Make my player face the mouse?

Hi all, need a little help here :( I'm making a game (well, attempting to) and I've got a problem with aiming. It's a 2D shooter and I want to use the mouse, but that means I need to rotate (or simulate rotation of) my player character. So how would I make my player face in the direction of the mouse cursor? (The player rotation is not the problem, I'll just load loads of pictures of the player into a resource file).

I fear it's gonna include alot of maths, angles and other complicated stuff which I will struggle to understand :)

Thanks in advance.

Walter

I have some example code for a 2D shooter which uses the mouse, but its in C++ though....let me know if want it.

That'd be great thanks. I suppose I could try and use it as an example to code it in VB but I don't have much experience in C++. (I'll give it my best shot anyway). Could you email it to me at [email protected] please. Thanks again! :)

Walter

Anyone know how to do this in VB??

There's a game called "Craft", I think it was made by Plenderj (yes he's in this forum), it's exactly what you're looking for ;)

Cool, thanks alot I'll check it out. Has he uploaded it in a post or am I gonna have to email him for it (and if so could I have his email address please?). Thanks again. :D

Walter

Just use the forum's Search button to look for one of his posts, and then send him a PM or check his user profile for his e-mail address :)

Thankyou. Couldn't find it in a post so I've emailed him (at the only address I could find). Thanks again Jotaf :cool:

Walter

Hmmmmmm ego massage.

Aaaaanyway.
The later versions of Craft, rotate the ship by using the cursor keys.
But I have a version of it thats about two years old or more that still rotates that way.

The rotation code is still in the application, as you can see below.
The code, I'm afraid to say, isn't too clean, as this is a very early version.

You can download the entire app from here :
http://www.coolground.com/plenderj/c...unt_bitblt.zip
But do remember, this is a very old version, so the code isn't the greatest.

VB Code:

Private Sub Form_MouseMove(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, x As Single, y As Single)
        
    If (doloop = False) And (var_status = 1) Then
        
        doloop = True
        RunGameLoop
    
    End If
        
'''    For i = ccl.LBound To ccl.ubound
'''        If ccl(i).FillColor = &HFF0000 Then ccl(i).FillColor = &H80FFFF
'''    Next i
'''    For i = ccl_stn.LBound To ccl_stn.ubound
'''        If ccl_stn(i).FillColor = &HFF0000 Then ccl_stn(i).FillColor = &H40C0&
'''    Next i
    
    If (var_status <> 0) Then
    
        var_speed = Sqr(((mewidth / 2) - x) ^ 2 + ((meheight / 2) - y) ^ 2)
        lblspeed = var_speed
    
        var_temp_x = x
        var_temp_y = y
        var_cords_x = (mewidth / 2) - x
        var_cords_y = (meheight / 2) - y
    
        If (var_cords_y <> 0) Then
            var_angle = (Atn((var_cords_x * -1) / var_cords_y) * var_pi)
        Else: var_cords_y = 0.001
        End If
    
        If (var_angle < 0) Then var_angle = var_angle * -1
    
        If (var_angle = 0) And (var_cords_x = 0) And (var_cords_y < 0) Then var_angle = 180
                
        If (var_cords_x < 0) Then
            If (var_cords_y > 0) Then
                var_angle = var_angle
            ElseIf (var_cords_y < 0) Then
                var_angle = 90 - var_angle
                var_angle = var_angle + 90
            End If
        ElseIf (var_cords_x > 0) Then
            If (var_cords_y > 0) Then
                var_angle = 270 - var_angle
                var_angle = var_angle + 90
            ElseIf (var_cords_y < 0) Then
                var_angle = var_angle + 180
            End If
        End If
    
        var_angle = (Int(Int(var_angle) / 10) * 10)
        var_dist_x = Sin(var_pi2 * var_angle) * var_speed
        
        If ((Cos(var_pi2 * var_angle) * var_speed) = 0) Then var_dist_y = var_speed Else var_dist_y = Cos(var_pi2 * var_angle) * var_speed
    
    End If
    
    lblstuff.Caption = ""
    
End Sub

Oh yes and the ship is then drawn by this awful piece of code

VB Code:

If (var_angle = 0) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_0, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 10) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_10, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 20) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_20, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 30) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_30, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 40) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_40, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 50) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_50, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 60) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_60, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 70) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_70, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 80) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_80, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 90) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_90, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 100) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_100, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 110) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_110, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 120) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_120, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 130) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_130, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 140) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_140, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 150) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_150, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 160) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_160, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 170) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_170, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 180) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_180, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 190) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_190, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 200) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_200, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 210) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_210, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 220) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_220, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 230) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_230, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 240) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_240, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 250) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_250, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 260) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_260, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 270) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_270, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 280) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_280, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 290) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_290, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 300) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_300, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 310) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_310, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 320) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_320, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 330) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_330, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 340) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_340, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If
            If (var_angle = 350) Then
                BitBlt Me.hdc, 450, 300, 81, 81, dc_ship_350, 0, 0, vbSrcInvert
            End If

dc_ship_[0-350]: these are a collection of numbers with the device context of the ship at each angle.
It was then later replaced with an array

VB Code:

Public dc_ship(0 To 35) As Long

And the device contexts in that array were generated as follows :

VB Code:

dc_ship(0) = GenerateDC(App.Path & "\images\ship_0.bmp")
    For i = 1 To 35
        dc_ship(i) = GenerateDC(App.Path & "\images\ship_" & i & "0.bmp")
    Next i

That's wonderful! :D I'll go threw all the code and see what I can make out of it all. Thanks again everyone :cool:

Walter

let us know how you get on.
if you have any problems just post back here :)

Ok, think I've managed to do it! :D Now all I need to do is test it out...someone know where I can get some "royalty free" game characters?? I'm absolutely hopeless at drawing on computers!

Walter

Try looking at the games section of www.vbexplorer.com