We'll be using CircuitPython for this project. Are you new to using CircuitPython? No worries, there is a full getting started guide here.
Adafruit suggests using the Mu editor to edit your code and have an interactive REPL in CircuitPython. You can learn about Mu and its installation in this tutorial.
There's a guide to get you up and running with CircuitPython specifically for the NeoTrellisM4. You should read it before starting to get the most recent CircuitPython build for the NeoTrellisM4 installed and running along with the required libraries.
Full code with links to github is on the Downloads page.
Navigating the NeoTrellis
To get your NeoTrellis M4 set up to run this project's code, first follow these steps:
1) Update the bootloader for NeoTrellis from the NeoTrellis M4 guide
2) Install the latest CircuitPython for NeoTrellis from the NeoTrellis M4 guide
3) Get the latest library pack, matched for the version of CircuitPython you are running, unzip it, and drag the libraries you need over into the /lib folder on CIRCUITPY. The latest library package includes support for NeoTrellis.
https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/releases/
For this project you will need the following libraries:
- adafruit_trellism4.mpy
- adafruit_adxl34x
- adafruit_bus_device directory
- neopixel.mpy
- adafruit_matrixkeypad.mpy
code.py
This is the code that gets run when the system comes up. It does three things.
First it sets things up: the trellis, accelerometer, and game object.
trellis = adafruit_trellism4.TrellisM4Express() trellis.pixels.auto_write = False i2c = busio.I2C(board.ACCELEROMETER_SCL, board.ACCELEROMETER_SDA) accelerometer = adafruit_adxl34x.ADXL345(i2c) the_game = game.Game(trellis, accelerometer)
Next, it colors the buttons (making, in effect, two big buttons) and let's the user choose whether to use buttons or motion to flap.
for x in range(8):
for y in range(4):
if x > 3:
trellis.pixels[x, y] = BLUE
else:
trellis.pixels[x, y] = YELLOW
trellis.pixels.show()
keys = []
while not keys:
keys = trellis.pressed_keys
Finally it runs the game, starting a new one when the previous one finishes.
while True:
the_game.play(keys[0][0] < 4) # False = key, True = accel
game.py
This class contains the rules of the game. It orchestrates game play, player interaction, and display. There's a fair bit of code here, but we'll walk through it section by section.
First there's the initialization code. There's the usual __init__ method that initializes the new instance, but there's also a _restart method that is run to start each new game.
def __init__(self, trellis, accel, ramp=20, challenge_ramp=30):
"""initialize a Game instance.
trellis -- the TrellisM4Express instance to use as input and screen.
accel -- the accelerometer interface object to use as input
ramp -- how often (in steps) to increase the speed (default 20)
challenge_ramp -- how often (in steps) to increase the challenge of the posts
"""
self._trellis = trellis
self._accel = accel
self._delay_ramp = ramp
self._challenge_ramp = challenge_ramp
self._bird = Bird()
self._posts = []
self._interstitial_delay = 1.0
self._challenge = 10
self._currently_pressed = set([])
self._previous_accel_reading = (None, None, None)
self._previous_shake_result = False
def _restart(self):
"""Restart the game."""
self._bird = Bird()
self._posts = []
self._interstitial_delay = 1.0
self._challenge = 10
Next, the play method contains the main game loop that controls everything.
Once the game is restarted, the loop begins. It keeps looping until the bird collides with a post.
The first thing that happens in the loop is to grab the current time. Each time through the loop _update_bird is called to apply user action and gravity to the bird and update it's position and the display.
The rest of the loop (other than a small delay at the end) is executed only when it's time to move the posts. This interval starts out at a second and gradually gets faster as the game progresses.
Posts are updated and collisions between the bird and the posts is checked for. Nothing is done about a collision at this point, but the information is stored for later. What does happen is that a post is possibly added. This happens occasionally with greater frequency as the game goes on; there's a little randomness added so that it's not completely predictable. Whether or not a post was added, the display is updated.
Next, handling a collision. What happens is that we simply have the bird flash. If there was no collision, we speed up the game and/or increase the challenge level of the posts if it's time to.
The run function is below. notice how most of the details are deferred to other methods in Game, or to the Bird or Post objects.
def play(self, mode=False):
"""Play the game.
mode -- input mode: False is key, True is accel
"""
self._restart()
collided = False
count = 0
last_tick = 0
while not collided:
now = time.monotonic()
self._update_bird(mode)
if now >= last_tick + self._interstitial_delay:
last_tick = now
count += 1
self._update()
collided = self._check_for_collision()
if count % (self._challenge - random.randint(0, 4) + 2) == 0:
self._add_post()
self._update_display()
# handle collision or wait and repeat
if collided:
self._bird.flash(self._trellis)
else:
# time to speed up?
if count % self._delay_ramp == 0:
self._interstitial_delay -= 0.1
# time to increase challenge of the posts?
if self._challenge > 0 and count % self._challenge_ramp == 0:
self._challenge -= 1
time.sleep(0.05)
Now to look at some details. First, updating the player's bird object.
Erase the bird pixel, if the user has requested a flap, have the bird flap. Otherwise have the bird fall due to gravity. Finally redraw the bird in it's (possibly) new location.
def _update_bird(self, mode):
"""Update the vertical position of the bird based on user activity and gravity.
mode -- input mode: False is key, True is accel
"""
self._bird.draw_on(self._trellis, BLACK)
if self._should_flap(mode):
self._bird.flap()
else:
self._bird.update()
self._bird.draw_on(self._trellis)
self._trellis.pixels.show()
What does _should_flap do?
It polls user input depending on the choice the user made initially.
def _shaken(self):
"""Return whether the Trellis is shaken."""
last_result = self._previous_shake_result
result = False
x, y, z = self._accel.acceleration
if self._previous_accel_reading[0] is not None:
result = math.fabs(self._previous_accel_reading[2] - z) > 4.0
self._previous_accel_reading = (x, y, z)
self._previous_shake_result = result
return result and not last_result
def _key_pressed(self):
"""Return whether a key was pressed since last time."""
pressed = set(self._trellis.pressed_keys)
key_just_pressed = len(pressed - self._currently_pressed) > 0
self._currently_pressed = pressed
return key_just_pressed
def _should_flap(self, mode):
"""Return whether the user wants the bird to flap.
mode -- input mode: False is key, True is accel
"""
if mode:
return self._shaken()
return self._key_pressed()
The _update method handles the posts: moving them to the left and deleting them as they move off the left side of the screen.
def _update(self):
"""Perform a periodic update: move the posts and remove any that go off the screen."""
for post in self._posts:
post.update()
if self._posts and self._posts[0].off_screen:
self._posts.pop(0)
Like much of the code, checking for a collision defers to something else for a significant part of the job. In this case, most of the work is done my asking the bird if it has collided with each post in turn.
def _check_for_collision(self):
"""Return whether this bird has collided with a post."""
collided = False
for post in self._posts:
collided |= self._bird.is_colliding_with(post)
return collided
Next up is _update_display which simply clears the screen, has each post draw itself, has the bird draw itself, and refreshes the screen.
def _update_display(self):
"""Update the screen."""
self._trellis.pixels.fill(BLACK)
for post in self._posts:
post.draw_on(self._trellis)
self._bird.draw_on(self._trellis)
self._trellis.pixels.show()
The last piece of Game is adding a post. Adding a post simply creates a new post and appends it to the list of posts.
Creating a new post is a bit more complex. Depending on the current challenge level (which starts at 10 and decreases) the form of the post can vary. If the value is high (meaning a low challenge level) only posts that extend from the bottom are created. If the challenge level is moderate, there's an equal chance of posts extending from the top as well as ones that extend from the bottom. At higher challenge levels, there can also be posts that extend from both the top and bottom.
def _new_post(self):
"""Return a new post based on the current challenge level"""
blocks = random.randint(1, 3)
# bottom post
if self._challenge > 6:
return Post(from_bottom=blocks)
# top possible as well
if self._challenge > 3:
if random.randint(1, 2) == 1:
return Post(from_bottom=blocks)
return Post(from_top=blocks)
# top, bottom, and both possible
r = random.randint(1, 3)
if r == 1:
return Post(from_bottom=blocks)
if r == 2:
return Post(from_top=blocks)
return Post(from_bottom=blocks, from_top=random.randint(1, 4 - blocks))
def _add_post(self):
"""Add a post."""
self._posts.append(self._new_post())
The Bird class is much simpler. It just manages the bird. Initialization is simple: position and weight are set. The weight combines with the game's gravity to determine how quickly the bird falls toward the bottom of the screen.
def __init__(self, weight=0.5):
"""Initialize a Bird instance.
weight -- the weight of the bird (default 0.5)
"""
self._position = 0.75
self._weight = weight
The vertical position of the bird is maintained as a float between 0.0 and 1.0. We have the _y_position method to convert this fractional position to a pixel coordinate that can be used for display and collision detection.
def _y_position(self):
"""Get the verical pixel position."""
if self._position >= 0.75:
return 0
elif self._position >= 0.5:
return 1
elif self._position >= 0.25:
return 2
return 3
Flapping and updating due to gravity move the bird up or down, clipping at 1.0 and 0.0.
def _move_up(self, amount):
"""Move the bird up.
amount -- how much to move up, 0.0-1.0
"""
self._position = min(1.0, self._position + amount)
def _move_down(self, amount):
"""Move the bird down.
amount -- how much to move down, 0.0-1.0
"""
self._position = max(0.0, self._position - amount)
def flap(self):
"""Flap. This moves the bird up by a fixed amount."""
self._move_up(0.25)
def update(self):
"""Periodic update: add the effect of gravity."""
self._move_down(0.05 * self._weight)
Collision detection is a classic case of what's called double dispatch and serves to maintain encapsulation. Encapsulation is a fundamental tenet of object-oriented design. The idea is that only the bird knows where it is, and only a post knows where it is.
So how does anything happen? The game knows the bird and all the posts, so it asks the bird if it's colliding with each post. The bird then asks the post if there's a collision at the bird's location. It's a little convoluted, but it means that only the bird knows it's location, or how it's computed, and only the post has to worry about how to determine if a collision occurred.
Why bother? Well, it means that you can change the internal details of any of the pieces, and everything will still work if the public API is kept the same. It also means that each object is in control of its information.
def is_colliding_with(self, post):
"""Check for a collision.
post -- the Post instance to check for a collicion with
"""
return post.is_collision_at(3, self._y_position())
The last bit of the Bird class deals with the display. The draw_on method simply sets the appropriate pixel to the specified color, while flash toggles it between yellow and red 5 times.
def draw_on(self, trellis, color=YELLOW):
"""Draw the bird.
trellis -- the TrellisM4Express instance to use as a screen
color -- the color to display as (default YELLOW)
"""
trellis.pixels[3, self._y_position()] = color
def flash(self, trellis):
"""Flash between RED and YELLOW to indicate a collision.
trellis -- the TrellisM4Express instance to use as a screen """
for _ in range(5):
time.sleep(0.1)
self.draw_on(trellis, RED)
trellis.pixels.show()
time.sleep(0.1)
self.draw_on(trellis, YELLOW)
trellis.pixels.show()
post.py
The Post class implements the behaviors of posts, the obstacles in the game. It starts with the initializer that sets the new post to start at the far right side of the screen and extending from the top and bottom as specified.
def __init__(self, from_bottom=0, from_top=0):
"""Initialize a Post instance.
from_bottom -- how far the post extends from the bottom of the screen (default 0)
from_top -- how far the post extends from the top of the screen (default 0)
"""
self._x = 7
self._top = from_top
self._bottom = from_bottom
The update method moves the post one pixel to the left.
def update(self):
"""Periodic update: move one step to the left."""
self._x -= 1
Checking whether a given pixel lies on a post is the job of the _on_post method. The post knows what pixels it covers, so where better to put the code that answers questions relating to it.
def _on_post(self, x, y):
"""Determine whether the supplied coordinate is occupied by part of this post.
x -- the horizontal pixel coordinate
y -- the vertical pixel coordinate
"""
return x == self._x and (y < self._top or y > (3 - self._bottom))
Note that this is done as a private method and not part of the public API of the Post class. It's not used by code outside of Post objects. Specifically, it's used by the next two methods: draw_on sets the pixels where the post is, and is_collision_at which returns whether the given location is occupied by the post.
def draw_on(self, trellis):
"""Draw this post on the screen.
trellis -- the TrellisM4Express instance to use as a screen
"""
for i in range(4):
if self._on_post(self._x, i):
trellis.pixels[self._x, i] = GREEN
def is_collision_at(self, x, y):
"""Determine whether something at the supplied coordinate is colliding with this post.
x -- the horizontal pixel coordinate
y -- the vertical pixel coordinate
"""
return self._on_post(x, y)
Finally there's a property that indicates whether the post has gone off the left edge of the screen.
@property
def off_screen(self):
"""Return whether this post has moved off the left edge of the screen."""
return self._x < 0
Page last edited March 08, 2024
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