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Pyxel is a retro game engine for Python.
Thanks to its simple specifications inspired by retro gaming consoles, such as only 16 colors can be displayed and only 4 sounds can be played back at the same time, you can feel free to enjoy making pixel art style games.
![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kitao/pyxel/master/pyxel/examples/screenshots/01_hello_pyxel.gif)
![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kitao/pyxel/master/pyxel/examples/screenshots/02_jump_game.gif)
![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kitao/pyxel/master/pyxel/examples/screenshots/03_draw_api.gif)
![](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kitao/pyxel/master/pyxel/examples/screenshots/04_sound_api.gif)
The specifications of the gaming console, APIs, and palettes of Pyxel are referring to awesome PICO-8 and TIC-80.
Pyxel is open source and free to use. Let's start making a retro game with Pyxel!
Specifications
- Run on Windows, Mac, and Linux
- Code writing with Python3
- Fixed 16 color palette
- 256x256 sized 3 image banks
- 4 channels with 64 definable sound banks
- Keyboard, mouse, and joystick(WIP) inputs
- Image and sound editor (WIP)
Color Palette
How to Install
Windows
After installing Python3, the following pip
command installs Pyxel:
pip install pyxel
Mac
After installing Python3 and glfw (version 3.2.1 or higher), install Pyxel with pip
command.
If Homebrew package manager is ready, the following command installs all the necessary packages:
brew install python3 glfw
pip3 install pyxel
Linux
Install the required packages in a way appropriate for each distribution. glfw must be version 3.2.1 or higher.
Arch:
Install python-pixel
by using your favorite AUR helper:
yay -S python-pyxel
Debian:
apt-get install python3 python3-pip libglfw3 libportaudio2 libasound-dev
pip3 install pyxel
Fedora:
dnf install glfw portaudio
pip3 install pyxel
Install examples
After installing Pyxel, the examples of Pyxel will be copied to the current directory with the following command:
install_pyxel_examples
How to Use
Create Pyxel Application
After importing the Pyxel module in your python code, specify the window size with init
function first, then starts the Pyxel application with run
function.
import pyxel
pyxel.init(160, 120)
def update():
if pyxel.btnp(pyxel.KEY_Q):
pyxel.quit()
def draw():
pyxel.cls(0)
pyxel.rect(10, 10, 20, 20, 11)
pyxel.run(update, draw)
The arguments of run
function are update
function to update each frame and draw
function to draw screen when necessary.
In an actual application, it is recommended to wrap pyxel code in a class as below:
import pyxel
class App:
def __init__(self):
pyxel.init(160, 120)
self.x = 0
pyxel.run(self.update, self.draw)
def update(self):
self.x = (self.x + 1) % pyxel.width
def draw(self):
pyxel.cls(0)
pyxel.rect(self.x, 0, self.x + 7, 7, 9)
App()
Special Controls
The following special controls can be performed while a Pyxel application is running:
Alt(Option)+1
Save the screenshot to the desktopAlt(Option)+2
Reset the recording start time of the screen capture videoAlt(Option)+3
Save the screen capture video (gif) to the desktop (up to 30 seconds)Alt(Option)+0
Toggle the performance monitor (fps, update time, and draw time)Alt(Option)+Enter
Toggle full screen
Create Images
There are the following methods to create images for Pyxel:
- Create an image from a list of strings with
Image.set
function - Load a png file in Pyxel palette with
Image.load
function - Create images with Pyxel Editor (WIP)
Please refer to the API reference for usage of Image.set
and Image.load
.
Because Pyxel uses the same palette as PICO-8, when creating png images for Pyxel, it is recommended to use Aseprite in PICO-8 palette mode.
API Reference
System
-
width
,height
The width and height of the screen -
frame_count
The number of the elapsed frames -
init(width, height, [caption], [scale], [palette], [fps], [border_width], [border_color])
Initialize the Pyxel application with screen size (width
,height
). The maximum width and height of the screen is 255
It is also possible to specify the window title withcaption
, the display magnification withscale
, the palette color withpalette
, the frame rate withfps
, and the margin width and color outside the screen withborder_width
andborder_color
.palette
is specified as a list of 16 elements of 24 bit color,border_color
as 24 bit color -
run(update, draw)
Start the Pyxel application and callupdate
function for frame update anddraw
function for drawing -
quit()
End the Pyxel application at the end of the current frame
Input
-
mouse_x
,mouse_y
The current position of the mouse cursor -
btn(key)
ReturnTrue
ifkey
is pressed, otherwise returnFalse
(key definition list) -
btnp(key, [hold], [period])
ReturnTrue
ifkey
is pressed at that frame, otherwise returnFalse
. Whenhold
andperiod
are specified,True
will be returned at theperiod
frame interval when thekey
is held down for more thanhold
frames -
btnr(key)
ReturnTrue
ifkey
is released at that frame, otherwise returnFalse
Graphics
-
image(img, [system])
Operate the image bankimg
(0-2) (see the Image class). Ifsystem
isTrue
, the image bank 3 for system can be accessed
e.g.pyxel.image(0).load(0, 0, 'title.png')
-
clip(x1, y1, x2, y2)
Set the drawing area of the screen to (x1
,y1
)-(x2
,y2
). Reset the drawing area withclip()
-
pal(col1, col2)
Replace colorcol1
withcol2
at drawing.pal()
to reset to the initial palette -
cls(col)
Clear screen with colorcol
-
pix(x, y, col)
Draw a pixel of colorcol
at (x
,y
) -
line(x1, y1, x2, y2, col)
Draw a line of colorcol
from (x1
,y1
) to (x2
,y2
) -
rect(x1, y1, x2, y2, col)
Draw a rectangle of colorcol
from (x1
,y1
) to (x2
,y2
) -
rectb(x1, y1, x2, y2, col)
Draw the outline of a rectangle of colorcol
from (x1
,y1
) to (x2
,y2
) -
circ(x, y, r, col)
Draw a circle of radiusr
and colorcol
at (x
,y
) -
circb(x, y, r, col)
Draw the outline of a circle of radiusr
and colorcol
at (x
,y
) -
blt(x, y, img, sx, sy, w, h, [colkey])
Copy the region of size (w
,h
) from (sx
,sy
) of the image bankimg
(0-2) to (x
,y
). If negative value is set forw
and/orh
, it will reverse horizontally and/or vertically. Ifcolkey
is specified, treated as transparent color -
text(x, y, s, col)
Draw a strings
of colorcol
at (x
,y
)
Audio
-
sound(snd)
Operate the sound banksnd
(0-63) (see the Sound class) e.g.pyxel.sound(0).speed = 60
-
play(ch, snd, loop=False)
Play the sound banksnd
(0-63) on channelch
(0-3). Play in order whensnd
is a list -
stop(ch)
Stop playback of channelch
(0-3)
Image Class
-
width
,height
The width and height of the Image -
data
The data of the Image (NumPy array) -
set(x, y, data)
Set the image as a list of strings at (x
,y
)
e.g.pyxel.image(0).set(10, 10, ['1234', '5678', '9abc', 'defg'])
-
load(x, y, filename, [dirname])
Read the png image from the directory of the execution script ordirname
at (x
,y
) -
copy(x, y, img, sx, sy, width, height)
Copy the region of size (width
,height
) from (sx
,sy
) of the image bankimg
(0-2) to (x
,y
)
Sound Class
-
note
List of note(0-127) (33 = 'A2' = 440Hz) -
tone
List of tone(0:Triangle / 1:Square / 2:Pulse / 3:Noise) -
volume
List of volume(0-7) -
effect
List of effects(0:None / 1:Slide / 2:Vibrato / 3:FadeOut) -
speed
The length of one note(120 = 1 second per tone) -
set(note, tone, volume, effect, speed)
Set a note, tone, volume, and effect with a string. If the tone, volume, and effect length are shorter than the note, it is repeated from the beginning -
set_note(note)
Set the note with a string consists of 'CDEFGAB'+'#-'+'0123' or 'R'. Case-insensitive and whitespace is ignored
e.g.pyxel.sound(0).set_note('G2B-2D3R RF3F3F3')
-
set_tone(tone)
Set the tone with a string consists of 'TSPN'. Case-insensitive and whitespace is ignored
e.g.pyxel.sound(0).set_tone('TTSS PPPN')
-
set_volume(volume)
Set the volume with a string consists of '01234567'. Case-insensitive and whitespace is ignored
e.g.pyxel.sound(0).set_volume('7777 7531')
-
set_effect(effect)
Set the effect with a string consists of 'NSVF'. Case-insensitive and whitespace is ignored
e.g.pyxel.sound(0).set_effect('NFNF NVVS')
Other Information
License
Pyxel is under MIT license. It can be reused within proprietary software provided that all copies of the licensed software include a copy of the MIT License terms and the copyright notice.