Getting Started
Alright, so I decided to mess around with something this week. Had this idea floating in my head, maybe mixing Pong, the classic old game, with a bit of a tennis feel. Seemed like a fun little project to kill some time.
Setting Up the Basics
First thing, I fired up my computer and opened up my usual coding environment. Nothing fancy, just the tools I’m comfortable with. I started by drawing a simple rectangle on the screen. That was going to be my paddle. Then I got it moving up and down using the keyboard arrows. Easy enough.
Next up was the ball. Just a small square or circle to start. I needed it to move across the screen. Then came the tricky part – making it bounce. Got it bouncing off the top and bottom edges of the screen first. Then, figured out the collision with the paddle. Took a few tries to get the bounce angle looking somewhat okay, not perfect, but good enough for now.
Added a second paddle on the other side, controlled by different keys. Now it was starting to look like actual Pong.
Adding the ‘Tennis’ Flavor
Okay, basic Pong was working. Now, how to make it feel a bit more like tennis? Wasn’t going for realism, just a vibe.
- Visuals: Changed the plain background to green, like a grass court. Drew a simple line down the middle to represent the net. It doesn’t do anything, just looks the part.
- Paddles & Ball: Tried making the paddles look slightly more like rackets. Not detailed, just changed the shape a bit. Made the ball yellow. Simple changes, but it helped the theme.
- Scoring: Added scoring. If the ball went past your paddle, the other player gets a point. Displayed the scores up top. When someone scored, I made the ball reset in the center.
Tweaks and Testing
Played it myself for a bit, controlling both paddles (which is harder than it sounds!). Noticed the ball speed felt a bit slow, so I increased it. Then it felt too fast, so I dialed it back a bit. Found a speed that felt okay. Also adjusted the paddle size slightly – made them a tiny bit longer.
Thought about adding sound, like a ‘plink’ when the ball hits the paddle. Found a simple sound effect online and hooked it up. That actually made a nice difference, felt more interactive.
End Result
So, after fiddling around for maybe an afternoon and a bit of the evening, I had this thing. It’s basically Pong, but with a green background, yellow ball, and racket-ish paddles. It’s simple, definitely not a full game, but it works as I imagined. It was a good way to practice putting different simple elements together – movement, collision, scoring, basic visuals. Got it running, played a few rounds, felt satisfied I actually finished what I started. That’s the main thing sometimes, just getting it done.
