Space Invaders game with Python part 4: SCORING! ! !
Tags: programming, python, gamedev
Published: 2022-08-17 07:43:00

see [part1](https://dev.to/munyite001/space-invaders-game-in-python-part-1-4kn3)
see [part2](https://dev.to/munyite001/space-invaders-game-with-python-part2-bullets-5dl0)
see [part3](https://dev.to/munyite001/space-invaders-game-with-python-part3-aliens-4e2e)

In this part, we’ll finish the Alien
Invasion game. We’ll add a Play button
to start a game on demand or to restart a
game once it ends. We’ll also change the game
so it speeds up when the player moves up a level,
and implement a scoring system.

####    Adding the Play Button
In this section, we’ll add a Play button that appears before a game begins
and reappears when the game ends so the player can play again.
Right now the game begins as soon as you run alien_invasion.py. Let’s
start the game in an inactive state and then prompt the player to click a Play
button to begin. To do this, modify the __init__() method of GameStats:
```python
#game_stats.py

def __init__(self, ai_game):
    """Initialize statistics."""
    
    self.settings = ai_game.settings
    self.reset_stats()
    
    # Start game in an inactive state.
    self.game_active = False
```
Now the game should start in an inactive state with no way for the
player to start it until we make a Play button.

####    Creating a Button Class
Because Pygame doesn’t have a built-in method for making buttons, we’ll
write a Button class to create a filled rectangle with a label. Here’s the first part of the Button class;
save it as button.py:

```python
#   button.py
import pygame.font

class Button:

    def __init__(self, ai_game, msg):
        """Initialize button attributes."""

        self.screen = ai_game.screen
        self.screen_rect = self.screen.get_rect()

        # Set the dimensions and properties of the button.
        self.width, self.height = 200, 50
        self.button_color = (0, 255, 0)
        self.text_color = (255, 255, 255)
        self.font = pygame.font.SysFont(None, 48)
        
        # Build the button's rect object and center it.
        self.rect = pygame.Rect(0, 0, self.width, self.height)
        self.rect.center = self.screen_rect.center
        
        # The button message needs to be prepped only once.
        self._prep_msg(msg)
```

First, we import the pygame.font module, which lets Pygame render text
to the screen. The __init__() method takes the parameters self, the ai_game
object, and msg, which contains the button’s text. We set the button dimensions, and then set button_color to color the button’s rect object bright
green and set text_color to render the text in white.
Then we prepare a font attribute for rendering text. The None argument
tells Pygame to use the default font, and 48 specifies the size of the text. To
center the button on the screen, we create a rect for the button and set its
center attribute to match that of the screen.
Pygame works with text by rendering the string you want to display as
an image. We then call _prep_msg() to handle this rendering.
Here’s the code for _prep_msg():

```python
#button.py

def _prep_msg(self, msg):
    """Turn msg into a rendered image and center text on the button."""

    self.msg_image = self.font.render(msg, True, self.text_color,
    self.button_color)
    self.msg_image_rect = self.msg_image.get_rect()
    self.msg_image_rect.center = self.rect.center
```
The _prep_msg() method needs a self parameter and the text to be ren-
dered as an image (msg). The call to font.render() turns the text stored in
msg into an image, which we then store in self.msg_image. The font.render()
method also takes a Boolean value to turn antialiasing on or off (antialias-
ing makes the edges of the text smoother). The remaining arguments are
the specified font color and background color. We set antialiasing to True
and set the text background to the same color as the button. (If you don’t
include a background color, Pygame will try to render the font with a trans-
parent background.)
Then we center the text image on the button by creating a rect from
the image and setting its center attribute to match that of the button.
Finally, we create a draw_button() method that we can call to display the
button onscreen:

```python
#button.py
def draw_button(self):
    # Draw blank button and then draw message.
    self.screen.fill(self.button_color, self.rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.msg_image, self.msg_image_rect)
```
We call screen.fill() to draw the rectangular portion of the button.
Then we call screen.blit() to draw the text image to the screen, passing it
an image and the rect object associated with the image. This completes the
Button class.

####    Drawing the Button to the Screen
We’ll use the Button class to create a Play button in AlienInvasion. First, we’ll
update the import statements:
```python
#alien_invasion.py
--snip--
from game_stats import GameStats
from button import Button
```
Because we need only one Play button, we’ll create the button in the
__init__() method of AlienInvasion. We can place this code at the very end
of __init__():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def __init__(self):

    --snip--
    self._create_fleet()

    # Make the Play button.
    self.play_button = Button(self, "Play")
```

This code creates an instance of Button with the label Play, but it doesn’t
draw the button to the screen. We’ll call the button’s draw_button() method
in _update_screen():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _update_screen(self):

    --snip--
    self.aliens.draw(self.screen)

    # Draw the play button if the game is inactive.
    if not self.stats.game_active:
        self.play_button.draw_button()

    pygame.display.flip()
```
To make the Play button visible above all other elements on the screen,
we draw it after all the other elements have been drawn but before flipping
to a new screen. We include it in an if block, so the button only appears
when the game is inactive.
Now when you run Alien Invasion, you should see a Play button in the
center of the screen.

####    Starting the Game
To start a new game when the player clicks Play, add the following elif
block to the end of _check_events() to monitor mouse events over the button:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_events(self):
    """Respond to keypresses and mouse events."""

    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
            --snip--
        elif event.type == pygame.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN:
            mouse_pos = pygame.mouse.get_pos()
            self._check_play_button(mouse_pos)
```
Pygame detects a MOUSEBUTTONDOWN event when the player clicks anywhere
on the screen, but we want to restrict our game to respond to mouse clicks
only on the Play button. To accomplish this, we use pygame.mouse.get_pos(),
which returns a tuple containing the mouse cursor’s x- and y-coordinates
when the mouse button is clicked. We send these values to the new
method _check_play_button().
Here’s _check_play_button(), which I chose to place after _check_events():
```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    """Start a new game when the player clicks Play."""

    if self.play_button.rect.collidepoint(mouse_pos):
        self.stats.game_active = True
```
We use the rect method collidepoint() to check whether the point of the
mouse click overlaps the region defined by the Play button’s rect. If so, we
set game_active to True, and the game begins!
At this point, you should be able to start and play a full game. When
the game ends, the value of game_active should become False and the Play
­button should reappear.

####    Resetting the Game
The Play button code we just wrote works the first time the player clicks
Play. But it doesn’t work after the first game ends, because the conditions
that caused the game to end haven’t been reset.
To reset the game each time the player clicks Play, we need to reset the
game statistics, clear out the old aliens and bullets, build a new fleet, and
center the ship, as shown here:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    """Start a new game when the player clicks Play."""

    if self.play_button.rect.collidepoint(mouse_pos):
        # Reset the game statistics.
        self.stats.reset_stats()
        self.stats.game_active = True

        # Get rid of any remaining aliens and bullets.
        self.aliens.empty()
        self.bullets.empty()

        # Create a new fleet and center the ship.
        self._create_fleet()
        self.ship.center_ship()
```

We reset the game statistics, which gives the player three new
ships. Then we set game_active to True so the game will begin as soon as the
code in this function finishes running. We empty the aliens and bullets
groups, and then create a new fleet and center the ship.
Now the game will reset properly each time you click Play, allowing you
to play it as many times as you want!

####    Deactivating the Play Button
One issue with our Play button is that the button region on the screen will
continue to respond to clicks even when the Play button isn’t visible. If you
click the Play button area by accident after a game begins, the game will
restart!
To fix this, set the game to start only when game_active is False:
```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    """Start a new game when the player clicks Play."""

    button_clicked = self.play_button.rect.collidepoint(mouse_pos)
    
    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        # Reset the game statistics.
        self.stats.reset_stats()
        --snip--
```
The flag button_clicked stores a True or False value, and the game
will restart only if Play is clicked and the game is not currently active.
To test this behavior, start a new game and repeatedly click where the Play
button should be. If everything works as expected, clicking the Play button
area should have no effect on the gameplay.

####    Hiding the Mouse Cursor
We want the mouse cursor to be visible to begin play, but once play begins, it
just gets in the way. To fix this, we’ll make it invisible when the game becomes
active. We can do this at the end of the if block in _check_play_button():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    """Start a new game when the player clicks Play."""

    button_clicked = self.play_button.rect.collidepoint(mouse_pos)
    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        --snip--
        # Hide the mouse cursor.
        pygame.mouse.set_visible(False)
```
Passing False to set_visible() tells Pygame to hide the cursor when the
mouse is over the game window.
We’ll make the cursor reappear once the game ends so the player can
click Play again to begin a new game. Here’s the code to do that:

```python
#alien_invasion.py
def _ship_hit(self):
    """Respond to ship being hit by alien."""

    if self.stats.ships_left > 0:
        --snip--
    else:
        self.stats.game_active = False
        pygame.mouse.set_visible(True)
```
We make the cursor visible again as soon as the game becomes inactive,
which happens in _ship_hit(). Attention to details like this makes your game
more professional looking and allows the player to focus on playing rather
than figuring out the user interface.

####    Leveling up
In our current game, once a player shoots down the entire alien fleet, the
player reaches a new level, but the game difficulty doesn’t change. Let’s
liven things up a bit and make the game more challenging by increasing
the game’s speed each time a player clears the screen.

####    Modifying the Speed Settings
We’ll first reorganize the Settings class to group the game settings into
static and changing ones. We’ll also make sure that settings that change
during the game reset when we start a new game. Here’s the __init__()
method for settings.py:
```python
#settings.py

def __init__(self):
    """Initialize the game's static settings."""

    # Screen settings
    self.screen_width = 1200
    self.screen_height = 800
    self.bg_color = (230, 230, 230)

    # Ship settings
    self.ship_limit = 3

    # Bullet settings
    self.bullet_width = 3
    self.bullet_height = 15
    self.bullet_color = 60, 60, 60
    self.bullets_allowed = 3

    # Alien settings
    self.fleet_drop_speed = 10

    # How quickly the game speeds up
    self.speedup_scale = 1.1
    self.initialize_dynamic_settings()
```
We continue to initialize those settings that stay constant in the __init__()
method. Then we add a speedup_scale setting to control how quickly the game
speeds up: a value of 2 will double the game speed every time the player
reaches a new level; a value of 1 will keep the speed constant. A value like
1.1 should increase the speed enough to make the game challenging but not
impossible. Finally, we call the initialize_dynamic_settings() method to initial-
ize the values for attributes that need to change throughout the game.
Here’s the code for initialize_dynamic_settings():

```python
#settings.py

def initialize_dynamic_settings(self):
    """Initialize settings that change throughout the game."""

    self.ship_speed = 1.5
    self.bullet_speed = 3.0
    self.alien_speed = 1.0

    # fleet_direction of 1 represents right; -1 represents left.
    self.fleet_direction = 1
```
This method sets the initial values for the ship, bullet, and alien
speeds. We’ll increase these speeds as the player progresses in the game
and reset them each time the player starts a new game. We include fleet
_direction in this method so the aliens always move right at the beginning
of a new game. We don’t need to increase the value of fleet_drop_speed,
because when the aliens move faster across the screen, they’ll also come
down the screen faster.

To increase the speeds of the ship, bullets, and aliens each
time the player reaches a new level, we’ll write a new method called
increase_speed():

```python
#settings.py

def increase_speed(self):
    """Increase speed settings."""

    self.ship_speed *= self.speedup_scale
    self.bullet_speed *= self.speedup_scale
    self.alien_speed *= self.speedup_scale
```
To increase the speed of these game elements, we multiply each speed
setting by the value of speedup_scale.
We increase the game’s tempo by calling increase_speed() in _check
_bullet_alien_collisions() when the last alien in a fleet has been shot down:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_bullet_alien_collisions(self):

    --snip--

    if not self.aliens:
        # Destroy existing bullets and create new fleet.
        self.bullets.empty()
        self._create_fleet()
        self.settings.increase_speed()
```
Changing the values of the speed settings ship_speed, alien_speed, and
bullet_speed is enough to speed up the entire game!

####    Resetting the Speed
Now we need to return any changed settings to their initial values each
time the player starts a new game; otherwise, each new game would start
with the increased speed settings of the previous game:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    """Start a new game when the player clicks Play."""

    button_clicked = self.play_button.rect.collidepoint(mouse_pos)

    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        # Reset the game settings.
        self.settings.initialize_dynamic_settings()
        --snip--
```
Playing Alien Invasion should be more fun and challenging now. Each
time you clear the screen, the game should speed up and become slightly
more difficult. If the game becomes too difficult too quickly, decrease the
value of settings.speedup_scale. Or if the game isn’t challenging enough,
increase the value slightly. Find a sweet spot by ramping up the difficulty in
a reasonable amount of time. The first couple of screens should be easy, the
next few challenging but doable, and subsequent screens almost impossibly
difficult.

####    Scoring
Let’s implement a scoring system to track the game’s score in real time and
display the high score, level, and number of ships remaining.
The score is a game statistic, so we’ll add a score attribute to GameStats:

```python
#game_stats.py
class GameStats:
    
    --snip--
    def reset_stats(self):
        """Initialize statistics that can change during the game."""
        
        self.ships_left = self.ai_settings.ship_limit
        self.score = 0
```
To reset the score each time a new game starts, we initialize score in
reset_stats() rather than __init__().

####    Displaying the Score
To display the score on the screen, we first create a new class, Scoreboard. For
now, this class will just display the current score, but eventually we’ll use
it to report the high score, level, and number of ships remaining as well.
Here’s the first part of the class; save it as scoreboard.py:

```python
#scoreboard.py
import pygame.font
class Scoreboard:
    """A class to report scoring information."""

    def __init__(self, ai_game):
        """Initialize scorekeeping attributes."""

        self.screen = ai_game.screen
        self.screen_rect = self.screen.get_rect()
        self.settings = ai_game.settings
        self.stats = ai_game.stats

        # Font settings for scoring information.
        self.text_color = (30, 30, 30)
        self.font = pygame.font.SysFont(None, 48)

        # Prepare the initial score image.
        self.prep_score()
```
Because Scoreboard writes text to the screen, we begin by importing the
pygame.font module. Next, we give __init__() the ai_game parameter so it can
access the settings, screen, and stats objects, which it will need to report the
values we’re tracking. Then we set a text color and instantiate a font
object.
To turn the text to be displayed into an image, we call prep_score(),
which we define here:

```python
#scoreboard.py

def prep_score(self):
    """Turn the score into a rendered image."""

    score_str = str(self.stats.score)
    self.score_image = self.font.render(score_str, True,
    self.text_color, self.settings.bg_color)

    # Display the score at the top right of the screen.
    self.score_rect = self.score_image.get_rect()
    self.score_rect.right = self.screen_rect.right - 20
    self.score_rect.top = 20

```
In prep_score(), we turn the numerical value stats.score into a string,
and then pass this string to render(), which creates the image. To display
the score clearly onscreen, we pass the screen’s background color and the
text color to render().
We’ll position the score in the upper-right corner of the screen and
have it expand to the left as the score increases and the width of the num-
ber grows. To make sure the score always lines up with the right side of the
screen, we create a rect called score_rect and set its right edge 20 pixels
from the right edge of the screen. We then place the top edge 20 pixels
down from the top of the screen.
Then we create a show_score() method to display the rendered score
image:

```python
#scoreboard.py

def show_score(self):
    """Draw score to the screen."""

    self.screen.blit(self.score_image, self.score_rect)
```
This method draws the score image onscreen at the location score_rect
specifies.

####    Making a Scoreboard
To display the score, we’ll create a Scoreboard instance in AlienInvasion. First,
let’s update the import statements:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

--snip--
from game_stats import GameStats
from scoreboard import Scoreboard
--snip--
```
Next, we make an instance of Scoreboard in __init__():
```python
#alien_invasion.py

def __init__(self):
    --snip--
    pygame.display.set_caption("Alien Invasion")
    # Create an instance to store game statistics,
    #and create a scoreboard.

    self.stats = GameStats(self)
    self.sb = Scoreboard(self)
    --snip--
```
Then we draw the scoreboard onscreen in _update_screen():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _update_screen(self):
    --snip--
    self.aliens.draw(self.screen)

    # Draw the score information.
    self.sb.show_score()

    # Draw the play button if the game is inactive.
    --snip--
```

We call show_score() just before we draw the Play button.
When you run Alien Invasion now, a 0 should appear at the top right
of the screen. (At this point, we just want to make sure the score appears in
the right place before developing the scoring system further.)

Next, we’ll assign point values to each alien!

####    Updating the Score as Aliens Are Shot Down
To write a live score onscreen, we update the value of stats.score whenever
an alien is hit, and then call prep_score() to update the score image. But
first, let’s determine how many points a player gets each time they shoot
down an alien:

```python
#settings.py

def initialize_dynamic_settings(self):
    --snip--
    # Scoring
    self.alien_points = 50
```
We’ll increase each alien’s point value as the game progresses. To make
sure this point value is reset each time a new game starts, we set the value in
initialize_dynamic_settings().
Let’s update the score each time an alien is shot down in _check_bullet
_alien_collisions():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_bullet_alien_collisions(self):
    """Respond to bullet-alien collisions."""

    # Remove any bullets and aliens that have collided.
    collisions = pygame.sprite.groupcollide(
    self.bullets, self.aliens, True, True)

    if collisions:
        self.stats.score += self.settings.alien_points
        self.sb.prep_score()
    --snip--
```
When a bullet hits an alien, Pygame returns a collisions dictionary.
We check whether the dictionary exists, and if it does, the alien’s value is
added to the score. We then call prep_score() to create a new image for the
updated score.
Now when you play Alien Invasion, you should be able to rack up points!

####    Resetting the Score
Right now, we’re only prepping a new score after an alien has been hit,
which works for most of the game. But we still see the old score when a new
game starts until the first alien is hit in the new game.
We can fix this by prepping the score when starting a new game:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    --snip--

    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        --snip--
        # Reset the game statistics.
        self.stats.reset_stats()
        self.stats.game_active = True
        self.sb.prep_score()
        --snip--
```
We call prep_score() after resetting the game stats when starting a new
game. This preps the scoreboard with a 0 score.

####    Making Sure to Score All Hits
As currently written, our code could miss scoring for some aliens. For
­example, if two bullets collide with aliens during the same pass through
the loop or if we make an extra-wide bullet to hit multiple aliens, the
player will only receive points for hitting one of the aliens. To fix this,
let’s refine the way that bullet and alien collisions are detected.
In _check_bullet_alien_collisions(), any bullet that collides with an alien
becomes a key in the collisions dictionary. The value associated with each
bullet is a list of aliens it has collided with. We loop through the values in
the collisions dictionary to make sure we award points for each alien hit:


```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_bullet_alien_collisions(self):
    --snip--
    if collisions:
        for aliens in collisions.values():
            self.stats.score += self.settings.alien_points * len(aliens)

        self.sb.prep_score()
    --snip--
```

If the collisions dictionary has been defined, we loop through all values
in the dictionary. Remember that each value is a list of aliens hit by a single
bullet. We multiply the value of each alien by the number of aliens in each
list and add this amount to the current score. To test this, change the width
of a bullet to 300 pixels and verify that you receive points for each alien you
hit with your extra-wide bullets; then return the bullet width to its normal
value.

####    Increasing Point Values
Because the game gets more difficult each time a player reaches a new level,
aliens in later levels should be worth more points. To implement this func-
tionality, we’ll add code to increase the point value when the game’s speed
increases:

```python
settings.py
class Settings:
    """A class to store all settings for Alien Invasion."""

    def __init__(self):
        --snip--

        # How quickly the game speeds up
        self.speedup_scale = 1.1

        # How quickly the alien point values increase
        self.score_scale = 1.5
        self.initialize_dynamic_settings()
    
    def initialize_dynamic_settings(self):
        --snip--
    
    def increase_speed(self):
        """Increase speed settings and alien point values."""
    
        self.ship_speed *= self.speedup_scale
        self.bullet_speed *= self.speedup_scale
        self.alien_speed *= self.speedup_scale
        self.alien_points = int(self.alien_points * self.score_scale)
```

We define a rate at which points increase, which we call score_scale.
A small increase in speed (1.1) makes the game more challenging quickly.
But to see a more notable difference in scoring, we need to change the
alien point value by a larger amount (1.5). Now when we increase the game’s
speed, we also increase the point value of each hit. We use the int() func-
tion to increase the point value by whole integers.
To see the value of each alien, add a print() call to the increase_speed()
method in Settings:

```python
#settings.py

def increase_speed(self):
    --snip--
    self.alien_points = int(self.alien_points * self.score_scale)
    print(self.alien_points)
```
The new point value should appear in the terminal every time you
reach a new level.

####    Rounding the Score
Most arcade-style shooting games report scores as multiples of 10, so let’s
follow that lead with our scores. Also, let’s format the score to include
comma separators in large numbers. We’ll make this change in Scoreboard:

```python
#scoreboard.py

def prep_score(self):
    """Turn the score into a rendered image."""

    rounded_score = round(self.stats.score, -1)
    score_str = "{:,}".format(rounded_score)
    self.score_image = self.font.render(score_str, True,
    self.text_color, self.settings.bg_color)
    --snip--
```

The round() function normally rounds a decimal number to a set number of decimal places given as the second argument. However, when you
pass a negative number as the second argument, round() will round the
value to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, and so on. The code above tells Python to
round the value of stats.score to the nearest 10 and store it in rounded_score.
Then a string formatting directive tells Python to insert commas into
numbers when converting a numerical value to a string: for example, to
output 1,000,000 instead of 1000000. Now when you run the game, you should
see a neatly formatted, rounded score even when you rack up lots of points.


####    High Scores
Every player wants to beat a game’s high score, so let’s track and report high
scores to give players something to work toward. We’ll store high scores in
GameStats:

```python
#game_stats.py

def __init__(self, ai_game):
    --snip--

    # High score should never be reset.
    self.high_score = 0
```

Because the high score should never be reset, we initialize high_score in
__init__() rather than in reset_stats().

Next, we’ll modify Scoreboard to display the high score. Let’s start with
the __init__() method:


```python
#scoreboard.py

def __init__(self, ai_game):
    --snip--

    # Prepare the initial score images.
    self.prep_score()
    self.prep_high_score()
```
The high score will be displayed separately from the score, so we need a
new method, prep_high_score(), to prepare the high score image.
Here’s the prep_high_score() method:
```python
#scoreboard.py

def prep_high_score(self):
    """Turn the high score into a rendered image."""

    high_score = round(self.stats.high_score, -1)
    high_score_str = "{:,}".format(high_score)
    self.high_score_image = self.font.render(high_score_str, True,
    self.text_color, self.settings.bg_color)

    # Center the high score at the top of the screen.
    self.high_score_rect = self.high_score_image.get_rect()
    self.high_score_rect.centerx = self.screen_rect.centerx
    self.high_score_rect.top = self.score_rect.top
```

We round the high score to the nearest 10 and format it with commas.
We then generate an image from the high score, center the high score
rect horizontally, and set its top attribute to match the top of the score
image.
The show_score() method now draws the current score at the top right
and the high score at the top center of the screen:

```python
#scoreboard.py
def show_score(self):
    """Draw score to the screen."""

    self.screen.blit(self.score_image, self.score_rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.high_score_image, self.high_score_rect)
```
To check for high scores, we’ll write a new method, check_high_score(),
in Scoreboard:

```python
#scoreboard.py

def check_high_score(self):
    """Check to see if there's a new high score."""

    if self.stats.score > self.stats.high_score:
        self.stats.high_score = self.stats.score
        self.prep_high_score()
```
The method check_high_score() checks the current score against the
high score. If the current score is greater, we update the value of high_score
and call prep_high_score() to update the high score’s image.

We need to call check_high_score() each time an alien is hit after updat-
ing the score in _check_bullet_alien_collisions():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_bullet_alien_collisions(self):
    --snip--
    if collisions:
        for aliens in collisions.values():
            self.stats.score += self.settings.alien_points * len(aliens)
        self.sb.prep_score()
        self.sb.check_high_score()
    --snip--
```
We call check_high_score() when the collisions dictionary is present, and
we do so after updating the score for all the aliens that have been hit.
The first time you play Alien Invasion, your score will be the high score,
so it will be displayed as the current score and the high score. But when you
start a second game, your high score should appear in the middle and your
current score at the right

####    Displaying the Level
To display the player’s level in the game, we first need an attribute in
GameStats representing the current level. To reset the level at the start of
each new game, initialize it in reset_stats():

```python
#game_stats.py

def reset_stats(self):
"""Initialize statistics that can change during the game."""

    self.ships_left = self.settings.ship_limit
    self.score = 0
    self.level = 1
```
To have Scoreboard display the current level, we call a new method, prep
_level(), from __init__():

```python
#scoreboard.py

def __init__(self, ai_game):
    --snip--
    self.prep_high_score()
    self.prep_level()
```

Here’s prep_level():

```python
#scoreboard.py

def prep_level(self):
"""Turn the level into a rendered image."""

    level_str = str(self.stats.level)
    self.level_image = self.font.render(level_str, True,
    self.text_color, self.settings.bg_color)

    # Position the level below the score.
    self.level_rect = self.level_image.get_rect()
    self.level_rect.right = self.score_rect.right
    self.level_rect.top = self.score_rect.bottom + 10
```

The prep_level() method creates an image from the value stored in
stats.level and sets the image’s right attribute to match the score’s right
attribute. It then sets the top attribute 10 pixels beneath the bottom of
the score image to leave space between the score and the level.
We also need to update show_score():

```python
#scoreboard.py
def show_score(self):
"""Draw scores and level to the screen."""

    self.screen.blit(self.score_image, self.score_rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.high_score_image, self.high_score_rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.level_image, self.level_rect)
```

This new line draws the level image to the screen.
We’ll increment stats.level and update the level image in _check_bullet
_alien_collisions():

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_bullet_alien_collisions(self):
    --snip--
    if not self.aliens:

        # Destroy existing bullets and create new fleet.
        self.bullets.empty()
        self._create_fleet()
        self.settings.increase_speed()

        # Increase level.
        self.stats.level += 1
        self.sb.prep_level()
```

If a fleet is destroyed, we increment the value of stats.level and call
prep_level() to make sure the new level displays correctly.
To ensure the level image updates properly at the start of a new game,
we also call prep_level() when the player clicks the Play button:


```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    --snip--
    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        --snip--
        self.sb.prep_score()
        self.sb.prep_level()
        --snip--
```
We call prep_level() right after calling prep_score().
Now you’ll see how many levels you’ve completed.

####    Displaying the Number of Ships
Finally, let’s display the number of ships the player has left, but this time,
let’s use a graphic. To do so, we’ll draw ships in the upper-left corner of
the screen to represent how many ships are left, just as many classic arcade
games do.
First, we need to make Ship inherit from Sprite so we can create a group
of ships:


```python
#ship.py

import pygame
from pygame.sprite import Sprite

class Ship(Sprite):
    """A class to manage the ship."""
    
    def __init__(self, ai_game):
    """Initialize the ship and set its starting position."""

        super().__init__()
        --snip--
```

Here we import Sprite, make sure Ship inherits from Sprite, and call
super() at the beginning of __init__().
Next, we need to modify Scoreboard to create a group of ships we can
display. Here are the import statements for Scoreboard:

```python
#scoreboard.py

import pygame.font
from pygame.sprite import Group
from ship import Ship

```
Because we’re making a group of ships, we import the Group and Ship
classes.
Here’s __init__():

```python
#scoreboard.py
def __init__(self, ai_game):
    """Initialize scorekeeping attributes."""

    self.ai_game = ai_game
    self.screen = ai_game.screen
    --snip--
    self.prep_level()
    self.prep_ships()
```
We assign the game instance to an attribute, because we’ll need it to
create some ships. We call prep_ships() after the call to prep_level().
Here’s prep_ships():

```python
#scoreboard.py

def prep_ships(self):
    """Show how many ships are left."""

    self.ships = Group()
    for ship_number in range(self.stats.ships_left):
        ship = Ship(self.ai_game)
        ship.rect.x = 10 + ship_number * ship.rect.width
        ship.rect.y = 10
        self.ships.add(ship)
```
The prep_ships() method creates an empty group, self.ships, to hold
the ship instances. To fill this group, a loop runs once for every ship the
player has left. Inside the loop, we create a new ship and set each ship’s
x-coordinate value so the ships appear next to each other with a 10-pixel
margin on the left side of the group of ships. We set the y-coordinate
value 10 pixels down from the top of the screen so the ships appear in the
upper-left corner of the screen. Then we add each new ship to the group
ships .
Now we need to draw the ships to the screen:

```python
#scoreboard.py

def show_score(self):
"""Draw scores, level, and ships to the screen."""

    self.screen.blit(self.score_image, self.score_rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.high_score_image, self.high_score_rect)
    self.screen.blit(self.level_image, self.level_rect)
    self.ships.draw(self.screen)
```
To display the ships on the screen, we call draw() on the group, and
Pygame draws each ship.
To show the player how many ships they have to start with, we call
prep_ships() when a new game starts. We do this in _check_play_button() in
AlienInvasion:

```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _check_play_button(self, mouse_pos):
    --snip--
    if button_clicked and not self.stats.game_active:
        --snip--
        self.sb.prep_score()
        self.sb.prep_level()
        self.sb.prep_ships()
        --snip--
```
We also call prep_ships() when a ship is hit to update the display of ship
images when the player loses a ship:


```python
#alien_invasion.py

def _ship_hit(self):
"""Respond to ship being hit by alien."""

    if self.stats.ships_left > 0:
        
        # Decrement ships_left, and update scoreboard.
        self.stats.ships_left -= 1
        self.sb.prep_ships()
        --snip--
```

We call prep_ships() after decreasing the value of ships_left, so the
correct number of ships displays each time a ship is destroyed.

To access the Full project source code and files, visit the repo on [Github](https://github.com/munyite001/Alien-Invasion-Game-Python).

And that's it for the game Alien Invasion. Next, I will be building a flappy bird game using pygame.