Pygame key.set_repeat() not working

Question

I'm trying to write a simple map editor and I'm running into a problem with pygame.set_repeat(), I have it set before the while loop but have also tried it IN the while loop and it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

I've checked other threads but haven't found anything that helps. Could anyone give any input?

import pygame
import math
import sys
import os
import os.path

from pygame.locals import *
from classes.tile_sprites import sprites
from classes.tile_sprites import buttons

class MainCode:

    def main(self):
        size = width, height = 800, 600
        display = pygame.display.set_mode(size)
        fps_clock = pygame.time.Clock()

        button_location = "../resources/images/buttons"
        icon_location = "../resources/images/icons"

        surface_type = {"track":os.path.join(icon_location, "track.png"),
                         "dirt":os.path.join(icon_location, "dirt.png"),
                         "grass":os.path.join(icon_location, "grass")}

        incline_type = {"steep_incline":os.path.join(icon_location, "steep_incline.png"),
                        "moderate_incline":os.path.join(icon_location,"moderate_incline.png"),
                        "flat":os.path.join(icon_location, "flat.png"),
                        "moderate_decline":os.path.join(icon_location, "moderate_decline.png"),
                        "steep_decline":os.path.join(icon_location, "steep_decline.png")}

        surface_selections = ["track", "dirt", "grass"]
        incline_selections = ["steep_incline", "moderate_incline", "flat", "moderate_decline", "steed_decline"]

        tile_group = pygame.sprite.Group()
        button_group = pygame.sprite.Group()
        selected_group = pygame.sprite.GroupSingle()

        sbl = buttons((25, 25), (0, 255, 0), "left")
        sbl.rect.x, sbl.rect.y = 0, 0
        sbr = buttons((25, 25), (0, 255, 0), "right")
        sbr.rect.x, sbl.rect.y = 100, 0
        ibl = buttons((25, 25), (0, 255, 0), "left")
        ibl.rect.x, ibl.rect.y = 0, 100
        ibr = buttons((25, 25), (0, 255, 0), "right")
        ibr.rect.x, ibr.rect.y = 100, 100
        to_add = [sbl, sbr, ibl, ibr]
        button_group = self.pygame_group_add_many(to_add, button_group)

        pygame.key.set_repeat(1, 1000000000)

        while 1:
            for event in pygame.event.get():
                if event.type == QUIT:
                    pygame.quit()
                    sys.exit()
            mouse = pygame.mouse.get_pos()
            key = pygame.key.get_pressed()
            if key[K_DOWN]:
                print "down"

            display.fill((0, 0, 0))
            tile_group.draw(display)
            button_group.draw(display)
            pygame.display.flip()
            fps_clock.tick(30)

    def pygame_group_add_many(self, items_to_add, group):
        for each in items_to_add:
            group.add(each)
        return group

if __name__ == "__main__":
    MainCode().main()

Answer 1

get_pressed() and if key[K_DOWN]: means that you keep pressed K_DOWN and you didn't "unpressed" it. get_pressed() has nothing to do with set_repeat().

set_repeat() works with events.

This code will print "event down" only once when you keep pressed K_DOWN

if event.type == KEYDOWN:
    if event.key == K_DOWN:
        print "event down"

If you add set_repeat(1,1000) it will print "event down" every 1000 miliseconds when you keep pressed K_DOWN

Full example:

import pygame
from pygame.locals import *

pygame.init()

display = pygame.display.set_mode( (800,600) )

pygame.key.set_repeat(1,1000) # add/remove this line

running = True        
while running:

    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == KEYDOWN:
            if event.key == K_ESCAPE:
                running = False
            elif event.key == K_DOWN:
                print "EVENT DOWN"

pygame.quit()