Following Camera

[jrrTolkien]

Oh, think I know what your problem is. Select it in the objects pane, and select the properties tab in the bottom-left area. It should have a vehicle option. It does in Alice 2, and I don't know why they would change THAT in a new version. tell me if that works or not!


-Jrr

[MrMoke]

Try this code to see what happens

Just drag in an Alien, and pull in the code

[ScoobyDoobyDont]

This is a picture of the Alice 3.1 menu screen.

It seems a properties tab is open, but I can't select the camera, and I think it may be because it's made as a constant, but I don't know how to make a camera that isn't a constant.

I have some code that moves a model when keys are pressed, and I want it to be like a game, which is why I want the camera to follow the model despite where it goes, or which direction it's turned, and stays at a set distance that allows a player to see what the model is doing, and what's going on around the model.

[jrrTolkien]

Here is how it works and what it looks like in Alice 2. I don't know what it is like in Alice 3:

[MrMoke]

Once you go back to "edit" mode, click on the "myFirstMethod" tab.
There should be a dropdown pane under the scene that lists the objects.
Just pick the one you want, and drag in the Procedures or Functions you need.

[jrrTolkien]

As I said, I really know nothing about how Alice 3 runs or looks like. I hope some of my tips have been useful, though!

-Jrr

[Game master]

YOU CAN SELCT THE CAMERA IN ALICE 3 by going into the code view and the drop down menu allows you to use the camera, and scrolling down you should see set vehicle. You can add a new event of the scene starting and put that code in there for it to be done right at the beginning

i would like t know a llitle bit more about how the veicle thing works too. what does it do an how does it work?

[jrrTolkien]

Well, it basically changes the first object's x-y axis to that of the second object. Hence, if the second moves, the first moves according to the second's axis. The same thing with the turning and rolling. The same can be done temporarialy with the "as seen by" in the drop-down menu when you click "more" on a line of code.

-Jrr

[chickentree]

Originally Posted by jrrTolkien

Well, it basically changes the first object's x-y axis to that of the second object. Hence, if the second moves, the first moves according to the second's axis. The same thing with the turning and rolling. The same can be done temporarialy with the "as seen by" in the drop-down menu when you click "more" on a line of code.

-Jrr

I don't believe it does anything to the first objects axis. it just changes the object in the same way as the vehicle moves, turns or rolls within the world. The easiest way to think about the vehicle property is to think about you and a car, if I set your vehicle to the car then where ever the car goes so will you. The difference is that, in Alice, you do not have to be in the car. You can be anywhere in the world and if the car move so will you.
As one example, every sub object has its object set to its parent. If you move a leg away from its parent, the leg will still move whenever the parent object does even though it is not "attached" to the body any more.
A more complex example would be a skateboard movie. In this case you want the camera to follow the skateboarder most of the time, but when the skateboarder is doing something like a spin this arrangement does not look right (the skateboarder seems to stay in one place while the world spins around her.) So before the spin you would set the camera's vehicle to the world and after you would set it back to the skateboarder.
One pitfall can be illustrated with another skateboard example, that of switching vehicles between two objects. Your program must ensure that the vehicle is never set such that two or more objects form a "loop." For instances most of the time you might want the skateboarder's vehicle set to the skateboarder, but when doing some tricks it is easier to have the skateboarder to be the vehicle for the skateboard (like when doing a flipkick.)
In this case you start out with:

Skateboarder's vehicle = Skateboard.
Skateboard's vehicle = World

and what you want to end up with is:

Skateboarder's vehicle = World.
Skateboard's vehicle = Skateboarder

Here the order matters. if you try setting the Skateboard's vehicle to the Skateboarder before changing the Skateboarder's vehicle to something other than the Skateboard, the movie will crash!
On last point, if the Skateboarder's vehicle is set to the Skateboard, the Skateboarder can move around any way you want him to while he continues to "follow" the Skateboard. So, jumping over and object while the board goes under it just becomes a matter of causing the skater to move up and down while the board (the skater's vehicle) continues forward.

Mark