Recent posts by Ringer on Kongregate

Topic: Kongregate / Big, Ugly "Starter" Label on Kongai Cards, and Compulsory Starter Card Picks

They should look like this .

Topic: Programming / I need to learn actionscript

http://kirupa.org/ http://flashkit.com/

I recommend about six months of practice before you think about submitting something – I’ve been doing this for five or six years, and it takes me at least that long working on one… Apply yourself! If you’re thirteen, you have a ton of free time, and if you really get into this, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Topic: Programming / html codes?

I think he means he exported it as HTML (embedded in a page) and has the embed tags. If that’s the case, Tremors, you only have to submit the SWF.

Topic: Programming / Object depth

getNextHighestDepth is a quick-way-out, but then you can’t track which objects are in which depths. If you ever want anything to be on top of “hero_mc” Also, if I’m not mistaken, you can only swapDepths for dynamically attached MovieClips. If you’re managing lots of objects that may swap depths at any time, you’ll have to do it dynamically.

Because you can’t set objects to the same depth, the way I’ve handled it with games with a lot of sprites was by giving each its own thousand. That way, multiples wouldn’t overwrite one another, and the overlapping was consistent. For example, attach ship_mc at 0, bullet_mc’s at 1000 (iterating a numeric variable currentBulletDepth until 1999), asteroid_mc’s at 2000 (iterating a similar variable) and so on.

If it’s for an environment where they have to switch rapidly (you might walk in front of or behind a tree) the general idea I use is swapDepths (y*10000+x). Of course, doing that to every object, every frame, is a little sloppy, but that’s the gist of it.

Topic: Art / StickFigure Art (Only)

When you’re putting “lol” in speech bubbles you know there’s something wrong.

Topic: Collaborations / Medievil Madness - Coder Needed :3

Haha, 300 Queers is one of my favorites, too.

Topic: Collaborations / New Direction For Tower Defense Games(Operation Overkill)-New Artist Needed

I’d rather you contact me via MSN or email than this thread. See profile for contact info.

Topic: Programming / [Kongregate API] Statistics/Challenges

Well, @raitendo, everything looks right to me. Although it SHOULDN’T make a difference, it’s considered “dangerous” coding to do the add operation inside a function call. You might want to try

var tempScore:Number = score + bonus;
trace ("score=="+score+"; bonus=="+bonus+"tempScore"+tempScore);

Never hurts to run through the variables. It may prompt hair loss, though. For all I know, you accidentally cast “bonus” to a String elsewhere, Flash ignores it, and the variable gets submitted wrong.

Topic: Collaborations / Need graphicsy person

Sure, I’ll take a look. See my profile for contact info.

Topic: Art / I CANT DRAW DX

And I can’t drive 55.

Topic: Art / cartooning/illustration...I just don't get it...

I remember my grade school buddy always drawing cartoons, and he had this very exaggerated bizarre style. I asked him how come he drew like that, and he said that’s just how they were put together in his head, so he had to put them down the same way on paper. I recommend you draw things the way you see them; stick to your own style!

Topic: Programming / Potential Flash Player Issue (Adobe)

Regardless, everyone should have the latest version downloaded. Sooner or later you’ll run into a reason for it, you know? I still export my games in the earliest version possible, in case someone has a problem with 9.0+.

Topic: Programming / [Kongregate API] Statistics/Challenges

Spaceplant: regarding the number thing, you could call

_root.kongregateStats.submit(“Completed 4”,1);

to indicate you completed level 4, for instance. But that would require you to send a variable for each area (“Completed 1”, “Completed 2”, etc). Or, if the game is linear, you could call

_root.kongregateStats.submit(“HighestLevelCompleted”,currentlevel);

sending everything to the same variable (it should be a max variable), where currentlevel is the local variable of the level completed; that is, the server will store only the highest level submitted by that user.

The other two questions: I’m not sure about reading from kongregateStats, but if you want to store a little information, it’s easiest with a cookie. There’s a basic tutorial on doing so here .

ArcaneCoder, if I’m wrong about something, please point it out. You’re way more familiar with KAPI than I am.

Topic: Games / "You Have To Burn The Rope" Monument Thread

Best game on Kongregate.

Topic: Games / Favourite Kongai Character

What IS with the hooters? I mean, practically, they don’t expedite battle. There might as well be old women and fat chicks, too! I mean, Higashi is old and fat!

Topic: Collaborations / Music producer offering his work

If you can’t fit a SWF in 10MB, unless it actually consists of 90 hours of unique, dynamic gameplay, there’s optimizing to do. The Nintendo Development Team fit the entire Super Mario All-Stars package in under 3 MB, for crying out loud… compress images, optimize polygons, reduce bitrates, and remove duplicates!

Topic: Collaborations / Designer In need of Job.

See related thread

Topic: Collaborations / THIS MAY FAIL

Aestheticrebel, can I subscribe to your newsletter? That bit about making games being “an investment in time and sanity” is worth noting in particular.

He’s right, you know: I’ve been working on my present project for months now, and I expect it’ll be at least another month to finish. Probably a few hundred hours altogether, and I don’t expect it to be anything special.

The whole point of the Flash Development community is … DO IT YOURSELF!

Topic: Collaborations / Brute Force Graphics Team Needed

Although I suck in Photoshop, I may be able to help with the automated image-slapping. As might any of the other Flash gurus who hang out here. So just point out what you need, specifically, regarding that. Afraid I don’t quite understand so far.

Topic: Programming / API Issues

With a popular game like this one, you’d think Kongregate admin would help you out. After all, it’s the submission API that is the problem. From here, I couldn’t tell you what’s wrong. Over my head. Hope it gets fixed.

Topic: Off-topic / Weird Facts

@ 137: the human head thing is true. The brain can and does function for several seconds after decapitation. A French political prisoner named Languille was to be executed in 1905, and a scientist named Beaurieux wanted to use him as an experiment; Languille’s severed head made eye contact with him twice and blinked before total death. However, because of sudden loss of blood pressure (and blood!) the decapitee would lose consciousness within seconds, and before then would be limited to motor functions of the face. @ 164: free-moving liquids in outer space will freeze, retaining their original shape. @ 168: as a matter of fact, the “green card” has NEVER been green. Wonder why they named it that…

Now I’ll throw something in:

172. George W. Bush has had at least twelve personal bankruptcies, more than any other President in U.S. History.

Topic: Collaborations / New Direction For Tower Defense Games(Operation Overkill)-New Artist Needed

The poor quality is due to imageShack scaling it ridiculously large, when it is only 70 pixels across. You’ll see it properly if you copy and paste the first link I gave you (including the &width=70 part, which textile also ruins when hyperlinking). Screw animation for the preview then; just know that I can animate it later. Check it out. It’s a fuel depot in the desert, or something.

Your towers probably won’t be so big in-game, but I figured I’d export this one large. Just for shits and giggles. How big WILL they be, roughly? Will the play field be isometric (like say, SimCity 2000), or a top-down grid (like say, Desktop Tower Defense), or what? 3-D models are probably not the best choice if you’re insistent on a top-down view, but scripting around an isometric field is much more difficult.

Topic: Programming / Flash Game Crawler

Uhhhhhh shit I read that wrong.

Yeah, of course, I’d put my games up for it.

Topic: Collaborations / Music producer offering his work

I might hit you up on that offer, but my current game doesn’t have music. Most of my future projects have plans for music, but I’m not sure about techno. I’ll stick you on my MSN for now.

Topic: Programming / Using an array to make multiple enemies and bullets

This problem plagued me for the first few my Flash years. The best solution I’ve seen/used is an ArrayList: an adaptation of a regular array that resizes to hold whatever. Here’s the class I use:

class ArrayList
{
    private var list:Array;
    public function ArrayList ()
    {
        list = new Array ();
    }
    public function addThis (obj:Object)
    {
        //trace (obj + " added");
        list.push (obj);
    }
    public function set (location:Number, obj:Object)
    {
        list [location] = obj;
    }
    public function remove (location:Number)
    {
        list [location] = null;
        resize (location);
    }
    public function removeThis (obj:Object)
    {
        for (var i:Number = 0; i < getSize (); i++)
            if (obj == list [i]) {
                remove (i);
                break;
            }
    }
    public function get (location:Number):Object
    {
        return list [location];
    }
    public function getSize ():Number
    {
        return list.length;
    }
    public function toString ():String
    {
        return ("Array List containing " + list.toString ());
    }
    private function resize (index:Number)
    {
        var tempL:Number = list.length;
        var tempArray:Array = new Array ();
        for (var i:Number = 0; i < tempL; i++)
            if (i != index)
                tempArray.push (list [i]);
        list = tempArray;
    }
}

Every time you want to add an object to the list, use addThis(obj), and be sure to remove it later with removeThis(obj). You can run through it with loops quickly, and it keeps the array small and convenient.

If you’re new to OOP altogether, and I don’t want to be a naysayer here, you might not be ready to tackle a game that complex. Still, there’s my tip, good luck with your game, and just ask if you need more help.