Asteroids Game

A classic arcade-style asteroids game built with Python and Pygame. Navigate your spaceship through an asteroid field, shoot asteroids to break them into smaller pieces, and survive as long as possible!

Features

• Player Movement: Rotate and thrust your triangular spaceship
• Asteroid Physics: Large asteroids split into smaller ones when shot
• Collision Detection: Circular collision detection between all game objects
• Smooth Controls: 60 FPS gameplay with responsive controls
• Shooting System: Fire projectiles to destroy asteroids

Screenshots

Main Menu

Game Play

Game Over Screen

Installation

This project uses pygame and a virtual environment for development. Follow these steps to set up and run the game:

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6+ installed on your system
• uv package manager (install from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/aott33/asteroids-game.git
   cd asteroids-game

2. Create a virtual environment:

   uv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   source .venv/bin/activate

   You should see (asteroids-game) at the beginning of your terminal prompt.

4. Install pygame dependency:

   uv add pygame==2.6.1

5. Verify pygame installation:

   uv run -m pygame

   This will show an error (expected) but confirm pygame 2.6.1 is installed.

6. Run the game:

   python main.py

Additional Notes

• WSL Users: If you're using Windows Subsystem for Linux, you may need to install VcXsrv to run pygame applications with GUI support.
• Virtual Environment: Make sure your virtual environment is activated (you should see the project name in your terminal prompt) when running the game.
• Dependencies: This project uses pygame 2.6.1 specifically. The virtual environment keeps this isolated from other Python projects on your system.

Controls

• A or Left Arrow: Rotate ship counterclockwise
• D or Right Arrow: Rotate ship clockwise
• W or Up Arrow: Thrust forward
• S or Down Arrow: Thrust backward
• Spacebar: Shoot
• ESC or Close Window: Quit game

Game Mechanics

Player Ship

• Triangular spaceship that can rotate 360 degrees
• Thrust in the direction you're facing
• Circular hitbox for collision detection

Asteroids

• Start as large asteroids that drift across the screen
• When shot, large asteroids split into 2 medium asteroids
• Medium asteroids split into 2 small asteroids
• Small asteroids are destroyed completely when shot
• Split asteroids move faster than their parent

Shooting

• Press spacebar to fire projectiles
• Shots travel in straight lines at high speed
• Cooldown system prevents rapid-fire shooting

Collision

• Game ends when player collides with an asteroid
• Shots destroy asteroids on impact

Project Structure

asteroids-game/
├── main.py              # Main game loop and initialization
├── player.py            # Player ship class
├── asteroid.py          # Asteroid class with splitting logic
├── shot.py              # Projectile class
├── circleshape.py       # Base class for circular collision detection
├── asteroidfield.py     # Asteroid spawning system
├── constants.py         # Game configuration and constants
└── README.md           # This file

Technical Details

• Engine: Built with Pygame
• Physics: Custom vector-based movement and collision system
• Architecture: Object-oriented design with sprite groups
• Graphics: Simple geometric shapes drawn with Pygame primitives

Todo

• Add a menu (when game over, show game over then after 10s go to menu)
• Add a scoring system
• Implement multiple lives and respawning
• Add an explosion effect for the asteroids
• Add acceleration to the player movement
• Make the objects wrap around the screen instead of disappearing (just player)
• Create different weapon types
• Make the asteroids lumpy instead of perfectly round
• Make the ship have a triangular hit box instead of a circular one
• Add a shield power-up
• Add a speed power-up
• Add bombs that can be dropped

Contributing

Feel free to fork this project and submit pull requests with improvements or new features!

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the classic Atari Asteroids arcade game

• Built as a learning project for boot.dev