 3: WHEN: Keyboard, Right, DO: Turn Right Quickly
14. Press ESCAPE when done.
15. Save your work


Click on the House Icon  Select ‘Save My World’  Enter a name and description  Click Save
16. Press ESCAPE to TEST Your game so far, or press
7
Adding Game Play
Its time to add additional game code to your game, to make it into a real game (a simple one, but real!)
1. Add code to your KODU object to score 4-6. Not sure how to do this? Follow step 1 in the previous
section to get to the program screen.
Add the following scores:
Score 4: WHEN: Keyboard Space is pressed DO shoot a blue blip:
Score 5: WHEN: Shot hit at an Apple DO: Add 5 points on to the score.
Score 6: WHEN: Score reaches 300 points, DO: Blue player WINS
2. Press ESCAPE when done.
3. Save your work


4. Press ESCAPE to TEST Your game so far, or press
8
Changing Settings (Optional)
You can change the way in which your objects work, and also your entire game.
1. Click on your object tool
2. Right click on your kodu object and click
“Change Settings.”

3. Here you can change many of the settings
for Kodu, such as the speed. Explore these
and adjust these.
4. Also explore this button, to set the WHOLE
game settings such as backgrounds etc.
KODU can do SO much more. You just need to Explore
Practice Tasks
1. Explore the objects you can add (Objects and Bots page). Try and add code to them to see what
they can do.
2. Add to your world by extending the size, building, mountains, water etc.
3. Add another player to your world and program it.
4. Paths allow objects and bots to move along them (as well as acting as walls etc). Add them, and see
if you can get an object to follow the path.
5. Build a new world which involves two CYCLE bots race around a track and collect coins. Add suitable
objects, paths etc. Every coin a cycle collects, earns them 30 points. Once a cycle earns 500 points,
they win the game.
6. Try editing an existing game to do something else. Look at the code and see how it is made.
7. Explore Kodu to make your own simple game.
Further Help:
http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Getting_Around_Kodu
http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Getting_Started
http://planetkodu.com/tutorials/view/Kodu_Introduction
http://www.chris-alexander.co.uk/2163
http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu.html KODU DOWNLOAD
http://www.youtube.com (Search Kodu Tutorials)
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