Sky Hop is an arcade-style game application developed with Python, aimed at providing an engaging and intuitive platform-hopping experience. Inspired by classic vertical scrollers like Doodle Jump, Sky Hop challenges players to reach new heights by controlling a character that must jump from platform to platform and collect rewards to boost their score. This project integrates motion-based controls through MediaPipe's hand-tracking feature, creating an unique gameplay experience where players can control the character's movement and jumps through hand gestures captured via webcam, or by using the arrow keys.
- Python 3.x – The primary programming language used for developing the game.
- Pygame – A library used for creating the game engine and handling graphics.
- OpenCV – Utilized for video capture functionality, enabling webcam input for the game.
- MediaPipe – A framework used for hand tracking, allowing motion-based controls when using video input.
- First, clone the repository from GitHub and ensure that the required dependencies —pygame, opencv-python, and mediapipe— are installed.
- Once the dependencies are set up, run the main file, and the game menu will appear.
- By selecting the "How to Play" button, you can learn how to control the character and understand the objective of the game.
- The default control mode uses the keyboard arrows (left and right), but you can switch to video mode and experience the hand-tracking feature provided by MediaPipe.
- Start a new game and try to reach as many platforms as possible while collecting rewards! The challenge lies in surpassing your previous high score. Be careful not to fall off the platforms, as doing so will end the game.
I worked on the game_loop, which determines the flow of the game and includes the scoring system. I implemented the game_over window with options to resume the game or quit, and I implemented the Platform class (which contains the methods create_initial_platform, generate_initial_platforms, and update_platforms) and the Reward class (which contains the methods is_collected and generate_rewards). The difficulties I encountered were related to understanding and learning how to use the GitHub platform in a collaborative environment without creating errors.
I worked on the video capture and processing module. At first, I implemented a demo in order to show exactly how MediaPipe works. The final version did not show the frames on-screen, instead returning a value used later. I then added a method for handling video input in the Character class, and this method is called every time a new coordinate is returned by the frame handler function. Finally, I added the toggle button in the game menu, offering the player the choice between arrow keys input and video input. I had difficulties finding the MediaPipe documentation, ultimately relying on the library code. I also had trouble trying to run the video component in WSL (I had chosen it because I like CLI git commands more than PyCharm’s integrated VCS), before finding out that video support is one of its limitations. I ended up moving everything on C: and using the Python interpreter for Windows.
I worked on the Character class, where I created the character and implemented its basic movement logic. Therefore, the character jumps continuously (like in the game Doodle Jump) and by pressing the left or right arrow keys, the character will jump to the desired direction. I have also implemented the Game Menu and its buttons that led to different actions (like the instructions page for the "How to Play" button or the beginning of a new game by pressing the "Start Game" button). I have mostly worked with the graphic interface, in order to create a more attractive playing environment for the player. This includes creating a sugestive game menu, selecting harmonious color schemes, incorporating images and choosing fonts that evoke a retro arcade feel. I have also added a "Back to Menu" button on the Game Over screen that takes the player back to the initial menu, if he wants to continue playing. I had some difficulties making the character jump constantly and working with the jumping variables (velocity, gravity, jumping force etc.), but in the end I managed to make it jump correctly. Also, some difficulties appeared when adding the "Back to Menu" button, because even though the queue of commands was emptied, the "Quit" button on the Game Menu was pressed, because the two buttons were in the same cooridinates on the screeen.