Python PyGame: Easy Steps to Display Text on the Game Window. Pygame is a versatile and cross-platform set of Python modules that are specifically designed to aid in the development of video games.

It offers robust libraries for handling computer graphics, sound, and even input devices, all while integrating seamlessly with Python’s functionality. Pygame allows developers to create a wide range of games, from simple arcade-style applications to more complex interactive environments.

What makes Pygame stand out is the ease with which it lets developers utilize Python’s intuitive syntax and powerful features for game development.

The creative possibilities with Pygame are limitless, depending on the imagination, needs, or goals of the developer. Whether it’s a 2D side-scroller, a puzzle game, or even a simple interactive app, Pygame serves as an excellent toolkit for bringing game concepts to life.

Installing Pygame on Windows

Before we dive into creating games or displaying text in a Pygame window, you must first install Pygame. The installation process is straightforward and can be accomplished using the pip package manager.

Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

pip install pygame

Once Pygame is successfully installed, you’re ready to begin developing games or interactive applications using the Pygame library.

Steps to Display Text on a Pygame Window

Displaying text in a Pygame window is an essential skill, whether you are showing game scores, instructions, or any form of information for the user. Let’s break down the process step-by-step. Below are the seven key steps involved in displaying text on a Pygame window:

1. Create a Display Surface Object: First, you need to create a display surface object where the game or app will be rendered. This is done using the pygame.display.set_mode() method, which defines the dimensions of the game window.

window_surface = pygame.display.set_mode((width, height))

This window_surface object is where you will display your content, such as text or images.

Create a Font Object: Next, you’ll need to create a Font object to define the font type, size, and style of the text you intend to display. You can either use a system font or specify a custom font using pygame.font.Font().

font = pygame.font.Font('freesansbold.ttf', font_size)

The 'freesansbold.ttf' is an example of a built-in font that comes with Pygame, but you can load any TrueType Font (TTF) file if you wish to use a different font style.

Create a Text Surface Object: A text surface object is essentially a surface where the text will be drawn. This is done using the render() method of the font object. You need to pass the text string, an anti-aliasing flag (set True for smooth edges), and a color for the text.

text_surface = font.render('Your Text Here', True, (255, 255, 255))

Here, True enables anti-aliasing, and (255, 255, 255) represents white color for the text in RGB format.

Create a Rectangular Object for the Text Surface: Once the text surface is ready, you need to position it within the game window. To do this, you’ll create a rectangular object around the text surface using get_rect(). This rectangle helps you define where the text should be placed.

text_rect = text_surface.get_rect()

The text_rect is the boundary of the text, and you can manipulate its position within the display window.

Set the Position of the Rectangular Object: Now that the rectangular object is created, you can set its position by modifying its properties. For example, you can center the text by setting the center property.

text_rect.center = (width // 2, height // 2)

This will place the text at the center of the window. You can also set specific coordinates to position the text elsewhere in the window.

Blit the Text Surface onto the Display Surface: The next step is to copy the text surface onto the main display surface object using the blit() method. This method essentially draws the text on the screen at the specified position.

window_surface.blit(text_surface, text_rect)

Update the Display: Finally, after placing the text on the display surface, you must update the screen to reflect these changes. Pygame uses the pygame.display.update() method to refresh the window and display the new content, such as the text.

pygame.display.update()

This will show the text on the Pygame window, making it visible to the player or user.

Complete Code Example

Now, let’s look at the complete implementation of displaying text on a Pygame window:

# Import pygame module
import pygame

# Initialize pygame
pygame.init()

# Set up display surface object
window_surface = pygame.display.set_mode((500, 400))

# Set up font object
font = pygame.font.Font('freesansbold.ttf', 32)

# Create text surface object
text_surface = font.render('Hello, Pygame!', True, (255, 255, 255))

# Create rectangular object for text surface
text_rect = text_surface.get_rect()

# Set the position of the rectangular object
text_rect.center = (250, 200)  # Center of the window

# Main loop
running = True
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            running = False

    # Fill the background with a color
    window_surface.fill((0, 0, 0))  # Black background

    # Blit the text surface onto the display surface
    window_surface.blit(text_surface, text_rect)

    # Update the display
    pygame.display.update()

# Quit pygame
pygame.quit()

Explanation of the Code

1. Initialization: Pygame is initialized using pygame.init(), which sets up the internal modules of Pygame.
2. Window Setup: We create a 500×400 display window using pygame.display.set_mode().
3. Font and Text: A font object is created to define the font style and size. The render() method then generates a text surface with the string “Hello, Pygame!” in white color.
4. Positioning: We create a rectangular object (text_rect) to define the boundary of the text and set its position to the center of the window.
5. Main Loop: The main loop keeps the Pygame window active until the user closes it. Inside the loop, we continuously refresh the display surface, draw the text, and update the display.

Here, we’ll dive into an exciting way to display text using the Pygame library by implementing text scrolling across the screen. We will create a window where text scrolls in six distinct patterns: across the top, bottom, left, right, and diagonally from left-to-right and right-to-left. This will give us a dynamic and interactive text display effect, ideal for various creative applications like banners, digital signage, or fun interactive elements in games.

Breakdown of Text Scrolling Patterns:

1. Scrolling Text Across the Top of the Screen: This pattern scrolls text horizontally from the left edge to the right edge of the window, always keeping the text at the top of the screen.
2. Scrolling Text Across the Bottom of the Screen: Similar to the top scrolling, but the text moves from the left to the right across the bottom of the screen.
3. Scrolling Text Along the Left Side: In this case, the text will scroll vertically downwards along the left edge of the window.
4. Scrolling Text Along the Right Side: Here, the text will scroll downwards along the right edge of the window.
5. Scrolling Text Diagonally from Left to Right: This pattern creates a diagonal scrolling effect where the text starts from the top left corner and moves diagonally to the bottom right.
6. Scrolling Text Diagonally from Right to Left: The reverse of the above pattern, this effect scrolls the text diagonally from the top right to the bottom left of the window.

With these concepts in mind, let’s take a look at how we can implement this in Pygame.

Implementation of Scrolling Text in Pygame

We will use the pygame library, which allows us to create graphical interfaces and handle animations like scrolling text.

First, we initialize the Pygame window and define the font and colors. Then, we set up the logic to scroll text based on six different patterns. The speed of the scrolling and its direction are controlled by varying coordinates and the timing of the updates.

Here is the Python code that implements this scrolling behavior:

# import pygame module
import pygame

# initialize the pygame library
pygame.init()

# set up the display window
# (500x500 pixels)
win = pygame.display.set_mode((500, 500))

# set the title of the window
pygame.display.set_caption("Scrolling Text")

# set the font and size for the text
Font = pygame.font.SysFont('timesnewroman', 30)

# define color values in RGB format
white = (255, 255, 255)
yellow = (255, 255, 0)
green = (0, 255, 255)
orange = (255, 100, 0)

# flag to control the main loop
done = False

# render letters with different background and text colors
letter1 = Font.render("C", False, orange, yellow)
letter2 = Font.render("O", False, orange, green)
letter3 = Font.render("D", False, orange, yellow)
letter4 = Font.render("E", False, orange, green)
letter5 = Font.render("M", False, orange, yellow)
letter6 = Font.render("G", False, orange, green)
letter7 = Font.render("N", False, orange, yellow)

# initial values for controlling the scroll behavior
i = 0
c = 1

# the main loop
while not done:
    # reset the scrolling if it exceeds 820 pixels
    if i >= 820:
        i = 0
        c += 1
        pygame.time.wait(500)

    # fill the background with white color
    win.fill(white)

    # scrolling text in 6 different ways
    if c % 6 == 0:
        # Scroll text diagonally from right to left
        win.blit(letter1, (662 - i, -162 + i))
        win.blit(letter2, (639 - i, -139 + i))
        win.blit(letter3, (608 - i, -108 + i))
        win.blit(letter4, (579 - i, -79 + i))
        win.blit(letter5, (552 - i, -52 + i))
        win.blit(letter6, (529 - i, -29 + i))
        win.blit(letter7, (500 - i, 0 + i))
        i += 80
    elif c % 6 == 5:
        # Scroll text diagonally from left to right
        win.blit(letter1, (-162 + i, -162 + i))
        win.blit(letter2, (-135 + i, -135 + i))
        win.blit(letter3, (-110 + i, -110 + i))
        win.blit(letter4, (-79 + i, -79 + i))
        win.blit(letter5, (-52 + i, -52 + i))
        win.blit(letter6, (-27 + i, -27 + i))
        win.blit(letter7, (0 + i, 0 + i))
        i += 80
    elif c % 6 == 4:
        # Scroll text along the right side
        win.blit(letter1, (480, -180 + i))
        win.blit(letter2, (480, -150 + i))
        win.blit(letter3, (480, -120 + i))
        win.blit(letter4, (480, -90 + i))
        win.blit(letter5, (480, -60 + i))
        win.blit(letter6, (480, -30 + i))
        win.blit(letter7, (480, 0 + i))
        i += 80
    elif c % 6 == 3:
        # Scroll text along the left side
        win.blit(letter1, (0, -180 + i))
        win.blit(letter2, (0, -150 + i))
        win.blit(letter3, (0, -120 + i))
        win.blit(letter4, (0, -90 + i))
        win.blit(letter5, (0, -60 + i))
        win.blit(letter6, (0, -30 + i))
        win.blit(letter7, (0, 0 + i))
        i += 80
    elif c % 6 == 1:
        # Scroll text across the top
        win.blit(letter1, (-124 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter2, (-102 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter3, (-82 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter4, (-58 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter5, (-40 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter6, (-19 + i, 0))
        win.blit(letter7, (0 + i, 0))
        i += 80
    elif c % 6 == 2:
        # Scroll text across the bottom
        win.blit(letter1, (-124 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter2, (-102 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter3, (-82 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter4, (-58 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter5, (-40 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter6, (-19 + i, 470))
        win.blit(letter7, (0 + i, 470))
        i += 80

    # update the display
    pygame.display.update()

    # handle events like closing the window
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            done = True

    # small delay for smooth scrolling
    pygame.time.wait(500)

# exit the pygame window
pygame.quit()

Output:

In conclusion, displaying text on a game window using Python’s PyGame library is a simple yet powerful feature that can enhance the interactivity and user experience of your games or graphical applications. PyGame provides a flexible and easy-to-use framework that allows you to control where and how text appears on the screen. By following a few straightforward steps, such as initializing the PyGame environment, setting up fonts, rendering text, and updating the display, you can efficiently implement dynamic text-based elements in your project.

Key Takeaways:

1. Font and Text Rendering: PyGame makes it easy to select fonts, style them, and render text in various colors and sizes. Using the SysFont function, you can choose from system fonts, ensuring your game has the right aesthetic.
2. Customizing Text Placement: You have full control over the placement of text on the game window. Whether it’s centered or located at specific coordinates, PyGame’s blit() method allows you to render text exactly where you need it.
3. Dynamic Text Updates: As games often need to display changing information (such as scores or notifications), PyGame’s capability to continuously render updated text provides a real-time experience to players. By updating the display regularly within the game loop, you can create smooth transitions, scrolling text effects, or changing messages.
4. Text Interactivity: Text in PyGame is not just static—by combining it with other game elements or logic, you can make interactive buttons, menus, or even dynamic dialogue systems, further enriching your game’s features.

Overall, PyGame’s text rendering capabilities offer developers a robust toolset to communicate effectively with players, display critical game information, or simply enhance the visual appeal of their projects. Whether you are creating a simple game, building a user interface, or adding immersive text-based storytelling, mastering text display in PyGame is an essential step in game development with Python.