1D Pong

A two-player reaction game played on a single strip of WS2812B LEDs. Players compete by pressing their button at the right moment when the ball enters their zone.

Features

• Fast-paced two-player gameplay
• Dynamic difficulty: zones shrink after each point
• Early-hit bonus: hit the ball as it enters your zone for extra speed
• 13 attract mode animations to draw players in
• Modular animation system for easy customization
• Visual feedback for hits, misses, and scoring
• Configurable game parameters

Hardware Requirements

Components

Component	Specification	Quantity
Microcontroller	WEMOS D1 Mini ESP32	1
LED Strip	WS2812B, 55 LEDs	1
Buttons	Momentary push button	2
Power Supply	5V, 3A recommended	1
Wires	Jumper wires	As needed

Schematic

Download PDF Schematic

Pin Connections

Component	ESP32 Pin
LED Data	GPIO 5
Left Button	GPIO 17
Right Button	GPIO 18
Left Button LED	GPIO 25 (PWM)
Right Button LED	GPIO 26 (PWM)
LED Power	5V
LED Ground	GND
Buttons	GND (active LOW with internal pull-up)

Photos

Installation

Prerequisites

• VS Code
• PlatformIO Extension

Setup

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/1d-pong.git
cd 1d-pong

Open the project in VS Code:

code .

Build the project:

• Click the checkmark icon in the PlatformIO toolbar, or
• Press Ctrl+Alt+B

Upload to your ESP32:

• Connect your ESP32 via USB
• Click the arrow icon in the PlatformIO toolbar, or
• Press Ctrl+Alt+U

Configuration

Edit include/config.h to customize:

// Hardware
#define NUM_LEDS            55      // Number of LEDs in your strip
#define LED_PIN             5       // Data pin for LED strip
#define BUTTON_LEFT_PIN     17      // Left player button
#define BUTTON_RIGHT_PIN    18      // Right player button

// Button LEDs (PWM capable pins)
#define BUTTON_LED_LEFT_PIN  25     // Left button LED
#define BUTTON_LED_RIGHT_PIN 26     // Right button LED
#define BUTTON_LED_PWM_FREQ  5000   // 5kHz PWM frequency
#define BUTTON_LED_PWM_RES   8      // 8-bit resolution (0-255)

// Game Parameters
#define ZONE_SIZE_START     10      // Initial zone size (LEDs)
#define ZONE_SIZE_MIN       5       // Minimum zone size
#define SCORE_TO_WIN        5       // Points to win a match

// Speed
#define BALL_INITIAL_DELAY_MS  60   // Starting ball speed (lower = faster)

// Animation
#define ANIMATION_DURATION_MS  10000UL  // Duration per animation (ms)

How to Play

Starting a Game

1. When idle, the LED strip displays attract mode animations
2. Either player presses their button to start a match
3. The ball spawns in the center after a countdown

Gameplay

1. The ball (white LED) travels toward one player’s zone
2. When the ball enters your zone (colored section), press your button to return it
3. The ball speeds up with each successful return
4. Score a point when your opponent misses

Scoring

• Miss: Ball exits the strip = opponent scores
• Early press: Pressing outside your zone = opponent scores
• First to 5 points wins the match

Advanced Mechanics

• Early-hit bonus: Hitting the ball as it enters your zone (not waiting until it’s about to exit) adds extra speed, making it harder for your opponent
• Shrinking zones: After each point, both zones shrink by 1 LED, increasing difficulty

Game State Machine

stateDiagram-v2
[*] --> IDLE
IDLE --> SERVE : Button Press
SERVE --> BALL_MOVING : Countdown Complete
BALL_MOVING --> BALL_MOVING : Successful Hit
BALL_MOVING --> CHECK_GAME_OVER : Miss or Penalty
CHECK_GAME_OVER --> SERVE : Score < 5
CHECK_GAME_OVER --> GAME_OVER : Score ≥ 5
GAME_OVER --> IDLE : Win Animation Complete

note right of IDLE
Attract mode animations
Button LED breathing & pulses
end note

note right of SERVE
Countdown with visual pulse
Zone shrinks after each point
end note

note right of BALL_MOVING
Active gameplay
Button LEDs indicate active zones
Flash on hit, blink on miss
end note

note right of GAME_OVER
Display winner animation
First to 5 points wins
end note

Loading

States

State	Description
IDLE	Attract mode - cycling through animations, waiting for player
SERVE	Countdown before ball launch, zones displayed
BALL_MOVING	Active gameplay - ball moving, checking for hits
CHECK_GAME_OVER	Evaluate if a player has won
GAME_OVER	Display winner animation, then return to idle

Adding Custom Animations

The animation system uses auto-registration - simply create a new .cpp file in src/animations/ and it will be automatically included.

Step-by-Step

Copy the template:

cp src/animations/_template.cpp.example src/animations/my_animation.cpp

Edit your new file:

#include "animation.h"

class MyAnimation : public Animation {
public:
MyAnimation(const char* name) : Animation(name) {}

void reset() override {
// Initialize state when animation starts
_lastUpdate = 0;
}

void update(CRGB* leds, uint8_t numLeds) override {
// Non-blocking timing
if (millis() - _lastUpdate < 50) return;
_lastUpdate = millis();

// Your animation logic here
fill_solid(leds, numLeds, CRGB::Black);
// ...

FastLED.show();
}

private:
uint32_t _lastUpdate = 0;
};

// Register with a display name
REGISTER_ANIMATION(MyAnimation, "My Animation");

Build and upload - your animation is now in the rotation!

Animation Guidelines

• Non-blocking: Never use delay() - use millis() for timing
• Call FastLED.show(): Required to display your changes
• Use reset(): Initialize state variables when animation starts
• Available helpers: fill_solid(), CHSV(), sin8(), qadd8(), qsub8(), etc.

Included Animations

Animation	Description
Rainbow Dot	Rainbow background with bouncing white dot
Pong Demo	Simulated game demonstration
Plasma Comet	Plasma background with white comet trail
Cylon	Scanning red eye effect
Fire	Flames from both player zones
Sparkle	Twinkling stars with shooting stars
Duel Chase	Blue/green dots colliding
Heartbeat	Pulsing red heartbeat
Ocean Wave	Blue sine waves with foam
Bouncing Balls	Physics-based bouncing balls
Matrix Rain	Green digital rain
Lightning Storm	Random flashes with thunder
Color Breathing	Slow color pulsing

Troubleshooting

LEDs not lighting up

• Check power supply voltage (5V) and amperage (3A recommended for 55 LEDs)
• Verify data pin connection (GPIO 5 by default)
• Ensure correct LED type in config (WS2812B)
• Check color order setting (GRB for most WS2812B strips)

Buttons not responding

• Verify button connections to correct GPIO pins
• Buttons should connect between GPIO and GND (uses internal pull-up)
• Check for loose connections

Upload fails

• Try holding BOOT button on ESP32 while uploading
• Check USB cable (some are power-only)
• Verify correct board selected in platformio.ini

Game too fast/slow

• Adjust BALL_INITIAL_DELAY_MS in config.h
• Higher values = slower ball
• Recommended range: 40-80ms

Project Structure

1d-pong/
├── platformio.ini          # PlatformIO configuration
├── include/
│   ├── config.h            # Game and hardware configuration
│   └── animation.h         # Animation base class
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp            # Game logic and state machine
│   ├── animation.cpp       # Animation manager
│   └── animations/         # Animation implementations
│       ├── _template.cpp.example
│       ├── rainbow_dot.cpp
│       ├── fire.cpp
│       └── ...
└── README.md

Development Note

This project was developed with assistance from AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.). All code has been reviewed and tested by the author.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here’s how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-animation)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing animation')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-animation)
5. Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contributions

• New attract mode animations
• Sound effects support (buzzer/speaker)
• Web-based configuration interface
• Score persistence (EEPROM)
• Tournament mode (best of N matches)
• Single-player mode with AI

Future Improvements

• Add sound effects for hits and misses

• Web interface for configuration

• Bluetooth controller support

• High score tracking

• Adjustable difficulty modes

• More visual feedback options

• Button LED integration for gameplay feedback and attract animations

• Note: Button LEDs have integrated resistors for 5V operation and require level shifters or transistors/MOSFETs to drive from ESP32

Credits

This project was inspired by a 1D Pong game seen at 38C3 (38th Chaos Communication Congress).

Built with:

• FastLED - LED control library
• PlatformIO - Development platform
• Arduino-ESP32 - ESP32 Arduino core

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see below for details.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.