Pygame: Graphical Input + Text Input

Question

In Pygame, how can I get graphical input(e.g. clicking exit button) and also get input from the a terminal window simultaneously?

To give you context, my game has a GUI but gets its game commands from a "input()" command. How can I look for input from the command line while also handling graphics?

I'm not sure if this is possible, but if not, what other options do I have for getting text input from the user?

Thanks in advance.

What sort of input are we talking about? Just simple text entry? — Joel Cornett
– Joel Cornett, Commented Nov 19, 2012 at 10:00
If the stuff you're trying to collect is not too complex, you might want to just roll your own. Put keyboard events in a queue, and then collect them all when a trigger, such as the return key, is pressed. — Joel Cornett
– Joel Cornett, Commented Nov 19, 2012 at 10:03

Emiliano · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-19 15:15:03Z

1

You can't do that, unless you use the input command in a different thread, but then you have to deal with syncronization (which might be what you want or don't want to do).

The way I'd implement this is to create a kind of in-game console. When a special key (e.g. '\') is pressed you make the console appear, and when your application is in that state you interpreter key pressing not as in-game commands but... well, as text. You can print them in the console (using fonts). When a key (e.g "return") is pressed you can make the console disappear and the keys take back their primary functionality.

I did this for my pet-project and it works as a charm. Plus, since you are developing in python you can accept python instructions and use exec to execute them and edit your game "on fhe fly"

edited Nov 19, 2012 at 15:15

answered Nov 19, 2012 at 10:13

Emiliano

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6 Comments

Joshua Rowe Over a year ago

At this stage I'm not sure which way I want to go. Since it will be a multiplayer game with 2 clients accessing a server, I'm not sure if I'll need threading to handle that part while still running the game. I probably should have stated earlier that I'm relatively new to Python.

Emiliano Over a year ago

I strongly suggest to not use threads for the input. At the very least you'll need to create a new window just to manage the input, since you can't use the main thread for that (the main thread is busy rendering stuff).

Emiliano Over a year ago

if it suits your need you could implement the console as another "client": after all the network stuff will be already in place and you just need another connection to accept strings...

Joshua Rowe Over a year ago

I think I will try implementing the "in-game console". Now for figuring out how the hell I get 2 clients to access a server and update the server while getting the game state from it and keeping the 2 clients in sync.

Joshua Rowe Over a year ago

Oh, one quick thing. Is there anyway I could see how you implemented your in-game console? Like some of your code or something.

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