Mole Unearther just blanking out

This is a very frustrating situation. One thing I realized is that when making games with the codecademy IDE is that the game can not run correctly even if the code is OK. So I need to use a separate IDE (Visual Studio Code is currently my choice) from now on. I tried to do the required steps, but eventually no matter what I did it the game just froze. Eventually I gave up and looked at the solution. Turned out that I got most of the stuff actually correct, but with some very minor issues. (the game still did not work in the codecademy IDE)

so I tried to go the extras. Adding another mole seemed like a much easier step. After all, in the key mapping there is always a dictionary with the key and the location and everything. All it needed was just to add another key for ‘i’ and that’s it (I used i as the key for the fourth mole).

But then my code just froze. Strangely enough, deleting the newly created code to revert it back to what it was does nothing. I am legitimately confused as to why it is freezing up.

Here is the gamescene.js The other parts are completely untouched.

let timeLeft = 30; let score = 0; let isPaused = false; // Stores the current "key" location of the mole let currentBurrowKey; const gameState = {}; class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene { constructor() { super({ key: 'GameScene' }); // list of all burrow locations // each location contains a corresponding key on the keyboard, // and the x and y pixel coordinates on the screen this.burrowLocations = [{ key: 'j', x: 100, y: 310, }, { key: 'k', x: 240, y: 390, }, { key: 'l', x: 380, y: 310, }, { key: 'i', x: 240, y: 210, }]; } // import all of the visual assets we will use throughout the game preload() { // calls the image function to load in the background, and assigns the image to the field key // the background is loaded from the given url this.load.image('background', 'https://codecademy-content.s3.amazonaws.com/courses/learn-phaser/mole-unearther/background.png'); // calls the spritesheet function to load in the mole as a spritesheet to make animations, and assigns it to the mole key // the mole is loaded from the given url with the given width and height this.load.spritesheet('mole', 'https://codecademy-content.s3.amazonaws.com/courses/learn-phaser/mole-unearther/mole-sprite.png', { frameWidth: 198, frameHeight: 250 }); } // set up scene visuals, animations, and game logic when events occur create() { const updateTimer = (timeElapsed) => { timeLeft -= timeElapsed; }; // executed after every second passes const onSecondElapsed = (timeElapsed) => { if (isPaused === false) { // USER ACTIVITY: Update timer by amount of time that elapsed updateTimer(timeElapsed); // display the new time to the user this.updateTimerText(); } }; // display background this.initializeBackground(); // set up score text this.initializeScoreText(); // go through each burrow and set up key listeners on the corresponding key this.initializeBurrowKeys(); // set up animation callbacks this.initializeAnimations(); // set up mole and place in first location this.initializeMole(); // set up text for timer and callback for countdown this.initializeTimer(onSecondElapsed); } // periodically checks and handles user input by updating game logic update() { if (timeLeft <= 0) { // Provided for user this.scene.stop('GameScene'); this.scene.start('EndScene'); } const updateScore = (points) => { // update user's score by given amount score += points; }; // user successfully hit the mole, so reward the user with 5pts const applyHitReward = () => { // display how many points the user will gain this.displayRewardText(); updateScore(5); // display the new score to the user this.updateScoreText(); }; // user missed the mole, so penalize the user by taking away 5pts const applyMissPenalty = () => { // display how many points the user will lose this.displayPenaltyText(); updateScore(-5); // display the new score to the user this.updateScoreText(); }; const onBurrowHit = (key) => { // check if user has successfully hit the mole's current burrow if (key === currentBurrowKey) { applyHitReward(); this.relocateMole(); } else { applyMissPenalty(); } }; if (isPaused === false) { // check each burrow's location if the user is hitting the corresponding key // and run the handler to determine if user should get a reward or penalty if (Phaser.Input.Keyboard.JustDown(gameState.jKey)) { // USER ACTIVITY: Call the key handler onBurrowHit('j'); } else if (Phaser.Input.Keyboard.JustDown(gameState.kKey)) { // USER ACTIVITY: Call the key handler onBurrowHit('k'); } else if (Phaser.Input.Keyboard.JustDown(gameState.lKey)) { // USER ACTIVITY: Call the key handler onBurrowHit('l'); } else if (Phaser.Input.Keyboard.JustDown(gameState.ikey)) { onBurrowHit('i') } } const togglePause = () => { if (isPaused === true) { isPaused = false; this.removePauseScreen(); } else { isPaused = true; this.displayPauseScreen(); } }; if (Phaser.Input.Keyboard.JustDown(gameState.spaceKey)) { togglePause(); } } // adds the background image to the scene starting at the coordinates (0, 0) initializeBackground() { const background = this.add.image(0, 0, 'background'); background.setScale(0.5); background.setOrigin(0, 0); // create box for the score and timer const scoreBox = this.add.rectangle(90, 70, 140, 90, 0xFFFFFF); scoreBox.alpha = 0.5; } // display user's score on screen initializeScoreText() { gameState.scoreText = this.add.text(50, 50, `Score: ${score}`).setColor('#000000'); } // go through each burrow and set up listeners on the corresponding key initializeBurrowKeys() { // set up listeners at the burrow's assigned key that will tell us when user input at that key occurs gameState.jKey = this.input.keyboard.addKey('j'); gameState.kKey = this.input.keyboard.addKey('k'); gameState.lKey = this.input.keyboard.addKey('l'); gameState.iKey = this.input.keyboard.addKey('i'); gameState.spaceKey = this.input.keyboard.addKey('space'); // set up text to identify which key belongs to which burrow this.burrowLocations.forEach((burrow) => { this.add.text(burrow.x - 10, burrow.y + 70, burrow.key.toUpperCase(), { fontSize: 32, color: '#553a1f', }); }); } // create mole character from the spritesheet that was loaded initializeMole() { // add mole sprite to scene gameState.mole = this.physics.add.sprite(0, 0, 'mole'); gameState.mole.setScale(0.5, 0.5); // set mole's location this.updateBurrow(); // after mole appears, run idle animation gameState.mole.on('animationcomplete-appear', () => { gameState.mole.anims.play('idle'); }); // after mole is hidden, immediately relocate to another burrow gameState.mole.on('animationcomplete-disappear', () => { this.updateBurrow(); }); } // creates all the animations that will run after an action is performed initializeAnimations() { // create the appear animation from mole spritesheet this.anims.create({ key: 'appear', frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('mole', { start: 0, end: 2 }), frameRate: 10, }); // create the idle animation from mole spritesheet that will repeat indefinitely this.anims.create({ key: 'idle', frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('mole', { frames: [1, 3, 1, 1, 4] }), frameRate: 3, repeat: -1, }); // create the disappear animation from mole spritesheet this.anims.create({ key: 'disappear', frames: this.anims.generateFrameNumbers('mole', { frames: [5, 6, 6, 5, 2, 1, 0] }), frameRate: 15, }); } // display remaining time left on screen and run update after every second initializeTimer(timerCallback) { gameState.timerText = this.add.text(50, 75, `Time: ${timeLeft}`).setColor('#000000'); this.time.addEvent({ delay: 1000, // call after every 1000ms (1sec) callback: timerCallback, // run function after 1sec elapsed args: [1], // amount of time that elapsed callbackScope: this, // scope to this class loop: true, // repeat forever }); } // fetches a random burrow from our list of burrows getRandomBurrow() { return Phaser.Utils.Array.GetRandom(this.burrowLocations); } // select new burrow and move mole to it updateBurrow() { // select a random burrow from our list of burrows const burrowLocation = this.getRandomBurrow(); // update the current burrow key to the new burrow's key currentBurrowKey = burrowLocation.key; // set the mole's position to the new burrow's (x, y) coordinates gameState.mole.setPosition(burrowLocation.x, burrowLocation.y); // play animation to make mole appear gameState.mole.anims.play('appear'); } // play the mole's disappear animation to indicate it was hit // and after animation is complete, mole will move to a new burrow relocateMole() { gameState.mole.anims.play('disappear'); } // update the clock text on the screen to reflect the changed amount updateTimerText() { gameState.timerText.setText(`Time: ${timeLeft}`); } // update the score text on the screen to reflect the changed amount updateScoreText() { gameState.scoreText.setText(`Score: ${score}`); } // display the number of points the user gained displayRewardText() { // add text to display score reward const rewardText = this.add.text(160, 50, '+5').setColor('#228B22'); this.time.addEvent({ delay: 500, // call after 200ms callback: () => { rewardText.destroy(); }, // remove text after 200ms args: [rewardText], // text to remove repeat: -1, }); } // display the number of points the user lost displayPenaltyText() { // add text to display score penalty const penaltyText = this.add.text(160, 50, '-5').setColor('#991A00'); this.time.addEvent({ delay: 300, // call after 200ms callback: () => { penaltyText.destroy(); }, // remove text after 200ms args: [penaltyText], // text to remove repeat: -1, }); } // display background overlay with pause messages to indicate game is paused displayPauseScreen() { gameState.pauseOverlay = this.add.rectangle(0, 0, 480, 640, 0xFFFFFF); gameState.pauseOverlay.alpha = 0.75; gameState.pauseOverlay.setOrigin(0, 0); gameState.pauseText = this.add.text(225, 325, 'PAUSED').setColor('#000000'); gameState.resumeText = this.add.text(125, 375, 'Press space to resume game').setColor('#000000'); } // remove overlay and pause messages when game is unpaused removePauseScreen() { gameState.pauseOverlay.destroy(); gameState.pauseText.destroy(); gameState.resumeText.destroy(); } }

I know why! This was my problem for ages too.

const onBurrowHit = (key) => {
if (key === currentBurrowKey) {
applyHitReward();
this.relocateMole();
} else {
applyMissPenalty();
}
};

This!! Was missing, it’s between steps 9-14 i think, for me it wasn’t easily understood in the hints and questions, so I was at it for about 6 hours lol. Too bad this post is 2 years old but it might help someone else! Happy coding fam.