The Basics - Pong

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#1

I was recently advised by someone on this forum to code small games and eventually work my way up to harder games to test my skills and gain confidence in my ability to make games, as I’ve never made one from start to finish anymore. I decided to start a new project, one that would take me a few weeks, and at the end I’ll have created a few small games, ranging from easy to code to moderately hard. Well, today I give you my first creation!

Pong!

Yes, its a pretty generic game to clone, but its very easy, so I decided it would be my first one. I managed to create this in about an hour and a half (I even documented the progress in the form of a rather long video! I’ll upload it to YouTube shortly), and I think it turned out all right. Mind you, I didn’t put the particle engine in even though I wanted to, and I didn’t make a menu, but that’s fine because I was starting to get bored with the whole pong clone idea anyway. So, here’s a screenshot!

Gorgeous graphics. So some notes about the game:

  • The AI really likes to win, and will rarely ever slip up. It’s my fault for not spending more time on it, but like I said, I was kind of bored at the end.
  • Collision is kind of glitchy near the top of the paddles, but it rarely ever glitches out as the ball needs to intersect the corner of the paddle with its own corner. I know how to fix it.
  • There are two power ups as of now, a size power up which reduces the size and a speed boost which speeds the ball up for a short amount of time. Both power ups are on a timer that lasts around 10 seconds.
  • The ball slowly speeds up as long as the ball doesn’t go out of bounds. In that case, the ball’s velocity will reset as will the position
  • Pressing CTRL + C will open up the ‘dev’ console. Its not really all that amazing, just some numbers that only really mean something to me. Also lists the ball’s velocity.

If I come back to the game I want to add more paddles to the game at once, a power up that throws out lots of balls, a particle engine and a main menu.

So, here’s the download (1.88 MB)!
Download my generic pong clone now

It feels nice to finish a game :slight_smile:

The game is made in LWJGL using my NEngine utility library.

#2

Aww snap, grats on your first(Right?) finished game opiop!

Now to play pong for 2 hours.

Btw, I think the ball clips through the very edge of the paddle sometimes. But that might just be a graphical thing on my end.

#3

Oh, I mean I’ve been making games for the past year, but this is the first one I’ve really completed. Oh and good luck actually winning, I’ve only scored one point against and that was because the collision glitches :slight_smile:

Edit: That graphical glitch is the collision glitching out, sorry!

#4

Congratulations on completing your first game! 8) Each game you make using your engine makes the engine look better and better, so keep it up.

#5

Shameless self promotion:
About half this game was made with just my library, the other half was just specific functions I had to code. Without my library, it would’ve taken me twice the amount of time to do this!

Also, thanks for the medal :wink:

#6

Nice broh. Please just add some super cool particles man. I love me some particles. (additive blending ftw)

#7

I’ll try, last time they were being a rather large pain, but if I come back to this someday, I will!
Thanks!

#8

Even though this is a simple game, you should still polish it. :slight_smile: Congratulations, nonetheless.

#9

I will someday, but I was getting bored, and me being bored leads to frustration, and then I don’t feel good about making the game anymore! I’m also working on a new game that I’m much more excited about because I’ve been working on the art for it, and I’m very happy with the results!

#10

There are boring parts about anything you program (I have to imagine that’s why you never finish a game). If you are going to stop doing something just because it gets boring, you aren’t ever going to see a finished product.

#11

Its not that, its just when I get bored I move on to other projects so I don’t get frustrated and write bad code. I wouldn’t advise people to keep coding after they get frustrated. Take a break, or at least do something else in the project, but frustration will cloud your judgment and will most likely cause you to write bad code. I’ve finished games, this is just the first one in a while. And before I made games I worked on various types of programs, and I finished plenty of those because I didn’t force myself to keep coding after boredom.

I usually have a few projects going on at once because when I get bored I switch. I see no point in coding after I get frustrated.

#12

I agree with opiop. (+1)

People always are saying that you have to code even if you get bored, just push through it or whatever. I dont know that thats true! Once your not coding for fun, your going to start to wonder why your coding at all. Your not coding to make money (This is untrue for some people obviously). Your not coding to be popular (I hope) and your not coding to do somthing important (Probably). I make a point to not let my self code when I dont want to, even if it means taking a week off.

#13

Tell that to your boss…
It is very important that you push yourself to code as much as possible. Hopefully you like your hobby enough to push through any adversity instead of just taking long breaks or giving up.

(Also, “you’re”. Please.)

#14

Ah, sorry. I’m usually a stickler about grammar, but I was typing fast.

I didn’t mean when you have a job. I meant as a hobby. If you’re bored in a job obviously you’ll need to push through it. But if you’re just coding as a hobby, I think after a few weeks of being bored with a project isn’t healthy anymore, and you should put it down for a few days at least and work on something else. If it’s just a few days, just push through it and get it done, but after a few weeks I think it just isn’t worth it.

But, I guess we just look at it differently, maybe because I’m still young (In terms of programming and experience).