Understanding and Using Trace Statements

Understanding and Using Trace Statements


Now I finally understand trace statements, they can come in a little bit handy. But it did help me figure out a couple of important problems in my game.

Game Coding Progress

I've made a lot of progress over the last 3 days, the hard work is starting to pay off.
I've made an inventory that is functional and the hunger, thirst and health bars are now all draining and regaining when you take food, water or medicine to the mother. You can hold three things in your inventory. The game is starting to come together.

Blaize

Game Update

For the african game, I have done allot of coding

The boy can now move in all directions, flip, and stop the animation walk when the arrow keys are released.

The can now also pick apples off the apple tree and collect water.

Still trying to figure out the hit test with the walls, thats not looking good.

I have also just made an apple (hunger) health bar using a mask, so it can be manipulated with code.

I've been spending hours on the game per day to try and get it finished for an competition called "Games for Change"

Fingers crossed I can get it properly functioning by the 23rd of THIS MONTH!

Blaize

Another Graphic Update

Mother = UPDATED
Boy = UPDATED
Hospital = UPDATED
Background = UPDATED

ignore the black lines around yellow dirt path.

Start Of Coding For Game

Where I am up to now:
The boy moves in all directions and it flips in four directions when you use the arrow keys, the boy is also animated while walking and animated to pick up water and pick apples. I'm struggling to get the hitTests on the walls to work (stopping the boy from leaving the path) and I am also having a problem stopping the walking animation when the arrows are released. I've tried to remove the boy_mc child and replace it with stoppedBoy_mc, but I cannot get it to work at the moment.

Problems I had:
- Flipping of the boy was the biggest problem, I started by putting them into their own functions but that didn't work. To get it to work, they had to each have their own function in the gameLoop.

In terms of graphics, I added more detail to the boy and redrew the mother. Next I have to add the health bars I made in photoshop. Should be done by Monday.

Here is the code:


stop();

// Add child variables
var boy_mc:FrontBoy = new FrontBoy();
var sideBoy_mc:SideBoy = new SideBoy();
var backBoy_mc:BackBoy = new BackBoy();
var stopboy_mc:StoppedBoy = new StoppedBoy();
var stopSideBoy_mc:StoppedSideBoy = new StoppedSideBoy();
var stopBackBoy_mc:StoppedBackBoy = new StoppedBackBoy();
sideBoy_mc.x = 100;
sideBoy_mc.y = 950;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);

//var isStoppedSideBoyPresent:Boolean = false;

// Variable for Boy's position
var boyXPos:Number = boy_mc.x;
var boyYPos:Number = boy_mc.y;

// Speed Constant
const BOY_SPEED:Number = 4;

// Which way is the boy facing variables
var isBoyLeft:Boolean = false;
var isBoyBack:Boolean = false;
var isBoyDown:Boolean = false;
var isBoyRight:Boolean = true;

// Movement Button Pressed Booleans (isRightPressed)
var isRightPressed:Boolean = false;
var isLeftPressed:Boolean = false;
var isUpPressed:Boolean = false;
var isDownPressed:Boolean = false;

// GameLoop & KeyboardEvent EventListeners
stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, gameLoop)
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, onKeyPressed)
stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, onKeyReleased)

// The GameLoop
function gameLoop(event:Event):void
{
//moveBoy();
//flipBoy();
moveBoyUp();
moveBoyDown();
moveBoyRight();
moveBoyLeft();
boyHitWall();
}

function boyHitWall():void
{
var boyOriginalXPos:Number = boy_mc.x;
var boyOriginalYPos:Number = boy_mc.y;
var backOriginalXPos:Number = backBoy_mc.x;
var backOriginalYPos:Number = backBoy_mc.y;
var sideOriginalXPos:Number = sideBoy_mc.x;
var sideOriginalYPos:Number = sideBoy_mc.y;

if(pathOutline_mc.hitTestPoint(boy_mc.x, boy_mc.y, true))
{
boy_mc.x = boyOriginalXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyOriginalYPos;
}

if(pathOutline_mc.hitTestPoint(backBoy_mc.x, backBoy_mc.y, true))
{
backBoy_mc.x = backOriginalXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = backOriginalYPos;
}

if(pathOutline_mc.hitTestPoint(sideBoy_mc.x, sideBoy_mc.y, true))
{
sideBoy_mc.x = sideOriginalXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = sideOriginalYPos;
}
}

//Moving boy Up
function moveBoyUp():void
{
if(isBoyRight == true && isUpPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = false;
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
}

if(isBoyLeft == true && isUpPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyLeft = false;
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
}

if(isBoyDown == true && isUpPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = boy_mc.x;
boyYPos = boy_mc.y;
removeChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = false;
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
}

if(isBoyBack == true && isUpPressed == true)
{
backBoy_mc.y -= BOY_SPEED;
//backBoy_mc.scaleX -= .01;
//backBoy_mc.scaleY -= .01;
}
}

// Moving boy Down
function moveBoyDown():void
{
if(isBoyRight == true && isDownPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = false;
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
   boy_mc.scaleX = .9;
boy_mc.scaleY = .9;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
}

if(isBoyLeft == true && isDownPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyLeft = false;
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
}

if(isBoyBack == true && isDownPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = false;
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
}

if(isBoyDown == true && isDownPressed == true)
{
boy_mc.y += BOY_SPEED;
//boy_mc.scaleX += .01;
//boy_mc.scaleY += .01;
}
}

// Moving boy Right
function moveBoyRight():void
{
if(isBoyDown == true && isRightPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = boy_mc.x;
boyYPos = boy_mc.y;
removeChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = false;
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = 1;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = true;
}

if(isBoyLeft == true && isRightPressed == true && isLeftPressed == false)
{
isBoyLeft = false;
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = 1;
isBoyRight = true;
}

if(isBoyBack == true && isRightPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = false;
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = 1;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = true;
}

if(isBoyRight == true && isRightPressed == true)
{
sideBoy_mc.x += BOY_SPEED;
}
/*
// If Right Key is Released, remove sideBoy and add stoppedsideChild
if(isBoyRight == true && isRightPressed == false && isStoppedSideBoyPresent == false)
{
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
stopSideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
stopSideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(stopSideBoy_mc)
isStoppedSideBoyPresent == true;
}

// If Right Key is Pressed again, remove stopped child and add sideChild
if(isStoppedSideBoyPresent == true && isRightPressed == true && isBoyRight == true)
{
boyXPos = stopSideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = stopSideBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(stopSideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isStoppedSideBoyPresent == false;
}*/
}


// Moving boy Left
function moveBoyLeft():void
{
if(isBoyDown == true && isLeftPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = boy_mc.x;
boyYPos = boy_mc.y;
removeChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = false;
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
   sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyLeft = true;
}

if(isBoyRight == true && isLeftPressed == true && isRightPressed == false)
{
isBoyRight = false;
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
isBoyLeft = true;
}

if(isBoyBack == true && isLeftPressed == true)
{
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = false;
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
   sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyLeft = true;
}

if(isBoyLeft == true && isLeftPressed == true)
{
sideBoy_mc.x -= BOY_SPEED;
}
}



/*function stopMovingBoyUp():void
{
if(isUpPressed == false)
{
backBoy_mc.y -= 0;
}
}*/

/*
Function that flips boy, adds child 'boy' facing a different direction, changes the
global variable 'boyXPos' and 'boyYPos'
*/
/*function flipBoy():void
{
// If right is pressed
if (isBoyBack == true && isRightPressed == true && isUpPressed == false)
{
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = true;
isBoyBack = false;
}

if (isBoyDown == true && isRightPressed == true && isDownPressed == false)
{
removeChild(boy_mc);
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
isBoyRight = true;
isBoyDown = false;
}

// If Left is Pressed
if (isBoyBack == true && isLeftPressed == true && isUpPressed == false)
{
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
sideBoy_mc.scaleY = -1;
isBoyLeft = true;
isBoyBack = false;
}

if (isBoyDown == true && isLeftPressed == true && isDownPressed == false)
{
removeChild(boy_mc);
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
addChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
sideBoy_mc.scaleY = -1;
isBoyLeft = true;
isBoyDown = false;
}

// If Down is Pressed
if (isBoyBack == true && isDownPressed == true && isUpPressed == false)
{
removeChild(backBoy_mc);
backBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
backBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = boy_mc.x;
boyYPos = boy_mc.y;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
isBoyBack = false;
}

if (isBoyLeft == true && isDownPressed == true && isLeftPressed == false)
{
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = boy_mc.x;
boyYPos = boy_mc.y;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
isBoyLeft = false;
}

if (isBoyRight == true && isDownPressed == true && isRightPressed == false)
{
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = sideBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = sideBoy_mc.y;
addChild(boy_mc);
isBoyDown = true;
isBoyRight = false;
}

// If up is pressed

if (isBoyDown == true && isUpPressed == true && isDownPressed == false)
{
removeChild(boy_mc);
boy_mc.x = boyXPos;
boy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
isBoyDown = false;
}

if (isBoyLeft == true && isUpPressed == true && isLeftPressed == false)
{
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
isBoyLeft = false;
}

if (isBoyRight == true && isUpPressed == true && isRightPressed == false)
{
removeChild(sideBoy_mc);
sideBoy_mc.x = boyXPos;
sideBoy_mc.y = boyYPos;
boyXPos = backBoy_mc.x;
boyYPos = backBoy_mc.y;
addChild(backBoy_mc);
isBoyBack = true;
isBoyRight = false;
}
}
*/
// Movement of Boy from gameLoop, using the isRightPressed variables
/*function moveBoy():void
{
if (isRightPressed == true)
{
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = 1;
sideBoy_mc.x += BOY_SPEED;
}

if (isLeftPressed == true)
{
sideBoy_mc.scaleX = -1;
sideBoy_mc.x -= BOY_SPEED;
}

if (isUpPressed == true)
{
backBoy_mc.y -= BOY_SPEED;
}

if (isDownPressed == true)
{
boy_mc.y += BOY_SPEED;
boy_mc.scaleX += .02;
boy_mc.scaleY += .02;
}
}*/

/*
OnKeyPressed Function: Tests if the KeyPressed variables are true and
isBoy(Left,Right,Up,Down) variables
*/
function onKeyPressed(event:KeyboardEvent):void
{
if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.RIGHT)
{
isRightPressed = true;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.LEFT)
{
isLeftPressed = true;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.UP)
{
isUpPressed = true;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.DOWN)
{
isDownPressed = true;
}
}

//OnKeyReleased Function: Tests if the KeyPressed variables are false
function onKeyReleased(event:KeyboardEvent):void
{
if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.RIGHT)
{
isRightPressed = false;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.LEFT)
{
isLeftPressed = false;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.UP)
{
isUpPressed = false;
}

if (event.keyCode == Keyboard.DOWN)
{
isDownPressed = false;
}
}

Another Game Update

Here is the Africa Stage of my game, looking good I think.

Development of African Game Backdrop

 1st Try

2nd Try

3rd Try :)

As you can see, I decided (for the second draft) that I would make this level look more three dimensional, so it would look a bit more attractive and realistic. I also added some better texture.
I was still not happy with the outcome so I drew a third level backdrop giving more detail to the mountains and getting help from people who have more knowledge when it comes to proportion and shading of objects. Hence the more realistic looking stream and mountains. I also got the idea of the running water off a tutorial on the web that Mr Hall linked me to. If I add the trees, rocks and bushes I have drawn, hopefully this level will look amazing when complete.

Sketches for Game Drawn on Flash

New Effect Made on After Effects