CakeEater 4: Sprites and Animations

Planning

Step 1

In this lesson we will create a Sprite class which we can use to display images and play Animations

Step 2

Create a new file, Sprite.js, and use it to declare a new class named "Sprite"

Step 3

Also create another new file named Images.js

Inside this file we will `preload()` all of the images we will be using

`setup()` will not run until preload has finished loading

Step 4

Make sure Sprite.js and Image.js are included in index.html's header

Step 5

Download this file which contains the images we'd like to use

Download CakeEaterImages.zip

You should see these images when you open the folder:

Step 6

Drag an drop each image into the Asset pane to upload them

Step 7

Create a variable for the cake tile image then set it's value using loadImage()

Step 8

Copy and Paste the image source into the loadImage function

This source link should be a String, so we need to add `"`s around it!

Information

Step 9

You can get the image address of any image uploaded to the web by right clicking and choosing "Copy image address"

We don't need an image of a puppy right now, but it's still nice to see one isn't it?

Step 10

Make a global variable for each and every image

We'll assign them with loadImage() next...

Step 11

Each of these variable need an image loaded into them...

Step 12

Use the clipboard image next to each image file to copy the image source

Paste each image source into the `loadImage()` function for it's respective variable

It may be tedious to add all seven of these images, but you only have to do it once and it's much faster when you add a single image at a time.

Check Your Work

Step 13

All images are loaded into variables and ready to use in our project!

Planning

Step 14

Now let's start defining our Sprite class

First of all a Sprite is an image, so let's add a constructor that takes in one of these image variables we just made

Step 15

And the first thing a Sprite should be able to do is draw itself

Add a draw method which uses the image function to draw the Sprite's `image`

Step 16

To draw an image we need an x, and y, position as well as a width and height

We'll let the Sprite's owner supply these properties, so let's add some parameters

Planning

Step 17

Instead of our Tiles and Player being colored squares, we'll assign them Sprites

Step 18

Remove the color property from Tiles and Walls and replace them with a new Sprite

Step 19

Also give the crumbs a new Sprite using `crumbsImg`

Step 20

Instead of Tile.draw drawing a rectangle, we'll simply have it call its Sprite's draw method

Remember we need to supply `Sprite.draw()` with an `x`, `y`, `width`, and `height`.

Check Your Work

Step 21

You should now see cake for Tiles and candles for Walls

Something is weird about the candle image though...

Planning

Step 22

This candle image contains two separate animation frames

We want our Sprite to display one frame at a time, and later we'll make it animate

Planning

Step 23

The image function can take an additional 4 parameters, the source parameters

We can have `image()` display only a portion of the image source:

We refer to these colored boxes as the Source Image and the Display Image.

Planning

Step 24

In our case we want to take the first candle image from the group and display it on the canvas

Here I've labeled the Source Width (sw) and Source Height (sh) as well as the Destination Width (dw) and Destination Height (dh):

Planning

Step 25

We can display the other image by changing the "source x" and "source y"

Source x and y tells the program where from the source image to grab from

Display x and y tells the program where on the canvas to display the image

Step 26

Add a "Source Width" and "Source Height" property to the Sprite class

By default all of these images have a source width and height of `32`

Step 27

Add sx, sy, sw, and sh to the image function in Sprite.draw()

For now we'll leave sx and sy at 0 so to always grab the first image

Check Your Work

Step 28

Your candles should now display one candle per tile

Information

Step 29

If we slide the Source X over by the Source Width, we should move to the next candle tile

Planning

Step 30

Each animation frame can be retrieved by increasing the source x by some number of source widths

Frame 0's `sx` is at `0 * sw`

Frame 1's `sx` is at `1 * sw`

Shown below: Frame 2's `sx` is at `2 * sw`

Step 31

Add a frame property to the Sprite's constructor

We'll start at frame 0

Step 32

In the Sprite's draw method, set the "source x" to the "frame number" times the "source width"

Check Your Work

Step 33

So far nothing has changed

But now we can change the frame value to slide the source image x over...

Information

Step 34

If we set the starting frame to 1, we see this

The Candles display their second frame.

The Cake doesn't have a second frame, so it displays nothing...

Planning

Step 35

We're going to use this frame advancing to make our Sprites animate

In particular, we'll be making our Candle's flicker

Step 36

First add a property named "numFrames" to the Sprite class

Make it the second parameter in the constructor, and set its default value to `1`:

I like to name my parameters with long-form names numberOfFrames but keep my property names short numFrames.

Step 37

Now create an animate method

Step 38

Animation of a Sprite is where the frame number increases by 1

Step 39

If the frame number is greater than the number of frames, we reset it back to 0

We actually need to write `>=` because `frame` starts counting at 0

Step 40

We'll have each Sprite call it's animate method from it's draw method

Step 41

We'll also set the numFrames of the candle to 2

Check Your Work

Step 42

You should see the candle flickering, but way too fast

Your computer's frameRate might make the animations look like they aren't playing.

If you are having trouble, try adding frameRate(40) into your code and see if that helps.

Planning

Step 43

What we want is to only advance the frame number every few frames

For example, we may want the candle to only flicker once every 30 frames like this:

Information

Step 44

To do this we can use the modulo operator like so:

`frameCount` is a p5js value which records the number of game frames since the program began

Here is what we get if we `console.log(frameCount % 4)`

And here if we `console.log(frameCount % 10)`

Step 45

We can advance the Sprite's frame once every 30 frames, by only increasing it when (frameCount % 30 === 0)

frameCount % 30 will count 0, 1, 2, 3, 4...28, 29, and then 0 again. Repeating once every 30 frames.

Check Your Work

Step 46

Now the candle flickers at a much more reasonable rate

Step 47

Let's add a frameSpeed parameter to control this speed

We'll set a default value of 0 assuming most Sprites will not be animated.

Step 48

Instead of using the flat number 30, let's use the frameSpeed property

Note that a higher value for frameSpeed actually makes the candle flicker more slowly

Step 49

Now remember to set the frameSpeed when we make the Wall sprite

The default frameSpeed is 0, so we need to set the candle's sprite's frameSpeed to 30

Step 50

Just for safety, let's cancel the animate method if the frameSpeed is 0 or negative

We use return to exit the function if frameSpeed <= 0

We would get an error if we tried to modulus by zero.

Planning

Step 51

Next we're going to add a sprite for the CakeEater

This sprite has 4 directions, and if you take a look at it's spritesheet you will see it looks like this:

Each row displays the CakeEater in a different direction..

Challenge

Step 52

Add a sprite property to the CakeEater

Fill in the missing parameters:

The CakeEater is 32 x 32 pixels on it's spritesheet.
How many animations frames does it have?
It's frameSpeed should be set to the same speed as the candles.

Step 53

Have it draw the sprite in its draw() method

Check Your Work

Step 54

The CakeEater should now open and close its mouth

But it still faces to the left no matter what direction it's moving in...

Planning

Step 55

We can change the direction of the sprite by changing the "Row" on the source image

Our Source Y has been at 0 pixels and so the Sprite is facing to the left.

If the Source Y is at 32 pixels the sprite will be facing down.

What direction will it be facing if the Source Y is set to 3 x 32px which is 96px?

Step 56

We will call the row number the "animation number". Add it as a property of the Sprite class

Open Sprite.js

Add this property

Step 57

If we multiply this animation number by the height of the source window we obtain the source Y

Say we wanted the sprite to face down

The animation number would be 1, multiplied by 32 gives us a source height of 32px

Challenge

Step 58

Create a local variable for source y and calculate it using the animation number and the source height

Fill in the blank area with the formula and plug `sy` into the image function

Check Your Work

Step 59

If you set the animationNumber to 1, you should see the CakeEater face downwards

The other sprites will disappear if their animation number is set to 1.
(Except for the crumbs)

Step 60

In the CakeEater's setVelocity method, set the sprite's animation number to 3 when the RIGHT_ARROW is pressed

Challenge

Step 61

Try to get the CakeEater to face every direction by changing the animation number when each arrow is pressed

Challenge

Step 62

At the bottom of the setVelocity method, add logic to make the animation play faster when the CakeEater is moving

I'll start you off with some code, but see if you can replace the comments to make it work:

if ( //the xvelocity and yvelocity are both 0) {
    //Set this object's sprite's frameSpeed to 30
} else {
    //Set frameSpeed to 10
}

Check Your Work

Step 63

You should now see the character's chomping speed increase while moving!

Planning

Step 64

Next lesson we're going to get FANCY by adding some CSS styling and making the cake look more 3D

CakeEater 4: Sprites and Animations Info

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Created By

Newprofile jamie

Course:

CakeEater

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Created 8 months ago

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CakeEater 4: Sprites and Animations

Inside this file we will preload() all of the images we will be using

setup() will not run until preload has finished loading

You should see these images when you open the folder:

This source link should be a String, so we need to add "s around it!

Paste each image source into the loadImage() function for it's respective variable

It may be tedious to add all seven of these images, but you only have to do it once and it's much faster when you add a single image at a time.

First of all a Sprite is an image, so let's add a constructor that takes in one of these image variables we just made

Add a draw method which uses the image function to draw the Sprite's image

We'll let the Sprite's owner supply these properties, so let's add some parameters

Remember we need to supply Sprite.draw() with an x, y, width, and height.

Something is weird about the candle image though...

We want our Sprite to display one frame at a time, and later we'll make it animate

We can have image() display only a portion of the image source:

We refer to these colored boxes as the Source Image and the Display Image.

Here I've labeled the Source Width (sw) and Source Height (sh) as well as the Destination Width (dw) and Destination Height (dh):

Source x and y tells the program where from the source image to grab from

Display x and y tells the program where on the canvas to display the image

By default all of these images have a source width and height of 32

For now we'll leave sx and sy at 0 so to always grab the first image

Frame 0's sx is at 0 * sw

Frame 1's sx is at 1 * sw

Shown below: Frame 2's sx is at 2 * sw

We'll start at frame 0

But now we can change the frame value to slide the source image x over...

The Candles display their second frame.

The Cake doesn't have a second frame, so it displays nothing...

In particular, we'll be making our Candle's flicker

Make it the second parameter in the constructor, and set its default value to 1:

We actually need to write >= because frame starts counting at 0

For example, we may want the candle to only flicker once every 30 frames like this:

frameCount is a p5js value which records the number of game frames since the program began

Here is what we get if we console.log(frameCount % 4)

And here if we console.log(frameCount % 10)

Note that a higher value for frameSpeed actually makes the candle flicker more slowly

This sprite has 4 directions, and if you take a look at it's spritesheet you will see it looks like this:

Each row displays the CakeEater in a different direction..

Fill in the blank area with the formula and plug sy into the image function

Inside this file we will `preload()` all of the images we will be using

`setup()` will not run until preload has finished loading

This source link should be a String, so we need to add `"`s around it!

Paste each image source into the `loadImage()` function for it's respective variable

Add a draw method which uses the image function to draw the Sprite's `image`

Remember we need to supply `Sprite.draw()` with an `x`, `y`, `width`, and `height`.

We can have `image()` display only a portion of the image source:

By default all of these images have a source width and height of `32`

Frame 0's `sx` is at `0 * sw`

Frame 1's `sx` is at `1 * sw`

Shown below: Frame 2's `sx` is at `2 * sw`

Make it the second parameter in the constructor, and set its default value to `1`:

We actually need to write `>=` because `frame` starts counting at 0

`frameCount` is a p5js value which records the number of game frames since the program began

Here is what we get if we `console.log(frameCount % 4)`

And here if we `console.log(frameCount % 10)`

Fill in the blank area with the formula and plug `sy` into the image function