Frame Extractor

The frame_extractor.py script is a standalone tool to play Atari games interactively using Gymnasium + ALE, while optionally extracting raw game frames into .npy files for later usage.

Purpose

This tool is mainly used to:

  • Collect game frames during human gameplay.

  • Save each frame as a .npy file for offline inspection.

It displays the current game using Pygame, supports keyboard-based control, and allows saving snapshots frame-by-frame.

Usage

python scripts/frame_extractor.py --game Seaquest --screenshot-dir extracted_frames

Available arguments:

  • –game: Name of the Atari game (e.g., Pong, Seaquest)

  • –scale: Integer scaling factor for the display (default: 4)

  • –fps: Target frame rate for the game loop (default: 30)

  • –screenshot-dir: Where to save the extracted .npy frames (default: {game}_screenshots/)

Controls

  • Arrow Keys + Space: move/shoot/etc. (key-to-action mapping is dynamically generated based on the game)

  • P: Pause/unpause the game

  • F: Enable frame-by-frame stepping

  • N: Advance one frame (in frame-by-frame mode)

  • R: Reset the environment

  • S: Save current frame to .npy