Error: attempt to index global 'playerBul' (a nil value) - lua

Question

The error is saying:
game.lua:171: attempt to index global 'playerBul' (a nil value)
Sorry if I put too much unnecessary code, I just do not know what is causing this error.
here are all the files for this game:
menu.lua:
local menu = {}
local bannermenu;
local selection;
menu.name = 'Menu'
local function play()
mode = require('game')
mode.load()
end
local options = {
{['text'] = 'Play', ['action'] = play},
{['text'] = 'Exit', ['action'] = love.event.quit}
}
function menu.load()
bannermenu = love.graphics.newImage(BANNER)
selection = 1
pointer = love.graphics.newImage(POINTER)
mode = menu
end
function menu.update()
return mode
end
function menu.draw()
love.graphics.draw(bannermenu, 200,10)
for i = 1,#options do
if i == selection then
love.graphics.draw(pointer, 300, 200 + i *20)
end
love.graphics.printf(options[i].text,0,200 + i * 20, love.graphics.getWidth(), 'center')
end
end
function menu.keypressed(key)
if key == "up" then
selection = (selection - 2)%(#options) + 1
elseif key == "down" then
selection = (selection) % (#options) + 1
elseif key == "return" then
options[selection].action()
elseif key == "escape" then
love.event.quit()
end
end
return menu
main.lua
TITLE = 'Die Aliens Die!'
PLAYER_BULLET = 'Images/playerbullet.png'
ENEMY_BULLET = 'Images/enemybullet.png'
HEALTH_IMG = 'Images/life.png'
ENEMY_UFO = {
ENEMY_1 = 'Images/enemy1.png',
ENEMY_2 = 'Images/enemy2.png',
ENEMY_3 = 'Images/enemy3.png'
}
PLAYER_IMG = 'Images/spaceship.png'
YOU_WIN = 'Images/win.png'
BANNER = 'Images/banner.png'
POINTER = 'Images/pointer.png'
function love.load()
love.window.setTitle(TITLE)
mode = require "menu"
mode.load()
end
function love.draw()
mode.draw()
end
function love.keypressed(key, isrepeat)
mode.keypressed(key)
end
function love.update(dt)
mode.update(dt)
end
game.lua
local game = {}
local playerShip = {}
local alienUFO = {}
local bullets = {}
local alienBullets = {}
local playerBullets = {}
local aliens = {{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{},{}}
local health = 3
local score = 0
local level = 1
local alienMovement = true
local healthImage;
local alienQty = 0
local pause
--local function gameOver()
--local function gamwWin()
local function clearTable(t)
for i = #t,1,-1 do
table.remove(t,i)
end
end
local function clearAliens()
for i=#aliens,1,-1 do
for j = #aliens[i],1,-1 do
table.remove(aliens[i],j)
end
end
end
local function insertAliens()
alienQty = 0
for i=1,4 do
for j =1,10 do
local alien = {}
alien.x = (j-1) *alienUFO.width + 10
alien.y = (j-1) *alienUFO.width + 35
if level ==2 then
alien.life = 2
if level == 3 then
alien.life = 3
end
table.insert(aliens[j], alien)
alienQty = alienQty + 1
end
end
end
end
local function initGame()
clearTable(playerBullets)
clearTable(alienBullets)
clearAliens()
insertAliens()
playerShip.x = love.graphics.getWidth() / 2 - playerShip.width /2
end
local function playerShoot()
local bullet = {}
playerShip.x = playerShip.x + 32
playerShip.y = playerShip.y + 10
table.insert(playerBullets, bullet)
end
local function AlienShoot(x,y)
local bullet = {}
bullet.x = alienUFO.width/2
bullet.y = y -5
table.insert(alienBullets, bullet)
end
local function playerShots(dt)
if next(playerBullets) ~= nil then
for i = #playerBullets,1,-1 do
playerBullets[i].y = playerBullets[i].y - dt* playerBullets.bulletSpeed
if playerBullets[i].y < 0 then
table.remove(playerBullets,i)
else
for j = #aliens, 1,-1 do
for k = #aliens[j],1,-1 do
if next(playerBullets) ~= nil and playerBullets[i] ~= nil and
aliens[j][k].x <= playerBullets[i].x and aliens[j] [k].x + 50 >= playerBullets[i].x
and aliens[j][k].y <= playerBullets[i].y and aliens[j] [k].y + 47 >= playerBullets[i].y then
table.remove(playerBullets, i)
if level == 2 and aliens[j][k].life > 0 then
aliens[j][k].life = aliens[j][k].life - 1
if level == 3 and aliens[j][k].life > 0 then
aliens[j][k].life = aliens[j][k].life - 1
else
table.remove(aliens[j], k)
alienQty = alienQty - 1
score = score + 100
end
break
end
end
end
end
end
end
end
local function PlayerShot()
health = health - 1
if health == 0 then
love.event.quit() -- COME BACK HERE FOR LOSE
end
end
local function AlienShots(dt)
if next(alienBullets) ~= nil then
for i = #alienBullets,1,-1 do
alienBullets[i].y = alienBullets[i].y + dt * alienUFO.bulletSpeed
if alienBullets[i].y > love.graphics.getHeight() then
table.remove(alienBullets, i)
elseif playerShip.x <= alienBullets[i].x and playerShip.x + playerShip.width >= alienBullets[i].x
and playerShip.y <= alienBullets[i].y and playerShip.y + playerShip.height >- alienBullets[i].y then
table.remove(alienBullets, i)
PlayerShot()
end
end
end
end
local function nextLVL()
level = level + 1
if level == 2 then
alienUFO.image = love.graphics.newImage(alienUFO.ENEMY1)
alienUFO.speed = 100
alienUFO.shotProb = 20
alienUFO.bullet = alienBul.image
initGame()
elseif level == 3 then
alienUFO.image = love.graphics.newImage(alienUFO.ENEMY2)
initGame()
elseif level > 3 then
love.event.quit() -- COME BACK HERE FOR WIN
end
end
function game.load()
pause = false
level = 1
health = 3
score = 0
playerShip.speed = 300
playerShip.bulletSpeed = 300
playerShip.width = 75
playerShip.height = 71
alienUFO.speed = 70
alienUFO.width = 50
alienUFO.height = 47
alienUFO.ENEMY1 = ENEMY_UFO.ENEMY_1
alienUFO.ENEMY2 = ENEMY_UFO.ENEMY_2
alienUFO.ENEMY3 = ENEMY_UFO.ENEMY_3
alienUFO.bulletSpeed = 300
alienUFO.image = love.graphics.newImage(alienUFO.ENEMY3)
playerShip.IMAGE = PLAYER_IMG
playerShip.image = love.graphics.newImage(playerShip.IMAGE)
healthImage = love.graphics.newImage(HEALTH_IMG)
playerShip.x = love.graphics.getWidth() / 2 - playerShip.width/2
playerShip.y = love.graphics.getHeight() - 100
playerBul.image = love.graphics.newImage(PLAYER_BULLET)
alienBul.image = love.graphics.newImage(ENEMY_BULLET)
initGame()
end
function game.draw()
if pause then
love.graphics.print('GAME PAUSED',love.graphics.getWidth()/2 - 20,20)
end
if next(playerBullets) ~= nil then
for i = 1, #playerBullets do
love.graphics.draw(playerBul.image, playerBullets[i].x, playerBullets[i].y)
end
end
if next(alienBullets) ~= nil then
for i = 1, #alienBullets do
love.graphics.draw(alienBul.image, alienBullets[i].x, alienBullets[i].y)
end
end
if next(aliens) ~= nil then
for i = 1, #aliens do
for j = 1, #aliens[i] do
love.graphics.draw(alienUFO.image, aliens[i][j].x, aliens[i][j].y)
end
end
end
love.graphics.print('Score: '..score, love.graphics.getWidth() - 100,20)
love.graphics.draw(playership.image, playership.x, playerShip.y)
for i = 1, lives do
love.graphics.draw(healthImage, 10+ 1 * 15,20)
end
end
function game.update(dt)
if not pause then
if alienQty == 0 then
nextLVL()
end
if love.keyboard.isDown("right") then
playerShip.x = playerShip.x + dt * playerShip.speed
elseif love.keyboard.isDown("left") then
playerShip.x = playerShip.x - dt * playerShip.speed
end
if love.keyboard.isDown(" ") then
playerShoot()
end
playerShots(dt)
AlienShots(dt)
if love.math.random(1,100) < alienUFO.shotProb then
local r = love.math.random(1,#aliens)
if next(aliens[r]) ~= nil then
alienShoot(aliens[r][#aliens[r]].x, aliens[r][#aliens[r]].y)
end
end
if alienMovement then
for i = 1, #aliens do
for j = 1, #aliens[i] do
aliens[i][j].x = aliens[i][j].x + dt * alienUFO.speed
if aliens[i][j].x + alienUFO.width + 2 >= love.graphics.getWidth() then
alienMovement = false
end
end
end
else
for i =1, #aliens do
for j = 1, #aliens[i] do
aliens[i][j].x = aliens[i][j].x - dt * alienUFO.speed
if aliens[i][j].x - 2 <= 0 then
alienMovement = true
end
end
end
end
if playerShip.x < 0 then
playerShip.x = 0
elseif playerShip.x > love.graphics.getWidth() - 75 then
playerShip.x = love.graphics.getWidth() -75
end
end
end
end
function game.keypressed(key)
if key =='p' then
pause = not pause
end
end
return game

Answer 1

you haven't defined a load function on the game table you return in game.lua. it looks like you already wrote the load logic but wrote it as a local function named loadGame. to fix your issue update game.lua to export the load function and just have it call the load function you've already created, like this:
function game.load()
loadGame()
end
somewhere before you return the game table in game.lua, say after your definition of game.keypressed
or you could alternatively just change local function loadGame() to function game.load() to remove the local function and redefine it as exported functionality