This tutorial is the second tutorial in a series of five Pygame tutorials:

• Breakout Tutorial 1: Getting Started
• Breakout Tutorial 2: Adding the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 3: Controlling the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 4: Adding a Bouncing Ball
• Breakout Tutorial 5: Adding a Brick Wall
• Extra: Pygame How To’s?

The final stage of our tutorial focuses on adding a brick wall and a scoring system to our Breakout game:

• The player will score a point if the ball bounces against a brick.
• The player will lose a life if the ball bounces against the bottom edge of the screen.
• Both the score and number of lives will be displayed at the top of the screen.
• A “Level Complete” message will be displayed if all bricks have been removed.

The final code for the main.py is provided below. We made several changes to the code as follows:

• On line 6 we import the Brick class. (Code provided in the brick.py tab)
• On lines 39 to 57 we create three rows of bricks and add them to a group called all_bricks.
• On lines 93 to 103 we take a life away when the ball hit the bottom edge of the screen. If the number of lives reaches zero, we display a “Game Over” message..
• On lines 114 to 129 we detect if the ball hits a brick. If so we remove the brick (using the kill() method) and increment the score by one.

#Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
#Let's import the Paddle Class & the Ball Class
from paddle import Paddle
from ball import Ball
from brick import Brick

pygame.init()

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

#This will be a list that will contain all the sprites we intend to use in our game.
all_sprites_list = pygame.sprite.Group()

#Create the Paddle
paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560

#Create the ball sprite
ball = Ball(WHITE,10,10)
ball.rect.x = 345
ball.rect.y = 195

all_bricks = pygame.sprite.Group()
for i in range(7):
    brick = Brick(RED,80,30)
    brick.rect.x = 60 + i* 100
    brick.rect.y = 60
    all_sprites_list.add(brick)
    all_bricks.add(brick)
for i in range(7):
    brick = Brick(ORANGE,80,30)
    brick.rect.x = 60 + i* 100
    brick.rect.y = 100
    all_sprites_list.add(brick)
    all_bricks.add(brick)
for i in range(7):
    brick = Brick(YELLOW,80,30)
    brick.rect.x = 60 + i* 100
    brick.rect.y = 140
    all_sprites_list.add(brick)
    all_bricks.add(brick)

# Add the paddle and the ball to the list of sprites
all_sprites_list.add(paddle)
all_sprites_list.add(ball)

# The loop will carry on until the user exits the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True

# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()

# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop

    #Moving the paddle when the use uses the arrow keys
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        paddle.moveLeft(5)
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        paddle.moveRight(5)

    # --- Game logic should go here
    all_sprites_list.update()

    #Check if the ball is bouncing against any of the 4 walls:
    if ball.rect.x>=790:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.x<=0:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.y>590:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]
        lives -= 1
        if lives == 0:
            #Display Game Over Message for 3 seconds
            font = pygame.font.Font(None, 74)
            text = font.render("GAME OVER", 1, WHITE)
            screen.blit(text, (250,300))
            pygame.display.flip()
            pygame.time.wait(3000)

            #Stop the Game
            carryOn=False

    if ball.rect.y<40:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]

    #Detect collisions between the ball and the paddles
    if pygame.sprite.collide_mask(ball, paddle):
      ball.rect.x -= ball.velocity[0]
      ball.rect.y -= ball.velocity[1]
      ball.bounce()

    #Check if there is the ball collides with any of bricks
    brick_collision_list = pygame.sprite.spritecollide(ball,all_bricks,False)
    for brick in brick_collision_list:
      ball.bounce()
      score += 1
      brick.kill()
      if len(all_bricks)==0:
           #Display Level Complete Message for 3 seconds
            font = pygame.font.Font(None, 74)
            text = font.render("LEVEL COMPLETE", 1, WHITE)
            screen.blit(text, (200,300))
            pygame.display.flip()
            pygame.time.wait(3000)

            #Stop the Game
            carryOn=False

    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue.
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)

    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))

    #Now let's draw all the sprites in one go. (For now we only have 2 sprites!)
    all_sprites_list.draw(screen)

    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()

    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)

#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

import pygame
BLACK = (0,0,0)

class Paddle(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a paddle. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.

    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()

        # Pass in the color of the paddle, its width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)

        # Draw the paddle (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])

        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()


    def moveLeft(self, pixels):
        self.rect.x -= pixels
	    #Check that you are not going too far (off the screen)
        if self.rect.x < 0:
          self.rect.x = 0

    def moveRight(self, pixels):
        self.rect.x += pixels
        #Check that you are not going too far (off the screen)
        if self.rect.x > 700:
          self.rect.x = 700

import pygame
from random import randint

BLACK = (0, 0, 0)
 
class Ball(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a ball. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.
    
    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()
        
        # Pass in the color of the ball, its width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)
 
        # Draw the ball (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])
        
        self.velocity = [randint(4,8),randint(-8,8)]
        
        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()
        
    def update(self):
        self.rect.x += self.velocity[0]
        self.rect.y += self.velocity[1]
          
    def bounce(self):
        self.velocity[0] = -self.velocity[0]
        self.velocity[1] = randint(-8,8)

import pygame
BLACK = (0,0,0)

class Brick(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a brick. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.

    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()

        # Pass in the color of the brick, and its x and y position, width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)

        # Draw the brick (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])

        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()

This tutorial is the second tutorial in a series of five Pygame tutorials:

• Breakout Tutorial 1: Getting Started
• Breakout Tutorial 2: Adding the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 3: Controlling the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 4: Adding a Bouncing Ball
• Breakout Tutorial 5: Adding a Brick Wall
• Extra: Pygame How To’s?

Our aim is to add the bouncing ball to our Breakout game. To do so we will create a new class called Ball.

Bouncing Algorithm

• frame n: Sprite Coordinates: (x,y)
• frame n+1: Sprite Coordinates: (x+Vx,y+Vy)

As the sprite moves across the screen, it may need to bounce against another sprite or against the edge of the screen.

Let’s investigate how the velocity vector is affected when the sprite bounces against vertical and horizontal walls/edges.

Right Wall/EdgeLeft Wall/EdgeTop Wall/EdgeBottom Wall/Edge

Ball Class

import pygame
from random import randint
BLACK = (0,0,0)

class Ball(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a ball. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.
    
    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()
        
        # Pass in the color of the ball, its width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)
 
        # Draw the ball (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])
        
        self.velocity = [randint(4,8),randint(-8,8)]
        
        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()
        
    def update(self):
        self.rect.x += self.velocity[0]
        self.rect.y += self.velocity[1]

Adding the ball to the game

We will also apply the bouncing algorithm to check if it needs to bounce against any of the four walls. (See lines 65 to 73)

#Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
#Let's import the Paddle Class & the Ball Class
from paddle import Paddle
from ball import Ball

pygame.init()

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

#This will be a list that will contain all the sprites we intend to use in our game.
all_sprites_list = pygame.sprite.Group()

#Create the Paddle
paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560

#Create the ball sprite
ball = Ball(WHITE,10,10)
ball.rect.x = 345
ball.rect.y = 195

# Add the paddle to the list of sprites
all_sprites_list.add(paddle)
all_sprites_list.add(ball)

# The loop will carry on until the user exits the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True

# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()

# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop

    #Moving the paddle when the use uses the arrow keys
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        paddle.moveLeft(5)
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        paddle.moveRight(5)

    # --- Game logic should go here
    all_sprites_list.update()

    #Check if the ball is bouncing against any of the 4 walls:
    if ball.rect.x>=790:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.x<=0:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.y>590:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]
    if ball.rect.y<40:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]

    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue.
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)

    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))

    #Now let's draw all the sprites in one go. (For now we only have 2 sprites!)
    all_sprites_list.draw(screen)

    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()

    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)

#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

Collision Detection

So first, let’s add a new method called bounce() to our Ball class.

Then, in the main program loop, let’s add some code to detect if the ball sprite collides with the paddleA or paddleB sprites. If it does we will call the bounce() method of the Ball class.

import pygame
from random import randint
BLACK = (0, 0, 0)

class Ball(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a car. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.
    
    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()
        
        # Pass in the color of the car, and its x and y position, width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)
 
        # Draw the ball (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])
        
        self.velocity = [randint(4,8),randint(-8,8)]
        
        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()
        
    def update(self):
        self.rect.x += self.velocity[0]
        self.rect.y += self.velocity[1]
        
    def bounce(self):
        self.velocity[0] = -self.velocity[0]
        self.velocity[1] = randint(-8,8)

# Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
#Let's import the Paddle Class & the Ball Class
from paddle import Paddle
from ball import Ball

pygame.init()

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

#This will be a list that will contain all the sprites we intend to use in our game.
all_sprites_list = pygame.sprite.Group()

#Create the Paddle
paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560

#Create the ball sprite
ball = Ball(WHITE,10,10)
ball.rect.x = 345
ball.rect.y = 195

# Add the paddle and the ball to the list of sprites
all_sprites_list.add(paddle)
all_sprites_list.add(ball)

# The loop will carry on until the user exit the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True

# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()

# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop

    #Moving the paddle when the use uses the arrow keys
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        paddle.moveLeft(5)
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        paddle.moveRight(5)

    # --- Game logic should go here
    all_sprites_list.update()

    #Check if the ball is bouncing against any of the 4 walls:
    if ball.rect.x>=790:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.x<=0:
        ball.velocity[0] = -ball.velocity[0]
    if ball.rect.y>590:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]
    if ball.rect.y<40:
        ball.velocity[1] = -ball.velocity[1]

    #Detect collisions between the ball and the paddles
    if pygame.sprite.collide_mask(ball, paddle):
      ball.rect.x -= ball.velocity[0]
      ball.rect.y -= ball.velocity[1]
      ball.bounce()

    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue.
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)

    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))

    #Now let's draw all the sprites in one go. (For now we only have 2 sprites!)
    all_sprites_list.draw(screen)

    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()

    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)

#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

Next Step?

This tutorial is the second tutorial in a series of five Pygame tutorials:

• Breakout Tutorial 1: Getting Started
• Breakout Tutorial 2: Adding the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 3: Controlling the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 4: Adding a Bouncing Ball
• Breakout Tutorial 5: Adding a Brick Wall
• Extra: Pygame How To’s?

For this third tutorial we will complete the code from the previous tutorial:

Remember the aim is to create a game of Breakout. In the first tutorial we looked at how to create the background for our game. In the second tutorial we added our first sprite called paddle which is an instance of the Paddle class.

In this third tutorial we will add methods to our Paddle class to move the paddle left and right when player uses the left and right arrow keys.

We will then add event handlers to the main program loop to respond to keystroke events. When the players use the relevant keys on the keyboard we will call our methods to move their paddle on the screen.

Step 1: Adding Methods to the Paddle class.

import pygame
BLACK = (0,0,0)

class Paddle(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a paddle. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.
    
    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()
        
        # Pass in the color of the paddle, its width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)
 
        # Draw the paddle (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])
        
        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()
        
    def moveLeft(self, pixels):
        self.rect.x -= pixels
        #Check that you are not going too far (off the screen)
        if self.rect.x < 0:
          self.rect.x = 0
          
    def moveRight(self, pixels):
        self.rect.x += pixels
        #Check that you are not going too far (off the screen)
        if self.rect.x > 700:
          self.rect.x = 700

As you can see we have added two methods to our class. In OOP (Object Orientated Programming) a method is a procedure or function associated to a class. Let’s look at the moveLeft() method.

def moveLeft(self, pixels):
    self.rect.x -= pixels
    #Check that you are not going too far (off the screen)
    if self.rect.x < 0:
       self.rect.x = 0

The moveLeft() method takes two arguments. The first one is implicit and is called self. It refers to the current object. The second one is called pixels and refers to the number of pixels we will use to move the paddle.

Step 2: Responding to keystroke events

So let’s add four event handlers, to move the paddle up or down when the user presses the the left and right arrow keys. Each event handler will call the relevant method from the Paddle class. Check the code below with the new event handlers from line 47 to 52.

#Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
#Let's import the Paddle Class
from paddle import Paddle
pygame.init()
# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)
score = 0
lives = 3
# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")
#This will be a list that will contain all the sprites we intend to use in our game.
all_sprites_list = pygame.sprite.Group()
#Create the Paddle
paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560
# Add the paddle to the list of sprites
all_sprites_list.add(paddle)
# The loop will carry on until the user exits the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True
# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop
 
    #Moving the paddle when the use uses the arrow keys 
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        paddle.moveLeft(5)
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        paddle.moveRight(5)  

    # --- Game logic should go here
    all_sprites_list.update()

    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue.
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)
    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))
    #Now let's draw all the sprites in one go. (For now we only have 2 sprites!)
    all_sprites_list.draw(screen)
    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()
    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)
#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

All done… Save your files and try your code. You should now be able to control the paddle using the left arrow and right arrow keys!

Next Step?

This tutorial is the second tutorial in a series of five Pygame tutorials:

• Breakout Tutorial 1: Getting Started
• Breakout Tutorial 2: Adding the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 3: Controlling the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 4: Adding a Bouncing Ball
• Breakout Tutorial 5: Adding a Brick Wall
• Extra: Pygame How To’s?

Learning Objectives

Consider a sprite as an object. An object can have different properties (e.g. width, height, colour, etc.) and methods (e.g. jump(), hide(), moveForward(), etc.). Like in the industry an object is built from a mould. In computing the mould/template is called a Class.

So, by creating our first sprite we will implement OOP (Object Orientated Programming). We will create our first Class called Paddle and derive our first object from this class.

Our first Class

import pygame
BLACK = (0,0,0)

class Paddle(pygame.sprite.Sprite):
    #This class represents a paddle. It derives from the "Sprite" class in Pygame.
    
    def __init__(self, color, width, height):
        # Call the parent class (Sprite) constructor
        super().__init__()
        
        # Pass in the color of the paddle, its width and height.
        # Set the background color and set it to be transparent
        self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height])
        self.image.fill(BLACK)
        self.image.set_colorkey(BLACK)
 
        # Draw the paddle (a rectangle!)
        pygame.draw.rect(self.image, color, [0, 0, width, height])
        
        # Fetch the rectangle object that has the dimensions of the image.
        self.rect = self.image.get_rect()

Later on we will add more properties and methods to this class. But before doing so we will look at how we can use it to create our first object: the pladdle.

So let’s save our class as a python file called paddle.py.

Our first Object

Let’s go back to our main.py file (from previous tutorial) to edit its content.

First let’s add at the top of the code an import statement to import our Paddle class.

#Let's import the Paddle Class
from paddle import Paddle

Then we need to create and position our paddle in our main program using the following lines of code:

paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560

Let’s reuse the code from the first tutorial.

On lines 3/4 notice how we are using the import command to link to our Paddle Class python file (paddle.py).

On line 25 we are declaring a list called all_sprites_list that will store all the sprites we will create in our game. (For now just one sprite, the paddle)

On lines 27 to 30, we are instantiating an paddle object using the Paddle class. Notice how when declaring our first object we use the parameters from its constructor (__init__()), in this case, the colour, width and height of the paddle we want to create.

Now that we have created our first sprite we need to add it to our list of spites: all_sprites_list. This is what happens on line 33.

Finally, within the main program loop, on line 64 we are refreshing the screen and drawing all the sprites from our list: all_sprites_list.

Here is the full code:

#Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
#Let's import the Paddle Class
from paddle import Paddle

pygame.init()

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

#This will be a list that will contain all the sprites we intend to use in our game.
all_sprites_list = pygame.sprite.Group()

#Create the Paddle
paddle = Paddle(LIGHTBLUE, 100, 10)
paddle.rect.x = 350
paddle.rect.y = 560

# Add the paddle to the list of sprites
all_sprites_list.add(paddle)

# The loop will carry on until the user exits the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True

# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()

# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop

    # --- Game logic should go here
    all_sprites_list.update()

    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue.
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)

    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))

    #Now let's draw all the sprites in one go. (For now we only have 2 sprites!)
    all_sprites_list.draw(screen)

    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()

    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)

#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

That’s it… You are now ready to move to our third tutorial to learn how to control your sprites using the arrow keys.
Breakout Tutorial using PygameControlling the paddle

This tutorial is the first tutorial in a series of five Pygame tutorials:

• Breakout Tutorial 1: Getting Started
• Breakout Tutorial 2: Adding the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 3: Controlling the Paddle
• Breakout Tutorial 4: Adding a Bouncing Ball
• Breakout Tutorial 5: Adding a Brick Wall
• Extra: Pygame How To’s?

Breakout is one of the earliest arcade video games, first released in 1976 by Atari. It was derived from the game Pong (released by Atari in 1972). This one-player game features simple 2D graphics. It consists of one paddle (in more recent version the paddle was replaced by a spaceship) used to return a bouncing ball back and forth across the screen. The aim of the game is to break the bricks of a brick wall by getting the ball to hit/bounce on the bricks. The score correspond to the number of bricks being hit.

In this tutorial we are going to recreate a game of Breakout using Python and the Pygame library. The Pygame library is the perfect library to build basic 2D arcade games and to start developing your OOP skills. (Object-Oriented Programming)

Step 1: Importing and initialising the Pygame library

#Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
pygame.init()

Note that you will first need to install the Pygame library on your computer. Alternatively you can complete this challenge online using the following Trinket/Pygame IDE

Step 2: Defining the colours you will use in your game

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

Step 3: Open a new window

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

Step 4: The main program loop

The main program loop will contain 3 main sections:

• Capturing Events: Used to constantly “listen” to user inputs and react to these. It could be when the user uses the keyboard or the mouse.
• Implementing the Game Logic. What happens when the game is running? Are cars moving forward, aliens falling from the sky, ghosts chasing you, etc.
• Refreshing the screen by redrawing the stage and the sprites.

The main program loop will also use a frame rate to decide how often should the program complete the loop (& refresh the screen) per second. To implement this we will use the clock object from the pygame library.

The main program loop will use a timer to decide how many times it will be executed per second.

# Import the pygame library and initialise the game engine
import pygame
pygame.init()

# Define some colors
WHITE = (255,255,255)
DARKBLUE = (36,90,190)
LIGHTBLUE = (0,176,240)
RED = (255,0,0)
ORANGE = (255,100,0)
YELLOW = (255,255,0)

score = 0
lives = 3

# Open a new window
size = (800, 600)
screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
pygame.display.set_caption("Breakout Game")

# The loop will carry on until the user exits the game (e.g. clicks the close button).
carryOn = True
 
# The clock will be used to control how fast the screen updates
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
 
# -------- Main Program Loop -----------
while carryOn:
    # --- Main event loop
    for event in pygame.event.get(): # User did something
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT: # If user clicked close
              carryOn = False # Flag that we are done so we exit this loop
 
    # --- Game logic should go here
 
 
    # --- Drawing code should go here
    # First, clear the screen to dark blue. 
    screen.fill(DARKBLUE)
    pygame.draw.line(screen, WHITE, [0, 38], [800, 38], 2)

    #Display the score and the number of lives at the top of the screen
    font = pygame.font.Font(None, 34)
    text = font.render("Score: " + str(score), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (20,10))
    text = font.render("Lives: " + str(lives), 1, WHITE)
    screen.blit(text, (650,10))
 
    # --- Go ahead and update the screen with what we've drawn.
    pygame.display.flip()
     
    # --- Limit to 60 frames per second
    clock.tick(60)
 
#Once we have exited the main program loop we can stop the game engine:
pygame.quit()

Next Step?