Bring Timeline animation to top - actionscript-3

I have a movie that adds a MovieClip to it's stage in the constructor, i Also have an animation on the timeline that plays on certain events. Everything is working, except the movie I need the movie on the timeline to be the top layer, it is on the bottom currently.
public Class BallCollision extends MovieClip{
public function BallCollision(){
mcBall = new MovieClip();
stage.addChild(mcBall);
//Adds stuff to the movie clip
}
}

You can do one of the following:
Create a container on the timeline called 'container' and then add mcBall to that instead. This container will be on a layer underneath the existing animation.
Place all of the existing animation into a MovieClip and give it an instance name like animation. Whenever you add something to the stage, also use stage.addChild(animation) to bring it back to the top.
Obviously option 1 is preferable, but I've offered option 2 for the sake of free knowledge.

Related

Add Child Behind existing object AS3

I have made a game using Flash CS5 (as3) and I am trying to add a child to the stage behind objects that are already there. For example, I have a bar at the bottom of the screen that is there from the time you start the game and I have falling objects that I want to fall behind it, but instead they fall in front of it because I added them to the stage after. Is there a way of adding the falling objects behind it without having to keep re-adding the bar to the stage? Thanks in advance.
Rather than layering, I'd use adjust the index of each object using addChildAt and setChildIndex.
The following line adds your falling object behind every other DisplayObject on the stage (in this case, you should probably add your bar to the stage first)
stage.addChildAt(fallingObject, 0);
You can create Sprites to act as layers, and add the different objects to them. Here is an example that adds a layer for adding whatever you want behind the bar layer, and THEN adds the bar layer, so it will be on top. It's super rough since you don't have any code to reference:
package {
import flash.display.*;
public class Test extends MovieClip {
var barLayer:Sprite;
var objectLayer:Sprite;
public function Test() {
var objectLayer = new Sprite();
//add the object layer to your main Class
this.addChild(objectLayer);
//now you can add movie clips or sprites to objectLayer whenever you like
//then create the bar layer
var barLayer = new Sprite();
//add your bar Display Object here
var bar = new MovieClip();//draw the bar or reference the library object you've created
barLayer.addChild(bar);
//now add the barLayer
this.addChild(barLayer);
}
}
}

exception, information=ReferenceError: Error #1056: Cannot create property ground on Main. (FLASH As3)

I have a deep problem which I have encountered.
I am adding a movie clip inside to another movie clip and flash doesn't like this.
What I'm doing is dynamically adding a movieclip to a movieclip that hasn't been added dynamically.
movieclip 1
private var tim:player = new player();
//inside main
tim.addChild(ground);
now ground is an instance name that hasn't been added via code. It's on the stage in flash and it's a movievlip with the instance name ground.
What can I do to fix this please.
Basically I wasn't really understanding As3,
From reading As3 101 - Display Lists I was able to understand that all things like sprites, shapes and movieclips are added to a display list.
In order to have added tim to a parent, that parent would have to be present.
This means that the parent would need to be added to the display list.
addChild(container);
You can see that container is now part of the display list.
This means I can now:
container.addChild(character);
Add the character to the container, and this now becomes a display object container
I can now trace what's in the container.
trace(container.numChildren);
In this container there are 3 childrens, my ground, the player and the enemy :D

AS3 ClickToGoToAndStop function from main timeline targeted to frame within movieclip

I'm creating a website in flash and I'm having trouble finding what code to use for timeline and movieclip navigation. Right now I have my main navigation buttons on the main timeline, and a separate animation that serves as my content container on a movieclip within the main timeline. I don't know how to make it so that when I click a button on the main timeline to have it navigate to a frame within the content movieclip. I've found many troubleshooters regarding how to control the main timeline from within a movieclip, which is the opposite of what I'm trying to do.
I also have MouseOut handlers on the buttons which direct to mouse out animations on the main timeline.
HomeBtn1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, fl_MouseOutHandler_1);
Num2Btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, fl_MouseOutHandler_2);
ThrdBtn1.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, fl_MouseOutHandler_3);
function fl_MouseOutHandler_1(event:MouseEvent):void
{
gotoAndPlay(2);
trace("Moused out");
}
function fl_MouseOutHandler_2(event:MouseEvent):void
{
gotoAndPlay(30);
trace("Moused out");
}
function fl_MouseOutHandler_3(event:MouseEvent):void
{
gotoAndPlay(56);
trace("Moused out");
}
I would like it if I could add a function like this:
function fl_ClickToGoToAndStopAtFrame(event:MouseEvent):void
{
gotoAndStop(x);
}
But with a path targeted within the movieclip, I know it may sound like a simple question but I'm relatively new to flash.
To target the content movieclip:
1. Give it an instance name.
Select it on the stage and enter a name in the textfield on the Properties panel. Call it something like 'contentClip'.
2. Access it in your code using the instance name.
contentClip.gotoAndStop(30);
Will make the content clip go to frame 30.

Dynamically adding tween to n MC's

Here's what I'm aiming for. I'm querying the Rotten Tomatoes API for Upcoming Movies. For each movie returned, I'm creating an instance of MovieIcon (MC). I'm then adding this MC as a child of a Container MovieClip that's already on the scene. Each time, I'm incrementing the xPosition of each MovieIcon MC such that, they're positioned next to each other.
My container MC has a mask applied to it, therefore any child objects that are positioned beyond the size of the mask, they're are hidden from view.
How can I dynamically add a tween/easing animation between all these MovieIcon MC's so that when I hover over the Container MC, it 'scrolls' left or right, depending on the mouse motion?
Thanks in advance.
First I would recommend using a tweening library.
TweenLite and Tweener are good options
http://www.greensock.com/tweenlite/
http://code.google.com/p/tweener/
Both of these include docs that will help you get everything set up in your project.
Then you should be able to add a ROLL_OVER event to each of your MovieIcon MC's
MovieIcon.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, handleRollOver);
Inside your handler you can use the event.target property to get a handle on the over MovieIcon.
Assuming your using TweenLite you can go and add your tween to that target
private function handleRollOver(e:MouseEvent):void{
TweenLite.to(e.target, duration, {x: new x value, any other prop: any other val})
}

Movieclip stacking in Actionscript

I'm building a game of which the interface is one of the first items to load on screen. Sound button, pause and all the bits -
During the game - all manor of things are dynamically added and removed to the stage. Therefore my interface goes behind my game scene.
How do I ensure the movieclip always stays on top?
Can I override the addChild of my Document Class and every time a new child is added, I restack the interface to the top?
You can use setChildIndex to rearrange objects that are already contained within a MovieClip or Sprite. For example, if you have an object called container, which contains a redBall, blueBall and many other ball objects, you can use the following to make sure redBall is behind everything else:
container.setChildIndex(redBall, 0);
Equally you can make sure that blueBall will be displayed infront of everything else using:
container.setChildIndex(blueBall, container.numChildren-1);
addChildAt will sort you out for adding children straight into their correct position, and setChildIndex will allow you to re-position objects already placed. Hope that helps.
debu
Look into addChildAt, it allows you to specify the index that the new object should be added too.
http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/ActionScriptLangRefV3/flash/display/DisplayObjectContainer.html#addChildAt%28%29
A good strategy is to keep all interface elements in one parent Sprite/MovieClip, and all game assets in another. (With the interface one on top)
With your guys suggestion I made this, apparently, if you addChild an object already on the screen, it's simply reindex'd to the top. Does this look ok?
private var topLevelChildrenArray:Array = [];
public function addTopLevelChild(child:DisplayObject):DisplayObject
{
topLevelChildrenArray.push(child)
return this.addChildAt( child, this.numChildren - 1 );
}
override public function addChild(child:DisplayObject):DisplayObject
{
this.addChildAt(child, this.numChildren);
for each(var topChild:DisplayObject in topLevelChildrenArray)
{
super.addChild(topChild);
}
return child
}