Disney Infinity Play Lab - Intro

Start programming your own video games with Disney Infinity's Play Lab. PopCap Games founder John Vechey introduces the basics of video game design and how to use the Play Lab interface.

So what grade are you in? Second. Tenth grade.
First grade. I was in eighth grade when I

learned to program. I got my first computer
when I was in sixth grade. What gets me excited

is being able to fix people's problems. You
can express yourself, you can build things

from an idea. Computer science is the basis
for a lot of the things that college students

and professionals will do for the next twenty
or thirty years. I like programming because

I like helping people. I get the opportunity
to build something that's gonna make people's

lives easier. I think it's the closest thing
we have to a superpower. Getting started is

the most important part. I'm a beginner myself
and I want you to learn with me. I'm John

Vechey, I'm one of the co-founders of PopCap
Games. We make games like Plants vs. Zombies,

Bejeweled, and Peggle. A lot about games isn't
how perfect your code is, it's not how perfect

your art is, it's about how does it feel and
how much fun it is. You can only get that

sense by trying it, by doing it, by learning
and adapting and iterating your own skills

of making games. Do you have a favorite video
game? Well, we're going to take one step towards

creating games just like that using Play Lab.
Good games have a story and every story has

actors. Actors do things like speak, move,
and interact with each other. Maybe even score

points based on the rules of the game. Today
we'll be learning how to do all these things,

one by one, with Disney's characters like
Anna, Elsa, Hiro, Baymax, and Rapunzel. We'll

build a game from scratch that can be shared
and played on a phone. Your screen is split

into three main parts. On the left is the
gamespace, where your program will run. The

instructions for each level are written below.
This middle area is the toolbox, and each

of these blocks is a piece of code. The white
space on the right is called the workspace,

and this is where we'll build our program.
To start off, you'll need to link your blocks

to the orange "when run" block. You can link
multiple blocks together by dragging them

out until you see the yellow outline, and
then they'll snap together. In this first

puzzle, Hiro is Actor 1 and Baymax is Actor
2. We need to move Hiro to get to Baymax by

dragging the "move right" block out and linking
it to the "when run" block. Once you have

your blocks in place, hit the "Run" button
to see what you've programmed. Get started

and by the end you'll be able to create your
own game with these amazing actors that can

interact, score points, throw microbots, cherries,
saucepans, sparkles, and ice.. and vanish

each other. It's all up to you!