Below is the basic code for creating and managing the pipes of the game:
import pygame as pg
import sys,os,math,time,random
# colours
white = (255,255,255)
red = (255,0,0)
green = (0,255,0)
# general stuff
WIDTH = 1024
HEIGHT = 576
FPS = 60
# other
all_events = [pg.QUIT, pg.ACTIVEEVENT, pg.KEYDOWN, pg.KEYUP, pg.MOUSEMOTION,
pg.MOUSEBUTTONUP, pg.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN, pg.VIDEORESIZE,
pg.VIDEOEXPOSE, pg.USEREVENT]
pg.init()
screen = pg.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
clock = pg.time.Clock()
# Class to manage Pipes
class Pipe_Manager:
def __init__(self):
self.pipe_width = 50
self.pipes = []
self.pipe_speed = 5
self.max_tick = 75
self.spawn_tick = self.max_tick
def manage_pipes(self):
self.spawner()
self.manage()
self.display()
def make_pipe(self):
height = random.randint(100,326)
gap = random.randint(100,250)
surf1 = pg.Surface((self.pipe_width, height))
surf1.fill(green)
surf2 = pg.Surface((self.pipe_width, HEIGHT - (height + gap)))
surf2.fill(green)
# surface, (x,y) and vertical height
pipe = [surf1, [WIDTH, 0], height]
pipe2 = [surf2, [WIDTH, height + gap], HEIGHT - (height + gap)]
self.pipes.append(pipe)
self.pipes.append(pipe2)
def spawner(self):
if self.spawn_tick == self.max_tick:
self.make_pipe()
self.spawn_tick = 0
self.spawn_tick += 1
def manage(self):
for pipe in self.pipes:
# move the pipe
pipe[1][0] -= self.pipe_speed
# check if it's off screen
if pipe[1][0] + self.pipe_width < 0:
self.pipes.remove(pipe)
def display(self):
for pipe in self.pipes:
screen.blit(pipe[0], (pipe[1][0], pipe[1][1]))
################################################################################
pg.event.set_blocked(all_events)
pg.event.set_allowed([pg.QUIT, pg.KEYDOWN])
pipe_manager = Pipe_Manager()
loop = True
while loop:
screen.fill(white)
pipe_manager.manage_pipes()
pg.display.update()
clock.tick(FPS)
The pipes seem to shake as they move horizontally and sometimes the top pipe becomes misaligned from the bottom one.
I hope this isn't a problem specific to my computer because I have abstracted away a significant amount of my flappy-bird-clone code and the source of this pipe lag problem must lie somewhere in here.
The problem is this piece of code:
for pipe in self.pipes:
# move the pipe
pipe[1][0] -= self.pipe_speed
# check if it's off screen
if pipe[1][0] + self.pipe_width < 0:
self.pipes.remove(pipe)
Here you change the list you're currently iterating over. Once a pipe gets removed from the list, the next one misses one movement step.
Take a look at the following example in which you can spot the problem yourself (see how 5 is missing in the output because we removed 4):
>>> l = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
>>> for x in l:
... if x == 4:
... l.remove(x)
... print(x)
...
1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
10
>>>
(There's a reason other languages forbid changing the sequence you're currently iterating).
A simple fix is to make a copy of the list first:
for pipe in self.pipes[:]:
For smoother movement, try increasing your framerate and use timestepping. Here's a possible way:
import pygame as pg
import sys,os,math,time,random
# colours
white = (255,255,255)
red = (255,0,0)
green = (0,255,0)
# general stuff
WIDTH = 1024
HEIGHT = 576
FPS = 120
# other
all_events = [pg.QUIT, pg.ACTIVEEVENT, pg.KEYDOWN, pg.KEYUP, pg.MOUSEMOTION,
pg.MOUSEBUTTONUP, pg.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN, pg.VIDEORESIZE,
pg.VIDEOEXPOSE, pg.USEREVENT]
pg.init()
screen = pg.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
clock = pg.time.Clock()
class Pipe:
def __init__(self, img, pos):
self.img = img
self.pos = pos
# Class to manage Pipes
class Pipe_Manager:
def __init__(self):
self.pipe_width = 50
self.pipes = []
self.pipe_speed = 0.3
self.max_tick = 1500
self.spawn_tick = self.max_tick
def manage_pipes(self, dt):
self.spawner(dt)
self.manage(dt)
self.display()
def make_pipe(self):
height = random.randint(100,326)
gap = random.randint(100,250)
surf1 = pg.Surface((self.pipe_width, height))
surf1.fill(green)
surf2 = pg.Surface((self.pipe_width, HEIGHT - (height + gap)))
surf2.fill(green)
pipe = Pipe(surf1, pg.Vector2(WIDTH, 0))
pipe2 = Pipe(surf2, pg.Vector2(WIDTH, height + gap))
self.pipes.append(pipe)
self.pipes.append(pipe2)
def spawner(self, dt):
if self.spawn_tick >= self.max_tick:
self.make_pipe()
self.spawn_tick = 0
self.spawn_tick += dt
def manage(self, dt):
for pipe in self.pipes[:]:
# move the pipe
pipe.pos.x -= self.pipe_speed * dt
# check if it's off screen
if pipe.pos.x + self.pipe_width < 0:
self.pipes.remove(pipe)
def display(self):
for pipe in self.pipes:
screen.blit(pipe.img, pipe.pos)
################################################################################
pg.event.set_blocked(all_events)
pg.event.set_allowed([pg.QUIT, pg.KEYDOWN])
pipe_manager = Pipe_Manager()
loop = True
dt=0
while loop:
for e in pg.event.get():
if e.type == pg.QUIT:
loop = False
screen.fill(white)
pipe_manager.manage_pipes(dt)
pg.display.update()
dt=clock.tick(FPS)