TikZ-PGF – The TikZ Game Package: A TeX.SX Project

funscreenplaytikz-pgf

I was wondering if it is possible to write a very simple game in TikZ; e.g. (very simple) Super Mario Bros. Here is Mario:

\documentclass[border=5pt,tikz]{standalone}
\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}
        \draw[step=.5cm] (0,0) grid (8,8);
        \foreach \x in {2.5,3,...,4.5}
        {
            \fill[red] (\x,7.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {2,2.5,...,6}
        {
            \fill[red] (\x,7) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {2,2.5,3}
        {
            \fill[brown!70!black] (\x,6.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {3.5,4}
        {
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (\x,6.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \fill[black] (4.5,6.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (5,6.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[brown!70!black] (1.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (2,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[brown!70!black] (2.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (3,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (3.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (4,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[black] (4.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (5.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-.5)}]
            \fill[brown!70!black] (1.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (2,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[brown!70!black] (2.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[brown!70!black] (3,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (3.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (4,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (4.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[black] (5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (5.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6.5,6) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \end{scope}
        \fill[brown!70!black] (2,5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \foreach \x in {2.5,3,...,4}
        {
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (\x,5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {4.5,5,...,6}
        {
            \fill[black] (\x,5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {2.5,3,...,5}
        {
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (\x,4.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {2,2.5,...,5.5}
        {
            \fill[red] (\x,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \fill[blue] (3,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \fill[blue] (4.5,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-.5)}]
            \foreach \x in {1.5,2,...,6}
            {
                \fill[red] (\x,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
            \fill[blue] (3,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (4.5,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \end{scope}
        \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-1)}]
            \foreach \x in {1,1.5,2,...,6.5}
            {
                \fill[red] (\x,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
            \fill[blue] (3,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (3.5,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (4,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (4.5,4) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \end{scope}
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (1,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (1.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[red] (2,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (2.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (3,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (3.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (4,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (4.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[blue] (5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[red] (5.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \foreach \x in {1,1.5,2}
        {
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (\x,2) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \foreach \x in {2.5,3,...,5}
        {
            \fill[blue] (\x,2) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (5.5,2) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6,2) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6.5,2) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-1)}]
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (1,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            \fill[yellow!50!orange] (1.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (2,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (2.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                    \fill[blue] (3,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (3.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (4,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                    \fill[blue] (4.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                \fill[blue] (5.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                    \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                    \fill[yellow!50!orange] (6.5,2.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        \end{scope}
            \foreach \x in {2,2.5,3}
            {
                \fill[blue] (\x,1) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
        \begin{scope}[shift={(2.5,0)}]
            \foreach \x in {2,2.5,3}
            {
                \fill[blue] (\x,1) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
        \end{scope}
        \foreach \x in {1.5,2,2.5}
        {
            \fill[brown!70!black] (\x,.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
        }
        \begin{scope}[shift={(3.5,0)}]
            \foreach \x in {1.5,2,2.5}
            {
                \fill[brown!70!black] (\x,.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
        \end{scope}
        \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-.5)}]
            \foreach \x in {1,1.5,2,2.5}
            {
                \fill[brown!70!black] (\x,.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
            }
            \begin{scope}[shift={(4,0)}]
                \foreach \x in {1,1.5,2,2.5}
                {
                    \fill[brown!70!black] (\x,.5) rectangle +(.5,.5);
                }
            \end{scope}
        \end{scope}
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Here is the output:

And here is the original:

Because you can create simple animations and controls in TikZ (see the Rubiks thread), it is maybe possible to generate a world (e.g. from Mario) , which is refreshed by some buttons.

For the beginn the pong game would be absolutely enough I think, because it is really hard to implement such things especially in TikZ.

As the title says, it would sound great if something like that would exist, so my question is: Does anybody have an idea how to do that? This is not a do-it-for-me – question, rather collecting ideas.

Best Answer

Sliding Puzzle

(Acrobat Reader required; pdflatex or lualatex)

This is a non-trivial game with user interaction, based on PDF Layers (OCGs, package ocgx2).

The picture is split into 15 tiles, stacked upon each other for every cell of the puzzle board, each on an individual PDF Layer. The total number of PDF Layers is thus 4 x 4 x 15 = 240. Their visibility is controlled by JavaScript, triggered by clicking on an array of transparent buttons overlaid on top of the puzzle board.

\documentclass[tikz,margin=1mm]{standalone}

\usepackage{xsavebox}
\usepackage[tikz]{ocgx2}
\usepackage{media9} % \mediabutton

\usepackage{tikzmarmots}
\usepackage{xcolor}\pagecolor{gray}
\usepackage{multido}
\usepackage{ifluatex}
\ifluatex\def\pdfpageattr{\pdfvariable pageattr}\fi

\begin{xlrbox}{Marmot}
  \begin{tikzpicture}[xscale=-1,transform shape]
    \useasboundingbox (0,0) rectangle (4.4,4.4);
    \node at (current bounding box.center) {\tikz\marmot[scale=2.1];};
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{xlrbox}

%generating tiles Marmot.1, ..., Marmot.15
\multido{\nX=0.0+1.1,\iI=0+1}{4}{
  \multido{\nY=3.3+-1.1,\iJ=0+1}{4}{
    \ifnum\numexpr\iI+\iJ\relax>0
      \begin{xlrbox}{Marmot.\the\numexpr\iI+\iJ*4\relax}
        \begin{tikzpicture}
          \useasboundingbox (\nX,\nY) rectangle ++(1.1,1.1);
          \clip (\nX,\nY) rectangle ++(1.1,1.1);
          \node[inner sep=0pt, outer sep=0pt, anchor=south west,fill=white] at (0,0) {\theMarmot};
        \end{tikzpicture}
      \end{xlrbox}
    \fi
  }
}

\newcommand\MyStatus[2]{\ifnum#1=#2 visible\else invisible\fi}

%initialisations (JavaScript) on page-open (/O <<...>>)
\begingroup
\edef\x{\endgroup
  \pdfpageattr{
    \the\pdfpageattr
    /AA << /O << /S/JavaScript /JS (%
      var tile=new Array(4);
      var oldTile=new Array(4);
      for(var i=0;i<4;i++){
        tile[i]=new Array(4);
        oldTile[i]=new Array(4);
        for(var j=0;j<4;j++){
          tile[i][j]=new Array(15);
          oldTile[i][j]=i+j*4-1;
        }
      }
      ocg=this.getOCGs(this.pageNum);
      for(var i in ocg){
        ocgName=ocg[i].name.split('.');
        tile[ocgName[0]][ocgName[1]][ocgName[2]-1]=ocg[i];
      }%
      var swap_i=0; var swap_j=0;
      var onButtonClick=function(i,j){
        if(swap_i==i && swap_j!=j){
          for(var jj=swap_j; jj!=j; swap_j<j ? jj++ : jj--){
            if(jj!=swap_j) tile[i][jj][oldTile[i][jj]].state=false;
            newTile=oldTile[i][swap_j<j ? jj+1 : jj-1];
            oldTile[i][jj]=newTile;
            tile[i][jj][newTile].state=true;
          }
        } else if(swap_j==j && swap_i!=i){
          for(var ii=swap_i; ii!=i; swap_i<i ? ii++ : ii--){
            if(ii!=swap_i) tile[ii][j][oldTile[ii][j]].state=false;
            newTile=oldTile[swap_i<i ? ii+1 : ii-1][j];
            oldTile[ii][j]=newTile;
            tile[ii][j][newTile].state=true;
          }
        }
        if(swap_i==i || swap_j==j){
          if(oldTile[i][j]>-1)
            tile[i][j][oldTile[i][j]].state=false;
          oldTile[i][j]=-1;
          swap_i=i; swap_j=j;
        }
      };
    ) >> >>
  }
}
\x

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
  \multido{\nX=0.0+1.1,\iI=0+1}{4}{%
    \multido{\nY=3.3+-1.1,\iJ=0+1}{4}{%
      %tiles
      \multido{\iK=1+1}{15}{%
        \begin{scope}[ocg={ref=\iI.\iJ.\iK,status=\MyStatus{\the\numexpr\iI+\iJ*4\relax}{\iK}}]%
          \node[inner sep=0pt, outer sep=0pt, anchor=south west] at (\nX,\nY) {\xusebox{Marmot.\iK}};
        \end{scope}
      }
      %button array
      \draw[
        line width=0,
        postaction={
          path picture={
            \path (path picture bounding box.south west) coordinate (p1)
              (path picture bounding box.north east) coordinate (p2)
              (p1) node[inner sep=0pt,anchor=south west,outer sep=0pt] {%
                \mediabutton[jsaction={try{onButtonClick(\iI,\iJ);}catch(e){}}]{%
                  \tikz \useasboundingbox (p1) rectangle (p2);%
                }%
              };
          }
        }
      ] (\nX,\nY) rectangle ++(1.1,1.1);
    }
  }
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Original Answer

For this kind of games based on a pixel array using a given set of pre-defined colours, the TikZ-part is straightforward to be implemented; making use of package ocgx2, we simply put each pixel colour on an individual PDF Layer.

The whole logic of the game can then be implemented in JavaScript. It programmatically controls the visibility of each pixel colour.

As a trivial example, we implement a "game" whose sole purpose is to shuffle the pixel colours by pressing a button and to enjoy the result (Acrobat Reader or Foxit required for viewing):

\documentclass[tikz,margin=1mm]{standalone}
\usepackage[tikz]{ocgx2}
\usepackage{media9} % \mediabutton

\newcommand{\mycolour}[1]{\ifcase#1
white%0
\or
black%1
\or
red%2
\or
orange%3
\or
blue%4
\or
brown%5
\or
yellow%6
\fi}

\begin{document}

%set up canvas (16x16 pixels^2) x (7 colours)
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \foreach \X in {0,1,...,15} {
    \foreach \Y in {0,1,...,15} {
      \foreach \Z in {0,1,...,6} {
        \begin{scope}[ocg={ref=\X.\Y.\Z,status=invisible}]
          \node[minimum size=0.5cm,draw,fill=\mycolour{\Z}] at (\X/2,-\Y/2){};
        \end{scope}
      }
    }
  }
  \node at (3.75,-8) {%
    \mediabutton[
      jsaction={
        %initialisation
        if(typeof pixelcolour==='undefined'){
          var pixelcolour=new Array(16);
          var oldcolour=new Array(16);
          for(var i=0;i<16;i++){
            pixelcolour[i]=new Array(16);
            oldcolour[i]=new Array(16);
            for(var j=0;j<16;j++){
              pixelcolour[i][j]=new Array(7);
              oldcolour[i][j]=0;
            }
          }
          ocg=this.getOCGs(this.pageNum);
          for(i in ocg){
            ocgName=ocg[i].name.split('.');
            pixelcolour[ocgName[0]][ocgName[1]][ocgName[2]]=ocg[i];
          }  
        }
        %randomise colours
        for(i=0;i<16;i++){
          for(j=0;j<16;j++){
            newcolour=Math.floor(Math.random()*7);
            pixelcolour[i][j][oldcolour[i][j]].state=false;
            pixelcolour[i][j][newcolour].state=true;
            oldcolour[i][j]=newcolour;
          }
        }
      }
    ]{\fbox{Random}}
  };
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] TikZ: Cropping the Bounding Box

The code adds some completely useless invisible (or rather white) stuff. The lines

\clip(0pt,403pt) -- (389.957pt,403pt) -- (389.957pt,99.6166pt) -- (0pt,99.6166pt) -- (0pt,403pt);
\color[rgb]{1,1,1}
\fill(3.76406pt,399.236pt) -- (380.923pt,399.236pt) -- (380.923pt,253.19pt) -- (3.76406pt,253.19pt) -- (3.76406pt,399.236pt);
\fill(53.4497pt,394.719pt) -- (374.901pt,394.719pt) -- (374.901pt,289.325pt) -- (53.4497pt,289.325pt) -- (53.4497pt,394.719pt);

draw a white background that is larger than the actual picture. TikZ sees that and thinks it is part of the picture. Simply removing/uncommenting these lines removes most of the whitespace.

Near the end of the first scope,

\color[rgb]{1,1,1}
\fill(3.76406pt,249.426pt) -- (386.193pt,249.426pt) -- (386.193pt,103.381pt) -- (3.76406pt,103.381pt) -- (3.76406pt,249.426pt);

does the same. Additionally (near the end of the second scope),

\pgftext[center, base, at={\pgfpoint{220.95pt}{106.392pt}}]{\sffamily\fontsize{9}{0}\selectfont{\textbf{ }}}

adds a blank node below the picture, again enlarging the bounding box.

Removing all those lines gives a tight bounding box.

As far as I know, TikZ cannot do the cropping for you, as it can't know whether the white stuff is intentional or not (there might for example be a dark background behind the image so that white is visible).

[Tex/LaTex] Rotate a node but not its content: the case of the ellipse decoration

The source of the difficulty is that ellipses are constructed in a particular way in TikZ. They are paths that start from the x-axis and proceed counter-clockwise around their centre. The vast majority of the time, the exact parametrisation doesn't matter. You appear to have found the one situation where it does!

In the actual question, you only want to be able to mirror the ellipse, and so draw it starting from the negative x-axis (the title of the question suggests a more flexible approach). That's actually not too hard since we can exploit the symmetry of the ellipse. The key is to provide it with a negative x-radius, since then it will start from the negative x-axis (and proceed clockwise, but we could correct for that by negating the y-radius as well). To do this, we interrupt the call from the node shape to the drawing command and flip the sign of the x-radius. The simplest way to do this is to redefine the \pgfpathellipse macro to do the negation and then call the original macro. The following code does this.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations,shapes,decorations.markings}
\makeatletter
\let\origpgfpathellipse=\pgfpathellipse
\def\revpgfpathellipse#1#2#3{%
  #2%
  \pgf@xa=-\pgf@x
  \origpgfpathellipse{#1}{\pgfqpoint{\pgf@xa}{0pt}}{#3}}
\makeatother

\tikzset{
  reversed ellipse/.style={
    ellipse,
    reverse the ellipse%
  },
  reverse the ellipse/.code={
    \let\pgfpathellipse=\revpgfpathellipse
  }
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node[ellipse,
  draw,
  postaction={
    decorate,
    decoration={
      markings,
      mark=at position 1 with {
        \arrow[line width=5pt,blue]{>}
      }
    }
  }
] at (0,0) {hello world};

\node[reversed ellipse,
  draw,
  postaction={
    decorate,
    decoration={
      markings,
      mark=at position 1 with {
        \arrow[line width=5pt,blue]{>}
      }
    }
  }
] at (0,-2) {hello world};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Here's the result:

rotated ellipse

(the arrow got clipped, but you can see where it lies)