[pygame] GSoC project proposal: Pygame on rails

[Evan Kroske <e.kroske@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'd like to work on a Pygame-related project for GSoC, so I've been
thinking about possible projects I'd like to do. My favorite idea is
developing a micro-framework on top of Pygame to cut the volume of
code required to create a game within a well-defined genre. It would
revolve around assigning actions to high-level events. For example,
instead of creating a block like this within the main game loop:

if not player.reloading and sdlconst.K_SPACE in keystate and
len(shots) < constants.MAX_SHOTS:
    shots.append(factory.createProjectile(player))

the game developer would write something like this:

player.setProjectile(Bullet())
player.setFireTrigger(sdlconst.K_SPACE)

Here are a few more possible examples:

# Set tile map for stage
level.setTileMap(tileMap)

# Set BG music for stage
level.setBGMusic("battletheme.ogg")

# Assign goal for stage
level.setGoal(flagpole)

The framework would have specialized modules for each genre; the
platformer module would have a simple physics engine and a tiled
background engine, but the space shooter module would have a way to
easily control the behavior of shots and enemy ships.The framework
would dramatically simplify the process of putting graphics on screen
and playing sounds, allowing developers to focus on other aspects of
game design, such as automated level generation, AI, and media-based
mashup games.

I'm really excited about the possibility, but I want to know what you
think about it. Do game developers need an easier way to create games?
Has another project already done this?

--
Evan Kroske
http://welcome2obscurity.blogspot.com/
The personal blog of Evan Kroske,
novice software developer.