After many years of using Flash 8, I'm moving to CS3 at work. I know I'll have to learn AS 3.0 so, does anyone have any good references or summaries of the major/most noticeable changes? Also, are there any tips/tricks for the flash environment? After spending a few minutes in CS3, I noticed that you can't directly attach actionscript to a button, which is new to me. Any other such pitfalls to watch over?
I made the total switch just about 3 months ago, here are some things that helped me ramp up rather quickly:
1) Do everything in Class files
A lot of AS3 tutorials out there deal with just code pasted on the timeline (which I can't stand because now you have to hunt for what import you need), but is fine for quick tiny stuff. In the long run it's way better work primarily in Class files. Learning how Classes work opened a huge door for me, it was the same feeling/experience I had when I first discovered Functions in AS2 :)
2) Keep graphics in library and off the workspace
Example, you have a jpg, gif, png file you just imported into your library. Made a movieClip and gave it a class name(MyButton). Now the code below will place the graphic into the workspace for you:
var myButton:MovieClip = new MyButton();
myButton.x = 6;
myButton.y = 22;
myButton.buttonMode = true;
addChild(myButton);
3) Get use to the new button code in AS3
It's something all of us new converts had to deal with painfully, but now it's a piece of cake :)
myButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, clickThis);
function clickThis(event:MouseEvent):void
{
navigateToURL(new URLRequest("form.html"), "_self");
//navigateToURL(request, '_self');
}
4) Make sure you remove Event Listeners after use
It took me a bit to wrap my around this one... remove em why? Oh they are still running in the background and when I listen again I'll get all kinds of mutated errors.
private function volDown(e:MouseEvent):void
{
masker.width = volControl.mouseX;
userVolume = (masker.width / 100) * 1;
volControl.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, volMove);
}
private function volUp(e:MouseEvent):void
{
lastVolPoint = masker.width;
setVolume(userVolume);
e.updateAfterEvent();
volControl.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, volMove);
}
5) Don't forget to pass Events
I'm not a programmer by trade and this has caused so much grief, I'm glad I'm done with this birthing pain:
myButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_UP, clickThis);
Since the clickThis function is launched via an Event, you have to pass: event:MouseEvent into it like so:
function clickThis(event:MouseEvent):void
Because the code below will throw the dreaded AS3 "Access of undefined property" error that new AS3 guys will always run into.
function clickThis():void
6) Read and post questions on StackOverflow... a lot!
btw I'm still a noob and originally a designer then AS2 dev, I still don't know why we put :void behind a function name.. if we have similar coding backgrounds I hope all that helps :)
I suggest you to look at the ActionScript language migration page on the Adobe devnet. It offers quite a lot articles about the key changes with ActionScript 3.
To answer your problem with the actions on a button, this no longer works (and was already with ActionScript 2 not the best way to do it). AS3 requires the code to be centralized on the timeline. So for giving a button some action, you'll need to give it an instance name and add an event listener for the CLICK event, like this:
function doSomething ( event:MouseEvent ):void
{
trace( "test" );
}
myButton.addEventListener( MouseEvent.CLICK, doSomething );
Get an Actionscript 3 IDE. Such as Flash Builder, FlashDevlop, or FDT. This will force you to learn really fast.
Related
Heyya, Community!
So, I've been programming in Flash ActionScript 3.0 for a few years, gradually relearning everything. However, I can't figure this out for the life of me -- I've been forced to use inefficient work-arounds since now. And I just needed to know, how can I stop MovieClips added via The Stage consisting through frames?
Code;
Frame 1;
import flash.display.MovieClip;
var block_mc:MovieClip = new Block();
addChild(block_mc);
block_mc.x = 100;
block_mc.y = 100;
And then, on Frame 2...
stop();
How can I stop this issue from happening? If you want a more specific example, you can download the supplied .fla file.
Is there an efficient work-around other than creating for() loops to delete my greater-than 100 MovieClips? Is there no work-around? Please help!
Please note, to open the file you need a version of Adobe Flash Professional; I recommend using Adobe Flash Professional CC if you have it, since I used it.
If you need any more details, just ask! <3
Link to FLA: http://www.mediafire.com/download/tczfyj3jg3sofsj/Problem.fla
Thanks partly to info from people here, I'm getting more comfortable with Actionscript 3, but I've got a problem that is very puzzling.
The program (done entirely in AS3, no Flash) has several different screens. One does music and it's working very well. Another does video. Obviously when somebody goes from music to video we need to make sure the music is turned off. There is a Main screen that handles going from one to the other.
I started out doing it this way, and the reason I got "Call to a possibly undefined method" is obvious. The following is in the Main class, with the "private var" part inside the class but external to the functions and the "music = new MusicPanel" part in one of the functions:
private var music:MusicPanel;
music = new MusicPanel(trackNames.songNames, trackNames.numSongs);
When switching to the video panel, I added a public function in MusicPanel called StopMusic and called it when the user went to the video panel:
if(music != null)
music.StopMusic();
That got the error:
Call to a possibly undefined method StopMusic
I was checking to make sure music was not null, but that error didn't seem like a bad thing. So I changed the code to:
private var music:MusicPanel = new MusicPanel();
and added a function that would get the song names and number of songs to the music class. That did not help- I got the same error, and in fact the function that tried to put the song names and number of songs got the error also.
At the same time, the Video panel does not give me that error, even though I have laid it out in exactly the same way.
private var video:VideoPanel = new VideoPanel;
video.PlayVideo();
I do a fair amount of setup on the music screen when it gets called as a new class, I do less setup for the video screen. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.
Clearly there is something I don't understand here. Anybody got any idea what's going on? I've looked at a number of questions about this, but have not found an answer. I think I'm doing this right, but the compiler thinks I'm doing it wrong, so I must be doing it wrong.
Later Note: One answer mentioned the difference between Sprite and MovieClip. I gave that a try, changing to MovieClip does not help, and the VideoPanel, which works, extends Sprite.
What is the base class of MusicPanel, Sprite or MovieClip? If Sprite, change to MovieClip and see what that does. In AS3 Sprites are not dynamic, so can't take properties that are not inherent in the class.
It appears that the problem is coming either from Actionscript 3 or from FlashDevelop. I built a new module (SongsPanel) which is very close to the same as the original MusicPanel. It works. If I add a public function in MusicPanel the compiler comes back with the same error. If I add a public function in SongsPanel everything works.
Does FlashDevelop keep track of errors in some hidden file? I'm guessing that's what's going on, and that there is a bug in the way that is done.
PITA!- but at least it now works.
I've found some stuff online about how to animate in actionscript 3 from within a class, but haven't been able to find a really good tutorial. I want to control the animations from a class because at some point I intend to move from the flash IDE to using flash develop, where I won't have access to the Flash IDE's timeline.
I have to be able to control an initial animation (opening a bag) which joins onto an animation loop (searching through a bag).
The only way I have been able to do this so far is to add an event listener to listen for the initial animation's final frame. Then when initialAnimation.currentFrameLabel = "Last" then I gotoAndStop("animationLoop").
This has been working fine, if a bit time-consuming. I'm just wondering if there's a better, easier way to do it? Can anyone tell me or point me towards a tutorial that does it better? Thanks very much!
Romano
I recommend instead of using an event listener, you use the method addFrameScript. Essentially you can fire a method when a specific frame number is reached.
Read the following question for more information.
actionscript3 whats the point of addFrameScript
It depends on what it is you want to do:
Usually if you are working together with an artist or want to do animations that are non-code driven, the "best way" is usually to listen for something to happen, and then start animations and on last frame of animation (or when you want to return control to code) you create an event, or use a callback or something else to let code notify that animation is complete or reached a certain point.
If you want to do something from code, the easiest way is to use an external animation library.
Tweener (https://code.google.com/p/tweener/)
TweenLite (http://www.greensock.com/tweenlite/)
Using those libraries, you would write something similar to:
function fadeOut():void {
mc.alpha = 1;
Tweener.addTween(mc, {alpha:0, time:0.275, delay:1, onComplete:onDone});
}
function onDone():void {
trace("Animation finished");
}
Hi Im relatively new to flash developing and i have a quick question about saving user input. I have a maze scene whereby the user navagates a character around until confronted with another object, when the character hits the object a new scene is opened promting the user to pick a solution to a problem. Once the user clicks the correct answer a box appears saying return to the maze, however when clicked and returned to the maze the character starts back in its original postion, where as I would like the scene to resume where it left off, ie the character is at the point where it collided with the object, the object has dissappeared and the character can resume on the same course.
Thanks for giving this a read I hope it makes sense and some one has a solution for me.
I did have some nice images to explain it better but apprently i need 10 reputation points to upload those.
EDIT: First Id like to say thanks for the rep points you bunch of stars and secondly I know using scenes in flash is seriously cr*p practice and outdated but its the way I learnt all those years ago and seen as Flash itself will be outdated soon Im not really looking to learn another approach using sprites or frames, I just kind of want a fix for this way if poss thank you for answering!
EDIT: Wanting the red rectangle to be removed from the scene once the black square collides with it. It also takes you to the next frame upon doing so. here is my code.
addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, fl_EnterFrameHandler);
function fl_EnterFrameHandler (event:Event):void
{
if (player.hitTestObject(Risk))
{
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, fl_EnterFrameHandler);
removeChild(Risk);
nextFrame();
}
}
I'd suggest you forget about Scenes! They are old, buggy, bring loads of issues with code and are generally a Bad Pratice!! So if you are just learning AS3, dont learn with Scenes!!
Use MovieClips or Sprites instead. And just add and remove them as you need!
EDIT:
To ur edit ;)
and seen as Flash itself will be outdated soon
thats just plain false and a widespread misinformation. It just has a new purpose like MultiPlattform Game Development. But thats a whole different discussion.
You could solve this by saving the x,y coordinates and then restoring them. But i promise you, you will run in to alot more problems/bugs as you go allong!
Like saved Points and Time. Will you triger the Questionscene again when u place the player on the object(last Position). Save the answers, and so on ...
Changing to DisplayObjects will save you time in the end. Just saying ;)
EDIT2:
your code in the comment should look like this:
function fl_EnterFrameHandler (event:Event):void
{
if (player.hitTestObject(Risk))
{
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, fl_EnterFrameHandler);//remove to prevent errors if it fires again and there is no Object to hitTest
removeChild(Risk);// do what needs to be done on this frame
nextFrame();// and then move to the next
}
}
And following correct convetions and make everybody's life easier reading this, it would look like this!
function fl_EnterFrameHandler (event:Event):void
{
if (player.hitTestObject(risk))
{
removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, fl_EnterFrameHandler);//remove to prevent errors if it fires again and there is no Onject to hitTest
removeChild (risk);
nextFrame ();
}
}
i'm probaly confusing u now, just use the top one ;)
EDIT3:
Ok, i just had a butchers at it. It's all on a single Frame now. I would have prefered Classes but that'lljust confuse you.
To add new qestions you just have to dublicate the Question MovieClip in the Library and change texts, leave instance names the same tho, then the code will work as is!
DOWLOAD
It is certainly possible. You would store the characters attributes (e.g. current position) within a variable. Then on returning to your game you would use this variable to set the starting position of your character.
I agree that scenes are not the ideal route you should be taking. Possibly reading a good AS3 book would save you hours/days/weeks in the long run.
I've created a few buttons in Flash. I'm trying to make it so that if you click one button, the audio starts playing for that button. If you click another button, the active audio stops and the new audio of the button you clicked last start playing.
Any help please?
What you're describing is actually quite easy to do.
First things first, I recommend importing the audio into your Flash project. Alternatively, there is a way to play it directly from an external file. This is beyond the scope of my answer, so if you need help on that, you should post a question specifically covering it.
Assuming you have imported the audio file into your Flash project's library, make an as3 instance of it. (Right click the file in the library, click Properties --> ActionScript [tab] --> [Check] Export for ActionScript & [Enter name in] Class)
Now, create a definition of the sound in your code. (Assuming your two sounds were named "mySound1" and "mySound2" in the Class field of the previous step.)
var mySound1:Sound = new mySound1();
var mySound2:Sound = new mySound2();
Now, define your sound channel.
var mySoundChannel:SoundChannel = new SoundChannel();
There are two alternate ways of stopping one sound and playing another. The first is to create one function that does both every time. The second method is to create two formulas, one for "play" and one for "stop". You will need to decide which method works best for you. I'll use the two-function method below:
function stopSound():void
{
//This stops all sound in the sound channel.
//If there is nothing playing, nothing happens.
mySoundChannel.stop();
}
//In this function, we create an argument that allows us to tell the function
//what sound to we want it to play.
function playSound(soundname:String):void
{
mySoundChannel = this[soundname].play(0, 0);
}
[Note, you can tweak the play() properties to meet your needs, doing things like starting in the middle of the song, or looping it forever. 0,0 starts at the beginning, and doesn't loop. See the documentation for this.]
Now you hook up the event listeners for the buttons. (If you need help with event listeners, read the documentation.)
myButton1.addEventListener(Mouse.CLICK, btn1Click);
myButton2.addEventListener(Mouse.CLICK, btn2Click);
function btn1Click(evt:Event):void
{
stopSound();
playSound(mySound1);
}
function btn2Click(evt:Event):void
{
stopSound();
playSound(mySound2);
}
This should be enough information to get you started. In my game core, I actually have a custom class for dealing with sound playback that gives me the ability to repeat sounds, change volume, and keep sounds from conflicting with each other. I say that to emphasize that you can do quite a bit with the sound class. Do some digging in that documentation for ideas and help.
You may also consider putting a try-catch statement in the playSound function, since it will throw an reference error if you pass a name for a sound that doesn't exist.