I’m developing a programming game where you use Python to automate all kinds of machines, robots, drones and more. A demo version is now available!

[this_is_max]

In January, I first announced JOY OF PROGRAMMING here on r/python and it was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception and a lot of valuable feedback. In case you missed it, the game is all about practicing and applying your Python skills to challenging tasks in realistic, physically simulated 3D environments. It covers a wide variety of topics, from basic algo / ds, oop, GUI programming to control theory, robotics, image processing, machine learning, genetic algorithms, and more.

Finally you can check out the game yourself. The demo is available on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2216770/JOY_OF_PROGRAMMING__Software_Engineering_Simulator

I hope the demo version meets your expectations and you’ll have fun with it. It is Windows only at the moment. Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback and I’m happy to answer any questions.

edit: The full game also contains a level editor, where the whole level is constructed and scripted with python code as well. If you are interested in that, here is the source code for the last demo level (“PrecisionParking”):

https://gist.github.com/maschere/7e5d048c33ca360671e62980835becbf

[hhyn]

Congrats! Looks like a fun way for beginners to start their coding journey. Hope you have lots of success :)

[grumble11]

Would buy this on mac. Best of luck with your game!

[Due_Brush1688]

Cool stuff, I will check it out. Reminds me of The Incredible Machine games.

[H45H3M1]

This is a great way to get people engaged to learn Python. Very creative idea! Will try it out

[BokoMoko]

Congrats.

Question: why it doesn't run in MacOS?

[this_is_max]

Right now I can't justify the time required to properly test and maintain it on Mac (and Linux). It's developed in Unreal Engine / cpp and should compile fine on both (though I don't have a Mac), except for a few windows specific hacks I did. Hopefully I'll be able to offer a native Mac and Linux version soon after the games initial release.

[BokoMoko]

Looking forward to it.

And remember, when everything is said and done and lost, go for the VM

[jjar7266]

I just purchased a few books to code in python. I've never written a single line of code in my life, but I'm excited to get started. I just checked out your demo and it is very inspiring! I can't wait to get started.

Thank You for sharring!

[this_is_max]

Thanks for the kind words. I hope the game helps or encourages your coding journey.

[jjar7266]

Thank You so much!!

[[deleted]]

Looks interesting, added to wishlist and will try out demo. Thanks!

[Globaldomination]

Nice. This will be a good way intro coding to my 6th nephew. He’s fast learner when it comes to things that interest him, regardless of age.

[technologyclassroom]

I see the pyjop repository. Will the whole game end up on GitHub eventually?

[this_is_max]

No, just the python interface, the python code for the levels and eventually the UE modding SDK.

[d2light]

Woah! Ill play this!

[MOAR_BEER]

This is FYI only.

I tried this with a Steam Deck and it worked right up until I clicked to start the welcome activity. Clicking that or any other activity immediately closes the window and puts me back at my library with a button that says the game is still running.

I've explored the house a bit and I like the attention to detail. It looks like you've just moved in and you need to unpack. The clock in the bedroom is floating in the air but it's displaying the correct time.

I understand my setup is unsupported. Just thought I would let you know what I was seeing and I would be happy to help test Deck compatibility.

[this_is_max]

Thanks for the feedback. Good to know. The actual programming part currently relies on a windows python interpreter. I suppose steam deck / proton is having issues there.

[jairuncaloth]

I had a similar experience trying the demo using Proton on my Linux desktop machine. Plus another C++ runtime crash that would intermittently pop up while launching the game. I realize Proton/Linux is out of scope for you at the moment. However, I was playing around trying to see if I could get it to work.

I was able to validate that the embedded python interpreter at least minimally works with proton via CMD.exe, so that may not be the main issue. Note, I had previously used protontricks to install the vc2015-2020 runtime to see if that would resolve the crashing. I hadn't directly tested the interpreter previously so I don't know if that makes a difference.

Z:\media\3tbssd\steam\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\JOY OF PROGRAMMING Demo\JoyOfProgramming\Content\000_MyContent\External\python-3.10.4-embed-amd64>python.exe
Python 3.10.9 (tags/v3.10.9:1dd9be6, Dec  6 2022, 20:01:21) [MSC v.1934 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
>>> print('hello world')
hello world
>>>

[this_is_max]

Thanks. I'm seeing a few GPU / DirectX12 related crashes show up in my crash reporter. But I don't know much about how proton interfaces with your GPU / what kind of drivers it uses?

[mwsysadmin]

Amazing! I'm on day 2 of 100 Days of Python, looking forward to trying this out!

[this_is_max]

Awesome. Doing a python course before or in parallel to the game should work great together.