Space Invaders in C

A classic Space Invaders implementation in C, featuring a modular MVC architecture with support for both a modern graphical interface (SDL3) and a retro terminal interface (ncurses).

🚀 Features

• 🎮 Dual Interface Support:
  • 🖼️ SDL View: High-quality graphics, smooth animations, and sound support using the latest SDL3 library.
  • 📟 Ncurses View: A fully functional, text-based version playable directly in your terminal.
• 🏗️ MVC Architecture: Clean separation of concerns between game logic (Model), rendering (View), and input handling (Controller).
• 👾 Classic Gameplay: Destroy waves of aliens, dodge enemy fire, and take cover behind destructible shields.
• 🏆 Score Tracking: Local high-score tracking.
• 📂 Menus: Fully navigable main menu, credits, and game over screens.

🛠️ Prerequisites

This project is designed for 🐧 Linux systems.

You will need standard build tools installed on your system:

• gcc (GNU Compiler Collection)
• make
• git
• cmake (required for building SDL3 dependencies)

📦 Installation & Compilation

1. 📥 Clone the repository:

   # Clone with submodules
   git clone --recursive https://github.com/baptiste-may/space-invaders.git
   cd space-invaders
   
   # OR if already cloned without submodules
   git submodule update --init --recursive

2. 🏗️ Build the project: The project includes a Makefile that handles the compilation of the game and its dependencies (SDL3).

   make

   Note: ⏳ The first compilation might take some time as it builds the SDL3 libraries from the 3rdParty directory.

🕹️ How to Play

You can launch the game in either SDL (graphical) or Ncurses (terminal) mode.

🏃 Running the Game

• 🎨 Graphical Mode (SDL):

  make run-sdl

• 📟 Terminal Mode (Ncurses):

  make run-ncurses

⌨️ Controls

The game supports both arrow keys and WASD/ZQSD layouts.

Action	Key 1	Key 2
⬅️ Move Left	← (Left Arrow)	Q / A
➡️ Move Right	→ (Right Arrow)	D
💥 Shoot	Space
⬆️ Menu Up	↑ (Up Arrow)	Z / W
⬇️ Menu Down	↓ (Down Arrow)	S
✅ Select / Confirm	Enter
🚪 Pause / Back / Quit	Escape

📐 Architecture

This project strictly follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern to ensure code modularity and maintainability.

1. 🧠 Model (src/model/)

The Model contains all the data and logic of the game, completely independent of how it is displayed.

• Entities: Manages the state of the Player, Aliens, Shields, and Projectiles.
• Logic: Handles collision detection, movement updates, and score calculation.
• State: Holds the current state of menus (Main, Credits, Game Over).

2. 📺 View (src/views/)

The View is responsible for rendering the game state to the user. It uses a polymorphic interface (ViewInterface) to support multiple display backends:

• sdl-view.c: Renders sprites, textures, and text using SDL3.
• ncurses-view.c: Renders ASCII art and characters using the ncurses library.
• The rest of the application interacts with the view through generic function pointers, allowing seamless switching between graphical and text modes.

3. 🕹️ Controller (src/controller/)

The Controller bridges the gap between the user, the model, and the view.

• ⌨️ Input Handling: Scans for user inputs via the active view's event system.
• 🔄 Game Loop: Orchestrates the main application loop, updating the model based on inputs and time, and then triggering a render of the view.
• State Management: Transitions between the menu, game, and game-over states.

👥 Credits

• Baptiste MAY
• Kamil CHARBENAGA

📜 License

This project is open-source. Please check the LICENCE file for details.