Normal or Hard

Part of the Game Rules section of Coddy's Pygame journey. Lesson 17 of 29.

Let the player choose how hard the game is before it starts. The menu shows two options, and the arrows pick one:

elif event.key == pygame.K_LEFT and state == "menu":
    difficulty = "normal"
elif event.key == pygame.K_RIGHT and state == "menu":
    difficulty = "hard"

The same arrows move the player during play. Testing state == "menu" keeps the two uses apart.

The menu marks the chosen option, so the player sees what Enter will start:

if difficulty == "normal":
    normal, hard = "> Normal <", "Hard"
else:
    normal, hard = "Normal", "> Hard <"

Then the game reads difficulty where the numbers are set. On Hard, rocks start at 6 pixels a frame instead of 3:

if difficulty == "normal":
    speed = 3 + seconds // 5
else:
    speed = 6 + seconds // 5

Set difficulty = "normal" once before the loop, not in reset(), so R keeps the choice.

Challenge

Medium

Before the loop, set difficulty = "normal".
On the menu, Left sets it to "normal" and Right to "hard".
The menu shows the two options centred at (160, 260) and (320, 260): > Normal < and Hard, or Normal and > Hard <.
Rocks start at 3 pixels a frame on Normal and 6 on Hard, plus 1 every five seconds.

Try it yourself

import random
import pygame

pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((480, 360))
pygame.display.set_caption("Meteor Dodge")
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
heart = pygame.image.load("assets/images/heart.png").convert_alpha()
heart_empty = pygame.image.load("assets/images/heart_empty.png").convert_alpha()
font = pygame.font.Font("assets/fonts/pixel.ttf", 24)
big_font = pygame.font.Font("assets/fonts/pixel.ttf", 48)
WHITE = (240, 240, 240)
PLATE = (60, 60, 90)
POINT = pygame.USEREVENT + 1
SPAWN = pygame.USEREVENT + 2


def reset():
    global player, rocks, score, lives, start_time
    player = pygame.Rect(220, 300, 40, 40)
    rocks = []
    score = 0
    lives = 3
    start_time = pygame.time.get_ticks()
    pygame.time.set_timer(POINT, 1000)
    pygame.time.set_timer(SPAWN, 1000)


def draw_menu():
    screen.fill((30, 30, 46))
    title = big_font.render("Meteor Dodge", True, WHITE)
    title_rect = title.get_rect(center=(240, 140))
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, PLATE, title_rect.inflate(24, 12))
    screen.blit(title, title_rect)
    hint = font.render("Press Enter to play", True, WHITE)
    screen.blit(hint, hint.get_rect(center=(240, 200)))


def draw_game():
    screen.fill((30, 30, 46))
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, (255, 196, 0), player)
    for rock in rocks:
        pygame.draw.rect(screen, (235, 80, 80), rock)
    score_text = font.render(f"{score:05}", True, WHITE)
    score_rect = score_text.get_rect(topright=(470, 10))
    pygame.draw.rect(screen, PLATE, score_rect.inflate(12, 8))
    screen.blit(score_text, score_rect)
    for i in range(3):
        if i < lives:
            screen.blit(heart, (10 + i * 40, 10))
        else:
            screen.blit(heart_empty, (10 + i * 40, 10))


def play_frame():
    global rocks, lives, state
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        player.x -= 6
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        player.x += 6
    player.clamp_ip(screen.get_rect())

    seconds = (pygame.time.get_ticks() - start_time) // 1000
    speed = 3 + seconds // 5
    kept = []
    for rock in rocks:
        rock.y += speed
        if rock.colliderect(player):
            lives -= 1
        elif rock.top <= 360:
            kept.append(rock)
    rocks = kept
    if lives <= 0:
        state = "over"
    draw_game()


def draw_over():
    draw_game()
    message = big_font.render("Game over", True, WHITE)
    screen.blit(message, message.get_rect(center=(240, 160)))
    hint = font.render("Press R to play again", True, WHITE)
    screen.blit(hint, hint.get_rect(center=(240, 200)))


reset()
state = "menu"

running = True
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False
        if event.type == POINT and state == "play":
            score += 1
        if event.type == SPAWN and state == "play":
            rocks.append(pygame.Rect(random.randint(0, 456), -24, 24, 24))
            seconds = (pygame.time.get_ticks() - start_time) // 1000
            interval = max(400, 1000 - seconds * 60)
            pygame.time.set_timer(SPAWN, interval)
        if event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN:
            if event.key == pygame.K_RETURN and state == "menu":
                reset()
                state = "play"
            elif event.key == pygame.K_r and state == "over":
                reset()
                state = "play"

    if state == "menu":
        draw_menu()
    elif state == "play":
        play_frame()
    else:
        draw_over()
    pygame.display.flip()
    clock.tick(60)

pygame.quit()