PONG Game in Assembly

Overview

• This Project is a simple implementation of the classic Pong game.

• It is designe to help you learn and practice several key concepts in low-level programming and graphics.

• This code was inspired by Programming Dimensions's tutorials.

Key Learning Points

• Graphic Modes: Setting video modes for graphical output.

• Drawing Objects: Drawing pixels and shapes on the screen using assmebly language.

• Managing Time: Using system time for game loops and event timing.

• Collision detection: Implementing bounding boxes for collision detection between game objects.

• Displaying text: Outputting text on the screen.

• ASCII Conversion: Converting numerical values to ASCII characters for display.

• Detecting key presses: Implementing keyboard input handling for player controls.

Setting up you environment

1. Install DOSBox

2. Install an 8086 Assembler

3. Install Notepad++

How to Run the Game

1. Open DOSBox.

2. Mount the directory containing you project files

mount c path_to_your_project_directory

3. Change the mounted directory

C:

4. Assemble the source code using the assembler

masm Prog.asm 

5. Link the Object file to create an executable

link Prog

6. Run the executable

Prog

Game Controls

• Player 1

  • Move Up: 'z'
  • Move Down: 's'

• Player 2

  • Move Up: 'o'
  • Move Down: 'l'

Code Structure

• Data Segment: Defines all the variables and constants used in the game.

• Code Segment: Contains all the procedures for game logic, including initializing the game, drawing the screen, moving objects, detecting collisions and handling user input.

Technical details

AABB Collision Detection

• Axis-Aligned Bounding Box (AABB) collision detection is a fundamental concept in game development, particularly for simple 2D games like Pong.

• An AABB is a rectangular box aligned with the coordinate axes, and checking for collisions involves determining if a point (representing, for example, a corner of another object) lies within this box.

AABB Collision Detection Formula

• To determine if a point $(P)$ with coordinates $((P_x, P_y))$ is inside an AABB defined by its minimum coordinates $( (B_{\text{minX}}, B_{\text{minY}}) )$ and maximum coordinates $( (B_{\text{maxX}}, B_{\text{maxY}}) )$, use the following formula:

$$ f(P, B) = (P_x \geq B_{\text{minX}} \land P_x \leq B_{\text{maxX}}) \land (P_y \geq B_{\text{minY}} \land P_y \leq B_{\text{maxY}})) $$