Pygame: key.get_pressed() does not coincide with the event queue

Question

I\'m attempting to work out simple controls for an application using pygame in Python. I have got the basics working, but I\'m hitting a weird wall: I am using the arrow key

Answer 1

just use the events return data, instead of trying to poll, you're already checking if its a keydown event TYPE, now just interrogate the KEY index, like so:

for event in pygame.event.get():
    if event.type == QUIT:
        pygame.quit()
        sys.exit()
    elif event.type == KEYDOWN:
        if event.key == K_LEFT:
            player.pos = (player.pos[0] - 2, player.pos[1])

rest of code.....

also consider using a separate data structure to store the state of your controls, then just use the events to update that data structure. That will help make the controls a bit more flexible as you wont be relying on the event queue to cause your character to move, which in my experience causes problems like: not being able to push more than two buttons at a time, and odd delay or timing issues with character movements. so something like:

keystates={'up':False, 'down':False, 'left':False, 'right':False}
running=True

#start main pygame event processing loop here
while running:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == QUIT:
            running=False

        #check for key down events
        if event.type == KEYDOWN:
            if event.key == K_UP:
                keystates['up']=True
            if event.key == K_DOWN:
                keystates['down']=True
            if event.key == K_LEFT:
                keystates['left']=True
            if event.key == K_RIGHT:
                keystates['right']=True

        #check for key up events
        if event.type == KEYUP:
            if event.key == K_UP:
                keystates['up']=False
            if event.key == K_DOWN:
                keystates['down']=False
            if event.key == K_LEFT:
                keystates['left']=False
            if event.key == K_RIGHT:
                keystates['right']=False

    #do something about the key states here, now that the event queue has been processed
    if keystates['up']:
        character.moveUp()  #or whatever your call for these are...
    if keystates['down']:
        character.moveDown()
    if keystates['left']:
        character.moveLeft()
    if keystates['right']:
        character.moveRight()

#gracefully exit pygame here
pygame.quit()