Python Arcade – Player Movement

Last Updated : 23 Sep, 2021

In this article, we will discuss How to move the players using arcade in Python.

Automatic Movements

We can easily move our players in any particular direction in the arcade. For this, we are going to draw a rectangle using the draw_rectangle_filled() method then we will change the x coordinate of this rectangle.

Syntax: arcade.draw_rectangle_filled(x, y, width, height, color, angle)

Parameters:

x : x coordinate of the rectangle center

y : y coordinate of the rectangle center

width : width of the rectangle

height : height of the rectangle

color : color of the rectangle

angle : rotation of the rectangle.

Below is the implementation:

Python3

# Importing arcade module 
import arcade 
  
# Creating MainGame class        
class MainGame(arcade.Window): 
    def __init__(self): 
        super().__init__(600, 600, title="Player Movement") 
  
        # Initializing the initial x and y coordinated 
        self.x = 250 
        self.y = 250
  
        # Initializing a variable to store 
        # the velocity of the player 
        self.vel = 300
  
    # Creating on_draw() function to draw on the screen 
    def on_draw(self): 
        arcade.start_render() 
  
        # Drawing the rectangle using 
        # draw_rectangle_filled function 
        arcade.draw_rectangle_filled(self.x, self.y,50, 50, 
                                     arcade.color.GREEN ) 
    # Creating on_update function to 
    # update the x coordinate 
    def on_update(self,delta_time): 
        self.x += self.vel * delta_time 
  
        # Changing the direction of 
        # movement if player crosses the screen 
        if self.x>=550 or self.x<=50: 
            self.vel *= -1
          
# Calling MainGame class        
MainGame() 
arcade.run() 

Output:

Player Movement using Keyboard Inputs

In arcade, we can take inputs from users to move our players. For this, we will use the on_key_press() and on_key_release() function.

Syntax:

on_key_press(symbol,modifiers)

on_key_release) symbol, modifiers)

Parameters:

symbol: Key that was hit

modifiers: Bitwise ‘and’ of all modifiers (shift, ctrl, num lock) pressed during this event

Below is the implementation:

Python3

# Importing arcade module 
import arcade 
  
# Creating MainGame class        
class MainGame(arcade.Window): 
    def __init__(self): 
        super().__init__(600, 600, title="Player Movement") 
  
        # Initializing the initial x and y coordinated 
        self.x = 250 
        self.y = 250
  
        # Initializing a variable to store 
        # the velocity of the player 
        self.vel_x = 0
        self.vel_y = 0
  
    # Creating on_draw() function to draw on the screen 
    def on_draw(self): 
        arcade.start_render() 
  
        # Drawing the rectangle using 
        # draw_rectangle_filled function 
        arcade.draw_rectangle_filled(self.x, self.y,50, 50, 
                                     arcade.color.GREEN ) 
    # Creating on_update function to 
    # update the x coordinate 
    def on_update(self,delta_time): 
        self.x += self.vel_x * delta_time 
        self.y += self.vel_y * delta_time 
  
          
    # Creating function to change the velocity 
    # when button is pressed 
    def on_key_press(self, symbol,modifier): 
  
        # Checking the button pressed 
        # and changing the value of velocity 
        if symbol == arcade.key.UP: 
            self.vel_y = 300
        elif symbol == arcade.key.DOWN: 
            self.vel_y = -300
        elif symbol == arcade.key.LEFT: 
            self.vel_x = -300
        elif symbol == arcade.key.RIGHT: 
            self.vel_x = 300
  
    # Creating function to change the velocity 
    # when button is released 
    def on_key_release(self, symbol, modifier): 
  
        # Checking the button released 
        # and changing the value of velocity 
        if symbol == arcade.key.UP: 
            self.vel_y = 0
        elif symbol == arcade.key.DOWN: 
            self.vel_y = 0
        elif symbol == arcade.key.LEFT: 
            self.vel_x = 0
        elif symbol == arcade.key.RIGHT: 
            self.vel_x = 0
          
          
# Calling MainGame class        
MainGame() 
arcade.run() 