using lineTo in a movieclip having a some shape already - actionscript-3

This is quite silly, but still i am scratching my head on this :
mc.graphics.lineStyle(2,0xff0000)
mc.graphics.lineTo(100,100);
mc.setChildIndex((mc.getChildAt(0)),0)
In the above mc is a filled rectangle shape. But when i use lineTo, it draws line at the back of the shape. I tried to use the setChildIndex method, but of no use.
Any suggestions ?
Thanks
V.

graphics is the drawing layer below all children within a component, instead you can create another sprite then add it to the display tree in whatever order you please and draw on it's graphics instead.
Let me know if this doesn't help or isn't clear.
Shaun

Related

How can I get coordinates of object collision in AS3?

I'm trying to write a simple flash game like Space Invaders. When the ship shoots I check if bullet hits the enemy with simple if like below:
if (bullet.hitTestObject(enemy)) {
var explosion = new Explosion(enemy.x, enemy.y);
stage.addChild(explosion);
explosions.push(explosion);
//Rest of logic like removing bullet and enemy from stage
}
What I expected to see was an Explosion instance appearing somewhere around the coords where bullet hit the enemy and that it would stay in place. Instead explosion seems to be appearing completely elsewhere and is moving in the same direction the enemy was (opposite direction to bullet). It seems that my assumption about successfully getting coordinates in a way presented above isn't right. Is there any other way to get it at least approximately? It doesn't have to be pixel-perfect, but I don't want explosion to appear on the other side of the stage.
Thanks for any suggestions.
It's not about getting the coordinates but having in mind where your children are added.
If the container is moved around, and you add the explosion to other container, the coordinates will mess up - each object has an internal coordinate system starting from 0,0.
Best advise would be to manually understand where's the difference and where are your children added. Common way to fix this is to add all your children at 0,0. This will give you full control and nevertheless an idea of how Flash works.
If you are unable to do so, you can always use globalToLocal and localToGlobal methods that will help you convert those coordinates to a global (Stage) ones, and vise versa.

Actionscript: Make a mask follow a line (and "grow")

does anybody know/have some idea how to make a mask follow a line? Basically I have a drawing made with 1px line and I need to gradually mask this shape so it actually looks like it is being drawn. The thing is that I cannot just increase the width of the mask (it would simple draw a vertical line in one step which is not desired), it has to be a linear movement along the "guide" line, so the vertical line gets drawn in several steps. Doing this manually will/would be a major pain. This is what I am trying to achieve:
Thanks a lot!
You have to do it manually. Though there are some shortcuts you can take:
Create a Guide layer in Flash Pro.
Copy a vector of your path to this guide layer.
Create a new layer below it, put a circle on that layer at the start of the path and make a classic tween of that circle.
Dock your circle layer under your guide layer and at the last frame of your tween move the circle to the end of the path. This will make the circle go along the path.
Follow the animation and manually fill the covered parts.
Put your guide, circle animation and following animation into a MovieClip and put it above your to be masked symbol and make its layer a mask.
Here's an example I made for you if I wasn't clear enough: http://db.tt/kvaaYaLA
Note that this method is only useful if you need a static animation, not for a dynamic one.

draw line in actionscript 3 without using the draw API?

I need to be able to draw a thick patterend line between 2 points in AS3, I can't use the draw API because it doesn't all me to actually put detail (pattern etc) into the thickness of the line, I thought about perhaps using the line to create a bitmap version and then using that as a mask, but I remember many years ago seeing some examples that use a movieclip as a source for a line, but I can't find examples of that now at all, any ideas?
I've attached an example image of how I want the line to look.
I suspect Graphics.lineBitmapStyle() will do the trick. If you want to use a Sprite or MovieClip as the source, you'll have to draw() it to a BitmapData first. The example code on that later link should get you up and running with that.

Box2dweb, shifting the canvas?

I'm currently working on a game with html5/js, using box2dweb for the collision but I'm running into the issue where I am required to scroll the level with the player. Box2d renders directly to the 2d context so I think in it's current state there is no way to shift the render portion of the canvas?
In as3 you could just put everything in a movieclip and change it's position accordingly.
So, is it possible in anyway to have control of a camera of some sorts or the render portion of the canvas object to shift it's 'position' to keep the player centered at all times?
Thanks in advance,
M0rph3v5
Box2D, by itself, doesn't draw anything, it just calculates positions/collisions.
It offers the so-called "Debug Drawing", but it's purpose is... debug.
Anyway you could start from there to add all the needed features.
http://code.google.com/p/box2d/wiki/FAQ
Yeah I figured, turns out I had to use a context.translate right before the debugdraw as well to 'shift' everything. Got it working nicely now.
EDIT:
The code I'm currently using
context.save();
context.translate(-1*xpos+(canvas.width/2),-1*ypos+(canvas.height/2));
context.rotate(cars[carid].angle);
context.drawImage(carSprite, -carspritewidth/2, -carspriteheight/2);
context.restore();
where xpos and ypos are the x and y positions of the car, after that i just draw the actual car sprite at 0,0 (with the carsize divided as the center).

Is it possible to move the stage in actionscript 3.0?

Hi to keep it short and simple let's say I have a stage with 400x400 size in pixels, but I've drawn a map of 1000x1000 size in pixels. I want my player to be able to "walk" about the stage, but it appears stage.x and stage.y are read-only? Is there any method or way to have the stage "scroll" about, without having to move each object on the map?
Don't move the stage, move the 1000x1000 object,then it'll look like the whole thing is moving.
You should see the stage like a window. You can see everything behind it depending on the size of the window. You cannot change the size of the stage, or move it.
Just like a window you can measure the size of the stage. You can use this to navigate for example movieclips across the stage with actionscript.
Why don't you put the map and the other objects in a seperate layer, and move the map around. Other objects (for example a big red dot to tell the user its' location on the map) are on a fixed position on the map. Just move the map following a sort of path according the red dot.
Not entirely sure what you want to do, but it isn't possible to move the stage.
You can put all the movieclips (the player and the map, if you want) in one movieclip, put only that movieclip on the stage and move that.
But if you only want the map to scroll, just move the map around.
The other answers are correct, but there's an alternative to moving the map:
ScrollRect
Attach a rectangle to a your map's scrollRect property. Moving that rectangle will have the same apparent effect as moving the stage around.
There are minor pros and cons to using scrollRect vs. moving the world, but try them both and see which works better for you.