Superman

A classic 8-bit style game using an Arduino slider control. Part of a series of assignments aimed at learning Arduino and interactive code. Pixel artwork by Adam Knuckey.

You can view the original project documentation on the class website.

Players can use the slider to control the up/down movement of Superman as he tries to avoid flying into clouds.

The resolution of the game matches that of a GameBoy Advance (240x160).

You can download and run the compiled, keyboard- and mouse-controlled, .app (Mac), .exe (win32) or .exe (win64) versions.

Arduino Controller

Attempts to demonstrate the game, but unfortunately it is difficult to keep the controller in place when only using one, non-dominant hand, while filming with the other.

                        
import processing.serial.*;
import gifAnimation.*;

int[][] clouds = new int[10][4];
Animation man;

Serial myPort;  // Create object from Serial class
String val;     // Data received from the serial port
float pos = 0;
int size;
int speed;
boolean gameOver;
int level;
int millis;
int score;
PImage cld1;
PImage cld2;
int manX;



void setup() {
  size(240, 160);
  String portName = Serial.list()[9]; //change the 0 to a 1 or 2 etc. to match your port
  myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 9600);
  myPort.bufferUntil('\n');
  initialize();
  man = new Animation("man", 23);
}

void draw()
{

  textAlign(CENTER);
  background(#4AE8E8);
  textSize(14);
  text("Level "+level, width/7, height/8);
  textSize(11);
  text("Score: "+score, width/6, height/8+14);
  if ( myPort.available() > 0) {  
    val = myPort.readStringUntil('\n');
  } 
  if (millis>30000) {
    level++; 
    // speed++; 
    // size++;
  }
  millis = millis()%30000;
  if (val != null && !gameOver) {
    val = trim(val);
    pos = map(int(val), 295, 768, 10, height-10); //768
    pos = constrain(pos, 20, height-10);
    pos = height-pos;
    println(val+" "+pos);
  }
  noStroke();
  fill(255, 0, 0);

  man.display(width/7, pos);
  // ellipse(width/6, pos, 15, 15);

  for (int i=0; i<10; i++) {
    fill(255);
    if (clouds[i][2]==10 && !gameOver) {
      image(cld1, width-clouds[i][0], clouds[i][1]);
    } else { 
      if (!gameOver) {
        image(cld2, width-clouds[i][0], clouds[i][1]);
      }
    }
    //ellipse(width-clouds[i][0], clouds[i][1], size, size);
    if (manX >= width-clouds[i][0] && 
      manX <= width-clouds[i][0]+clouds[i][3]) {
      if (!gameOver) {
        score++;
      }
      if (pos <= clouds[i][1]+clouds[i][2] && 
        pos+size >=clouds[i][1]) {
        gameOver=true;
        if (!gameOver) {
          score--;
        }
      }
    }
    if (!gameOver) {
      clouds[i][0]+=speed;
      if (clouds[i][0]>(width+20)) {
        clouds[i][0] = clouds[i][0]%int(random(1, 30));
        clouds[i][1]= int(random(0, height));
      }
    }
    if (gameOver) {
      textSize(28);
      text("Game Over", width/2, height/2);
      textSize(14);
      text("Press 'R' to play again", width/2, height/2+28);
    }
  }
  if (keyPressed) {
    if (key == 'r') {
      initialize();
    }
  }
}

void initialize() {
  for (int i=0; i<10; i++) {
    clouds[i][0] = int(random(-width*1.5, -10));
    clouds[i][1] = int(random(0, height));
    if (i%2==0) {
      clouds[i][2] = 10;
      clouds[i][3] = 20;
    } else {
      clouds[i][2] = 15;
      clouds[i][3] = 30;
    }
  }
  size = 9;
  manX = width/7+16;
  speed = 3;
  gameOver = false;
  level = 1;
  score = 0;
  cld1 = loadImage("cloud_small.png");
  cld2 = loadImage("cloud_big.png");
}

// Class for animating a sequence of GIFs

class Animation {
  PImage[] images;
  int imageCount;
  int frame;

  Animation(String imagePrefix, int count) {
    imageCount = count;
    images = new PImage[imageCount];

    for (int i = 0; i < imageCount; i++) {
      // Use nf() to number format 'i' into four digits
      String filename = imagePrefix + nf(i, 4) + ".gif";
      images[i] = loadImage(filename);
    }
  }

  void display(float xpos, float ypos) {
    frame = (frame+1) % imageCount;
    image(images[frame], xpos, ypos);
  }

  int getWidth() {
    return images[0].width;
  }
}
                        
                        

                            Superman.pde (source), Superman_Keyboard.pde (source)
                        
                    

Superman Game

Written in Processing 2

                        
int sensorPin = 0; // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int ledPin = 13; // select the pin for the LED
int sensorValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor

void setup()
{
  //initialize serial communications at a 9600 baud rate
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
  sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin);// read the value from the sensor:
  Serial.println(sensorValue);
  delay(25);
}
                        
                        

                            controller.ino (source)
                        
                    

Controller Code

Written in Arduino