arrow_back Even Glitchier

In the Gumball episode “The Signal,” a Glitch affects the Sprite and background simultaneously as if the broadcast signal is distorted.

Check out what this looks like.

<<unintelligible sounds>> <<Oh my gosh, you were right! Something weird is going on!>> In this video, you will create a similar effect by making the glitch affect your backdrop.

To do this, you will copy the glitch code to the stage.

Select the sprite that experiences the glitch.

In this example, that’s Molly.

Drag the “Define Glitch” block stack onto the stage.

Select the “stage.”

The code you copied appears in the Script Editor.

Click the code to test.

Great!

The backdrop pixelates, just like the Sprite.

Click the flag to test the backdrop glitch with the rest of the program.

Oh no, The Glitch affects Molly, but it does not affect the backdrop.

Fix this by using “Broadcast” to send a message telling the backdrop to run its Glitch code.

A broadcast has two steps: send and receive.

The “Broadcast” block sends a message from one sprite to another.

The receiving sprite runs its code as soon as it receives that message.

To start, choose which sprite in your program will send the message and which will receive it.

In this example, Molly sends the Broadcast message.

Click the sprite that will send the message in your project.

Then, drag a “Broadcast” block from the Events menu into the script editor.

Create a new message, and rename it.

This example names the message “Start Glitch” To make the sprite broadcast the message before it pixelates, add the “Broadcast” block under the “Define Glitch” block.

Next, program the backdrop to receive the broadcast message.

Click the backdrop Sprite.

Separate the code you will reuse from the “Define Glitch” block.

Then, drag the “When I receive” block from the Events menu to the top of the block stack.

Select your message.

Click the code to test it.

The backdrop glitches!

Finally, click the flag to test the animation.

Both the backdrop and Molly glitch at the same time.

Great work!

Now it’s your turn: Copy the “Define Glitch” code into the backdrop.

Program your main character to Broadcast a message.

(and finally) Program the backdrop to run its code when it receives the message.