PyGame: A Primer on Game Programming in Python

Make a 2D Side-Scroller Game With PyGame

Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey 24 Lessons 1h 48m intermediate gamedev projects
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In this course, you’ll learn about creating games using Python and the library PyGame.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

  • Draw items on your screen
  • Play sound effects and music
  • Handle user input
  • Implement event loops
  • Describe how game programming differs from standard procedural Python programming

This primer assumes you have a basic understanding of writing Python programs, including user-defined functions, imports, loops, and conditionals. You should also be familiar with how to open files on your platform. A basic understanding of object-oriented Python is helpful as well. pygame works with most versions of Python, but Python 3.6 is recommended and used throughout this article.

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Make a 2D Side-Scroller Game With PyGame

24 Lessons 1h 48m

  1. 1. Make a 2D Side-Scroller Game With PyGame (Overview)04:35
  2. 2. Background and Setup02:41
  3. 3. Basic PyGame Program04:48
  4. 4. PyGame Concepts03:06
  5. 5. The Course Game01:48
  6. 6. Importing and Initializing02:13
  7. 7. Setting up the Display01:48
  8. 8. Setting up the Game Loop04:32
  9. 9. Drawing on the Screen02:50
  10. 10. Using .blit() and .flip()03:51
  11. 11. Creating Sprites08:46
  12. 12. User Input07:12
  13. 13. Staying on the Screen02:57
  14. 14. Creating Enemies07:15
  15. 15. Sprite Groups03:03
  16. 16. Custom Events05:17
  17. 17. Collision Detection02:39
  18. 18. Sprite Images04:41
  19. 19. Adding Background Images08:22
  20. 20. Game Speed05:03
  21. 21. Adding Music06:28
  22. 22. Adding Sound Effects09:04
  23. 23. A Note on Sources02:13
  24. 24. Make a 2D Side-Scroller Game With PyGame (Summary)03:13
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About Christopher Bailey

Chris is an avid Pythonista and creates video tutorials for Real Python. He is a programmer and data analyst. He creates music under the name Tripnet. Chris lives in Colorado with his wife and two dogs.

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Each tutorial at Real Python is created by a team of developers so that it meets our high quality standards. The team members who worked on this tutorial are:

Dan

Joanna

Tappan

Jon

Geir Arne

Aldren

Jaya

Alex

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Participant Comments

Avatar image for Nick M

Nick M on April 17, 2021

That was a wicked fun course. Loved it. Learned tons and really made me value the idea of libraries of functions and object orientation. I’m remembering back to my early coding days (80s, 90s) with BBC Basic or Pascal and back then I’d have had to manage so many more things by hand. This is sooooooo much easier.

Very well done course that I really enjoyed. Thanks!

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mikesult on May 4, 2020

Thanks Chris, Excellent course. You covered so many of the elements in a nice incremental way and always kept a working program at all stages.

One strange behavior for me was when loading the sprite images of the jet and missile, if I used the .convert() method then the .set_colorkey() method on the next line didn’t create the desired transparency. If I removed the .convert() method then the .set_colorkey() method did work. The cloud sprite worked fine when using the .convert() method. Very strange.

I learned a lot, thanks!

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David Wright on April 26, 2020

Thank you Chris for a great course. I think I have found what I want to do with my Python knowledge.

Avatar image for sumakolurmath

sumakolurmath on March 27, 2020

Thanks Chris, for the awesome course!

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