Replacing movieclip - actionscript-3

I m currently working on converting one of my as2 game project into as3 (flash pro cs4). But there is a problem on the background movieclip.
I have a function called disposemc:
function disposemc(mcname:MovieClip):void{
mcname.parent.removeChild(mcname);
mcname = null
}
Another function called changelayer:
function changelayer(mcname:MovieClip,layer:MovieClip):void{
layer.addChild(mcname)
}
So in main timeline frame 2 I have a movieclip on stage (placed in IDE) with instance name "bg_mc", then on main timeline frame 3 I have a DIFFERENT mc on stage with the SAME instance name "bg_mc". The purpose of this is to replace the old bg_mc by the new one.
The problem is,
In frame 2, I applied changelayer function to bg_mc and moved it into a child mc of root by addChild, and then applied a function of my CPU image post processing framework and added the bg_mc into an array.
After some stuffs happened, I went nextFrame to frame 3, and found that the new bg_mc didnot replace the old one, instead it overlaps.
So I tried disposemc function when leaving frame 2 to get rid of the old bg_mc, and at frame 3 I applied changelayer to bg_mc and added bg_mc to my render array.
And I found that the old bg_mc is off the stage but it is still rendering onto my bitmap data, means it is not nullified like it suppose to be in disposemc function. And it is also hard to access it because the name overlaps. When I call bg_mc in frame 3 it is the new one, but the old one still exists, and from the rendered bitmap data it can see it is still playing.
Will making the old mc stop in disposemc function help?
Can anyone give any help? If my structure of making bg is bad, is there any other way to override an instance with a different mc in library?

The purpose of this is to replace the old bg_mc by the new one
You work with MovieClip and frames. So use keyframes by design. If you need to place different background in third frame, don't program it, place it. If you want program, don't use MovieClip with keyframes as main navigation instrument.
Main timeline could be easily swapped with very simple logic and several movie clips with only one frame
//Some MovieClips from the library, with only one frame, still designed in Flash IDE
var currentScene:DisplayObject;
var home: MyHove = new MyHove()
var intro:MyIntro = new MyIntro();
navigate(home);
//after some interaction from the user, go to another page
navigate(intro);
//It will work like gotoAndStop... but better, and give you more control
function navigate(scene: DisplayObject):void{
if(currentScene != null){
removeChild(currentScene);
}
currentScene = scene;
if(currentScene != null){
addChild(currentScene);
//apply logic for swapping background
}
}

Related

How to make a movieclip play on a specific frame in AS3?

I'm incredibly rusty at Flash having not touched it in probably 10 years and can't seem to figure this out, or find it online:
I have a MovieClip with two layers, each having a Shape Tween. Basically its a Door that opens and closes.
I dropped it onto the main timeline but now I need it to start and stop. This is where I'm now struggling since the last time I used Flash actions could go on specific keyframes.
I made a new layer called actions just to keep things organized and currently have:
barrier1.stop();
I just want something that lets me state a frame, say 57 to have barrier1 start playing on. Tried using play(); and Event.ENTER_FRAME with no luck. How would I set this up?
Well it is easy with the instance name of your movieClip
barrier1.stop(); // Stops the movieClip
barrier1.play(); // Resumes
barrier1.gotoAndStop(12) // Goes to 12nd frame and stop
barrier1.gotoAndPlay(12) // Goes to 12nd frame and play
barrier1.currentFrame // returns barrier currentframe
For capturing frame from scene level:
this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,onLoop);
function onLoop(event:Event){
if(barrier1.currentFrame == 57){
trace("BARRIER is in 57. frame");
}
}
Inside on the animation clip on the first frame
var root:MovieClip = this.parent as MovieClip
root.makeStartSceneAnimation()
**in timeline scene level [root]**
function makeStartSceneAnimation(){
/// barrier started to play
}
If you are using timeline, you can add Key frame on the desired frame, and then add stop(); as Action in the action layer. But bear in mind that if you do this in the main timeline - it will stop everything. If you want to stop that MovieClip, then you have to do this inside MoviceClip's timeline.

AddChild with GetChildByName

Complete AS3 noob here - I've tried Googling this, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for (I stumbled across this, http://ub4.underblob.com/as3-naming-elements-dynamically/, but it doesn't weem to work for me).
I'm trying to dynamically add a Movieclip inside another Movieclip through an external AS3 class
Something like this:
var bullet:Bullet = new Bullet(x, y, "right");
var stageBackground:MovieClip = (stage.getChildByName("back") as MovieClip);
stageBackground.addChild(bullet);
However, while this compiles correctly, at run time, I get error #1009 - Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
The debug panel tells me the problem is with this line:
stageBackground.addChild(bullet);
But I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with it. I've tried recasting stageBackground as a Sprite, but that didn't change anything. I know the MovieClip back exists - when I reference it through near identical code in my document class, it works perfectly.
You are accessing stage here to find your container, which is very likely the problem.
You are probably thinking that the stage property refers to "the stage" in Adobe Flash authoring environment.
That's not true.
If you placed a MovieClip on "the stage" in the Flash IDE, it ends up on the main time line, this however, is not the thing the stage property is referencing. stage is the topmost DisplayObjectContainer in the display list. It only exists at runtime. It more or less represents the FlashPlayer window, the runtime environment that executes your .swf file.
In short: you are simply looking for your back MovieClip in the wrong place.
The property of a container that represents the main timeline is root.
Do not use root either.
As you can see, your code becomes dependent on the display list
structure of your application. You are already struggling to find the
container that you are looking for. If you change the structure, your code breaks. Even changing the name of the container (for example to something like "background") will wreak havoc.
Instead, use Events.
You are in another class and you want to fire a bullet.
So you create that bullet same as you do now:
var bullet:Bullet = new Bullet(x, y, "right");
Next, dispatch an Event to notify the rest of your code that a bullet was created and it should be placed in the appropriate container:
dispatchEvent(new BulletEvent(BulletEvent.CREATED, bullet));
(Create a custom event class BulletEvent that extends Event, with the apropriate setter and getter for a Bullet object)
Register a listener on the object of your class that creates the bullets, you will catch this event and place the bullet in the container:
var object:YourClass = new YourClass();
object.addEventListener(BulletEvent.CREATED, addBulletToContainer);
function addBulletToContainer(e:BulletEvent):void
{
// adding the bullet to the container
back.addChild(e.bullet);
}
This code would be placed in the parent of your back MovieClip.
The Flash IDE automatically creates variables behind the scenes that have the same names as the instance names. That's why the variable back is available here.
Using events here allows you to literally fire the bullet into your code with somebody else taking care of it, where it's easy to figure out the container it belongs into.

How to save data in previous frame in Flash

I have some movieclips called one, two, three, four, five that appear on stage with addChild. I also have 4 editable text fields on stage called theText1, theText2, theText3 and theText4 where users must write the numbers 4, 1, 5, 2 in each one. If they write something wrong they are sent in a next frame where they take some feedback and come back in current frame to correct their answer. The problem is that when they come back all are "reset". Movie clips added before and numbers written before must be on stage. How can i do that? (I need something simple because i am new to flash and as3).
Because MovieClips don't store frame states.
You should store values, and restore them, after returning to the frame.
//Add these 2 helper functions in your frame with Quiz UI
function restoreValues():void{
if(this.storedValues != null){
//Restore data
theText1.text = this.storedValues.txt1;
}
}
function storeValues():void{
//Save as much data as you want
this.storedValues = {
txt1 : theText1.text
};
}
When you go to the another frame, call storeValues right before you change frame and store all necessary data in simple object.
checkQuizButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onCheck);
function onCheck(e: MouseEvent):void{
storeValues();
nextFrame();
}
In the frame with Quiz ui components, just after initialisation of all ui components, call restoreValues(); Don't forget to change functions for your needs.

Practical way of getting a picture of a library object

I´m making a level creator for my platformer game on AS3. I´m looking for a way of getting a graphical representation of a library object on my .fla, so the user can insert that object on the world on the desired coordinate. What I mean with this is that I just want a picture of the first frame of the mc, without taking its properties and methods (without the need to make a .jpg containing that image), because that´s when problems begin to appear, and I just want the object functionality on play mode, not the level creator.
Let´s say, for example, a ball that bounces all the time by updating its location every frame. On the level creator I just want to get the ball picture to insert it on the desired location. If I take the whole ball object to the level creator it won´t stop bouncing and it will mess things up.
I hope I´m clear... I just want to know if there is a practical solution to this; if not then I´ll make a class where all the world objects would extend to, that has a init() function that initializes all the object functionality, so it´s called only on play mode and not on level creator. Thanks for reading anyway.
What you're doing wrong is adding functionality directly to the MovieClip.
Please read one of my previous answers that covers this concept in more depth.
MovieClips should be used for the display only, representing the graphics of an actual game class, for example:
public class Player
{
// Graphics that represent the Player.
protected var display:MovieClip;
// Constructor.
public function Player()
{
display = new PlayerMovieClip();
}
}
Anyways, once you fix that you can take a Bitmap sample of MovieClips using BitmapData and its draw():
// Assume that 'mc' is your MovieClip.
var sample:BitmapData = new BitmapData(mc.width, mc.height, true, 0);
sample.draw(mc);
// This is your image.
var texture:Bitmap = new Bitmap(sample);

Switching flash scenes within a MovieClip

How do I switch scenes within a flash MovieClip object with Flash CS5 and ActionScript 3?
Hi Dani,
First of all, coding within MovieClip objects in AS3 is not recommended AND using scenes are not recommended.
Why?
Coding within MovieClip objects can be tempting if you are a beginner and this is alright.But if you are serious about the reusability of your assets and your code, you may want to dissociate your visual from your logic.I'm suggesting you write your logicFrom the main timelineFrom external classes (and using OOP)This is great!
Scenes are bad because of the timeline and code issues.If some of your code is in a scene, it may be not accessible to the other scenes.
Enough talking, here's the help you need.
How do I switch scenes within a Flash MovieClip object
This code is intended to be in a MovieClip frame
// === Let's put the stage in a variable (cleaner) ===
var main:MovieClip = this.parent as MovieClip;
// this.parent will return the DisplayObject of parent the current clip.
// You need to cast [... as MovieClip] to not cause errors because Flash
// thinks it is only a DisplayObject
// === Here's the interresting part ===
main.gotoAndPlay(0, "Scene 2");
// We tell the main timeline to go to frame 0 in the "Scene 2"
// Be cautious, it must be spelled exactly as displayed in Flash (IDE)
Don't forget: Deeper is your clip (Embeded multiple times in a clip), more "parent" will you need.
var main:MovieClip = this.parent.parent as MovieClip;
// If your object is inside a MovieClip who is itself in a MovieClip
// Tip: How much time you need to push the Back button to go to the timeline
// is the number of parents you need to write.
Hoping this help. If you have any questions, just comment this answer!