env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native 0.5.14

🕹️ Reproducible Breakout for parallel RL experiments ⚡

env-BreakoutAtari2600-turbo-native is a Python library for reinforcement-learning researchers and engineers running reproducible Atari 2600 Breakout experiments. It runs independent games in parallel and lets you replay exact states or compare action branches. Install the package to run a Python rollout or play interactively.

env-BreakoutAtari2600-turbo-native is ROM-free. Normal use needs no emulator or Stable Retro installation. A Rust core provides deterministic gameplay through a Gymnasium vector interface and supports the documented Stable Retro Turbo Breakout replacement contract.

The comparison replays the same actions in native 0.5.13 and original Stable Retro 1.0.1, with playback scaled by TurboBench's measured one-lane throughput ratio. Diagnostic preview: the host was busy during timing, so this is not a validated performance claim. Watch the MP4 or see the method and verification evidence.

Install

Requires Python 3.11+ on Apple-silicon macOS 11+ or x86-64 Linux with glibc 2.28+.

With uv installed, add the library to your project:

uv add env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native

To play interactively, install the optional Pygame extra and open the player:

uv add "env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native[play]"
uv run env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native play

Try a rollout

Save this as quickstart.py in your project and run uv run python quickstart.py. The same code is available in the runnable example:

from time import perf_counter

import gymnasium as gym
import numpy as np

env = gym.make_vec(
    "env_breakoutatari2600_turbo_native:EnvBreakoutAtari2600TurboNative-v0",
    game="Breakout-Atari2600-v0",
    num_envs=16,
    num_threads=4,
)

try:
    obs, _ = env.reset(seed=42)
    total_reward = 0.0
    started = perf_counter()
    for step in range(1024):
        # This fixed action cycle is a smoke workload, not a trained policy.
        action = 1 if step % 4 == 0 else 2
        actions = np.full(env.num_envs, action, dtype=np.uint8)
        obs, rewards, terminated, truncated, _ = env.step(actions)
        total_reward += float(rewards.sum())
        done = terminated | truncated
        if done.any():
            obs, _ = env.reset(options={"reset_mask": done})
    elapsed = perf_counter() - started
    print(f"observation shape: {obs.shape}")
    print(f"total reward: {total_reward:g}")
    print(f"transitions: {1024 * env.num_envs}")
    print(f"transitions/second: {1024 * env.num_envs / elapsed:,.0f} (local diagnostic)")
finally:
    env.close()

Each lane is an independent game. Native actions are 0 noop, 1 FIRE, 2 right, and 3 left. The default observations are grayscale uint8 arrays shaped (num_envs, 4, 84, 84), with four native frames per step. The printed rate is a local smoke measurement from a fixed action cycle; it is not a matched performance comparison or an agent learning result.

The module-qualified ID imports and registers the vector factory; BreakoutVecEnv is also available for direct use. The environment reference covers Stable Retro Turbo compatibility, filtered actions, policy signals, snapshots, and branching. See its info-filtering examples for the visible brick grid and initial-layout flag, or the Stable-Baselines3 adapter for explicit auto-reset behavior; install SB3 separately.

Train with GradLab

Training implementations live in GradLab. The following recipe names were checked against the pinned GradLab 0.1.1 release. Run either from any directory:

uvx gradlab@0.1.1 train Breakout-Atari2600-v0/ppo
uvx gradlab@0.1.1 train Breakout-Atari2600-v0/ppo-stable-updates

The second recipe adds learning-rate decay and KL-based update stopping. These are full research runs. GradLab writes final_model.zip under ./runs and prints a version-pinned playback command when a run finishes or stops safely. Local runs disable W&B and checkpoint evaluation by default.

Develop

Install uv and Rust (the repository pins its toolchain), then run:

git clone https://github.com/tsilva/env-BreakoutAtari2600-turbo-native.git
cd env-BreakoutAtari2600-turbo-native
uv sync --locked --extra dev --extra play
make develop-release

Commands

Run these from the repository root after source setup:

uv run --frozen python examples/quickstart.py                      # run a rollout
uv run --frozen --extra play env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native play  # open the player
uv run --frozen --extra play env-breakoutatari2600-turbo-native play --uncapped
make lint              # Python and Rust checks
make test              # Python and Rust tests
make develop-release   # rebuild the native extension after changes

Append --help to the player command for options, including the display-rate limit. TurboBench provides performance comparisons and cross-provider parity checks. See release validation for make parity prerequisites and wheel certification.

Notes

• Use the Arcade Learning Environment for the established multi-game Atari benchmark. Compare results only when game settings, observations, actions, rewards, and reset rules match.
• The v0.5.13 parity receipt records canonical Start checks against pinned original Stable Retro for its exact final wheel. It measures neither throughput nor equivalence with ALE.
• Autoreset is disabled. Reset terminal lanes before stepping again; a Boolean reset_mask leaves unselected lanes unchanged. The policy must issue FIRE for each serve.
• Rewards are score changes without life-loss or board-clear shaping. Episodes end after all five lives are lost; the environment never generates truncation.
• Rendering is opt-in. Set render_mode="rgb_array", then call render_lane(index) for a 160×210 Stella RGB frame. Rendering does not advance the game or alter policy observations.
• Default observations use two rotating buffers. Use obs_copy="copy" when retaining observations across environment calls.
• Serialized snapshots require the same package version and compatible configuration. Live snapshot handles belong to their originating environment.
• Canonical Start parity uses pinned original Stable Retro through TurboBench and requires a separately obtained lawful ROM. The package distributes no ROM, provider save state, recorded reference frame, or extracted game asset.
• This is a 0.x community preview. Read the changelog for public changes and support guide for platform limits and help. The compliance matrix links requirements to their validation evidence.

Architecture

License

MIT. See third-party notices for Atari, Stable Retro, ROM, and trademark boundaries.