Hi everybody,

I'm working on a project with a partner for school. Currently we are remixing the BREAK OUT game but we're having some difficulty with the bricks.

We want the bricks to be randomly positioned on the canvas. We want these blocks to...

1. Generate within a certain area and leave an empty space in the middle.
   
2. Shapes do not overlap each other.
3. Don't go over the canvas.
   

What we're trying to figure out is how to generate these brick so that they don't overlap with each other. I've spoken with one of my teachers and we made most of this with her help, but there's still some fine tuning to be done.
As it is right now, the program is constantly redrawing the shapes. We also need to do the collision for the ball on the blocks and the paddle... we have the conceptual idea on how to do it, just not sure how to write it out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated (and of course credited!).

1. //variables
   Paddle playingPaddle;
   brickWall playingBrickWall;
   
   /* char[] shapeNames = new char[7];
   Brick[] brickNumber = new Brick[20];
   color[] shapeColor = new color[4]; */
   
   int brickSize = 30;
   
   void setup() {
     background(0);
     size(500, 500);
     smooth();
     noStroke();
     //Defining the Shape Array
   /*  shapeNames[0] = 'c'; //Circle
     shapeNames[1] = 's'; //square
     shapeNames[2] = 'r'; //rectangle
     shapeNames[3] = 't'; //triangle
     shapeNames[4] = 'p'; //parallelogram
     shapeNames[5] = 'd'; //diamond
     shapeNames[6] = 'T'; //trapezoid
   
     //Defining the color array
     //Red
     shapeColor[0] = (color (255, 0, 0));
     //Yellow
     shapeColor[1] = (color(255, 220, 0));
     //Green
     shapeColor[2] = (color(0, 200, 50));
     //Purple
     shapeColor[3] = (color(100, 0, 150));
   
     for (int i=0; i < brickNumber.length; i++) {
       brickNumber[i] = new Brick(int(random(width-brickSize)), int(random(height-brickSize)), brickSize, shapeColor[int(random(shapeColor.length))], shapeNames[int(random(shapeNames.length))]);
     } */
     playingBrickWall = new brickWall();
     playingPaddle = new Paddle();
   }
   
   void draw() {
     background(0);
   /*  for (int i=0; i<brickNumber.length; i++) {
       //println(brickNumber[i].shapeName);
       brickNumber[i].drawShape();
     } */
     playingBrickWall.brickSpace();
     playingPaddle.display();
     playingPaddle.updatePosition();
   }
2. 
   class brickWall {
   
     //properties
     int x = 25;
     int y = 25;
     int wallWidth = width -x*2;
     int wallHeight = height -y*2;
     int numBricks;
   
     public brickWall() {
       //Commence the arrays!
       char[] shapeNames = new char[7];
       Brick[] brickNumber = new Brick[20];
       color[] shapeColor = new color[4];
   
       //Defining the arrays...
       //Bricks
       shapeNames[0] = 'c'; //Circle
       shapeNames[1] = 's'; //square
       shapeNames[2] = 'r'; //rectangle
       shapeNames[3] = 't'; //triangle
       shapeNames[4] = 'p'; //parallelogram
       shapeNames[5] = 'd'; //diamond
       shapeNames[6] = 'T'; //trapezoid
   
       //Colors
       shapeColor[0] = (color(255, 0, 0));    //Red
       shapeColor[1] = (color(255, 220, 0));  //Yellow
       shapeColor[2] = (color(0, 200, 50));   //Green
       shapeColor[3] = (color(100, 0, 150));  //Purple
     }
   
     public void brickSpace() {
       //void function for
       rectMode(CORNER);
       fill(255);
       noStroke();
       //noFill();
       rect(x, y, wallWidth, wallHeight);
   
       //Commence the arrays!
       char[] shapeNames = new char[7];
       Brick[] brickNumber = new Brick[20];
       color[] shapeColor = new color[4];
   
       //Defining the arrays...
       //Bricks
       shapeNames[0] = 'c'; //Circle
       shapeNames[1] = 's'; //square
       shapeNames[2] = 'r'; //rectangle
       shapeNames[3] = 't'; //triangle
       shapeNames[4] = 'p'; //parallelogram
       shapeNames[5] = 'd'; //diamond
       shapeNames[6] = 'T'; //trapezoid
   
       //Colors
       shapeColor[0] = (color(255, 0, 0));    //Red
       shapeColor[1] = (color(255, 220, 0));  //Yellow
       shapeColor[2] = (color(0, 200, 50));   //Green
       shapeColor[3] = (color(100, 0, 150));  //Purple
   
       //Go go power Brick array!!
       for (int i=0; i < brickNumber.length; i++) {
         brickNumber[i] = new Brick(int(random(width-brickSize)), int(random(height-brickSize)), brickSize, shapeColor[int(random(shapeColor.length))], shapeNames[int(random(shapeNames.length))]);
       }
       for (int i=0; i<brickNumber.length; i++) {
         //println(brickNumber[i].shapeName);
         brickNumber[i].drawShape();
         /*   if (Brick.covers(Brick withBrick) == true) {
          //blah blah blah
          } */
       }
     }
   }
   
3. public class Brick {
   
     //Properties
     int brickSize;
     int x;
     int y;
     //Color stuff
     int shapeColor = 0;
     color fillColor;
     //Hit points for shapes
     int HP;
     char shapeName;
   
     //Constructor
     public Brick (int tempX, int tempY, int tempSize, color newColor, char shapeName) {
       x = tempX;
       y = tempY;
       brickSize = tempSize;
       fillColor = newColor;
       shapeColor = newColor;
       this.shapeName = shapeName;
     }
   
     //functions
     public boolean covers(Brick withBrick) {
       //Brick withBrick says COLLISION DETECTED!!
       if (this.x >= withBrick.x && this.x <= withBrick.x+brickSize ||
         this.y >= withBrick.y && this.y <= withBrick.y+brickSize) {
         return (true);
       }
       //Brick withBrick says no collision detected.
       else {
         return (false);
       }
     }
    
     boolean bricksInCanvas() {
       //I said keep all hands and feet within the canvas!
       if (this.x <= 0 && this.x >= width ||
         this.y <= 0 && this.y >= height) {
         return (true);
       }
       //Please enjoy your flight.
       else {
         return (false);
       }
     }
    
     void drawShape() {
       switch(shapeName) {
       case 'c':
         //Circle
         circleBrick();
         break;
       case 's':
         //Square
         squareBrick();
         break;
       case 'r':
         //rectangle
         rectBrick();     
         break;
       case 't':
         //triangle
         triangleBrick();
         break;
       case 'p':
         //parallelogram
         parallelBrick();
         break;
       case 'd':
         diamondBrick();
         break;
       case 'T':
         //trapezoid
         trapezoidBrick();
         break;
       }
     }
   
     void circleBrick() {
       ellipseMode(CORNER);
       fill(fillColor);
       ellipse(x, y, brickSize, brickSize);
     }
     void squareBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       rectMode(CORNER);
       rect(x, y, brickSize, brickSize);
     }
     void rectBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       rectMode(CORNER);
       rect(x, y, brickSize, (brickSize*2));
     }
     void triangleBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       triangle(x, y, x+brickSize/2, y-brickSize, x+brickSize, y);
     }
     void parallelBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       //Parallelogram
       quad(x+brickSize/2, y-brickSize/1.5, x+brickSize*2, y-brickSize/1.5, x+brickSize*1.5, y, x, y);
     }
     void diamondBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       //diamond shape
       quad(x, y, x+brickSize/2, y-brickSize, x+brickSize, y, x+brickSize/2, y+brickSize);
     }
     void trapezoidBrick() {
       fill(fillColor);
       //Trapezoid
       quad(x, y, x+brickSize, y, x+brickSize*2, y+brickSize/1.5, x, y+brickSize/1.5);
     }
   }