stevedunn / pacman-typescript

Game State Management

This outline provides an overview of how the game state is managed in the pacman-typescript project. The game state encompasses various aspects, including the player’s position, score, level progress, and the state of the game board (e.g., ghost positions, pellet locations). Effective state management is crucial for maintaining game logic, ensuring consistency, and enabling seamless transitions between game states.

State Representation

The game state is primarily managed using the GameState class, located in the src/game/GameState.ts file. 

import { Maze } from './Maze';
          import { Player } from './Player';
          import { Ghost } from './Ghost';
          
          export class GameState {
            maze: Maze;
            player: Player;
            ghosts: Ghost[];
            score: number;
            level: number;
            lives: number;
            gameOver: boolean;
            gameStarted: boolean;
            pelletsEaten: number;
            powerPillTimer: number;
          }

The GameState class encapsulates the key information about the game’s current state, including the game board (maze), the player (player), the ghosts (ghosts), the score (score), the current level (level), the number of lives remaining (lives), and various flags indicating game state (e.g., gameOver, gameStarted).

State Management Mechanisms

The game utilizes the following mechanisms for managing the game state:

1. Game Loop

The core of the game’s state management is driven by the game loop, implemented in the src/game/Game.ts file. The game loop is a continuous cycle that performs the following tasks:

  • Update Game State: It updates the game state based on user input, timer events, and game logic.
  • Render Game: It renders the updated game state to the screen.
  • Check for Game End: It checks if the game has ended (e.g., player loses all lives, all pellets are consumed).

2. Event Handling

The game handles events such as player movement, ghost interactions, pellet consumption, and power pill activation. These events trigger updates to the game state.

3. State Transitions

The game state can transition between various states, such as:

  • Start State: The game initializes its state with a new maze, player, and ghosts.
  • Gameplay State: The game progresses with player movement, ghost interactions, and score accumulation.
  • Power Pill State: The player enters a power pill state when consuming a power pill.
  • Game Over State: The game ends when the player loses all lives or wins by consuming all pellets.

4. Game Reset

The game can be reset to its initial state, allowing the player to start a new game.

Example State Transitions

Here are examples of state transitions that occur in the game:

Example 1: Level Transition

  • Event: The player consumes all pellets in the current level.
  • State Transition: The game state transitions to the next level, creating a new maze and resetting the player and ghost positions.

Example 2: Game Over

  • Event: The player loses all lives.
  • State Transition: The game state transitions to the “Game Over” state, displaying an appropriate message to the player.

Example 3: Power Pill Activation

  • Event: The player consumes a power pill.
  • State Transition: The game state enters a “Power Pill” state, where the ghosts become vulnerable for a limited duration.

Conclusion

The game’s state management system ensures the consistency and flow of gameplay, enabling seamless transitions between game states and responding to user interactions and events. The GameState class and the game loop serve as the foundation for managing and updating the game state, providing a robust and flexible framework for the pacman-typescript game.