I've seen a couple of AS2 compilers out there. Here is one.

I wouldn't try to replicate it anyday, as it's already been done and mine would be worse.

Sorry for the quad post. But I thought I'd post my findings.

Still haven't figured out why it throws the error (as far as I'm aware it shouldn't be as the animations look correct).
I remember reading a bit about try/catch a long time ago and realised it would be very very handy in this case. So I've used a "try" on all the code in charAniPlay function.

Little do I know I'm probably sweeping all this shit code under the carpet ready to kick me in the ass soon.

Should be in the bottom right of the screen. Or you can press Ctrl+F3 to toggle it.

Bump back to page 1. I'm still stuck on this problem.

Oh and I didn't notice before XD but the second code is a huge flaw.

currentLabel isn't a variable. It's a property of a movieclip of the "frame label" on the currentFrame.
So:

char.gotoAndStop(char.currentLabel);

This code in my case just goes to and stops the current Frame that it is on. Meaning it does nothing.

Thanks for trying to help, but I already have that code. It's a bit more complex on what I need.

What you've written just stops the character on facing right left up or down. I'm having problems with starting and stopping the nested movieclips inside to give the illusion of walking rather than sliding.

For example this is the bit in my code that says if you've change direction, change the frame label:

if (facing !== inputFacing) { 
	facing = inputFacing;
	char.gotoAndStop(facing);
}

And the CharAniStop and CharAniPlay functions are trying to play the nested movieclips inside. I used frameLabel instead of my facing variable to make sure flash had actually go to and stopped properly but in theory facing == frameLabel. But flash keeps throwing an error as if the nested movieClip inside doesn't exist.

Hey, I've been having some problems with part of an engine I'm making.
I'm trying to get my main character animations linked up to the movement in AS3. Problem is the actionscript keeps throwing an error that it can't find something when it trys to change the animation. It happens when you go up or change from left to right.

I've made a new .fla and stripped down the code to basics but I still can't get it working.

Any chance someone can try and solve the problem?

Attached .fla and online code (you'll need the .fla to get the character).

I know it's not really what your looking for. But interesting nonetheless.

A "short" or short film is considered to be anywhere from 0-40 minutes anything above is feature length.

Thanks for letting me win XD

Nightmare's was a great engine though, it was really creative and reminded me of Odin Sphere rather than your general Tile Based RPG I did.

Shame about not continuing the AS challenges, but it's probably a good thing so I don't get distracted. I'm really liking the engine I made and I'm going to develop it a lot lot more. I've stripped the horrible API and started to put in tiles in MovieClips and spritesheets. I plan to make the engine have random battles, menu, items (I know it's a lot, but at least I don't just have a week) and also I'm doing a game editor, where you can make maps and characters on screen and export the code. Here is what I have so far of that:
Hmm, an image link

At 7/10/08 01:40 PM, Rustygames wrote: Also here is the other area I like to sit and play on at home :)

How much did it cost for that? I'm assuming to run mame you re-wired an old joystick to the switches on your machine. Isn't it a hassle to change game or even boot your PC and tell it to run mame?

Oh and if your supplier has any old Daytona arcade machines that would kick ass!

This is the final version of what I'm posting. I'm very reluctant to post the entire engine as I'm going to be using this to make an actual game (once I strip it from the API drawing and into movieclip drawn tiles) and a lot of sponsors don't like open source code for their games.
Arrows keys to move, Space to talk and the town is to the north where you start. Just included some progressive talking to two of the characters.

Anywho, here is the code on how I create the level and also the functions of all the API drawings so you know I didn't cheat.

I've enjoyed this challenge even if many people didn't participate. It's made me get off my ass and produce something worthwhile anyways... best get back to coding now...

Try this quickfix and tell me if you get any errors. I forgot to add boundaries when you try to walk off the map but I didn't think the errors showed in the browser. If there are any other errors, please tell me because I don't know about them.

Oh, and the town is to the north when you start. There is only World, Cripple Town and Lady's House to explore.

At 7/9/08 11:43 AM, MiniSTICKY wrote: Pretty unimpressive, I know. I was going to do a battle system, but got caught up in another idea. Yeah.

It wasn't that bad at all. At least it had plot and story (unlike mine). Oh, and I live happily ever after... YAY!

Here is my update. I'm trying to make it as flexible as possible because I intend to take this code and use it after this week. This version includes, typing talking text (and it splits into readable chunks). Readable tiles, scrolling background on places. Three layers of art (BaseTile, Detail, Above character) so you can walk behind buildings. Need to do lots of things still... most important is progressive text so my characters can say different things as things happen.

And now here is where I demand to see Ryan and Night-Mare's work in progress >:(

At 7/9/08 06:16 AM, Rustygames wrote: Since when did you start coding :)

Since we all made $60 each on this.

don't do all his work for him ;)

I got carried away... I learnt how to use BitmapData and I don't get the chance often to flex my brain in that way. And this was a good excuse.

Did a little bit more:

stage.addEventListener("click", myMouseFunction);

var myBmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(1,1);
var bmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap(myBmapData);
bmap.scaleX = bmap.scaleY = 20;
addChild(bmap);

function myMouseFunction(event:Event):void {
	myBmapData.floodFill(0,0,0xFFFFFF)
	myBmapData.draw(MovieClipHere,new Matrix(1,0,0,1,-mouseX,-mouseY));
	trace(myBmapData.getPixel(0,0));
}

Example.

var myBmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(550,400);
myBmapData.draw(MovieClipHere);
var myColor:uint = myBmapData.getPixel(mouseX,mouseY);
trace(myColor);

Untested but that should be right. But it'll be much more economical to do this (i think it should work);

var myBmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(1,1);
myBmapData.draw(MovieClipHere,new Matrix(1,0,0,1,mouseX,mouseY));
var myColor:uint = myBmapData.getPixel(1,1);
trace(myColor);

At 7/8/08 06:03 AM, Night-Mare wrote: I have got 347 lines of code for this so far.

D

So far the main things are:
Character
Friend
Item

WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED :C

Whatever you feel is necessary. At the moment, I've got Places (so, world, town, rooms), characters I'm doing items next. At the moment struggling with progressive talking, ie, talking to someone at then that making someone else say something different).

And eventually, if you want, the whole RPG fighting bit xD But I'm gonna give that a miss for a LONG while. There's quite a lot for me to do. I'll post what I have later when I have more time.

At 7/7/08 10:51 AM, Boke wrote: I've been wanting to get into some 3D stuff to bring into my Flash applications but there are so many I'm having a tough time deciding which one would be best for me to study. Blender, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Papervision , Swift 3D, can anyone give me some help?

It really depends on what you have access to and what you want to use it for.

Papervision and Away 3d are 3d rendering of models inside flash. This means it actually loads the models and textures in flash and then you can manipulate and view it as you please. The later revisions of Papervision (and I'm assuming Away 3d) allow for importing animations too.
However, doing this requires a lot of coding skill (actionscript) to get it to run and load etc.
Papervision (and I'm also assuming away 3d) can import models from 3d's Max and Maya.

All the other programs, to integrate them into flash you'll have to render out the scene and then import each image or the final movie. Some programs allow you to import them as a vector file making them lower filesizes (Swift 3D was designed for this, and there is a way to export it for Maya but I can't vouch for the other programs).

Cinema 4D, Maya and 3D's Max are all on the same level. If you don't have a University with the programs on, getting the proper version of them can be expensive but the quality of final production (and a lot of work and learning) is special effects quality.

Swift 3D is designed to be integrated in flash. What it does is export all the images as a flash vector (making it a low filesize) and then you can import them onto the timeline. Swift 3D is a decent program and comes at a lower cost.

Blender is a free program, and does have decent quality (not as in depth as the professional packages like Max, Maya or 4D) but for free, it's superb.

Those are all your choices, good luck.

What are the benefits of the SmartFox server over the free Nonoba Multiplayer API?

Yes, there are tons of "Sponsors", just waiting to buy people's games regardless of where in the world you are.

You can find some more general information about sponsorships on this site here and get some more personal reviews and specific monetary values here.

Finally recently there has been a website dedicated on showcasing games for sale that shouldn't be overlooked.

Be sure to try out all the options. My personal advice is to create a simple effective fun game (harder than it sounds) and pitch it to all the sponsors by email (check out the links in the list of sponsors and somewhere on their homepage should be a contact us, or developer section).

Wait about 3-4 days or a week for responses and offers and use them as a base and ask people how much you want for your game. Don't just pitch to one sponsor and accept, shop around and see how much your hard work is worth.

I hope this post helps you.

At 7/6/08 05:34 AM, RyanPridgeon wrote: 3RD PLACE

WAaAzZAaA's Entry.
This was a neat little idea and the thought of multiple resources was pretty cool aswell. I also liked the way that the cells could spread disease, and well done on a good 3rd place.

Err... If I'm not mistaken, WAaAzZAaA didn't submit an entry because they are not a coder...

I think what your looking for is String.split

Voted. Also, in the games for casual game of the year is Peggle. That game is the gayest and most addicting game on earth.

Anyone using AS2, I'd highly recommended this for drawing characters and such:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/25 6289

You can't just in flash by itself. You have to tween each object to get bigger.

However, if you have a lot of objects, you can use something called a "V-Cam". And then tween and scale the camera instead.

Tutorial and files are here.

At 7/5/08 08:06 AM, RyanPridgeon wrote: Don't know mate, but what I usually do is recreate the movie clip and redraw it every frame depending on what action it is (like... psuedo frames)

Meh :( I'll just make lots of different Sprites. Guess the name suits it. I just wanted to do it the MovieClip way so after the contest I could put the code to use easier and just extend MovieClip for some better art.

This is what I have so far btw.
Arrows:Move
Space:Talk
Black square is you. Green tiles are walls. Purple tiles are people.
All you can do is move and talk to people and they'll inform you of how great they are.

I'm using the built in Tween functions in AS3 for the movement, I may change it. It makes the movement sluggish.

If the link supplied is the wrong version. This link is supposed to be Flash 5 and should work.
Good luck and have fun.

Yeah, it's called a "V-Cam", there are tons of versions out there. It's not built into flash but it can be built.

Go at look at this tutorial.

At 7/4/08 08:56 PM, 8Blaze wrote: An RPG? In a week? Just an engine then right?

Yup, exactly. Just a demo of all the features an RPG can have, I don't expect us to have a full levels and a story by the end of the week :P

At 7/4/08 09:18 PM, MiniSTICKY wrote: I can't really do anything util I know what you mean by API RPG...

All Ryan means is you are only allowed to use code. Your not allowed to draw in flash and then link it to actionscript and your not allowed to use the library and link it for art either.

This way, if someone copy and pastes your code he/she can then preview it in their flash and view it without any hitch. Also, it means that people are less likely to judge on the art and more on the engine.

I'm might give this a go. I just spent 1-2hrs doing some code for this. Looking OK, long way to go though.
I'm a little stuck already though. Normally I'd create a MC with lots of different tiles on different frames and gotoAndStop(value). How do you draw on different frames of a MovieClip solely in the actions panel? Is there even a way?!?

I tried this to no avail (screen turned blue not black);

var myMC:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
myMC.graphics.beginFill(0x000000);
myMC.graphics.drawRect(0,0,550,400);
myMC.graphics.endFill();
myMC.gotoAndStop(2);
myMC.graphics.beginFill(0x0000FF);
myMC.graphics.drawRect(0,0,550,400);
myMC.graphics.endFill();
myMC.gotoAndStop(1);
addChild(myMC)

Quite a simple solution.

Everything you create on your MovieClip (variables) exist on your movieclip.
So, name the instance of your MovieClip (in the properties panel) and change your dynamic textbox variable from health to "instance name".health. For example, if my instance name was "myMC". I'll change it to:
myMC.health

As for the code, it's working and checking the variables fine, however the gotoAndStop is local on the movieClip and not on the scene. So do:
_root.gotoAndStop(8);

onClipEvent (load) {
	health = 100;
}
on (press) {
	health -= 5;
	if (health == 0) {
		_root.gotoAndStop(8);//thats the "you died" screen
	}
}

Enjoy.