Event-Driven Systems in Games

1. Introduction

Event-driven systems play a crucial role in modern game development, enabling responsive and interactive gameplay. This lesson will explore the principles of event-driven architecture, its components, and practical applications in game development.

2. Key Concepts

3. The Event Loop

The event loop is the backbone of an event-driven system. It continuously checks for events and dispatches them to the appropriate handlers. Here's a simple representation:

while (true) {
    checkForEvents();
    handleEvents();
    updateGameState();
}
        

4. Event Handlers

Event handlers are functions or methods that are executed in response to specific events. They encapsulate the behavior associated with particular events.

function onPlayerJump(event) {
    if (event.key === "Space") {
        player.jump();
    }
}

document.addEventListener("keydown", onPlayerJump);
            

5. Best Practices

• Keep your event handlers lightweight. They should ideally trigger actions without heavy computations.
• Use appropriate naming conventions for events and handlers to improve code readability.
• Debounce or throttle events that can fire rapidly (like mouse movements) to enhance performance.
• Unsubscribe from events when they are no longer needed to prevent memory leaks.

6. FAQ