Orbiting objects with equal spacing AS3 - actionscript-3

Question

I have a monster that produces crystals. I want each crystal to orbit the monster, but when there is more than one crystal, I want them to orbit at an equal distance from each other. I've been trying to get this to work using two blocks of code I already have, but each one does something different and i need one block of code that does it all.
This block simply allows an object to orbit another:
orbitRadius = 110;
angle += orbitSpeed;
rad = (angle * (Math.PI / 180));
orbitX = monster.x + orbitRadius * Math.cos(rad);
orbitY = monster.y + orbitRadius * Math.sin(rad);
Here's a video of what it looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACclpQBsjPo
This block of code arranges crystals around the monster based on the amount of crystals there are:
radius = 110;
angle = ((Math.PI * 2) / targetArray.length) * targetArray.indexOf(this);
orbitX = monster.x - (radius * Math.cos(angle));
orbitY = monster.y - (radius * Math.sin(angle));
And here's this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY0mBHc2A8U
I do not know how to both space the crystals equally and make them circle around the monster at the same time. What needs to be done in order to achieve this?

Answer 1

1) Hierarchical way: put crystals into the same container so they spread equally (like you are doing on the second video) then rotate the container.
2) Math way.
Implementation:
public class Orbiter extends Sprite
{
// Pixels.
public var radius:Number = 100;
// Degrees per second.
public var speed:Number = 360;
public var items:Array;
public var lastTime:int;
public function start()
{
stop();
rotation = 0;
items = new Array;
lastTime = getTimer();
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onFrame);
}
public function stop():void
{
items = null;
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onFrame);
}
public function onFrame(e:Event = null):void
{
var aTime:int = getTimer();
rotation += speed * (aTime - lastTime) / 1000;
lastTime = aTime;
for (var i:int = 0; i < items.length; i++)
{
// Get the object.
var anItem:DisplayObject = items[i];
// Get the object's designated position.
var aPos:Point = getPosition(i);
// Follow the position smoothly.
anItem.x += (aPos.x - anItem.x) / 10;
anItem.y += (aPos.y - anItem.y) / 10;
}
}
private function getPosition(index:int):Point
{
// Calculate the angle with regard to the present items amount.
var anAngle:Number = (rotation - 360 / items.length) * Math.PI / 180;
var result:Point = new Point;
// Figure the position with regard to (x,y) offset.
result.x = x + radius * Math.cos(anAngle);
result.y = y + radius * Math.sin(anAngle);
return result;
}
}
Usage:
var O:Orbiter = new Orbiter;
// Define the offset.
O.x = monster.x;
O.y = monster.y;
// Set radius and rotation speed.
O.radius = 110;
O.speed = 270;
// Enable the rotation processing.
O.start();
// Append items to orbit.
O.items.push(Crystal1);
O.items.push(Crystal2);
O.items.push(Crystal3);
You can change radius and speed any time, as well as add/remove items, thanks to motion smoothing that all will look equally fine.