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<h1>Final improvements to the FlappyBird clone and Android support devlog 3</h1>
<p>Decided to conclude my FlappyBird journey with one last set of improvements, following up on devlogs <a href="https://blog.luevano.xyz/g/flappybird_godot_devlog_1.html">1</a> and <a href="https://blog.luevano.xyz/g/flappybird_godot_devlog_2.html">2</a>. Focusing on <strong>refactoring</strong>, <strong>better UI</strong>, <strong>sprite selection</strong> and Android support.</p>
<p>I missed some features that I really wanted to get in but I’m already tired of working on this toy project and already eager to move to another one. Most of the features I wanted to add are just <em>QoL</em> UI enhancements and extra buttons basically.</p>
<p>The source code can be found at <a href="https://github.com/luevano/flappybirdgodot">luevano/flappybirdgodot</a>. Playable at <a href="https://lorentzeus.itch.io/flappybirdgodot">itch.io</a>:</p>
<p style="text-align:center"><iframe src="https://itch.io/embed/1551015?dark=true" width="208" height="167" frameborder="0"><a href="https://lorentzeus.itch.io/flappybirdgodot">FlappyBirdGodot by Lorentzeus</a></iframe></p>
<h2 id="table-of-contents">Table of contents<a class="headerlink" href="#table-of-contents" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h2>
<div class="toc">
<ul>
<li><a href="#table-of-contents">Table of contents</a></li>
<li><a href="#refactoring">Refactoring</a></li>
<li><a href="#improvements">Improvements</a><ul>
<li><a href="#background-parallax">Background parallax</a></li>
<li><a href="#sprite-switcher">Sprite switcher</a></li>
<li><a href="#save-data">Save data</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#android">Android</a></li>
<li><a href="#misc">Misc</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="refactoring">Refactoring<a class="headerlink" href="#refactoring" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h2>
<p>The first part for my refactor was to move everything out of the <code>src/</code> directory into the root directory of the git repository, organizing it a tiny bit better, personal preference from what I’ve learned so far. I also decided to place all the raw aseprite assets next to the imported one, this way its easier to make modifications and then save directly in the same directory. Also, a list of other refactoring done:</p>
<ul>
<li>The way I handled the gameplay means that I needed to make the camera, background and the (ceiling and tiles) “detectors” move along with the player, while restricting their movement in the <code>x</code> axis, really hacky. Instead, I did what I should’ve done from the beginning… just let the tiles move backwards and keep everything static with the player only moving up an down (as how I stated at the beginning of <a href="https://blog.luevano.xyz/g/flappybird_godot_devlog_1.html">FlappyBirdgodot devlog 1</a> but didn’t actually follow).</li>
<li>Moved the <code>set_process</code> methodology to their own scripts, instead of handling everything in <code>main.gd</code> while also taking advantage of how signals work now. Instead of doing:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func _ready():
Event.game_pause.connect(_on_game_pause)
func _on_game_pause(pause: bool):
set_process(pause)
</code></pre>
<p>Just connecting to <code>set_process</code> is enough:</p>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func _ready():
Event.game_pause.connect(set_process)
# and when the signal doesn't send anything:
Event.game_start.connect(set_process.bind(true))
Event.game_over.connect(set_process.bind(false))
</code></pre>
<h2 id="improvements">Improvements<a class="headerlink" href="#improvements" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h2>
<h3 id="background-parallax">Background parallax<a class="headerlink" href="#background-parallax" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>First thing was to add a moving background functionality, by adding 2 of the same <code>Sprite2D</code>‘s one after another and everytime the first sprite moves out of the screen, position it right after the second sprite. Some sample code to accomplish this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func _ready():
# Sprite2D and CompressedTexture2D nodes
background_orig.texture = background_texture
texture_size = background_orig.texture.get_size()
backgrounds.append(background_orig.duplicate())
backgrounds.append(background_orig.duplicate())
backgrounds[1].position = background_orig.position + Vector2(texture_size.x, 0.0)
add_child(backgrounds[0])
add_child(backgrounds[1])
background_orig.visible = false
# ifirst (index first) it's a boolean value starting with false and
# its a hacky way of tracking the first sprites
# (the one closest to the left of the screen) in the array
func _process(delta: float):
for background in backgrounds:
background.move_local_x(- SPEED * delta)
# moves the sprite that just exited the screen to the right of the upcoming sprite
if backgrounds[int(ifirst)].position.x <= - background_orig.position.x:
backgrounds[int(ifirst)].position.x = backgrounds[int(!ifirst)].position.x + texture_size.x
ifirst = !ifirst
</code></pre>
<p>Then I added background parallax by separating the background sprites in two: background and “foreground” (the buildings in the original sprites). And to move them separately just applied the same logic described above with 2 different speeds.</p>
<h3 id="sprite-switcher">Sprite switcher<a class="headerlink" href="#sprite-switcher" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Also added a way to select between the bird sprites and the backgrounds, currently pretty primitive but functional. Accomplished this by holding textures in an exported array, then added a bit of logic to cycle between them (example for the background):</p>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func _get_new_sprite_index(index: int) -> int:
return clampi(index, 0, background_textures.size() - 1)
func _set_sprites_index(index: int) -> int:
var new_index: int = _get_new_sprite_index(index)
if new_index == itexture:
return new_index
for bg in backgrounds:
bg.texture = background_textures[new_index]
for fg in foregrounds:
fg.texture = foreground_textures[new_index]
itexture = new_index
return new_index
</code></pre>
<p>Then, in custom signals I just call <code>_set_sprites_index</code> with a <code>texture_index +/- 1</code>.</p>
<h3 id="save-data">Save data<a class="headerlink" href="#save-data" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h3>
<p>Moved from manual <code>ConfigFile</code> (which is an <code>.ini</code> file basically) to <code>Resource</code> which is easier to work with and faster to implement.</p>
<p>Accomplished by defining a new <code>data_resource.gd</code>:</p>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">class_name DataResource
extends Resource
@export var high_score: int
@export var volume: float
@export var mute: bool
@export var bird: int
@export var background: int
func _init():
high_score = 0
volume = 0.5
mute = false
bird = 0
background = 0
</code></pre>
<p>Where the <code>@export</code>s are not needed unless you need to manage the <code>.tres</code> resource files for testing in-editor.</p>
<p>Then, the <code>data.gd</code> script needs to be changed accordingly, most notably:</p>
<ul>
<li>The file extension is <code>.tres</code> instead of <code>.cfg</code>.</li>
<li>No need for “config sections”.</li>
<li>Saving changes to:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func save():
var err: int = ResourceSaver.save(_data, DATA_PATH)
if err != OK:
print("[ERROR] Couldn't save data.")
</code></pre>
<ul>
<li>The loader gets simplified (mostly because the default values are set in the <code>_init()</code> function of the <code>data_resource.gd</code>) to:</li>
</ul>
<pre><code class="language-gdscript">func _load_data():
if ResourceLoader.exists(DATA_PATH):
_data = load(DATA_PATH)
else:
_data = DataResource.new()
save()
</code></pre>
<ul>
<li>The attributes/config/saved data can be retrieved directly by the <code>data_resource.gd</code> variable name, for example: instead of <code>_data.get_value(SCORE_SECTION, "high_score")</code> it’s now simply <code>_data.high_score</code>. And similar for setting the values.</li>
</ul>
<p>Compared to the <a href="https://blog.luevano.xyz/g/flappybird_godot_devlog_1.html#saved-data">3.x version</a> it is a lot more simple. Though I still have setters and getters for each attribute/config (I’ll se how to change this in the future).</p>
<h2 id="android">Android<a class="headerlink" href="#android" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h2>
<p>I did add android support but it’s been so long since I did it that I actually don’t remember (this entry has been sitting in a draft for months). In general I followed the official guide for <a href="https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/export/exporting_for_android.html">Exporting for Android</a>, setting up Android studio and remotely debugging with my personal phone; it does take a while to setup but after that it’s as simple as doing <em>“one click deploys”</em>.</p>
<p>Most notably, I had to enable touch screen support and make the buttons clickable either by an actual mouse click or touch input. Some of the <em>Project Settings</em> that I remember that needs changes are:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>display/window/handheld/orientation</em> set to <code>Portrait</code>.</li>
<li><em>input_devices/pointing/emulate_touch_from_mouse</em> and <em>input_devices/pointing/emulate_mouse_from_touch</em> both set to <code>on</code>.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="misc">Misc<a class="headerlink" href="#misc" title="Permanent link">¶</a></h2>
<p>Found a bug on the <code>ScoreDetector</code> where it would collide with the <code>Ceiling</code>. While this is really not a problem outside of me doing tests I fixed it by <a href="https://blog.luevano.xyz/g/godot_layers_and_masks_notes.html">applying the correct layer/mask</a>.</p>
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<p>By David Luévano</p>
<p>Created: Fri, Mar 01, 2024 @ 10:00 UTC</p>
<p>Modified: Fri, Mar 01, 2024 @ 10:11 UTC</p>
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