Asking good questions is one of the most powerful skills you can build. Whether you’re debugging, learning a new concept, or improving your project, the way you ask can unlock faster answers and deeper understanding.
Instead of saying:
“My game isn’t working.”
Try:
“I expected my sprite to bounce off the wall, but it disappears instead. It happens right after I call sprite.bounceOff(edgeBottom).”
Include:
Don’t say:
“Can you check my whole project?”
Instead:
“Here’s the code in my draw() function. The sprite is created, but it doesn’t appear on the screen even though I used drawSprites().”
Copy and paste just the part of the code where the problem happens.
Use triple backticks to format code (in Slack, Discord, or AI tools):
function draw() {
background("white");
drawSprites();
}
A helpful screenshot might show:
🛠 Make sure:
🔗 Optional: Share your project link with the “Share” button if your teacher allows it.
Frame the question within the bigger picture:
“This is for Lesson 13’s sprite collision activity. I’m trying to get my robot to stop when it hits the wall. I added sprite.collide(wall) but nothing happens.”
Include:
Avoid this:
“Why does my sprite disappear, and also can you explain keyDown() and do I need a loop?”
Instead:
“Why does my sprite disappear after calling bounceOff()?”
Then:
“Can you help me understand how keyDown() works for moving a sprite?”
Tell others what you’ve already done:
“I checked if the sprite was created before drawSprites(), and I tried using console.log(sprite.x)—it seems to be off-screen.”
Even if it didn’t work, showing effort helps helpers guide you better.
Don’t wait until the last five minutes. Use the 20-minute rule:
Try your best for 20 minutes—if you’re still stuck, ask for help.
Error messages are clues!
Instead of:
“It crashes when I press the key.”
Say:
“I got this error: sprite is undefined on line 22 when I use sprite.velocityX = 3.”
ReferenceError, TypeError, etc.)Example:
“I think I forgot to call createSprite() before setting velocity. Does that cause the undefined error?”
| Error Type | What It Means |
|---|---|
ReferenceError |
You’re using a variable that hasn’t been created yet |
sprite is undefined |
You didn’t use createSprite() or misspelled the sprite’s name |
TypeError |
You tried to do something (like set velocity) on something that’s not a sprite |
Uncaught Error |
Game Lab ran into a problem you didn’t catch (often logic or order of events) |
“In Lesson 16, I’m trying to get the player sprite to bounce off the edge. I added sprite.bounceOff(edgeBottom) and called drawSprites(), but the sprite disappears instead of bouncing. I also logged sprite.y and saw it keeps increasing past the bottom edge.”
This shows: