Hi guys, 

As part of my GSoC project [1], I've been researching Pygame's sprite.py and 
equivalents in other libraries, figuring out a list of features I will focus on 
in my project.

I wanted to get your thoughts and feedback on these items; which of these do 
you think are necessary, and which more necessary than the others? Do you think 
implementing any of these would be too difficult for a first-time contributor 
(me)? Do you have any other ideas?

Suggested improvements for sprite.py:
1. Easier positioning methods: Using tuples or arrays, instead of just Rects.
2. Setting a sprite's anchor points for handling in movement, animation, 
collision etc.
3. Aggregated sprite class (basically, a sprites group which implements the 
sprite interface).
4. Automated dirty rendering (existing feature in Spyral [2]).
5. New visual attributes for sprites:
    - Rotation angle
    - Scale
    - Crop rectangle
    - Visible/hidden
    - Collision parameters (smaller hitbox, etc.)
6. Alternative forms of collision detecting (not limited to circles and 
rectangles).
    Possibly using algorithms such as quadtrees and spatial hashing.
7. Improved layering system.
8. Respecting blendmode flags are handled in all types of sprites.
9. Animated sprites:
    - Setting a group of images to cycle through in a time interval.
    - Animating visual attributes, a-la Kivy [3] or CSS transitions [4].
10. Events dispatching from groups to sprites.

This list was comprised after consulting with mentor Robert Deaton (masquerade) 
and fellow contributors on the IRC channel.
It's obviously not a final list of the work I'm planning, but more of a list of 
things to research before I get to coding.

I would love to hear your feedback on these.

Thanks,

[1] Pygame SoC application: Improved Sprite and Scene system 
http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/proposal/review/google/gsoc2012/n0nick/28002
[2] Spyral http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~rdeaton/spyral/
[3] Animation in Kivy http://kivy.org/docs/api-kivy.animation.html
[4] CSS Transitions https://developer.mozilla.org/en/CSS/CSS_transitions

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Sagie Maoz
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