actionscript 3: changing object size after a hitTestObject - actionscript-3

Question

I want to make my players become bigger or smaller in diameter when they eat a good(theBall2) or bad ball(theBadBall) respectively. ive created a hitTestObject function where I tried to make the ball get smaller and bigger but it doesn’t work.
var player1;
var player2;
var player3;
var theBall2;
var theBadBall;
player1 = new player(50,384, 1);
player2 = new player(944,384,2);
player3 = new player(488,84,3);
stage.addChild(player1);
stage.addChild(player2);
stage.addChild(player3);
var player.width: player.width * 2; // 1086 syntax error: expecting semicolon before dot.
var player.height:player.height * 2;// 1086 syntax error: expecting semicolon before dot.
//this function checks to see if theBall2 has collided with a player
if(theBall2.hitTestObject(player1) || theBall2.hitTestObject(player2) || theBall2.hitTestObject(player3))
{
//removes the ball from the stage
trace("a player has eaten a ball");
stage.removeChild(theBall2);
//adds new ball
theBall2 = new ball2();
theBall2.x = stage.stageWidth/2;
theBall2.y = stage.stageHeight/2;
stage.addChild( theBall2 );
//makes player larger
player.width = player.width * 4; // do I have to define player1, player2, player3, instead of their class player?
player.height = player.height * 4;
}
//this function checks to see if theBadBall has collided with a player
if(theBadBall.hitTestObject(player1) || theBadBall.hitTestObject(player2) || theBadBall.hitTestObject(player3))
{
//removes thebadball from the stage
trace("a player has eaten bad ball");
stage.removeChild(theBadBall);
//adds new ball
theBadBall = new badball();
theBadBall.x = stage.stageWidth/2;
theBadBall.y = stage.stageHeight/2;
stage.addChild(theBadBall);
//makes player smaller
player.width = player.width / 2;
player.height = player.height / 2;
}
How do I make it work?

Answer 1

There's no player anywhere, so you can't change its height or width.
And these lines are completely wrong: var player.width: player.width * 2;.
You have player1, player2 and player3 and you need to change their sizes. Those are MovieClips?
If so, you could for example:
var player:MovieClip;
var goodBallHit:Boolean;
if(theBall2.hitTestObject(player1)){
player = player1;
goodBallHit = true;
}else if(theBall2.hitTestObject(player2)){
player = player2;
goodBallHit = true;
}else if(theBall2.hitTestObject(player3)){
player = player3;
goodBallHit = true;
}
if(goodBallHit){
stage.removeChild(theBall2);
theBall2 = new ball2();
theBall2.x = stage.stageWidth/2;
theBall2.y = stage.stageHeight/2;
stage.addChild(theBall2);
player.width = player.width * 4;
player.height = player.height * 4;
}
So you really need to refer the actual object, player1, ..2 or ..3 at this case.
This is only one way, and there's many others too. I wouldn't recommend using hitTestObject at all, especially with balls, but this might be a good method for you to start with.
Your whole project would need a bit more planning, but I understand it's pretty hard if you don't know the language too well. Just have some patience, SEARCH info from this site & google, and you'll get this done suprisingly fast I'm sure.
(+You really need to continue googling, there must be dozens of similar game sources and tutorials out there)