Player face direction using arrow keys?

[Astrodynamic]

Hi!
I wouldn't think this to be a very difficuly question to find a solution to. My question is; I have a movieclip with instance name "player" and I am trying to layout it's basic movement properties. I already have made it so that the mc will move up, down, left, and right. Cake. What I am having trouble with is getting the mc to rotate in the designated direction (right = 0 degrees, up = 90 degrees, etc).

I have tried using the xscale 100/-100 strategy, but that doen't do anything for up and down movements.

My code so far is as follows:

playerDirection = 0;

setInterval(function () {
if (Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)) {
setDirection(0);
_root.player._x += 3;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)) {
setDirection(1);
_root.player._x -= 3;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)) {
_root.player._y += 3;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.UP)) {
_root.player._y -= 3;
}
updateAfterEvent();
}, 10);

function setDirection(param){
if(param==0){
player._xscale = 100
} 
else {
player._xscale = -100
}
}

Any help is much appreciated

[Astrodynamic]

Also:
I'm not so much concerned with getting the mc to rotate as I am to get it to "snap" to a certain angle.

[Nig 13]

Hello, and welcome to FlashKit Forums

Ever heard of _rotation? It's exactly what you need

setInterval(function () {
if (Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)) {
_root.player._x += 3;
_root.player._rotation = 90;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)) {
_root.player._x -= 3;
_root.player._rotation = 270;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)) {
_root.player._y += 3;
_root.player._rotation = 180;
}
if (Key.isDown(Key.UP)) {
_root.player._y -= 3;
_root.player._rotation = 0; // or 360
}
updateAfterEvent();
}, 10);

This is the first time I've seen someone use setInterval with character movement, and it's not a bad idea - the character really moved smoothly even though the Framerate was set to 12. But, if you want the character to also move and face diagonally, you'll have to use the onEnterFrame loop. Which is oftenly used with character movement and other stuff on movieclips. So a code like this, rather on the movieclip actions, would solve that problem:

onClipEvent(load){
    speed = 10;
}

onClipEvent(enterFrame){
    if(Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)){
        this._x += speed;
        this._rotation = 90;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)){
        this._x -= speed;
        this._rotation = 270;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)){
        this._y += speed;
        this._rotation = 180;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.UP)){
        this._y -= speed;
        this._rotation = 0;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT) && Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)){
        this._rotation = 135;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.DOWN) && Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)){
        this._rotation = 225;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.LEFT) && Key.isDown(Key.UP)){
        this._rotation = 315;
    }
    if(Key.isDown(Key.UP) && Key.isDown(Key.RIGHT)){
        this._rotation = 45;
    }
}

The upper half is for the movements (the enterFrame loop will automatically cover the diagonal movement part), and the lower half is for making the player face diagonally when moving diagonally. Though, enterFrame is more efficient than setInterval, it doesn't run as smoothly, 'cause the updateAfterEvent() won't work there - so you'd manually have to change the Framerate!

Hope this help you

[Astrodynamic]

This works excellently. I learned something new so that is good. Thank you so much!

[Nig 13]

This works excellently. I learned something new so that is good. Thank you so much!

No problem, I also learned something new - movement with setInterval