Borne Games Forum » Topic: How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running

Thefox on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Thefox — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:29:45 +0000

What do you mean by bracket scoped variable?
And Astro looks really cool, but i saw a little bit of the action script code and it looks a lot different. Will AS4 be like AS3? If it is then I'll probably start changing some of my coding into AS3

motionsmith on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

motionsmith — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:33:29 +0000

AS can never get very close to C++ because it's a high-level language, which basically means that the compiler has to do a TON of work, but the developer has to do less work. I've read the documentation on AS4, and can tell you that you're not going to see a LOT of differences like you did between AS2 and AS3. Now that Adobe is following (and really shaping) ECMA, you can expect AS's progress to be more stable. The biggest changes in AS4 would probably be:

* Data typing array objects
* Bracket-scoped variables (instead of function-scoped)

Lata.

Thefox on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Thefox — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:39:51 +0000

Yeah flash is definitely not meant for drawing. All of the tools have a good chance of screwing up what you already did. Like...smoothing a little too much makes you MC or whatever look quite odd. But then again i would say flash is mostly for AS (actionscript).
Although AS isn't a really great language, it does let you put games out there faster and at the same time can give you great fundamentals and basic understanding of coding. I personally think that AS4 or 5 will be very similar to C++. Seeing as someone already converted a C++ file/game to AS3.

DrNeroCF on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

DrNeroCF — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:51:01 +0000

I would say that Flash technically sucks. It's a terrible program and the stability is mind-numbingly bad (of course I might just be spoiled by Final Cut Express). But Brian's right, if it's getting your game on the most platforms easily and quickly, with the widest audience available, it's unmatched. Not to mention that Adobe doesn't exactly support 'artistic use' of their program anymore (the inaccuracy of the smoothing on the brush tool makes me want to punch someone)...

Brian Sexton on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Brian Sexton — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:30:06 +0000

I think action scripts are good because they are easy to use.

I don't know about that. It may be easy to get started, but it takes study and practice to become proficient in any programming language. Some are, however, less difficult to learn than others, but even that is subjective.

If you can coder in C++ you really don't need AS...anyone heard of LUA?

I can work in C++, but that doesn't do me much good if my goal is to make a cross-platform game that people can play right in their Web browsers using only a common plug-in. The greatest appeal of ActionScript isn't its level of difficulty; it is about what it enables. It is about being able to make something on either Mac OS X or Windows and deliver it to both of those platforms, to GNU/Linux, and maybe even to some telephones or PDAs or other gadgets.

Having a good programming language is important, but ultimately, it is a means to an end: making software. Capability is much more important than difficulty.

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:53:52 +0000

errrm, thanks?

Mistercheef on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Mistercheef — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:54:08 +0000

Jimbo, congrats for the first quadruple post on this forum! (i dont consider it a bad thing either)

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:37:18 +0000

Oh, and can we go back to the running...i'm still stuck...

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:36:33 +0000

I think action scripts are good because they are easy to use. If you can coder in C++ you really don't need AS...anyone heard of LUA?

Brian Sexton on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Brian Sexton — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:23:45 +0000

people say actionscript sucks though?

People say pretty much everything sucks; it depends upon your perspective. Like almost anything, ActionScript could certainly be much better, but it does enable us to create some pretty decent games and other multi-platform applications.

I am quite fond of ActionScript 3.

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:44:35 +0000

maybe it does!

Mistercheef on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Mistercheef — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:19:46 +0000

people say actionscript sucks though?

Brian Sexton on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Brian Sexton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:14:50 +0000

Brian, I can understand why some people would want that amount of control, but I'm more of a, use the easiest method that's already built into the system kinda guy.

Whatever works for you. To me, ActionScript source code seems easier to find, search, edit, etc. when I don't have to go searching for it on symbol timeline frames and on instances.

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:52:01 +0000

but my guy just plays through all his frames..add stop to idle?

then do what ever the code is for when right is down gotoandplay run
then addstop to the end of the running frames so he doesn't go off and play his jump?

that is confusing to read...

DrNeroCF on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

DrNeroCF — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:51:54 +0000

do i need to add stop(); to each section of my guy (idle-run-jump)?

Nope, the gotoAndStop takes care of that for you. Generally, you may need to put stop() on the first frame of a clip, then only use gotoAndStops so you don't need to use stop() on any of the other frames.

Brian, I can understand why some people would want that amount of control, but I'm more of a, use the easiest method that's already built into the system kinda guy. That's probably why I use only macs, haha.

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:37:39 +0000

nope stuck again

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:46:06 +0000

do i need to add stop(); to each section of my guy (idle-run-jump)?

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:38:18 +0000

hey i think i got it...

i'm just rubbish at anamation

Jimbo on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Jimbo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:22:27 +0000

SO how do you actualy do it?

Brian Sexton on "How Can i Make my guy 'look' like he's running"

Brian Sexton — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:18:01 +0000

I like for things to be code-driven and modular, so I like the idea of swapping different MovieClips in and out to change animations. Storing them on different frames of a container MovieClip is OK if you would prefer to change frames rather than swapping. Either way, I prefer to keep as little code as possible on frames; I find that it is easier to find and edit code when it is kept in separate files, whether they are class files or simple include files.