This version of Beat Saber$-$inspired game introduces

synchronizing beats with music through file reading, transitioning from a random beat generator to a

rhythm$-$fueled experience with the rhythm of your chosen song. While retaining the simplicity that

allows gameplay on any computer using a keyboard.

Song and Difficulty Selection $-$ You now have the power to select both the song and its difficulty level

before the game starts.

Dual$-$Hand Coordination $-$ The beats will now flow in two streams: the left stream $($controlled by the

WASD keys$)$ and the right stream $($managed by the arrow keys$).$

Reading Beats from a File $-$ Instead of the previous assignment's random beat generation, you'll now

read beat information from a file. This information includes the frame count at which the beat should

appear, the direction it should point, and whether it should be in the left or right stream.

Simplified Beat Dynamics $$ Beats will not rotate after they are

created and they will fall at a constant $5$ pixels per second. This value is defined in the starter code as

SPEED and should not be changed.

Scoring and Gameplay Mechanics $$ The game introduces a 'hit window,$\text{'}$ a critical period during which

each beat must be struck to score points. The hit window is a rectangle that stretches all the way across

the game window, between y $=550$ and y $=650.$ The provided background images have lines showing

the boundaries of the hit window. Successful hits within the designated hit window now reward $2$ points,

while misses subtract a point. A beat is considered within the hit window only if it is inside the window.

The goal remains to achieve the highest score possible.

Game Conclusion $$ The game is no longer based on a timer. Instead, it should end when the music track

finishes playing, or if the user$$s score drops below zero.

Game Structure

Before the Game

Before launching the game, players are required to enter three critical pieces of information as

command$-$line arguments: their name, the chosen song, and the selected difficulty level. If the player

does not enter the correct number of command line arguments, enters a song for which there is no

music file, or a difficulty level other than Easy, Normal, Hard, or Expert $($ignore case$),$ then display a

helpful error message and exit the program. The wording of the error message and any exit error code

you use are up to you. If valid command line arguments are provided, the game is launched, and a

starting screen guides the player to start the game with a simple action, such as pressing the space bar.

At this point, the game loads the beat map for the song$/$difficulty chosen from a file along with the top

$10$ high scores $($stored in a separate file$)$ and awaits the player to start the game.

During the Game

With the game underway and the chosen track playing, beats descend in sync with the rhythm from

predetermined sides of the screen based on the information gathered from the file. Players use both

hands to navigate the musical challenge$$WASD keys for the left hand and arrow keys for the right$$ to

match the falling beats. Key presses other than WASD or arrow keys are ignored once the game begins.

Each hand can only influence the beats on its side. While the entirety of a beat is in the $$hit window$,$

the key press will be compared against its direction and if it is hit correctly, the player gets rewarded two

points. If the player doesn$$t press the correct WASD or arrow key for the lowest beat on the relevant side

of the window, or the beat reaches the bottom of the game window, the beat turns red and one point is

deducted from the player$$s score. So when scoring, the only score changes are now $+2$ or $-1.$

The game continues until the music track ends. However, if at any point the player$$s score falls into the

negatives, the game end.

Once the game ends, the top $10$ high scores are displayed. If the player's score is high enough to enter

this elite leaderboard, their name and score are added to the list. Should the

player$$s score not rank among the top ten, the player$$s score is still shown, but it is not added to the top

$10.$

File Manipulation

Understanding the organization and use of both beat map files and the $`$top$10.$csv$`$ file is essential for

developing the rhythm game. The music files for the game are still stored in the music

folder, but now each music track included in the game corresponds to a separate folder named after the

track, containing beat map files for various difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert. These beat

map files dictate when beats should be generated to synchronize with the music. As one example, there is now a file called believer under music, and a

separate folder, also called believer, containing Easy.beat, Normal.beat, Hard.beat, and Expert.beat files

to generate beats in time with the rhythm of that song. a $`$top$10.$csv$`$ file, located in the same directory as the

starter file, records the highest scores achieved by players,