New tile based platform engine – part 8 – patrols
Every platform game should have enemies.
Every enemy has an artificial intelligence that makes it act in a smart or dumb way… and the patrol is the dumbest enemy.
The patrol walk in a direction until he has ground under his feet and does not hit a wall.
In this first version, the patrol does not kill the player (player’s death will be covered later) and stops when he find anything different than the open area marked by 0 in level array.
As for the player, the patrol has an array determining the y and x starting position.
Moreover, the third element in the array determines his initial speed
Now take some actionscript
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 | tile_size = 20;
ground_acceleration = 1;
ground_friction = 0.8;
air_acceleration = 0.5;
air_friction = 0.7;
ice_acceleration = 0.15;
ice_friction = 0.95;
treadmill_speed = 2;
max_speed = 3;
xspeed = 0;
yspeed = 0;
falling = false;
gravity = 0.5;
jump_speed = 6;
climbing = false;
climb_speed = 0.8;
level = new Array();
enemy = new Array();
level[0] = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1];
level[1] = [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[2] = [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 6, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[3] = [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[4] = [1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[5] = [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[6] = [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 6, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[7] = [1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[8] = [1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 7, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1];
level[9] = [1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 1];
player = [5, 8];
enemy[0] = [10, 3, -2];
enemy[1] = [3, 3, -2];
function create_level(l) {
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("level_container",1);
level_height = l.length;
level_width = l[0].length;
for (y=0; y<level_height; y++) {
for (x=0; x<level_width; x++) {
if (l[y][x] != 0) {
t = level_container.attachMovie("tile", "t"+y+"_"+x, _root.level_container.getNextHighestDepth(), {_x:x*tile_size, _y:y*tile_size});
t.gotoAndStop(l[y][x]);
}
}
}
x_pos = player[0]*tile_size+tile_size/2;
y_pos = player[1]*tile_size+tile_size/2+1;
level_container.attachMovie("hero","hero",_root.level_container.getNextHighestDepth(),{_x:x_pos, _y:y_pos});
for (x=0; x<enemy.length; x++) {
foe = level_container.attachMovie("patrol", "patrol_"+_root.level_container.getNextHighestDepth(), _root.level_container.getNextHighestDepth(), {_x:enemy[x][0]*tile_size+tile_size/2, _y:enemy[x][1]*tile_size+tile_size/2+1});
foe.speed = enemy[x][2];
foe.onEnterFrame = function() {
this.x_pos = this._x;
this.y_pos = this._y;
this.x_pos += this.speed;
this.left_foot_x = Math.floor((this.x_pos-6)/tile_size);
this.right_foot_x = Math.floor((this.x_pos+5)/tile_size);
this.foot_y = Math.floor((this.y_pos+9)/tile_size);
this.bottom = Math.floor((this.y_pos+8)/tile_size);
this.left_foot = level[this.foot_y][this.left_foot_x];
this.right_foot = level[this.foot_y][this.right_foot_x];
this.left = level[this.bottom][this.left_foot_x];
this.right = level[this.bottom][this.right_foot_x];
if (this.left_foot != 0 and this.right_foot != 0 and this.left == 0 and this.right == 0) {
this._x = this.x_pos;
}
else {
this.speed *= -1;
}
};
}
}
create_level(level);
_root.onEnterFrame = function() {
ground_under_feet();
walking = false;
climbing = false;
if (Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)) {
xspeed -= speed;
walking = true;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)) {
xspeed += speed;
walking = true;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.UP)) {
get_edges();
if (top_right == 6 or bottom_right == 6 or top_left == 6 or bottom_left == 6) {
jumping = false;
falling = false;
climbing = true;
climbdir = -1;
}
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)) {
get_edges();
if (over == "ladder") {
jumping = false;
falling = false;
climbing = true;
climbdir = 1;
}
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.SPACE)) {
get_edges();
if (!falling and !jumping) {
jumping = true;
yspeed = -jump_speed;
}
}
if (!walking) {
xspeed *= friction;
if (Math.abs(xspeed)<0.5) {
xspeed = 0;
}
}
if (xspeed>max_speed) {
xspeed = max_speed;
}
if (xspeed<max_speed*-1) {
xspeed = max_speed*-1;
}
if (falling or jumping) {
yspeed += gravity;
}
if (climbing) {
yspeed = climb_speed*climbdir;
}
if (!falling and !jumping and !climbing) {
yspeed = 0;
}
xspeed += bonus_speed;
check_collisions();
level_container.hero._x = x_pos;
level_container.hero._y = y_pos;
xspeed -= bonus_speed;
};
function ground_under_feet() {
bonus_speed = 0;
left_foot_x = Math.floor((x_pos-6)/tile_size);
right_foot_x = Math.floor((x_pos+5)/tile_size);
foot_y = Math.floor((y_pos+9)/tile_size);
left_foot = level[foot_y][left_foot_x];
right_foot = level[foot_y][right_foot_x];
if (left_foot != 0) {
current_tile = left_foot;
}
else {
current_tile = right_foot;
}
switch (current_tile) {
case 0 :
speed = air_acceleration;
friction = air_friction;
falling = true;
break;
case 1 :
over = "ground";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
break;
case 2 :
over = "ice";
speed = ice_acceleration;
friction = ice_friction;
break;
case 3 :
over = "treadmill";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
bonus_speed = -treadmill_speed;
break;
case 4 :
over = "treadmill";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
bonus_speed = treadmill_speed;
break;
case 5 :
over = "cloud";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
break;
case 6 :
over = "ladder";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
break;
case 7 :
over = "trampoline";
speed = ground_acceleration;
friction = ground_friction;
break;
}
}
function check_collisions() {
y_pos += yspeed;
get_edges();
// collision to the bottom
if (yspeed>0) {
if ((bottom_right != 0 and bottom_right != 6) or (bottom_left != 0 and bottom_left != 6)) {
// not a cloud...
if (bottom_right != 5 and bottom_left != 5) {
// a trampoline
if ((bottom_right == 7 or bottom_left == 7) and (Math.abs(yspeed)>1)) {
yspeed = yspeed*-1;
jumping = true;
falling = true;
}
else {
y_pos = bottom*tile_size-9;
yspeed = 0;
falling = false;
jumping = false;
}
}
else {
//cloud
if (prev_bottom<bottom) {
y_pos = bottom*tile_size-9;
yspeed = 0;
falling = false;
jumping = false;
}
}
}
}
// collision to the top
if (yspeed<0) {
if ((top_right != 0 and top_right != 5 and top_right != 6) or (top_left != 0 and top_left != 5 and top_left != 6)) {
y_pos = bottom*tile_size+1+8;
yspeed = 0;
falling = false;
jumping = false;
}
}
x_pos += xspeed;
get_edges();
// collision to the left
if (xspeed<0) {
if ((top_left != 0 and top_left != 5 and top_left != 6 and top_left != 7) or (bottom_left != 0 and bottom_left != 5 and bottom_left != 6 and bottom_left != 7)) {
x_pos = (left+1)*tile_size+6;
xspeed = 0;
}
}
// collision to the right
if (xspeed>0) {
if ((top_right != 0 and top_right != 5 and top_right != 6 and top_right != 7) or (bottom_right != 0 and bottom_right != 5 and bottom_right != 6 and bottom_right != 7)) {
x_pos = right*tile_size-6;
xspeed = 0;
}
}
prev_bottom = bottom;
}
function get_edges() {
// right edge
right = Math.floor((x_pos+5)/tile_size);
// left edge
left = Math.floor((x_pos-6)/tile_size);
// bottom edge
bottom = Math.floor((y_pos+8)/tile_size);
// top edge
top = Math.floor((y_pos-9)/tile_size);
// adjacent tiles
top_right = level[top][right];
top_left = level[top][left];
bottom_left = level[bottom][left];
bottom_right = level[bottom][right];
} |
And enjoy the result
Next steps will cover the theory behind these 267 lines, so you will soon be able to design your own engine.
They can be easily customized to meet the unique requirements of your project.
19 Responses to “New tile based platform engine – part 8 – patrols”
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Great Game Idea, haven’t been on this site for a long time.
This is a great tutorial. Please do a AS3 version too…
Thanks!
Do something with enemies hurting you and with something that can kill you like spikes.
Really love the tutorials, but I have question, its better to do the engine with tiles, or make the level with movieclips that represent the ladder and the ground, etc…
I believe its better to the level design make it with graphcs. Hope you understand my english :P and answer the question.
Hello,
Could you make after other parts how to make levels using http://www.emanueleferonato.com/2008/01/10/flash-game-level-editor/ this level editor and then by copying generated code, paste into game to load level?
Thx!
Yes! I really want to know how to make a level editor!
Looking forward to reading what you have to say about the theory. One day I intend to make a decent platform engine and you’ve managed to split this up nicely into easy “bite-sized” sections.
Just wanted to post a glitch about the ladders. I’m pretty sure you’d want to disable jumping while climbing a ladder (which you can do at the moment).
Again, looking really nice. I hope you can incorporate this with some great level design and make a fantastic game.
Very nice. Enemies work quite well too.
I agree with the level editor suggestion. Could be very handy.
Apart from that, kudos for this tutorial. 8 parts so far, the longest I have seen!
AWESOME!!!
I never would have been able to make that patrol ActionScript! But wouldn’t it be a little easier to make movieclips and just place them wherever? Then you could define the exact movement, instead of just putting a patrol thing.
Arxanas – most of tuts here use ActionScript (on frames only) so making movieclips and placing em won’t be such same as otehr tuts and some codes won’t work.
Still waiting for level editor, full patrols and some kind of score thing.
I love that your still doing the tuts in as2 cuz i cant afford as3 compatable programs
i have a question completely off topic but i’m creating a shooting game and when you get 2 a new level all my actionscrip is stayin in use on different frames how do i cancel or stop this?Such as i dont want the player to be able to shoot in one frame but he shoots anyway becuase last frame i used action script to allow him to fire. Another probleme i have iwth this is when i attach a death scene to the nmes unless i make it go away after a while it stays there when i move to another lvl (annother frame)?
@Josh – I don’t understand 2nd part (please fix) and on other frames just unload movieclips used in levels. I did so on my pool game so all balls and stick won’t appear. Try something like:
removeMovieClip(“player”)
And next time post this in forums.
hey I was wondering how would you make a loops of zen type game
Here is a fix for the ladder bug:
http://www.triquitips.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=624&p=4415#p4415
hey emanuele can you make disapearing blocks like in the old tutorial because ive tried and it just freezez
This tutorial is one of your best to date – nice one!
I don’t like how you fall down a ladder if you jump on to it from above, but otherwise the collision seems quite solid. I’d like to see what happens if the character is larger than a tile, I guess I should try it for myself :)
I’d be interested to learn how you would approach sloped tiles. I’d love to be able to add hills to my game to make more organic levels.
great tutorial! but ive been trying to make a base for the patrols, where they would spawn out of every second, but i cant seem to get it. please help :D