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Nibbles

In this part of the Ruby GTK programming tutorial, we will create a Nibbles game clone.

Nibbles is an older classic video game. It was first created in late 70s. Later it was brought to PCs. In this game the player controls a snake. The objective is to eat as many apples as possible. Each time the snake eats an apple, its body grows. The snake must avoid the walls and its own body.

Development

The size of each of the joints of a snake is 10px. The snake is controlled with the cursor keys. Initially, the snake has three joints. The game starts immediately. When the game is finished, we display "Game Over" message in the center of the window. 

board.rb

WIDTH = 300
HEIGHT = 270
DOT_SIZE = 10
ALL_DOTS = WIDTH * HEIGHT / (DOT_SIZE * DOT_SIZE)
RAND_POS = 26

$x = [0] * ALL_DOTS
$y = [0] * ALL_DOTS

class Board < Gtk::DrawingArea

    def initialize
        super
            
        modify_bg Gtk::STATE_NORMAL, Gdk::Color.new(0, 0, 0)

        signal_connect "expose-event" do  
            on_expose
        end
 
        init_game
    end
    
    def on_timer

        if @inGame
            check_apple
            check_collision
            move
            queue_draw
            return true
        else
            return false
        end
    end
    
    def init_game

        @left = false
        @right = true
        @up = false
        @down = false
        @inGame = true
        @dots = 3

        for i in (0..@dots)
            $x[i] = 50 - i * 10
            $y[i] = 50
        end
        
        begin
            @dot = Cairo::ImageSurface.from_png "dot.png"
            @head = Cairo::ImageSurface.from_png "head.png"
            @apple = Cairo::ImageSurface.from_png "apple.png"
        rescue Exception => e
            puts "cannot load images"
            exit
        end

        locate_apple
        GLib::Timeout.add(100) { on_timer }

     end   
        

    def on_expose 
    
        cr = window.create_cairo_context

        if @inGame
            draw_objects cr
        else
            game_over cr
        end      
    end
    
    def draw_objects cr
    
        cr.set_source_rgb 0, 0, 0
        cr.paint

        cr.set_source @apple, @apple_x, @apple_y
        cr.paint

        for z in (0..@dots)
            if z == 0 
                cr.set_source @head, $x[z], $y[z]
                cr.paint
            else
                cr.set_source @dot, $x[z], $y[z]
                cr.paint
            end    
        end
    end

    def game_over cr

        w = allocation.width / 2
        h = allocation.height / 2

        cr.set_font_size 15
        te = cr.text_extents "Game Over"

        cr.set_source_rgb 65535, 65535, 65535
        
        cr.move_to w - te.width/2, h
        cr.show_text "Game Over"

    end


    def check_apple

        if $x[0] == @apple_x and $y[0] == @apple_y 
            @dots = @dots + 1
            locate_apple
        end
    end
    
    def move

        z = @dots

        while z > 0
            $x[z] = $x[(z - 1)]
            $y[z] = $y[(z - 1)]
            z = z - 1
        end

        if @left
            $x[0] -= DOT_SIZE
        end

        if @right 
            $x[0] += DOT_SIZE
        end

        if @up
            $y[0] -= DOT_SIZE
        end

        if @down
            $y[0] += DOT_SIZE
        end
        
     end

    def check_collision

        z = @dots
       
        while z > 0
            if z > 4 and $x[0] == $x[z] and $y[0] == $y[z]
                @inGame = false
            end
            z = z - 1
        end

        if $y[0] > HEIGHT - DOT_SIZE
            @inGame = false
        end
        
        if $y[0] < 0
            @inGame = false
        end
        
        if $x[0] > WIDTH - DOT_SIZE
            @inGame = false
        end
        
        if $x[0] < 0
            @inGame = false
        end    
        
    end

    def locate_apple
    
        r = rand(RAND_POS)
        @apple_x = r * DOT_SIZE
        r = rand(RAND_POS)
        @apple_y = r * DOT_SIZE
    end

    def on_key_down event
    
        key = event.keyval

        if key == Gdk::Keyval::GDK_Left and not @right
            @left = true
            @up = false
            @down = false
        end

        if key == Gdk::Keyval::GDK_Right and not @left
            @right = true
            @up = false
            @down = false
        end

        if key == Gdk::Keyval::GDK_Up and not @down
            @up = true
            @right = false
            @left = false
        end

        if key == Gdk::Keyval::GDK_Down and not @up
            @down = true
            @right = false
            @left = false
        end
    end   
end

First we will define some globals used in our game.

The WIDTH and HEIGHT constants determine the size of the Board. The DOT_SIZE is the size of the apple and the dot of the snake. The ALL_DOTS constant defines the maximum number of possible dots on the Board. The RAND_POS constant is used to calculate a random position of an apple. The DELAY constant determines the speed of the game. 

 $x = [0] * ALL_DOTS
 $y = [0] * ALL_DOTS

These two arrays store x, y coordinates of all possible joints of a snake.

The init_game method initializes variables, loads images and starts a timeout function. 

 if @inGame
     draw_objects cr
 else
     game_over cr
 end

Inside the on_expose method, we check the @inGame variable. If it is true, we draw our objects. The apple and the snake joints. Otherwise we display "Game over" text. 

 def draw_objects cr
  
     cr.set_source_rgb 0, 0, 0
     cr.paint

     cr.set_source @apple, @apple_x, @apple_y
     cr.paint

     for z in (0..@dots)
         if z == 0 
             cr.set_source @head, $x[z], $y[z]
             cr.paint
         else
             cr.set_source @dot, $x[z], $y[z]
             cr.paint
         end    
     end
 end

The draw_objects method draws the apple and the joints of the snake. The first joint of a snake is its head, which is represented by a red circle. 

 def check_apple

     if $x[0] == @apple_x and $y[0] == @apple_y 
         @dots = @dots + 1
         locate_apple
     end
 end

The check_apple method checks, if the snake has hit the apple object. If so, we add another snake joint and call the locate_apple method, which randomly places a new apple object.

In the move method we have the key algorithm of the game. To understand it, look at how the snake is moving. You control the head of the snake. You can change its direction with the cursor keys. The rest of the joints move one position up the chain. The second joint moves where the first was, the third joint where the second was etc. 

 while z > 0
     $x[z] = $x[(z - 1)]
     $y[z] = $y[(z - 1)]
     z = z - 1
 end

This code moves the joints up the chain. 

 if @left
     $x[0] -= DOT_SIZE
 end

Move the head to the left.

In the check_collision method, we determine if the snake has hit itself or one of the walls. 

 while z > 0
     if z > 4 and $x[0] == $x[z] and $y[0] == $y[z]
         @inGame = false
     end
     z = z - 1
 end

Finish the game, if the snake hits one of its joints with the head. 

 if $y[0] > HEIGHT - DOT_SIZE
     @inGame = false
 end

Finish the game, if the snake hits the bottom of the Board.

The locate_apple method locates an apple randomly on the board. 

 r = rand(RAND_POS)

We get a random number from 0 to RAND_POS - 1. 

 @apple_x = r * DOT_SIZE
 ...
 @apple_y = r * DOT_SIZE

These line set the x, y coordinates of the apple object. 

 if @inGame
     check_apple
     check_collision
     move
     queue_draw
     return true
 else
     return false
 end

Every 140 ms, the on_timer method is called. If we are in the game, we call three methods, that build the logic of the game. Otherwise we return false, which stops the timer event.

In the on_key_down method of the Board class, we determine the keys that were pressed. 

 if key == Gdk::Keyval::GDK_Left and not @right
     @left = true
     @up = false
     @down = false
 end

If we hit the left cursor key, we set left variable to true. This variable is used in the move method to change coordinates of the snake object. Notice also, that when the snake is heading to the right, we cannot turn immediately to the left. 

nibbles.rb

#!/usr/bin/ruby

# ZetCode Ruby GTK tutorial
#
# This is a simple nibbles game
# clone
#
# author: jan bodnar
# website: www.zetcode.com
# last modified: June 2009

require 'gtk2'
require 'board'

class RubyApp < Gtk::Window
    def initialize
        super
    
        set_title "Nibbles"
        signal_connect "destroy" do 
            Gtk.main_quit 
        end
        
        @board = Board.new
        signal_connect "key-press-event" do |w, e|
            on_key_down(w, e)
        end
        
        add @board

        set_default_size 300, 270
        set_window_position Gtk::Window::POS_CENTER
        show_all
    end
    
    def on_key_down widget, event 
     
        key = event.keyval
        @board.on_key_down event
    end
end

Gtk.init
    window = RubyApp.new
Gtk.main

In this class, we set up the Nibbles game. 

 def on_key_down widget, event 
  
     key = event.keyval
     @board.on_key_down event
 end

In this class, we catch the key press events. And delegate the processing to the on_key_down method of the board class.


Nibbles
Figure: Nibbles

This was the Nibbles computer game programmed with the GTK library and the Ruby programming language.



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ZetCode last modified June 28, 2009 © 2007 - 2009 Jan Bodnar