As2 Platformer - Enemy + Vcam

[ShirkDeio]

Note: I've already posted something similar elsewhere, but this is a bit different and also easier to help me with. In addition, I think the title made people become uninterested.

My problem has to do with the enemy when the character is jumping. The "vcam" follows the character up and down (the vcam only being the changing of the level movieclip's _y value). The floor initially drops out from under the enemy, then he falls down towards it. When the character reaches the arc of his jump and falls back down, the ground covers up the enemy as the enemy falls partway through it. At the end of the jump, the enemy pops back up to the top of the ground like nothing happened.

Here's what I've tried that produce the same effect:

onEnterFrame for the enemy:

clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
			parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);

			while(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height,true)) {
				y--;
				clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
                                parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
			};
			
			while(!barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height + 1,true)) {
				y++;
				clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
                                parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
			};
			
			clip._y = y;

onEnterFrame for the character:

// Make it fall
		if(jumpSpeed < maxGravity) {
			jumpSpeed += gravityAmount;
		};
		y += jumpSpeed;
		
		clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
		parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
		
		// Check for ground below
		if(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true)) {
			if(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y,true)) {
				if(!move(0,false,false,true)) {
					sendHitToAI();
				};
			};
			while(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true)) {
				y--;
				clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
				parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
			};
			jumpSpeed = 0;
			jumping = false;
		} else {
			jumping = true;
		};
		
		// Check for ceiling above
		if(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y - height,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y - height,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y - height,true)) {
			while(barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y - height,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y - height,true) || barrier.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y - height,true)) {
				y++;
				clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
				parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
			};
			jumpSpeed = 0;
		};
		
		// Check for platform below
		if(jumpSpeed > 0 && (platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true))) {
			while(platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x - width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true) || platforms.hitTest(clip.point.x + width,clip.point.y + height + 1,true)) {
				y--;
				clip.point = {x:x,y:y};
				parent.localToGlobal(clip.point);
			};
			jumpSpeed = 0;
			jumping = false;
		};
		
		// Move background or character
		if(mcsToMove[0] != undefined && (clip.point.y < vcamBoundsY && (clip._y - clip.point.y) >= 0 || clip.point.y > (Stage.height - vcamBoundsY - 50) && (clip._y - clip.point.y) <= 0)) {
			// Move the background
			for(var i = 0;i < mcsToMove.length;i++) {
				if(typeof(mcsToMove[i]) == "movieclip") {
					// Just a movieclip
					mcsToMove[i]._y += (clip._y - clip.point.y);
				} else if(mcsToMove[i][1] != undefined) {
					// It's an array with a speed multiplier
					mcsToMove[i][0]._y += (clip._y - clip.point.y) * mcsToMove[i][1];
				} else if(mcsToMove[i].clip != undefined) {
					// It's a character
					mcsToMove[i].y += (clip._y - clip.point.y);
				};
			};
			y = clip._y;
		} else {
			// Move the character
			clip._y = y;
		};

About mcsToMove: mcsToMove is an array that holds all the movieclips that need to be moved by the vcam. It includes the level_mc (nested inside the level_mc is the barrier).

I originally had the code for the character also being the code for the enemy, but when it didn't work I tried tweaking it to what you see now (which is easier to try and fix). My only guess as to why it's not working is that somehow the function in the enemy thinks that the barrier IS at the places it's putting the enemy.

I've been stuck on this for a week now, and any help would be very greatly appreciated.

[ShirkDeio]

Also in the mcsToMove array is the enemy (whereupon the y value of the enemy, not the _y value, is changed).

I found something interesting (and incredibly aggravating) while looking for a solution.

When I put a "trace(y)" in various places in the enemy function, it never goes less than 209 (before you jump it's 209, and after you jump it ends up 209).

When I removed the enemy from mcsToMove and put instead at the beginning of the enemy onEnterFrame:

y -= _root.test.jumpSpeed;

I got the same result again.

[uyersuyer]

Could you post a swf file of the game so far? I'm not sure I know what's happening.

[ShirkDeio]

I just found out that removing the "y -= _root.test.jumpSpeed;" and not having the enemy in the mcsToMove still results the same--the enemy bounces. What could the problem POSSIBLY be?

[ShirkDeio]

Here's an example:

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/081208/4 1370_helpme.php

Hit space to jump. The blue is the character, the red is the enemy.

[GustTheASGuy]

Exactly what movieclips and why are you moving separately with mcsToMove if you could just move the movieclip containing them all?

[ShirkDeio]

The movieclip containing them all is _root. I don't want the character to move, just everything else. I want to be able to move some things at different speeds (i.e. backgrounds move at 1/4 speed).

All I'm moving in the example is the level_mc and the enemy.

[GustTheASGuy]

Attach enemies in the level movieclip. Everything works, no need for arrays.

[ShirkDeio]

I already tried that, however. I put the enemy in the level movieclip and still the enemy bounced.

[ShirkDeio]

I tried it using localToGlobal for the hitTest and it bounced. When I don't use localToGlobal, it lands in the wrong place.

[ShirkDeio]

If I set enemy.y to be, say, barrier._y+300, it works perfectly (except it's not using the barrier, obviously). It stays in place when you jump.

That leads me to believe that my while loops are flawed somehow (but I can't see how) or that the hitTest functions I am using are, for some reason, returning false when it should be returning true? Is there an alternative to hitTest I can use?

[ShirkDeio]

It's fixed. It was a simple layering problem in the .fla file, caused by calling the character function before the enemy function. I switched them, and it's fixed.