Adventure game engine: a couple of issues

that would be a problem.

Seems I spoke too soon. The problems I was having with the movement wasn't due to the movetoAndExit() function, but rather a variable conflict in the charMove() function, like you said.

Nevertheless, I got the function to stop looping with "delete this.onEnterFrame;", and the movement is now working almost without issues. And this leads me to issue 4:

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4. When using a extended move function (e.g. charMoveToAndExit()) that uses the charMove() function, the walkspeed is doubled for some reason.

So, I have a charMove() function that's used by other functions to move characters around. Within this function is a run condition, which basically increases the walkspeed, whenever run is set to True. The charMove() function works perfectly by itself, but when I embed it into another function, the walkspeed is doubled.

I've gone through it a few times and it's not becoming any clearer to me. The function is a bit of a mess right now, so I'll be especially grateful if anyone is willing to go through it.

charMove():
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//function: any non-mouse character movement
function charMove(char, targetX, targetY, run) {
//determine the character attributes from the given values
char.targetX = targetX
char.targetY = targetY
char.run = run

//directional unit vectors
char.i = char.targetX - char._x
char.j = char.targetY - char._y
//calculate distance and choose smaller value
char.dist = Math.sqrt(char.i * char.i + (char.j/_root.axisRatio) * (char.j/_root.axisRatio))
if (char.run == false) {
char.diff = Math.min(char.dist, char.walkSpeed)
} else if (char.run == true) {
char.diff = Math.min(char.dist, char.runSpeed)
}
char.i /= char.dist
char.j /= char.dist
char.i *= char.diff
char.j *= char.diff
char._x += char.i
char._y += char.j

//directional idle
if (Math.round(char._x) == char.targetX && Math.round(char._y) == char.targetY) {
//movement has stopped
char.walking = "no"
char.run = false
}
}
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charMoveToAndExit():
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//function: move to given coordinates and exit scene
function charMoveToAndExit(changeFrom, changeTo, sceneXFrom, sceneXTo, teleportX, teleportY, idleDirection, charFrom, targetXFrom, targetYFrom, runFrom, charTo, targetXTo, targetYTo, runTo) {
onEnterFrame = function () {
//move char with charMove function
_root.charMove(charFrom, targetXFrom, targetYFrom, runFrom)
//exit scene if movement has stopped
if (Math.round(charFrom._x) == targetXFrom && Math.round(charFrom._y) == targetYFrom) {
//change the scene
_root.changeScene(changeFrom, changeTo, sceneXFrom, sceneXTo)
//teleport char to given coordinates
_root.charTeleport(charTo, teleportX, teleportY, idleDirection)
delete this.onEnterFrame
}
}
}
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charMoveToAndSpeak():
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//function: print spoken dialog lines for chars after moving to coordinates
function charMoveToAndSpeak(char, targetX, targetY, run, idleDirection, charSpeech, spokenLine) {
onEnterFrame = function () {
//move char with charMove function
_root.charMove(char, targetX, targetY, run)
//print spoken line with charSpeak function if movement has stopped
if (Math.round(char._x) == targetX && Math.round(char._y) == targetY) {
//make char face given direction
_root.charFace(char, idleDirection)
//make char say given spoken line
_root.charSpeak(charSpeech, spokenLine)
delete this.onEnterFrame
}
}
}
---------------

EDIT:

I took out all the useless rubbish from the charMove() function so that it's a little clearer. I also added another extended function (charMoveToAndSpeak()) that's a bit simpler, but still uses the same technique and has the same problem.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that the run condition has no bearing on my problem. Even if I set the global runSpeed to the same as walkSpeed, or comment out the runSpeed variables from the function, the problem still persists. I'm now thinking that the issue is from the enterFrame in conjunction with the movement tweening code, distorting it somehow. There's also another distinction with the charMove() and charMoveToAndExit() functions: charMove can be interrupted by clicking to walk somewhere else, whereas charMoveToAndExit continues to move even though you click somewhere else.

Oh, you can try it out here for yourself:

http://users.evtek.fi/~ilarim/flash_...project_a.html

charMove(): choose U on the wall hotspot
charMoveToAndSpeak(): choose E on the wall hotspot
charMoveToAndExit(): click on the exit
running: double-click with the mouse

well, charMove is relevant and almost certainly the problem. instead of calling charMove() in that onEnterFrame, you should

1. be incrementing char's _x and _y properties.
2. using Math.abs(char._x-targetX)<somenumber && similarly for _y to
determine when to change scene AND
3. delete that onEnterFrame loop.

you're welcome.

I have it currently so that there's a black area underneath that's semi-transparent, and it works well enough right now. I was just curious if desaturation were possible in Flash. Using bitmapdata would exclude all dynamic stuff (animation, etc.) in the background from working, so that's not a viable option.

I'm using custom cursors, so I don't need to disable the default interaction cursor. There is one issue concerning mouse hiding, too: If I have mouse.hide() on the onLoad event of the cursor movieClip, the OS cursor becomes visible, and stays so, if I right-click for the flash menu. On the other hand, if I have mouse.hide() also in onEnterFrame, the OS cursor won't show in the flash menu.

How might I be able to hide the mouse again when the flash menu is closed?

flash can manipulate saturation via the bitmapdata class. this will be too complicated for you and is not really needed.

you can achieve a suitable effect by creating either a black (or white, depending on the effect you want) movieclip to position under your inventory box and assign it an _alpha less than 100.

btw, if you assign the enabled property of this movieclip to false, the handcursor won't show and this movieclip will still prevent mouse interaction with the objects below it.

Thanks a lot! That worked perfectly.

Any idea about the grayscaling thingy? Is it even possible to do dynamically in Flash?

1. if you have one parameter controlled by all the hotspots, the hotspots can't use a loop that executes without limit. you could use rollover and rollout handlers.

2. you must have done something wrong.

1. you should use a unique boolean for each hotspot.

2. that depends on what listeners you have defined. if keyboard interaction is detected, you should remove the listener(s) when not needed. for mouse events, you can use a blocking movieclip that has a mouse handler attached which is disabled. that will prevent all underlying objects from responding to the mouse.