Pygame-ce Home || Help Contents

|| Reference Index

Most useful stuff: Color | display | draw | event | font | image |

key | locals | mixer | mouse | Rect | Surface | time | music |
pygame
pygame-ce documentation Advanced stuff: cursors | joystick | mask | sprite | transform |
BufferProxy | freetype | gfxdraw | midi | PixelArray | pixelcopy |
sndarray | surfarray | math
Other: camera | controller | examples | scrap | system | tests |
touch | typing | version | Window

Pygame-ce Front Page

Quick start
Welcome to pygame-ce! Once you've got pygame-ce installed ( pip install pygame-ce or pip3
install pygame-ce for most people), the next question is how to get a game loop running.
Pygame-ce, unlike some other libraries, gives you full control of program execution. That freedom
means it is easy to mess up in your initial steps.
Here is a good example of a basic setup (opens the window, updates the screen, and handles
events)--

# Example file showing a basic pygame "game loop"

import pygame

# pygame setup
pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((1280, 720))
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
running = True

while running:
# poll for events
# pygame.QUIT event means the user clicked X to close your window
for event in pygame.event.get():
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
running = False

# fill the screen with a color to wipe away anything from last frame
screen.fill("purple")

# RENDER YOUR GAME HERE

# flip() the display to put your work on screen

pygame.display.flip()

clock.tick(60) # limits FPS to 60

 pygame.quit()

Here is a slightly more fleshed out example, which shows you how to move something (a circle in
this case) around on screen--

# Example file showing a circle moving on screen

import pygame

# pygame setup
pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((1280, 720))
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
running = True
dt = 0

player_pos = pygame.Vector2(screen.get_width() / 2, screen.get_height() / 2)

while running:
# poll for events
# pygame.QUIT event means the user clicked X to close your window
for event in pygame.event.get():
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
running = False

# fill the screen with a color to wipe away anything from last frame
screen.fill("purple")

pygame.draw.circle(screen, "red", player_pos, 40)

keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
if keys[pygame.K_w]:
player_pos.y -= 300 * dt
if keys[pygame.K_s]:
player_pos.y += 300 * dt
if keys[pygame.K_a]:
player_pos.x -= 300 * dt
if keys[pygame.K_d]:
player_pos.x += 300 * dt

# flip() the display to put your work on screen

pygame.display.flip()

# limits FPS to 60
# dt is delta time in seconds since last frame, used for framerate-
# independent physics.
dt = clock.tick(60) / 1000

pygame.quit()

For more in depth reference, check out the Tutorials section below, check out a video tutorial (I'm a
fan of this one), or reference the API documentation by module.
 Experimental modules
Experimental modules are work in progress, this is why you should refrain from relying on any fea-
tures provided by these modules, as they are subject to change or removal without prior notice. If
you want to test these experimental modules, you might want to understand how you import them,
this is how you can do it:

from pygame import experimental_module

# Or for specific modules like _sdl2.controller
from pygame._sdl2 import controller
# Or
import pygame.experimental_module

Don't forget to report us any problem with the experimental features on github so we can easily turn
them to stable API in the future ^^.
Below is currently the list of experimental modules :
pygame.geometry
Pygame module for the Circle, Line, and Polygon objects.
pygame._sdl2.controller
Pygame module to work with controllers.
pygame.sdl2_video
Pygame module for porting new SDL video systems.

Documents
Readme
Basic information about pygame: what it is, who is involved, and where to find it.
File Path Function Arguments
How pygame handles file system paths.
Pygame Logos
The logos of Pygame in different resolutions.
LGPL License
This is the license pygame is distributed under. It provides for pygame to be distributed with
open source and commercial software. Generally, if pygame is not changed, it can be used
with any type of program.

Tutorials
Introduction to Pygame
An introduction to the basics of pygame. This is written for users of Python and appeared in
volume two of the Py magazine.
Import and Initialize
The beginning steps on importing and initializing pygame. The pygame package is made of
several modules. Some modules are not included on all platforms.
How do I move an Image?
A basic tutorial that covers the concepts behind 2D computer animation. Information about
drawing and clearing objects to make them appear animated.
Chimp Tutorial, Line by Line
The pygame examples include a simple program with an interactive fist and a chimpanzee.
This was inspired by the annoying flash banner of the early 2000s. This tutorial examines every
line of code used in the example.
Sprite Module Introduction
Pygame includes a higher level sprite module to help organize games. The sprite module in-
cludes several classes that help manage details found in almost all games types. The Sprite
classes are a bit more advanced than the regular pygame modules, and need more under-
standing to be properly used.
Surfarray Introduction
Pygame used the NumPy python module to allow efficient per pixel effects on images. Using
the surface arrays is an advanced feature that allows custom effects and filters. This also ex-
amines some of the simple effects from the pygame example, arraydemo.py.
Camera Module Introduction
Pygame, as of 1.9, has a camera module that allows you to capture images, watch live
streams, and do some basic computer vision. This tutorial covers those use cases.
Newbie Guide
A list of thirteen helpful tips for people to get comfortable using pygame.
Making Games Tutorial
A large tutorial that covers the bigger topics needed to create an entire game.
Display Modes
Getting a display surface for the screen.
한국어 튜토리얼 (Korean Tutorial)
빨간블록 검은블록
Tutorial de Pygame - Ejemplo del Chimpancé, Línea Por Línea
Los ejemplos de pygame incluyen un sencillo programa con un puño interactivo y un
chimpancé. Está inspirado en el molesto banner de flash de principios de la década de 2000.
Este tutorial examina cada línea de código utilizada en el ejemplo.
What is Premultiplied Alpha?
An explanation of alpha compositing and the advantages of using premultipled alpha.

Reference
Index
A list of all functions, classes, and methods in the pygame package.
pygame.BufferProxy
An array protocol view of surface pixels
pygame.Color
Color representation.
pygame.cursors
Loading and compiling cursor images.
pygame.display
Configure the display surface.
pygame.draw
Drawing simple shapes like lines and ellipses to surfaces.
pygame.event
Manage the incoming events from various input devices and the windowing platform.
pygame.examples
Various programs demonstrating the use of individual pygame modules.
pygame.font
Loading and rendering TrueType fonts.
pygame.freetype
Enhanced pygame module for loading and rendering font faces.
pygame.gfxdraw
Anti-aliasing draw functions.
pygame.image
Loading, saving, and transferring of surfaces.
pygame.joystick
Manage the joystick devices.
pygame.key
Manage the keyboard device.
pygame.locals
Pygame constants.
pygame.mixer
Load and play sounds
pygame.mouse
Manage the mouse device and display.
pygame.mixer.music
Play streaming music tracks.
pygame
Top level functions to manage pygame.
pygame.PixelArray
Manipulate image pixel data.
pygame.Rect
Flexible container for a rectangle.
pygame.scrap
Native clipboard access.
pygame.sndarray
Manipulate sound sample data.
pygame.sprite
Higher level objects to represent game images.
pygame.Surface
Objects for images and the screen.
pygame.surfarray
Manipulate image pixel data.
pygame.tests
Test pygame.
pygame.time
Manage timing and framerate.
pygame.transform
Resize and move images.
pygame.typing
Provide common typehints
pygame.Window
Pygame object that handles a window.
pygame C API
The C api shared amongst pygame extension modules.
Search Page
Search pygame documents by keyword.

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