Think on your feet: side-scroller introduction

In this series, you’ll learn how to code side-scrolling game mechanics.

You’ll first learn how to create a character that can jump and avoid hazards.

This series builds on what you’ve already learned in the top-down movement series. We’ll use a KinematicBody2D in different ways, both for the player character and for enemies.

You’ll create obstacles that require quick thinking, like disappearing platforms.

You will also create enemies for the player to run or hide from.

You’ll learn:

• How to use gravity with KinematicBody2D to create a side-scrolling robot that can run and jump.
• How to create hazards such as disappearing platforms and enemies that chase the player.
• How to interact with RigidBody2D nodes for some light physics-based puzzle solving.

This series focuses on movement rather than visuals, so we have a few scenes pre-built to save time:

• The player skin, which automatically plays animations based on the player’s input.
• The TileMap we use to draw platformer levels.

In the next lesson, we’ll create the base scene for the side-scroller robot and add code to make it move!

Locating the Lesson Files

To get started, open the project “Learn to Code with Godot: Practices” in Godot and, in the FileSystem dock, expand the SideScroller directory. There is no scene to open, we will create a scene together. See you in the lesson!