Sprite attributes (properties)

[RichardW]

I just downloaded and unzipped it myself and it runs fine (not counting the exception).

Here is a zip of with just the source and the images without the exe and dlls.

[agraham]

Originally Posted by enonod

There seems to be a download problem, the file has some ID on the front and registers as corrupt.
4171d1246351689-sprite-attributes-properties-sprite1.23.zip

I don't see that, it downloads fine for me, both by left clicking the link and right clicking then selecting "Save Target As".

[agraham]

This has grown into a much more extensive exercise that I anticipated!

Version 1.24 has the following changes.

CollisionMouse events now occur in the order you might expect. That is Sprites added later, and so drawn on top of other Sprites, raise the event first. Sprites may now be modified in the CollisionMouse event without the possibility of raising an exception. This is also true for the other events.

Previously the Tick routine drew the Sprites then moved them ready for the next Tick. This left the position of the Sprites as reported by their X and Y properties different to their screen position. This made clicking a fast moving Sprite difficult as the user saw the current screen position but the collision test saw the next screen position. Now Tick moves all the Sprites then draws them leaving their reported X and Y positions equivalent to their screen positions.

[RichardW]

thanks for the great work agraham. the effort is appreciated. sprite.dll is now a really useful library for games development.

[agraham]

Attached is a provisional help file for version 1.3. There is a description of the additions and changes in the Overview topic.

I will wait a few days to see if anyone comes up with any isuues or requests for changes then I will pass the library and help sources over to Erel for issue as an official library. The official release will include the source code so that the library may be merged when optimised compiled.

[enonod]

Thank you so much agraham, anything extra with sprites is a Godsend. The movement change is especially good news, even though I was unaware of the cause of the difficulty.
I don't know what happened with the download, 1.24 and help both work fine.
Well done.

[Edit] Weeellll, there is one question. Would it be possible to attach data to a sprite? For example an array or list or perhaps a pointer, but not so good.

[agraham]

Version 1.25 adds two properties to a Sprite, Data and DataArray. These may be used to hold data individual to each Sprite.

Sprite.Data : String [I/O] : Gets or sets a single data item.
Sprite.DataArray : String() [I/O] : Gets or sets a single dimensioned array of data items.

A small demo is in the archive.

[enonod]

Version 1.25 adds two properties to...

When I read that I thought I had missed it in some very old version, then I read it again...
WoW this is marvellous, thank you.
Have you ever been in the situation where a fruit machine pays out and gets stuck... then every coin you put in causes another payout?
I notice with 1.25 that there are 4 digits left!!

Much obliged, I'm thinking hard...
I haven't tried this new bit yet and can't think quick enough to remember 'data items' types, so I will ask. Does the data item in the array permit an x,y coord as one entry?

[agraham]

Originally Posted by enonod

Does the data item in the array permit an x,y coord as one entry?

No, as it's a single dimension array but you could use

arr(0) = x & "," &y

but it's more efficient just to use individual elements. You could use a structure, which is actually an array, to make it easier.


Dim Type(x, y, z, name)Spritedata
....

Dim Spritedata(4) ' make a new array
... ' set it up
Sprite.DataArray = Spritedata() ' assign it to a Sprite

[enonod]

Thank you agraham that is excellent.