Setting X Coordinate from Mouse Location - actionscript-3

i have a darkBlueRect rectangle sprite and a copy of the same sprite with a larger scale and a lighter color - lightBlueRect.
i'm attempting to shift the location of the lightBlueRect according to the mouse.x location when the mouse is moving over the darkBlueRect. this way if the mouse is on the right of the darkBlueRect than the location of the scaled up lightBlueRect will be on the opposite side and shifted towards the left proportionate to the mouse position and scale. in addition, the lightBlueRect must appear "locked" to the darkBlueRect so lightBlueRect.x must never be more than darkBlueRect.x and lightBlueRect.x + lightBlueRect.width must never be less than darkBlueRect.x + darkBlueRect.width.
the image below depicts 3 states of what i'm attempting to accomplish:
State A: mouse.x is over darkBlueRect.x = 1 and both sprites are aligned to the left.
State B: mouse.x is in the middle of darkBlueRect and both sprites are aligned to the middle.
State C: mouse.x is on the last pixel of darkBlueRect and both sprites are aligned to the right.
for this example, the darkBlueRect.width is equal to 170 and the lightBlueRect.width is equal to 320, or a scale of 1.89.
each time the mouse changes it's x position over darkBlueRect the following is called. however, while my current code works for the most part, it's not exactly correct. when the mouse.x is over darkBlueRect.x = 1, as shown in State A, the lightBlueRect.x is not property aligned with darkBlueRect and appears less than darkBlueRect.x.
var scale:Number = 1.89;
lightBlueRect.x = darkBlueRect.x - Math.round((mouse.x * scale) / darkBlueRect.width * (lightBlueRect.width - darkBlueRect.width));
what equation can i use so that no matter the scale of the lightBlueRect it's first position (mouse over first pixel) and last position (mouse over last pixel) will result in the 2 sprites being aligned as well as property proportionate positioning in between?
[EDIT] the coordinates of the darkBlueRect is {0, 0}, so when the lightBlueRect moves towards the left it is moving into the negative. i could have simply written my code (what doesn't work) like this instead:
var scale:Number = 1.89;
lightBlueRect.x = 0 - Math.round((mouse.x * scale) / darkBlueRect.width * (lightBlueRect.width - darkBlueRect.width));
[EDIT 2]
when the display objects are small, the problem is difficult to notice. however, when they are large the problem becomes move obvious. the problem, here, being that the objects on the left side are misaligned.
also the problem is probably exasperated by the fact that both the lightBlueRect and darkBlueRect are scalable. darkBlueRect is scaled down and lightBlueRect is scaled up.
here is a link to the test displaying the problem. mousing over the shape quickly will obviously result in inaccurate alignment since it's based on frame rate speed, but this is not my concern. still, when you slowly mouse over the shape it will not align correctly on the left side when the mouse is over the first pixel of darkBlueRect: http://www.geoffreymattie.com/test/test.html
[SWF(width = "1000", height = "600", backgroundColor = "0xCCCCCC")]
import flash.display.Sprite;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
var downScale:Number = 0.48;
var upScale:Number = 2.64;
var darkBlueRect:Sprite = createSprite();
darkBlueRect.scaleX = darkBlueRect.scaleY = downScale;
darkBlueRect.x = stage.stageWidth / 2 - darkBlueRect.width / 2;
darkBlueRect.y = stage.stageHeight / 2 - darkBlueRect.height / 2;
addChild(darkBlueRect);
var lightBlueRect:Sprite = createSprite();
lightBlueRect.scaleX = lightBlueRect.scaleY = upScale;
lightBlueRect.y = stage.stageHeight / 2 - lightBlueRect.height / 2;
lightBlueRect.x = stage.stageWidth;
lightBlueRect.mouseEnabled = false;
addChild(lightBlueRect);
darkBlueRect.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, mouseMoveEventHandler);
function mouseMoveEventHandler(evt:MouseEvent):void
{
lightBlueRect.x = darkBlueRect.x + Math.max(0.0, Math.min(darkBlueRect.mouseX / darkBlueRect.width * downScale, 1.0)) * (darkBlueRect.width - lightBlueRect.width);
}
function createSprite():Sprite
{
var result:Sprite = new Sprite();
result.graphics.beginFill(0x0000FF, 0.5);
result.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 700, 200);
result.graphics.endFill();
return result;
}
i believe the problem is that the scaling of the shapes.

Assuming you have a Clamp function handy, and that width is floating-point so that division works as expected:
lBR.x = dBR.x + Clamp((mouse.x - dBR.x) / dBR.width, 0, 1) * (dBR.width - lBR.width);
(You can define Clamp(x, m, M) = min(max(x, m), M) if you don't have one.)

Related

maintaining relative position when changing scaleX and scaleY?

I am trying to implement a simple "zoom" function in a map presentation type app. The user interacts with a NumericStepper to dial in a scale value and I then use that value to set the scaleX and scaleY properties of my map sprite. The parent of the map sprite has a scrollRect defined so the map is cropped as it scales. That all seems to work fine.
Naturally when I change the scale, the visible content shifts as the sprite becomes larger or smaller. I would like to keep the content in relatively the same screen location. I've taken a first pass at it below but it's not quite right.
Question: Am I on the right track here thinking that I can determine how much to shift the x/y by comparing the change in the width/height of the sprite after scaling? (as I write this I am thinking I can determine the center of the sprite before scaling, then reposition it so it stays centered over that point. Hmm. . .).
protected function scaleStepper_changeHandler(event:Event):void
{
var cX:Number = wrapper.x + (wrapper.width /2);
var cY:Number = wrapper.y + (wrapper.height /2);
wrapper.scaleX = scaleStepper.value;
wrapper.scaleY = scaleStepper.value;
wrapper.x = cX - (wrapper.width /2);
wrapper.y = cY - (wrapper.height /2);
}
You are on the right track, but for a better solution you should use a matrix to transform your Sprite. Use the following code below to achieve what you need:
private var originalMatrix:Matrix;
private function scaleAroundPoint(target:Sprite, scalePoint:Point, scaleFactor:Number):void
{
if(originalMatrix == null)
originalMatrix = target.transform.matrix;
var matrix:Matrix = originalMatrix.clone();
matrix.translate(-scalePoint.x, -scalePoint.y);
matrix.scale(scaleFactor, scaleFactor);
matrix.translate(scalePoint.x, scalePoint.y);
target.transform.matrix = matrix;
}
You can call this method like this:
scaleAroundPoint(wrapper, new Point(yourWidth/2, yourHeight/2), scaleStepper.value);
Hope this helps and solves your problem.
Am I on the right track here thinking that I can determine how much to shift the x/y by comparing the change in the width/height of the sprite after scaling?
Yes. As all values are known, you don't really have to "test" after scaling. You basically want to distribute the movement of the bounding box borders evenly.
Here's an example in one dimension, scaling factor 2, X is the registration point, | a boundary:
before scaling |--X--|
after scaling |----X----|
No problem there. Now what if the registration point is not in the middle?
before scaling |-X---|
after scaling |--X------|
As a last example, the edge case with the registration point on the boundary:
before scaling |X----|
after scaling |X--------|
Note how the boundaries of all 3 examples are equal before scaling and within each example, the registration point remains constant.
The problem is clearly identified. Now how to solve this?
We do know how much the width changes
before scaling width
after scaling width * scaleFactor
and from the first example we can determine where the left boundary should be after scaling (assuming that the registration point is at 0, so the object is centered):
before scaling -width * 0.5
after scaling -width * 0.5 * scaleFactor
This value depends on where the registration point of course is within the display object relative to the left boarder. To circumvent this dependency, subtract the values from each other to know how much the left boundary is moved to the left after scaling while keeping the object centered:
boundary shift width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)
Comparing before and after scaling, the left boundary should be further to the left by that amount and the right boundary should be further to the right by that amount.
The problem is that you cannot really set the left or right boundary directly.
You have to set the registration point, which will influence where the boundaries are. To know how far you should move the registration point, imagine both edge cases:
before scaling |X----|
after scaling |X--------|
corrected, |X--------|
before scaling |----X|
after scaling |--------X|
corrected, |--------X|
In both cases, the registration point has to be moved by the amount which the boundary should move, because essentially, the registration point is on the boundary and thus behaves the same way.
Any value in between can be found by linearly interpolating between both cases:
-[width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)] <= value <= +[width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)]
-[width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)] * (1-t) + [width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)] * t
To find the interpolation value t, which is 0 if X is on the left and 1 when on the right:
t = (X - L) / width
Add -[width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)] * (1-t) + [width * 0.5 * (scaleFactor - 1)] * t to the x position of the registration point and the scale the object.
Do the same for y in a similar fashion.

AS3 programming animation loop problems

I'm tinkering with making an object move from left a certain distance to the right, then start over from the left over and over.
I'm curious to how it works. Currently I have this (simplified) code where 'rect' is supposed to be looped to the right:
ok, this is the code non simplified: function preload(e:Event):void{
var loadedBytes=loaderInfo.bytesLoaded;
var totalBytes=loaderInfo.bytesTotal;
var rect=MovieClip(root).loader_rect;
var startpos=rect.x=stage.x-rect.width;
if(loadedBytes==totalBytes){
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, preloader);
gotoAndStop(2);
}
else{
rect.x+=3.5+loadedBytes/totalBytes;
if(rect.x>=stage.x+stage.width) rect.x=startpos
else rect.x+=3.5+loadedBytes/totalBytes;
}
} (I get no errors, just the animation isn't working)
To me it seems that should cover it. If rect's position is more than 200 move it to 0, otherwise move it right by 10px on each frame. But all it does is move rect by a few pixels to the right then stops. Why doesn't this work, is the logic incorrect?
The following line of code resets the x position of the rect object:
var startpos = rect.x = stage.x - rect.width;
This means that on every frame, the rect is moved to the above position, then moved 3.5 + a fraction between 0 and 1 pixels to the right. It will then be moved an additional 3.5 + a fraction between 0 and 1 pixels to the right.
So, on every frame the rect object will be moved to the x position of
stage.x - rect.width + 3.5 * 2 + [percent loaded] * 2
The rect will therefore never appear to move much (a maximum of 2 pixels over the course of the load).

circularly layout smaller squares within a large square

Given a bounding square and the total number of smaller squares. The smaller squares need to be drawn within the bigger square evenly spaced out in a circular fashion, just touching but not overlapping. How do you compute the width of the inner square ?
(updated fiddle link)
http://jsfiddle.net/mdluffy/6bUVz/3/
///////// INPUTS ///////////////////////////////////////////
var BoundingBoxSide = 100;
var NofInnerBoxes = 14;
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
drawBoxes();
function drawBoxes()
{
var c=document.getElementById("myCanvas");
var ctx=c.getContext("2d");
ctx.rect(0,0,BoundingBoxSide,BoundingBoxSide);
ctx.stroke();
for(var i=0; i < NofInnerBoxes; i++)
{
// ************************************************************************************ //
// This needs to be computed so that the boxes touch each other, but not overlap
var innerBoxSide = 20;
// ************************************************************************************ //
var angle = degToRad(i * 360/NofInnerBoxes);
var innerX = ((BoundingBoxSide - innerBoxSide)/2) * Math.cos(angle);
var innerY = ((BoundingBoxSide - innerBoxSide)/2) * Math.sin(angle);
ctx.rect(BoundingBoxSide/2 + innerX - innerBoxSide/2, BoundingBoxSide/2 - innerY - innerBoxSide/2, innerBoxSide, innerBoxSide);
ctx.stroke();
}
}
function degToRad(d)
{
return d * Math.PI / 180;
}
Update:
I'm working on a 3D visualization using Three.js. This is a tree structure with nodes represented as cubes. The child node cubes are layed out circularly on top of the parent node cubes. Applied recursively.
The inner squares need not touch the outer squares, but it should touch the largest circle that can be fit inside the outer square.
Here's my attempt:
var alpha = Math.PI * (NofInnerBoxes - 2) / (2 * NofInnerBoxes)
var t = Math.tan(alpha)
var innerBoxSide = BoundingBoxSide / Math.sqrt(t*t + 4*t + 5)
(Credit: to WolframAlpha for solving for innerBoxSide; and to an envelope I doodled on the back of.)
Update: The above was under the assumption that two sides of each inner square are parallel to a line that passes through the centers of that inner square and the outer square. I now see that this assumption was not what you had in mind.
Here's another approach. In this one, the circles that circumscribe the inner squares will all touch each other, though the inner squares themselves will not quite touch each other:
var alpha = Math.PI / NofInnerBoxes
var t = Math.sin(alpha)
var innerBoxSide = BoundingBoxSide * t / ((t + 1) * Math.sqrt(2))
Result:
Derivation
In response to the request for how the formula was derived...
Let r_s (r sub s) be the "small radius", i.e. the radius of the circles that circumscribe the inner squares. These inner circles are all tangent to the big circle that inscribes the outer square. Call the radius of the big circle r_b (b for "big").
Note that the side of the outer square, a.k.a. BoundingBoxSide, is = 2 * r_b. Note also that the diameter of each inner circle, 2 * r_s, is also the diagonal of each inner square. Therefore the side of each inner square, a.k.a. innerBoxSide, is = (2 * r_s) / sqrt(2).
Now let angle alpha = half the angle that each inner circle subtends (if that's the right verb) around the center of the big circle. I.e. alpha = (2 * pi / NofInnerBoxes) / 2 = pi / NofInnerBoxes.
The key is to draw a right triangle, where one of the angles is alpha; this will tell us the ratios between all the sides of that triangle, using trig functions like sin(). And we can draw such a triangle whose vertices are:
A. The center of the big circle
B. The center of a small circle
C. The point where that small circle touches its neighbor
The right angle is at vertex C, and the angle alpha is at vertex A. The length of side BC = r_s, and the length of the hypotenuse (AB) = r_b - r_s.
So by the definition of sin(), we can say that sin(alpha) = opposite side / hypotenuse = BC / AB = r_s / (r_b - r_s). Solve this equation for r_s, and we get r_s = r_b * sin(alpha) / (1 + sin(alpha)).
Finally, plug in the fact (above) that BoundingBoxSide = 2 * r_b, and innerBoxSide = (2 * r_s) / sqrt(2); and you get the formula shown above, innerBoxSide = BoundingBoxSide * t / ((t + 1) * Math.sqrt(2)).
Sorry this is a longish wall of text, but I hope it's sufficiently clear if read carefully. I may post a diagram as well, if time allows. Let me know if you have questions. (There's probably an easier way to derive this, but that's how I did it.)

How to make my character move relative to the mouse position with actionscript 3?

ok so i have a character called character_mc and i want it to move towards the mouse when you press the forward arrow and strafe relative to right angles of that.
i am quite new to actionscript so could you please include and example of your code in my original code
Here is my current code:
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
//Event Listners
stage.addChild(crosshair_mc);
crosshair_mc.mouseEnabled = false;
crosshair_mc.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, fl_CustomMouseCursor);
function fl_CustomMouseCursor(event:Event)
{
crosshair_mc.x = stage.mouseX;
crosshair_mc.y = stage.mouseY;
}
Mouse.hide();
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE,facecursor);
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, fl_KeyboardDownHandler);
//Functions
function facecursor(event):void
{
character_mc.rotation = (180 * Math.atan2(mouseY - character_mc.y,mouseX - character_mc.x))/Math.PI + 90;
}
function fl_KeyboardDownHandler(event:KeyboardEvent):void
{
trace("Key Code Pressed: " + event.keyCode);
if (event.keyCode == 38)
{
character_mc.y = character_mc.y - 5;
}
if (event.keyCode == 40)
{
character_mc.y = character_mc.y + 5;
}
if (event.keyCode == 39)
{
character_mc.x = character_mc.x + 5;
}
if (event.keyCode == 37)
{
character_mc.x = character_mc.x - 5;
}
}
I can tell you the basic concept of how you could do this, but you'll have to apply it to your own code. To involves converting your movement code to use a vector, then modifying the vector to get a direction facing the mouse (or at right angles to that direction) and a little bit of math.
Right now you have the character moving straight along the x and y axis only in each key press case. Left/Right only move along the X and Up/Down only move along the Y.
To move towards the mouse will require the character to move both along the X and Y when the Up/Down/Left/Right keys are pressed. Clearly you can see if you move both the character's x/y positions by the same amount, say 5, then it'll move exactly at 45 degrees (though it'll actually move a step of 7.07 pixels, hopefully you can see why). You can represent this as a vector: (5,5). You can use a Point object to represent this vector:
var movementVector:Point = new Point(5, 5);
trace(movementVector.x); // gives 5
trace(movementVector.y); // also gives 5
With that in mind, you can also use a vector to represent movement straight up and down on the y axis:
// set the x to 0 and y to 5
movementVector.x = 0; // 0 would mean not to move the character along the x
movementVector.y = 5; // using -5 would move the character up
And to move along the x axis only:
movementVector.x = 5; // using -5 would move the character right
movementVector.y = 0; // 0 would mean not to move the character along the y
To do the actual movement of the character would be the same as you are doing now, except you use the vector's values:
character_mc.x = character_mc.x + movementVector.x;
character_mc.y = character_mc.y + movementVector.y;
Now to figure out the proper vector to move on a diagonal from the character's position to the mouse position is pretty simple. The x value of the vector is the x distance from the character to the mouse, and the y value of the vector is the y distance from the character to the mouse.
Let's say the character is ay 125, 100 and the mouse at 225, 150. This means the distance between the character and mouse is 100, 50 x and y. Thus you'd end up with a vector:
movementVector.x = 100;
movementVector.y = 50;
If you were to apply this vector as it is to the character's position as it is, it would arrive at the mouse instantly (and then go beyond it) as the character is moving 100 pixels along the x and 50 pixels along the y right away. The step size would be 111.8 pixels long -too big. You would need to scale it down to the character's speed. You can do this by calling the normalise() method on the Point class to scale down the vector:
trace(movementVector.x); // gives 100
trace(movementVector.y); // gives 50
// assuming '5' is the max speed of the character
movementVector.normalise(5);
trace(movementVector.x); // gives 4.47213595499958
trace(movementVector.y); // gives 2.23606797749979
This would result in a 'step' size of 5 now. Applying this would make your character move 5 pixels towards a point 100 pixels to the right and 50 pixels down from where it started.
To transform a vector exactly 90 degrees, a quick and simple way is to swap the x and y values around.
If you are curious on what normalise() method mathematically does, is that it takes the x and y values of the vector (or point) and divides it by the length to get a unit vector (or a vector with a step size of 1), then times the input you give it to scale it to the desired length.
To move your character_mc towards the mouse point you only need the direction vector between the two:
var dir:Point = new Point(mouseX - character_mc.x, mouseY - character_mc.y);
dir.Normalize();
// The following should be called when the 'up' or 'forward' arrow is pressed
// to move the character closer to mouse point
character_mc.x += dir.x; // dir can be multiplied by a 'speed' variable
character_mc.y += dir.y;
Strafing left and right around the point is a little more tricky:
// Where radius is the distance between the character and the mouse
character_mc.x = mouseX + radius * Math.cos(rad);
character_mc.y = mouseY + radius * Math.sin(rad);
You should find this tutorial useful as it does everything you describe and more:
http://active.tutsplus.com/tutorials/actionscript/circular-motion-in-as3-make-one-moving-object-orbit-another/

AS3 - Finding the Y position of a rotated object if X is known

I am trying to find out the Y position of a rotated object on stage, when only the X position is known. I am not extremely formiliar with how I'd go about doing this, but I know it'll be related to the Rotation of the border object.
What I need to do is know that based on the below X position that is worked out, what the exact maximum Y position can be before it hits the black border that is onscreen. I know that the original position is 280, but I am not sure at all how I then work out what the Y position is further down the line.
I have attached the code to find the X (all be it, it doesn't take into account any rotation as on this level it isn't needed), as well as a screenshot so you can understand clearly.
Thank you for your time.
private function init(e:Event = null):void{
var maxX:int = stage.width
var freeSpace:int = 300
var startX:int = Math.ceil(Math.random() * (maxX - (freeSpace+this.width))) + freeSpace;
this.x = startX
}
I'm not entirely sure on your question but hopefully these suggestions will help:
You can use the localToGlobal() function on a display object to return a rotated, translated, and scaled point within that display container to the stage. Example, $p:Point = myMovieClip.localToGlobal(new Point(10, 10));
A Matrix is also a nice and easy way to rotate a point. Example, var $mtx:Matrix = new Matrix(); $mtx.tx = 10; $mtx.ty = 10; $mtx.rotate(); and now $mtx.tx and $mtx.ty have the rotated result
Those probably won't answer your question, but I figured I'd mention them just in case and before I get into something more complex. Like wvxvw said you can't really solve the equation you're trying to do without some other variables. I wrote some code that shows how to find Y when comparing X to a point in a line segment:
import flash.display.Shape;
import flash.geom.Point;
import flash.display.Graphics;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
var $s:Shape = new Shape();
addChild($s);
var borderStart:Point = new Point(stage.stageWidth/2, stage.stageHeight/2);
var borderRotation:Number = 45;
var borderLength:Number = 800;
var borderRad:Number = borderRotation * (Math.PI/180);
var borderEnd:Point = new Point(borderStart.x + Math.cos(borderRad) * borderLength, borderStart.y + Math.sin(borderRad) * borderLength);
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, update);
function update(e:MouseEvent):void{
var $g:Graphics = $s.graphics;
$g.clear();
//Drawing the rotated border
$g.lineStyle(3, 0xff0000, .5);
$g.moveTo(borderStart.x, borderStart.y);
$g.lineTo(borderEnd.x, borderEnd.y);
//Finding if and where mouseX collides with our border
if (stage.mouseX >= Math.min(borderStart.x, borderEnd.x) && stage.mouseX <= Math.max(borderStart.x, borderEnd.x)){
var $x:Number = stage.mouseX;
//SOLVING HERE : Solve collision with X
var $percent:Number = ($x - borderStart.x)/(borderLength * Math.cos(borderRad));
var $y:Number = borderStart.y + Math.sin(borderRad) * borderLength * $percent;
//Drawing to our collision
$g.lineStyle(1, 0xffff00, .6);
$g.moveTo($x, 0);
$g.lineTo($x, $y);
$g.lineStyle(2, 0xffff00, 1);
$g.drawCircle($x, $y, 3);
trace("----\nCollision #\t" + "x: " + $x + "\ty:" + Math.round($y));
}
}
Hopefully this will give some insight on how to solve your particular issue.
I'm not sure if I'm answering the right question, because as you worded it, it's impossible to solve, or rather you would have to accept that Y can be just anything... (In order to be able to find a point in a vector space over R^2 you need a basis of two vectors of a form (x,y), but you only have a vector in R^1).
But it looks like you want to find an intersection of the "black line on the screen" - i.e. an arbitrary line and a vertical line through the lowest point of the "shape" which you want to fit. It's hard to tell from the question, what shape are you trying to fit, but if it is a rectangle, which is not rotated, then it would be either its bottom right or bottom left corner. You can then find which point to choose by comparing the angle between a horizontal line and the "black line" and the horizontal line and the bottom of the rectangle.
Next, you would need to find an intersection between these two lines, the formula can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_intersection