Encouragement needed

[SirN]

Hi all,

when I'm creating Formula1 race replays (for offline league gaming community) I simply use a track background and then move *numbers-cars* thrue keypositions so that it follows the track pattern and I time it correct between the keypositions so that a straight is done in the correct time and a corner is also...

Now to my need for encouragement:
When I have 22 cars to program correctly and maybe 78 laps to do in a race, the workload is very heavy! I would like to allow anyone to program a cars lap and it would ease my workload.

Everything is so new to me, but I think maybe loadvars and postvars from within the flashmovie could be the trick. If you can guide me a little it would be good, I need help with this e.g.
* the element travels thrue 45 keypositions accourding to a laptime, with a simple change to the laptime - how do I get a fast a simple change to the 45 traveltimes in the keypositions?

I would need a flashmovie that allows anyone to choose to program a cars laptimes and then based from that input a flashmovie replay of that lap would run!!

this link showing what I'm doing! http://w1.211.telia.com/~u21125134/lap1.html

[carnwath]

What would you ask them to provide?
e.g. The laptimes for each lap for each vehicle?

Maybe even provide any collision info at specific keypoints on the course.

In other words provide a spreadsheet of numbers,

As a minimum there would be 78 columns for 78 laps and as many rows as there are vehicles in the race.

At each cell in the spreadsheet you have the laptime and if the vehicle crashes, the last time cell would indicate when it crashed during a lap [with laptime=0 in subsequent cells.] By checking for a zero your program could determine that the previous value was a crash time and not a lap time


Save the data as an XML file and use 3dfa to read the file and plot the data as it runs the race.

[blanius]

Carnwath is right but what you need to do is this..

Think of each car's lap as a string of data. Then you have to figure out what data you need for each car at each keyframe. Then decide on a format for your data. This could be XML or arrays or textfiles whatever doesn't matter the main thing is to DEFINE your data write the loop that can process the data then just get your data in that format in whatever way is easiest for you to do.


Gee I hope that makes some kind of sense.

[SirN]

Right, thanks for the encourament, I have started it up since you've talked about it as possible/understood...

I can now load Variables into the flash, but still I'm facing a tough blank brainspace... Quote:write the loop that can process the data EndQuote.

I'm not using keyframes/scenes, 1 lap is 1 movie, each lap has 22 cars/elements moving thrue 38 keypositions in very specific timeing and the loaded variables is supposed to edit the timing.

Event-Move element thrue keypositions , in there the timeing-delay's must be edited... The only way I know of could be if the delay-times where an variable there, but it ain't, can it be?

In other words, how do I move the number 1 from one place to another in the flashmovie with loaded Variable timeing?

[blanius]

See my answer in the other thread!

You may have to re-think the way you've done this. But it would be worth it in the end. I'm bad about designing projects this way too. I get nearly to the end and realize I didn't think of something and have to re=do the whole thing to make it work.. Frustrating but every time I've done it the first attempt makes it much easier the next time trough.

The more you can preplan your project and define your needs, the better off you will be (I should listen to my own advice )

[carnwath]

Oh yes is Brett ever right. I have been busy with other work/taxes etc but working on the Doom/3D/maze game has shown up a lot of my own bad original concepts/methods and thats why I have not posted more so far. I discovered the method I used for navigating/displaying a tunnel was quite unsuited if the tunnel became a room.

So its absolutely necessary to think out on paper what the eye needs to see in order for your flash movie to convey the information, then decide how that needs to be programmed.

Only then, when you see the visual results on screen, you might see a fault and in re-thinking the problem you may find a better way to produce the result.