Angle Shots

Lesson 36 of 41 in Coddy's Make Games with Pygame course.

In Pong, where the ball hits the paddle decides where it goes. Near the top end it flies up, near the bottom end down, and in the middle straight across.

Measure how far the ball's middle is from the paddle's middle, and make that the new vy:

if ball.colliderect(right):
    vx = -abs(vx)
    vy = (ball.centery - right.centery) // 6

Above the middle the difference is negative, so the ball goes up; below, positive. Dividing by 6 keeps it from getting too fast: a hit at the very end gives a vy of about 7.

This turns Pong into a game of skill: you aim with your paddle.

Challenge

Hard

Let the paddles aim the ball.

In both paddle collisions, after setting vx, set vy to the ball's middle minus that paddle's middle.
Divide it by 6 with //.

Press Play and hit the ball with the end of a paddle: it flies off at an angle. Then Check.

Try it yourself

import pygame

pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((600, 400))
pygame.display.set_caption("Pong")
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
font = pygame.font.Font(None, 36)

ball = pygame.Rect(293, 193, 14, 14)
vx, vy = 5, 4
left = pygame.Rect(20, 160, 12, 80)
right = pygame.Rect(568, 160, 12, 80)
left_score = 0
right_score = 0
waiting = False

running = True
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False
        elif event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN and event.key == pygame.K_SPACE:
            waiting = False

    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_w]:
        left.y -= 6
    if keys[pygame.K_s]:
        left.y += 6
    if keys[pygame.K_UP]:
        right.y -= 6
    if keys[pygame.K_DOWN]:
        right.y += 6
    left.clamp_ip(screen.get_rect())
    right.clamp_ip(screen.get_rect())

    if not waiting:
        ball.x += vx
        ball.y += vy
        if ball.top <= 0 or ball.bottom >= 400:
            vy = -vy
        if ball.colliderect(left):
            vx = abs(vx)
        if ball.colliderect(right):
            vx = -abs(vx)
        if ball.left > 600:
            left_score += 1
            ball.center = (300, 200)
            vx = -vx
            waiting = True
        if ball.right < 0:
            right_score += 1
            ball.center = (300, 200)
            vx = -vx
            waiting = True

    screen.fill((30, 30, 46))
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (80, 160, 255), left)
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (235, 80, 80), right)
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (255, 196, 0), ball)
    score = font.render(f"{left_score} : {right_score}", True, (240, 240, 240))
    screen.blit(score, score.get_rect(center=(300, 30)))
    if waiting:
        message = font.render("Press Space to serve", True, (240, 240, 240))
        screen.blit(message, message.get_rect(center=(300, 360)))
    pygame.display.flip()
    clock.tick(60)

pygame.quit()