STetris - Tetris Game for Raspberry Pi Sense HAT

A colorful Tetris implementation designed for the Raspberry Pi 4 with Sense HAT expansion board, featuring both hardware LED matrix display and console versions.

Project Structure

Game Implementations

• stetris.c - Sense HAT version with LED matrix display and joystick input
• stetris_console.c - Console-only version for testing and development
• stetris_rpi_and_console.c - Hybrid version supporting both Sense HAT and keyboard input

Development Files

• stetris_skeleton.c - Original skeleton code provided for the assignment
• fb_test.c - Framebuffer testing utility for debugging LED matrix functionality

Build System

• Makefile - Build configuration for all targets

Example Code

• example_senseHat/ - Reference implementation copied from Raspberry Pi Sense HAT examples found online

Compilation

Build All Targets

make

Indicidual Targets

# Sense HAT version (requires hardware)
make stetris

# Console version (works on any Linux system)  
make stetris_console

# Hybrid version
make stetris_rpi_and_console

# Testing utility
make fb_test

# Clean build files
make clean

Usage

Console Version (Development/Testing)

./stetris_console
# Controls: Arrow keys to move, Enter to exit

Sense HAT Version (Raspberry Pi 4)

./stetris
# Controls: Sense HAT joystick + keyboard fallback
# Display: 8×8 RGB LED matrix + console output

Framebuffer Test Utility

./fb_test <x> <y> <color>
# Example: ./fb_test 3 4 red
# Sets pixel at position (3,4) to red color

Features

• Colorful Blocks: 6 distinct colors (red, green, blue, magenta, cyan, yellow)
• Progressive Difficulty: Game speed increases with level
• Row Clearing: Standard Tetris mechanics with animations
• Score System: Points and statistics tracking
• Dual Input: Joystick and keyboard support
• Signal Handling: Clean exit with terminal restoration
• 8×8 Playfield: Optimized for Sense HAT LED matrix

Hardware Requirements

Console Version

• Any Linux system with terminal support

Sense HAT Version

• Raspberry Pi 4 (or compatible)
• Sense HAT expansion board properly connected
• Linux with framebuffer and input device support

Game Controls

Action	Keyboard	Sense HAT Joystick
Move Left	← Arrow	Left
Move Right	→ Arrow	Right
Drop Down	↓ Arrow	Down
Exit Game	Enter	-
New Game	Any key (when game over)	Any direction
Force Exit	Ctrl+C	Ctrl+C

Color Scheme

The game uses a vibrant 6-color palette displayed as both RGB colors on the LED matrix and ASCII characters in console mode:

Color	RGB565	Console Character
Red	0xF800	@
Green	0x07E0	#
Blue	0x001F	*
Magenta	0xF81F	%
Cyan	0x07FF	&
Yellow	0xFFE0	$

Technical Implementation

Device Detection

• Automatic framebuffer device discovery (/dev/fb*)
• Dynamic input device enumeration (/dev/input/event*)
• Device identification by name matching

System Requirements

• Compiler: GCC with C99 support
• Libraries: Standard C library, Linux headers
• Permissions: Read/write access to /dev/fb* and /dev/input/*
• GNU Extensions: Requires _GNU_SOURCE for scandir() and versionsort()

Memory Management

• Direct framebuffer memory mapping via mmap()
• Automatic cleanup on program termination
• Signal-safe terminal restoration

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Permission denied" errors:

# Add user to input group
sudo usermod -a -G input $USER
# Restart session or use sudo

"Device not found" errors:

# Check if Sense HAT is properly connected
ls /dev/fb* /dev/input/event*
# Verify device names
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -A5 "Sense HAT"

Terminal becomes unresponsive:

# Reset terminal settings
reset
# Or use Ctrl+C to force exit with cleanup

Development Notes

• Game logic uses bit flags for state management (ACTIVE, ROW_CLEAR, TILE_ADDED)
• Non-blocking input via poll() for smooth 60+ FPS gameplay
• Terminal raw mode for direct key capture without buffering
• Cross-platform compatibility between development (console) and target (hardware) versions

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Note: The example_senseHat/ directory contains reference code adapted from Raspberry Pi Sense HAT examples available online.