Creating a Simple Game
Before you create the start menu and game over screen, let’s first make a simple game. In this game, you will control a character with the arrow keys and try to avoid obstacles. To keep things simple, try not to use any images.
To get started, you need to import the necessary modules. You will be using the pygame module to access PyGame’s functions. To install the module, you can use the pip package manager:
Now that our module is ready to use, let’s create a simple game with a player that can move left or right using the arrow keys and an obstacle. If you collide with the obstacle, the game will end. Here’s the code for the same:
In the above code, you set up the game window and declared the game variables. You also handled user input and drew the elements to the screen.
Creating the Start Menu
Now that you have a basic game, let’s create a start menu. To do this, you will need to declare a global variable for the game state. This variable will keep track of the current state of the game, such as whether the start menu is active or the game is running. You need to add this variable at the beginning of your game code:
Next, you will add a function to draw the start menu to the screen. You can use PyGame functions to draw the text, buttons, and other elements on the screen.
You can then add the draw_start_menu() function to the main game loop.
Now, the start menu will be drawn to the screen. The last step is to handle the user input. You can add an if statement to the main game loop to check if the user has pressed the start button.
With this code, the game will start when the user presses the start button.
Implementing the Game Over Screen
Now that you have the start menu, let’s create the game over screen. This function should display the final score and a game-over message.
You can then add this function to the main game loop.
Finally, you need to handle user input to handle the user’s choice. You can add an if statement to the main game loop to check if the user has pressed the restart or quit button.
With this code, the game will restart when the user presses the ‘R’ button and quit when the user presses the ‘Q’ button on the keyboard.
Below is the full code:
The code starts by importing the pygame module and initializing it. It then creates a game window and declares the necessary game variables, including the player and obstacle’s position, dimension, and the game state.
The code defines two functions, draw_start_menu() and draw_game_over_screen(), to draw the start menu and game over screen. These functions use the PyGame functions to draw text and buttons to the screen.
The main game loop starts by handling events and checking the game state. If the game state is start_menu, the start menu is drawn to the screen. If the game state is game_over, the game-over screen is drawn to the screen. If the game state is anything else, the game updates and draws the player and obstacle to the screen.
The game updates by handling key presses and checking for a collision between the player and the obstacle. If there is a collision, the game sets the game_over flag to True and sets the game state to game_over.
After the game is updated, the player and obstacle is drawn to the screen. Finally, the code checks if the game_over flag is set, and if it is, it resets the flag and sets the game state to game_over.
This process is repeated continuously until the game window is closed.
Increase User Engagement With Visually Appealing UI
Using a well-designed user interface (UI) can greatly increase user engagement in a PyGame game. A clear and easy-to-read font, visually appealing graphics, easy navigation, and user feedback are all important elements to consider when designing the UI. By implementing these elements, you can create a UI that helps keep the player interested and immersed in the game.
Remember to test your UI and gather feedback from players to ensure that it is effective at increasing engagement. Overall, taking the time to create a strong UI can greatly improve the player’s experience and enjoyment of your game.
