Asteroids Game

Yet another take on the classic Asteroids arcade game, built with Python and Pygame. Features animated sprites, multiple graphics modes, and a professional asset management system. Initiated as part of the Boot.dev Python Development Course, and expanded upon.

Features

• Three Graphics Modes: Switch between different visual styles on-the-fly

  • Sprites Mode: Full animated asteroids with 16-frame sprite animations and custom ship sprite
  • Basic Mode: Enhanced geometric shapes with chevron ship design and irregular polygon asteroids
  • Minimal Mode: Clean wireframe graphics for classic arcade feel

• Performance Optimized: Threaded asset preloading system eliminates frame drops

• Dynamic Audio: Procedural sound generation with fallback audio system

• Professional Structure: Modular codebase with proper separation of concerns

• Beautiful Backgrounds: Randomly selected space imagery for immersive gameplay

Controls

• Arrow Keys / WASD: Move and rotate ship
• Spacebar: Shoot
• G: Cycle through graphics modes (Sprites → Basic → Minimal)
• B: Cycle through background images

Graphics Modes

Sprites Mode

• Animated asteroids with 16-frame rotation cycles
• Custom ship sprite with proper scaling and rotation
• Full visual effects and engine glow

Basic Mode

• Chevron-shaped ship design
• Irregular 5-7 sided polygon asteroids
• Filled shapes with colored outlines

Minimal Mode

• Simple wireframe triangle ship
• Circle wireframe asteroids
• Clean, classic arcade aesthetic

Installation

1. Ensure you have Python 3.12+ installed
2. Install uv package manager if not already installed
3. Clone this repository
4. Run the game:

uv run python main.py

Project Structure

asteroids/
├── main.py                 # Main game loop and entry point
├── src/                    # Source code modules
│   ├── entities/           # Game entities (Player, Asteroid, Shot)
│   ├── game/              # Game logic and constants
│   └── utils/             # Utilities (Asset Manager, Graphics Manager, etc.)
├── assets/                # Game assets
│   ├── asteroids/         # Sprite animations
│   ├── images/           # Background images
│   ├── ships/            # Ship sprites
│   └── sounds/           # Audio files
├── tests/                # Test files
└── tools/               # Development tools

Art Assets Attribution

This project uses various art assets from different sources:

Background Images

• Trifid Nebula (Trifid_Nebula_by_Deddy_Dayag.jpg):

  • Created by Deddy Dayag
  • Source: Wikipedia
  • License: Creative Commons

• Hubble Space Telescope Images (files starting with heic):

  • heic0411a.jpg, heic0910e.jpg, heic1105a.jpg, heic1819a.jpg
  • Source: NASA Hubble Space Telescope
  • Credit: NASA/ESA
  • Public Domain

• AI Generated Space Scenes (files starting with StockCake):

  • StockCake-Celestial Aurora Majesty_1758665862.jpg
  • StockCake-Celestial World Discovered_1758665899.jpg
  • StockCake-Cosmic Asteroid Field_1758665834.jpg
  • StockCake-Cosmic Debris Field_1758665951.jpg
  • StockCake-Cosmic Rocks Adrift_1758665959.jpg
  • Source: StockCake.com
  • AI Generated Images
  • License: Public Domain

Sprite Assets

• Asteroid Sprites:
  • Source: http://zimnox.com, via Reddit
  • Various asteroid animations in large, medium, and small sizes
  • Multiple variants (a1, a3, b1 series)

Ship Assets

• Ship Sprite (yct20hubfk061.png):
  • Source: Thunder246, via Reddit
  • Used in sprites graphics mode

Technical Features

Asset Management System

• Threaded preloading of all sprite animations
• Progress tracking with loading screen
• Intelligent caching to prevent runtime file I/O
• Support for multiple sprite variants and sizes

Graphics Management

• Runtime switching between three distinct visual modes
• Mode-specific rendering pipelines
• Optimized drawing routines for each graphics style
• Proper sprite scaling and rotation handling

Audio System

• Procedural sound generation for missing audio files
• Dynamic sound loading and caching
• Support for shoot, explosion, thrust, and collision sounds

Development

The project uses a modern Python development setup:

• uv for package management and virtual environments
• pygame 2.6.1 for graphics and input handling
• Modular architecture for maintainability
• Professional project structure following Python best practices

License

This project is open source. Please respect the individual licenses of the art assets as listed above.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

• Boot.dev for the base project
• Deddy Dayag for the beautiful Trifid Nebula image
• NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope team for the space imagery
• StockCake.com for the AI-generated cosmic scenes
• Zimnox.com for the asteroid sprite animations
• The Pygame community for the excellent game development framework