Rect Collision Response

demos tutorial rect collisions

This is a simple demo on how to do side-based rectangle collision response. It's extremely simple, and not very hard to understand.

Concept

I'm putting this here since it's not in the download. Basically how it works is when you move a rect, you first move along the X axis, test for a collision, move out, then move along the Y axis, test for a collision, and move out. This prevents the infamous "corner-catching" bug, and lets you move smoothly along walls.

#! /usr/bin/env python

import os
import random
import pygame

# Class for the orange dude
class Player(object):
    
    def __init__(self):
        self.rect = pygame.Rect(32, 32, 16, 16)

    def move(self, dx, dy):
        
        # Move each axis separately. Note that this checks for collisions both times.
        if dx != 0:
            self.move_single_axis(dx, 0)
        if dy != 0:
            self.move_single_axis(0, dy)
    
    def move_single_axis(self, dx, dy):
        
        # Move the rect
        self.rect.x += dx
        self.rect.y += dy

        # If you collide with a wall, move out based on velocity
        for wall in walls:
            if self.rect.colliderect(wall.rect):
                if dx > 0: # Moving right; Hit the left side of the wall
                    self.rect.right = wall.rect.left
                if dx < 0: # Moving left; Hit the right side of the wall
                    self.rect.left = wall.rect.right
                if dy > 0: # Moving down; Hit the top side of the wall
                    self.rect.bottom = wall.rect.top
                if dy < 0: # Moving up; Hit the bottom side of the wall
                    self.rect.top = wall.rect.bottom

# Nice class to hold a wall rect
class Wall(object):
    
    def __init__(self, pos):
        walls.append(self)
        self.rect = pygame.Rect(pos[0], pos[1], 16, 16)

# Initialise pygame
os.environ["SDL_VIDEO_CENTERED"] = "1"
pygame.init()

# Set up the display
pygame.display.set_caption("Get to the red square!")
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((320, 240))

clock = pygame.time.Clock()
walls = [] # List to hold the walls
player = Player() # Create the player

# Holds the level layout in a list of strings.
level = [
"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW",
"W                  W",
"W         WWWWWW   W",
"W   WWWW       W   W",
"W   W        WWWW  W",
"W WWW  WWWW        W",
"W   W     W W      W",
"W   W     W   WWW WW",
"W   WWW WWW   W W  W",
"W     W   W   W W  W",
"WWW   W   WWWWW W  W",
"W W      WW        W",
"W W   WWWW   WWW   W",
"W     W    E   W   W",
"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW",
]

# Parse the level string above. W = wall, E = exit
x = y = 0
for row in level:
    for col in row:
        if col == "W":
            Wall((x, y))
        if col == "E":
            end_rect = pygame.Rect(x, y, 16, 16)
        x += 16
    y += 16
    x = 0

running = True
while running:
    
    clock.tick(60)
    
    for e in pygame.event.get():
        if e.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False
        if e.type == pygame.KEYDOWN and e.key == pygame.K_ESCAPE:
            running = False
    
    # Move the player if an arrow key is pressed
    key = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if key[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        player.move(-2, 0)
    if key[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        player.move(2, 0)
    if key[pygame.K_UP]:
        player.move(0, -2)
    if key[pygame.K_DOWN]:
        player.move(0, 2)
    
    # Just added this to make it slightly fun ;)
    if player.rect.colliderect(end_rect):
        raise SystemExit, "You win!"
    
    # Draw the scene
    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))
    for wall in walls:
        pygame.draw.rect(screen, (255, 255, 255), wall.rect)
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (255, 0, 0), end_rect)
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (255, 200, 0), player.rect)
    pygame.display.flip()