Side Scroller (Python + Pygame)

This is my first attempt at creating a side scroller using Pygame-ce. It’s also my first time working on a project of this scale, so expect quirks, experiments, and plenty of “could be betters.”

I went heavy on composition (no inheritance, yucky), and while I did some testing with rendering in ModernGL, I decided to stick with Pygame for now since rewriting everything would be painful.

Note: All assets are from itch.io

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🚀 Features / Systems

This project is more of a showcase of different systems:

• Entity system (drag-and-drop with mouse)
• Inventory system
• Debugging tools (memory debugger, hitbox view, etc.)
• Lighting system (toggleable via in-game terminal)
• Save/load system
• Basic combat + movement mechanics

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📸 Screenshots

In-game:

Lighting Example:

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🎮 Controls

Save: G

Movement: WASD

Dash: Shift

Inventory: I

Consume item: E

Drop item: Q

Attack: Spacebar

Pickup item / Talk to NPC: E

Back to menu: B

Open memory debugger: M

Close memory debugger: ESC

Open terminal (inside memory debugger): Tab

Debug / Extra:

• Toggle lighting: open terminal → environment.lighting = True, then press N

• Show hitboxes: open terminal → debugging = True

• Drag entities with mouse (don’t try to pick them up while dragging!)

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📦 Installation

You’ll need Python installed.

Dependencies: pygame-ce, numpy, psutil

Install them with: pip install pygame-ce numpy psutil

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🛠️ Current Quirks / Notes

• No dedicated render() function in main.py (everything’s inline)
• main.py is in the /scripts folder instead of project root (gulp)
• Some things are loaded into memory more than once
• Using self.game.screen_width / height for rendering bounds (can switch to self.game.screen.get_size())
• Entity hitboxes aren’t stored in their list → can’t reference them across classes
• Sliding after jumps is intentional (for now)

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📝 TODO

• Implement weapon system + weapon stats JSON
• Load level info from JSON (entities, spawn points, death barriers, etc.)
• Replace temporary values (e.g., friction, attack damage) with proper configs
• Rework all attacks to be projectile-based
• Rewrite player hitbox system
• Rewrite entities + entities.json format
• Add can_walk_off_edge and height check settings per-entity
• Use spatial grid partitioning for entities + player (not just tiles)
• Centralize asset loading and rendering
• Add a shop system