Microsoft is keen to provide tools that can help the new generations and the less experienced to use the computer in a creative way and to start them towards practical informatics, the one where you are not only software users but also inventors and programmers. In recent years to help people learn programming on the Windows operating system has provided free tools such as Small Basic, a simplified environment for programming in Visual Basic aimed at beginners (including young children) to write basic programs for Windows, without having to learn any complex concepts.
Last summer, Microsoft Research released a simplified "programming" environment (in quotation marks) that empowers anyone to create video games for the Xbox 360.
Now this environment is also available for Windows and to create real and interactive video games on Windows, without having to learn anything and without any programming experience.
READ ALSO: Create a new 3D game by moving objects with the Google Game Builder
Microsoft Kodu is a free program for Windows that allows everyone to create video games for both XBox and Windows itself, to be played even with just a keyboard and mouse.
I had put the word programming in quotation marks before, because in reality Kodu is not an interface in which to write code or commands but it is more like a game where anything can be created by dragging objects and setting intuitive parameters .
Thanks to the illustrated tutorials it is possible to quickly learn how to use Kodu and in a short time you should already be able to create your own personalized video game.
The core of the Kodu project is the entirely icon-based user interface .
Basically it is about drawing the environment, the ground, the sky and so on, possibly choosing the protagonists of the game and deciding on a set of conditions and actions such as jumps, kills, traps and so on. Im Kodu, Kodu settings are expressed in physical terms, using concepts such as sight, hearing, and time to control the behavior and movement of a game character. Kodu is therefore able to create an advanced game design in a simple, direct and intuitive way suitable for children and those who want to use the computer creatively. Who owns the XBox can even create the game using the joypad and this testifies how simple this tool is.
As true professional developers and game testers, during the game game you can stop, make changes and start playing again. Kodu also adapts to old computers because it has a graphic performance configuration panel to adapt to any hardware.
Other sites that allow you to create online games with your own pictures and personal photos are in another article.
READ ALSO: Programming languages for children who want to learn
