Please look at the following structure of my pong game.
gameLoop(); method
//Only run this in another Thread!
private void gameLoop()
{
//This value would probably be stored elsewhere.
final double GAME_HERTZ = 30.0;
//Calculate how many ns each frame should take for our target game hertz.
final double TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES = 1000000000 / GAME_HERTZ;
//At the very most we will update the game this many times before a new render.
//If you're worried about visual hitches more than perfect timing, set this to 1.
final int MAX_UPDATES_BEFORE_RENDER = 5;
//We will need the last update time.
double lastUpdateTime = System.nanoTime();
//Store the last time we rendered.
double lastRenderTime = System.nanoTime();
//If we are able to get as high as this FPS, don't render again.
final double TARGET_FPS = 60;
final double TARGET_TIME_BETWEEN_RENDERS = 1000000000 / TARGET_FPS;
//Simple way of finding FPS.
int lastSecondTime = (int) (lastUpdateTime / 1000000000);
while (running)
{
double now = System.nanoTime();
int updateCount = 0;
if (!paused)
{
//Do as many game updates as we need to, potentially playing catchup.
while( now - lastUpdateTime > TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES && updateCount < MAX_UPDATES_BEFORE_RENDER )
{
updateGame();
lastUpdateTime += TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES;
updateCount++;
}
//If for some reason an update takes forever, we don't want to do an insane number of catchups.
//If you were doing some sort of game that needed to keep EXACT time, you would get rid of this.
if ( now - lastUpdateTime > TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES)
{
lastUpdateTime = now - TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES;
}
//Render. To do so, we need to calculate interpolation for a smooth render.
float interpolation = Math.min(1.0f, (float) ((now - lastUpdateTime) / TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES) );
//float interpolation = 1.0f;
drawGame(interpolation);
lastRenderTime = now;
//Yield until it has been at least the target time between renders. This saves the CPU from hogging.
while ( now - lastRenderTime < TARGET_TIME_BETWEEN_RENDERS && now - lastUpdateTime < TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES)
{
Thread.yield();
//This stops the app from consuming all your CPU. It makes this slightly less accurate, but is worth it.
//You can remove this line and it will still work (better), your CPU just climbs on certain OSes.
//FYI on some OS's this can cause pretty bad stuttering. Scroll down and have a look at different peoples' solutions to this.
try {Thread.sleep(1);} catch(Exception e) {}
now = System.nanoTime();
}
}
}
}
updateGame(); method
if(p1_up){
if(player.equals("p1")){
p1.moveUp();
}
else
{
p2.moveUp();
}
}
else if(p1_down){
if(player.equals("p1")){
p1.moveDown();
}
else
{
p2.moveDown();
}
}
moveUp(); moveDown(); method of paddle
public void moveUp(){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
y -= 50.0;
}
public void moveDown(){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
y += 50.0;
}
drawGame(interpolation); method
public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
{
super.paintComponent(g);
for(int i=0;i<balls.size();i++){
paintBall(g, balls.get(i));
}
drawPaddle(g, p1);
drawPaddle(g, p2);
}
public void drawPaddle(Graphics g, Paddle p){
paddle_drawX = (int)((p.x - p.last_x)*interpolation + p.last_x);
paddle_drawY = (int)((p.y - p.last_y)*interpolation + p.last_y);
g.drawRect(paddle_drawX, paddle_drawY, 10, 50);
}
I am a beginner in game programming so i don't have a good idea about game loops. I found the above fixed time-step game loop in the internet and used it as the game loop for my game. The loop makes the ball move smoothly but the paddle isn't staying at one place when moved. When I move my paddle by pressing one down key stroke then the paddle keeps shaking without stopping in one spot. The y coordinates of the paddle keeps changing like
33, 45, 20, 59, 34, 59, 34, 59, 33, 59, 34, 58
I know the problem is in interpolation value as it keeps changing value that will change the y coordinate of paddle in render. I have been thinking about this for a while and i don't know how to make the game loop work for any movements so i have come here for some help. I appreciate any suggestion/help!
Here is my full Paddle class.
public class Paddle
{
float x;
float y;
float last_y;
float last_x;
public Paddle(int x, int y)
{
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
this.last_x = x;
this.last_y = y;
}
public void setNewX(int d){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
x = d;
}
public void setNewY(int d){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
y = d;
}
public void moveUp(){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
y -= 50.0;
}
public void moveDown(){
last_y = y;
last_x = x;
y += 50.0;
}
}
and i initiate the paddle position in the main class through global variable.
public Paddle p1 = new Paddle(10, 10);
public Paddle p2 = new Paddle(950, 10);
I have following event listeners for handling key strokes.
Action handle_up_action = new AbstractAction(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
p1_up = true;
}
};
Action handle_up_action_released = new AbstractAction(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
p1_up = false;
}
};
Action handle_down_action = new AbstractAction(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
p1_down = true;
}
};
Action handle_down_action_released = new AbstractAction(){
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e){
p1_down = false;
}
};
