Getting started

This tutorial will act as a step-by-step guide to get you writing and running your first Project OMEGA game.

Setup

Make sure you've installed the Arduino IDE for your operating system of choice before continuing. From there, you'll need to install Project OMEGA's dependencies:

• Adafruit_GFX
• Adafruit_LEDBackpack
• Bounce2

After everything is installed, open up a blank sketch in the Arduino IDE. You should see the standard setup() and loop() functions. Don't worry about these for now; we'll get to them in a moment.

Importing the library

To import the Project OMEGA library, add the following lines just before the setup() function:

#include <Omega.h>
Omega omega = Omega();

The first line actually imports the definitions added by the library; the second line creates an object named omega with the same definitions. You'll use this object in your game code later on.

The setup function

The setup() function will run just once, at the beginning of your sketch's execution.

Add the line omega.init(); inside it. This is used to set up the board's buttons and display; as such, your program will not run without it.

If you'd like, you can call the splash() function after this, using omega.splash();. This is completely optional, though recommended. With this change, a bitmap of the Greek letter omega will be drawn to the display before your game code starts to execute.

Finally, we should try drawing something to the display. Add the following lines of code to the end of the function:

omega.matrix.clear();
omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_ON);
omega.matrix.writeDisplay();

This will use methods added by Adafruit's graphics library to clear the display and light up the pixel in the top left corner.

The loop function

To make proper use of the loop() function, we'll have to use one more OMEGA-defined method: omega.poll(). This will repeatedly return an integer from 4 to 8 back to your code if a button was pressed, and 0 otherwise. You'll need to write your own function to determine how this should make your game behave.

Add the following function definition to your Arduino sketch, before void loop():

void poll() {
  switch (omega.poll()) {
    case 0:
      break;
    default:
      omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_OFF);
      omega.matrix.writeDisplay();
      delay(125);
  }

  omega.matrix.clear();
  omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_ON);
  omega.matrix.writeDisplay();
}

This function is actually pretty simple! The switch keyword says to do something depending on the output of what's in the parentheses — in this case, a call to omega.poll(). We do nothing if it returns a 0, and every other case will do the same thing: turn off the pixel in the top left corner of the display. Outside of the switch block, we then turn it on again after a fraction of a second.

Finally, we change the loop() function so that it repeatedly calls our new poll() function:

void loop() {
  poll();
}

If you set everything up correctly, you should be able to make the top left pixel of the display flash any time you press a button!

The final result

#include <Omega.h>
Omega omega = Omega();

void setup() {
  omega.init();
  omega.splash();

  omega.matrix.clear();
  omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_ON);
  omega.matrix.writeDisplay();
}

void poll() {
  switch (omega.poll()) {
    case 0:
      break;
    default:
      omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_OFF);
      omega.matrix.writeDisplay();
      delay(125);
  }

  omega.matrix.clear();
  omega.matrix.drawPixel(0, 0, LED_ON);
  omega.matrix.writeDisplay();
}

void loop() {
  poll();
}

Congratulations! You've just written your first Project OMEGA game.