Enemy depths???

[pitto]

I am making a shoot em up kind of game, where the enemies travel from right to left on the screen. My idea was to have them at different y values, and random speeds, otherwise it is just a pointless game. Anyway, i have come across a problem with the create enemy function. The enemies that should be further back are infront instead. Here is my code

// varibles
reload = false;
health = 100;
maxhealth = 100;
noenemya = 3;
totalenemya = 4;
guny = 300;
gunx = 50;
// create main things
function buildMap() {
attachMovie("crosshair", "crosshair", 99999);
attachMovie("gun", "gun", 99998);
attachMovie("healthBar", "healthBar", 99997);
attachMovie("shotBar", "shotBar", 99996);
// set guns y position
gun._y = guny;
// make crosshair follow mouse pointer
crosshair.startDrag(true, 0, 0, 600, 300);
// hide mouse pointer
Mouse.hide();
}
// move gun according to crosshair
function moveGun() {
gun._x = crosshair._x-gunx;
createEnemy();
moveEnemy();
}
// check keys
function detectKeys() {
// reload only if totaly finished clip
if (Key.isDown(Key.SPACE) and reload == true) {
shotBar.gotoAndPlay(1);
reload = false;
}
// calls the function that moves the gun movieclip
moveGun();
}
// shoot gun
// on mouse up
function shoot() {
// check if bullets = 0
if (reload == false) {
// make the shot bar show one less bullet
shotBar.nextFrame();
// gun animation
gun.play();
// check if an enemy was shot
for (var i = 0; i<totalenemya; ++i) {
// set var current
shoota = "enemya"+i;
// check if crosshair middle point is on the enemy
if (this[shoota].hitTest(crosshair._x, crosshair._y, crosshair)) {
// if a hit enemy health minus one
this[shoota].a--;
}
}
}
}
// create enemies
function createEnemy() {
// check if there are more enemies to come
if (noenemya>0) {
// set var current
current = "enemya"+noenemya;
// put in screen
attachMovie("enemya", current, 100+noenemya);
// put at x 600
this[current]._x = 600;
// put at a random y(100to200)
this[current]._y = Math.random()*100+100;
// create a speed var
this[current].speed = Math.random()*3;
// create a health var
this[current].a = 2;
// create a max health var
this[current].maxa = 2;
noenemya--;
}
}
// move enemies or let them die
function moveEnemy() {
for (var i = 0; i<totalenemya; ++i) {
movea = "enemya"+i;
this[movea]._x -= this[movea].speed;
if (!this[movea].a>0) {
this[movea].gotoAndPlay("dieing");
this[movea].a = -1;
}
this[movea].health._xscale = this[movea].a/this[movea].maxa*100;
}
}

In addition to this i have a empty movieclip calling the functions, the actionscript on that is:

onClipEvent (load) {
_root.buildMap();
}
onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
_root.detectKeys();
}
onClipEvent (mouseUp) {
_root.shoot();
}

I would really apreciate it if you could help me out with this tricky problem.
Pitto

[Barn]

Too hard to read unformatted. Try enclosing in AS tags.

[pitto]

here it is again
// varibles
reload = false;
health = 100;
maxhealth = 100;
noenemya = 3;
totalenemya = 4;
guny = 300;
gunx = 50;
// create main things
function buildMap() {
attachMovie("crosshair", "crosshair", 99999);
attachMovie("gun", "gun", 99998);
attachMovie("healthBar", "healthBar", 99997);
attachMovie("shotBar", "shotBar", 99996);
// set guns y position
gun._y = guny;
// make crosshair follow mouse pointer
crosshair.startDrag(true, 0, 0, 600, 300);
// hide mouse pointer
Mouse.hide();
}
// move gun according to crosshair
function moveGun() {
gun._x = crosshair._x-gunx;
createEnemy();
moveEnemy();
}
// check keys
function detectKeys() {
// reload only if totaly finished clip
if (Key.isDown(Key.SPACE) and reload == true) {
shotBar.gotoAndPlay(1);
reload = false;
}
// calls the function that moves the gun movieclip
moveGun();
}
// shoot gun
// on mouse up
function shoot() {
// check if bullets = 0
if (reload == false) {
// make the shot bar show one less bullet
shotBar.nextFrame();
// gun animation
gun.play();
// check if an enemy was shot
for (var i = 0; i<totalenemya; ++i) {
// set var current
shoota = "enemya"+i;
// check if crosshair middle point is on the enemy
if (this[shoota].hitTest(crosshair._x, crosshair._y, crosshair)) {
// if a hit enemy health minus one
this[shoota].a--;
}
}
}
}
// create enemies
function createEnemy() {
// check if there are more enemies to come
if (noenemya>0) {
// set var current
current = "enemya"+noenemya;
// put in screen
attachMovie("enemya", current, 100+noenemya);
// put at x 600
this[current]._x = 600;
// put at a random y(100to200)
this[current]._y = Math.random()*100+100;
// create a speed var
this[current].speed = Math.random()*3;
// create a health var
this[current].a = 2;
// create a max health var
this[current].maxa = 2;
noenemya--;
}
}

And
onClipEvent (load) {
_root.buildMap();
}
onClipEvent (enterFrame) {
_root.detectKeys();
}
onClipEvent (mouseUp) {
_root.shoot();
}

Pitto

[Barn]

Not sure why they'd be appearing in front. Maybe put a trace in there to see in what scope the enemies are being created. You could also make the createEnemy function run faster by creating a reference, instead of using a string variable:

// create enemies
function createEnemy() {
trace("scope: "+this);
// check if there are more enemies to come
if (noenemya>0) {
// put in screen
currEnemy = this.attachMovie("enemya", "enemya"+noenemya, 100+noenemya);
// put at x 600
currEnemy._x = 600;
// put at a random y(100to200)
currEnemy._y = Math.random()*100+100;
// create a speed var
currEnemy.speed = Math.random()*3;
// create a health var
currEnemy.a = 2;
// create a max health var
currEnemy.maxa = 2;
noenemya--;
}
}

[pitto]

I think i need to give a visual example of what is happening
First Scenario

1 (look at 1.gif) first inserted (1) is going slower than second inserted (2)
2 (look at 2.gif) the second inserted has a depth of 102, first 101, so the second is above
3 (look at 3.gif) this is what it should look like

The code may need to do something with swapping depths, but i'm not really sure what to do
Pitto

[Barn]

Well, maybe try changing that attachMovie line to this:

currEnemy = this.attachMovie("enemya", "enemya"+noenemya, 200-noenemya);

[pitto]

that works for the example, but then if the second is lower than the first that doesnt work
Pitto

[Barn]

Yes, that puts the second one lower than the first, and the third lower than the second.

[pitto]

I found out a way to do it myself

Of course you can use the y properties to do the depths, here is my new createEnemy function

function createEnemy() {
// check if there are more enemies to come
if (noenemya>0) {
// set var current
current = "enemya"+noenemya;
// y value used for placing and depth
currenty = Math.round((Math.random()*100+100));
currentspeed = Math.round(Math.random()*3+1)
// put in screen
attachMovie("enemya", current, 100+currenty);
// put at x 600
this[current]._x = 600;
// put at a random y(100to200)
this[current]._y = currenty;
// create a speed var
this[current].speed = currentspeed;
// create a health var
this[current].a = 2;
// create a max health var
this[current].maxa = 2;
noenemya--;
}
}

Thankyou for all your help