A simple one-level platform game. Developed as part of ELEC2645 at University of Leeds, spring 2015.

Dependencies:   N5110 PinDetect PowerControl mbed

An ARM mbed LPC1768 microcontroller have been used to develop a handheld arcade game in the style of an old-school platformer. This project is entirely my own independent work in all stages of the development; including design, defining project specifications, breadboard prototyping, schematic and PCB layout using CAD, assembly, testing and software development. Due to this being part of the ELEC2645 Embedded Systems Project module at University of Leeds, spring 2015, limitations were given on the available hardware components. Credit is due to the authors of the dependent libraries (N5110, Pin Detect, PowerControl and mbed). I would also like to thank the author of Game Programming Patterns as well as the authors of SFML Game Development for providing me with useful sources for programming design patterns.

/media/uploads/Siriagus/game_assembled.jpg

Project aims

  • Implement simple gameplay:
    • A single, fixed (no scrolling) level.
    • Player can move left to right, jump and shoot.
    • Enemies will drop from the top of the screen.
    • The player gets points for shooting enemies.
    • The player dies when it gets hits by an enemy.
  • Implement a simple menu system.
  • Enable the user to adjust the brightness of the display.
  • Output sound to enhance the user experience.

Software

The program flow is controlled by a finite state machine. The implemented design was inspired by the State design pattern from the books Game Programming Patterns and SFML Game Development. The StateManager class is responsible for updating and rendering the current selected state. It also changes the state based on request from the current state. The framework built for the state machine used in this project makes it easy to add new screens. The different main states (indicated by the background colour) and how the user interaction is shown below: /media/uploads/Siriagus/arcadegameuserinteraction.png

Hardware

Schematic:

/media/uploads/Siriagus/schematic.png

Printed circuit board (PCB):

/media/uploads/Siriagus/pcb.png

Images

A seperate program was written to convert images (png) to text-representation of the maps. Enemies and numbers on the screen are also collected from a sprite-sheet created in the same manner.

/media/uploads/Siriagus/unileeds3.png /media/uploads/Siriagus/newmap2.png

main.cpp

Committer:
Siriagus
Date:
2015-05-11
Revision:
18:709ea375b0df
Parent:
17:d6a3b29cab31

File content as of revision 18:709ea375b0df:

/**
* @file main.cpp
* @brief Simple platform game developed for ELEC2645 Embedded Systems Project at University of Leeds
* @author Andreas Garmannslund
* @date April/May 2015
*/

#include "mbed.h"
#include "N5110.h"
#include "PowerControl/PowerControl.h"
#include "PowerControl/EthernetPowerControl.h"
#include "PinDetect.h"
#include <string>
#include <sstream>
#include <ctime>

#include "Joystick.h"
#include "StateManager.h"
#include "State.h"
#include "InputManager.h"
#include "Sound.h"

// Redefine pin names for simple access.
#define JOY_H p17
#define JOY_V p16
#define JOY_BTN p15

#define LED_POT p20

#define BUTTON_A p28
#define BUTTON_B p27
#define BUTTON_C p29

// Input and Output
/// Display
N5110 *lcd;

/// Sound: Piezo buzzer
Sound *sound; 

/// Responsible for managing user input
InputManager *input;

/// Brightness potentiometer
AnalogIn ledPot(LED_POT);

AnalogIn randomPin(p18); // Unconnected pin => noise, used for generating a random seed.
AnalogIn randomPin2(p19); // Unconnected pin

/// Set up initial variables
void init();

/// Frees remaining allocated memory
void cleanUp();

/// Finite state machine
StateManager* fsm;

/// Local file system
LocalFileSystem local("local");

/// Function for generating a random seed by using a unconnected analog input pin
// Problem: Not trully random as pin is fairly stable. It is unfortunately connected to the ground layer (often returning 0). Would be better to connect it to a "loose wire"/bad connection-
unsigned int getRandSeed();

/// Read and load the high score file.
void readHighscoreFile();

int main()
{    
    srand(getRandSeed());
    
    init();
    
    Timer timer;
    timer.start();
    
    while(true)
    {
        // We need to call Sleep() repeatedly, because periodic interrupts in InputManager will cause it to wake up every 20 ms.
        while (timer.read() < 0.08)
            Sleep();
        
        // update
        lcd->setBrightness(1.0 - ledPot); // Update brightness of screen
        fsm->update(timer.read());
        input->joystick->update();
        
        // render
        lcd->clear();
        fsm->render(); 
        lcd->refresh();
        
        fsm->processRequest(); // Change the state if requested.
        
        timer.reset();
    }
    
    cleanUp();  // Not really reached as the program never terminates. Added for completeness.
    
    return 0;
}

void init()
{
    // Disable ethernet to save power
    PHY_PowerDown();
    
    // Init LCD
    lcd = new N5110(p7, p8, p9, p10, p11, p13, p26);
    lcd->init();
    lcd->normalMode();
    lcd->setBrightness(1.0 - ledPot); // Update brightness of screen
    
    // Input
    input = new InputManager(BUTTON_A, BUTTON_B, BUTTON_C, JOY_H, JOY_V, JOY_BTN);
    
    // Sound
    sound = new Sound(p21);

    // Finite state machine
    fsm = new StateManager(lcd, input, sound, TITLE_SCREEN);
    
    readHighscoreFile(); // load highscores from file system
    
    sound->playNote(SFX::RESTART);
}

void readHighscoreFile()
{    
     FILE *fp = fopen("/local/highscores.txt", "r");    // read from local file
     
     if (!fp)       // if file is not created yet the highscores will default values as defined in Global.cpp
        return;
        
     char initials[4];
     char scoreStr[8];

     for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
     {   
         fscanf(fp, "%s %s", initials, scoreStr);   // read from file
         
         int score = atoi(scoreStr);    // convert to int
         
         // update global highscore table
         Global::highscores[i].initials = initials;
         Global::highscores[i].score = score;
     }
        
     fclose(fp);
}

void cleanUp()
{
    delete lcd;
    delete input;
    delete sound;
}

/** Get a random seed based on unconnected analog input pins
  * @see https://developer.mbed.org/questions/2886/Why-is-the-rand-function-not-the-least-b/
 */
unsigned int getRandSeed()
{
    unsigned int randNum = 0;
    unsigned int lsb; // least significant bit
    
    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < 16; ++i)
    {
        lsb = 1 & (randomPin.read_u16()); // Read least significant bit in randomInput - value depends on noise
        randNum |= (lsb << i);              // Set bit nr.i to lsb in randomInput
        
        lsb = 1 & (randomPin2.read_u16());
        randNum |= (lsb << (16+i));
    }
    
    return randNum;
}