rpg game question

Hey guys. heres the deal. for the past few days ive been struggling with a simple game idea. I wanted to have two players running around shooting each other (verryyyy low graphics, like circles and squares).

Ive gotten this far; I have the ability to move around both characters, and change directions etc. ive also been able to set up my shooting. Only problem i run into is getting the bullet to move! I cant use a preset timer, because if i used that, i could only shoot one bullet at a time, so i would need to create new ones dynamically. Problem is, google did not yield this answer.

so my question is; how does one add dynamic timers to a form on runtime, and alter the tick sub so that it moves the picturebox (bullet) and once it can be moved, i was wondering if anyone had ideas on a collision course. (i was thinking about using player locations in relation to the bullet, and if they were equal than the health would go down or whatever, but unfortunately, this means it would have to be directly in the middle of the player, which would be odd..

K thanks guys!

To create a timer at runtime with a 500ms (1/2 second interval) :

Private NewTimer = New Timer(500)

You'd then need to use AddHandler to hook up your code to the Timer's tick event:

AddHandler NewTimer.tick, AddressOf MyHandler

As for collisions - if your players are just squares you can check to see if the location of the bullet falls within the bounds of a rectangle.

In pseudo code :

Code:

---

If bullet.X >= player.left and bullet.X <= player.left + player.width then
    If bullet.Y >= player.top and bullet.Y <= player.top + player.height then
        'got a hit
    End If
End If

---

I don't see why you can't use a preset timer. Have an array or collection hold the bullets, and then use a loop to move each bullet.

Here's some example code using some psuedo-functions that would give an idea.

Code:

---

Public Sub Timer_Tick()
  For Each B as Bullet in Bullets.Values
        B.CalculateNextPosition(B.Position, B.Angle, B.Speed) 'Calculate the bullet's next position based on its current position, angle of trajectory, and speed.
        'Update Graphics for bullet here.
  Next
End Sub

---

so how would i create a timer in the array of timers?

and if i am understanding your code correctly, i just enable the timer once and it moves all the bullets? because that would look horrible with them moving at the same pace etc.

or is it you enable each 'b' as bullet (as a timer)

Thanks for the replies guys!

*EDIT*
btw i also need to shoot the bullets at different angels. so when the user is facing right, a value of a string is "right" and so on with left down and up. so how could i use this to make the bullet move in the direction of the string's property?

You wouldn't create an array of timers. You would only use one timer, within whose tick event you would calculate the next position of every object on the map, from bullets to players.

ooh ok.. so i understand the concept, but how would i execute it? keeping in mind i need to use angels etc.

because right now, ive got one timer, and whenever i shoot, it continues until i shoot again. (obviously)

heres my timer code.

Code:

---

If amobox.BackColor = Color.Red Then
            life2.Value = life2.Value - 1
            Me.Controls.Remove(amobox)
            If life2.Value < 5 Then life2.BackColor = Color.Orange
            If life2.Value < 3 Then life2.BackColor = Color.Red
            Timeright1.Stop()
        End If
        amobox.Left = amobox.Left + 2
        If amobox.Location.X >= Player2.Left And amobox.Location.X <= Player2.Left + Player2.Width Then
            If amobox.Location.Y >= Player2.Top And amobox.Location.Y <= Player2.Top + Player2.Height Then
                amobox.BackColor = Color.Red
            End If
        End If

---

life1 and life2 are progressbars for health.

amobox is a picturebox (the bullet)
its defined outside the timer_tick

You won't be wanting to use picture boxes and controls. You'll want to use the graphics class to paint the form. GDI+ most likely, if you want faster rendering.

care to explain what gdi+ is, or how i can use the graphics class :] maybe a link, or a code snippet for my project? :]

Thanks btw.

*EDIT* i took the liberty to look up gdi and graphic classes for vb.net, and i was able to figure out how to draw circles and stuff, but im still confused on how to move them with a timer, because timers need System.EventArgs, and cannot use System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs. This makes it impossible to draw based on a timer. so how do i use a timer to maybe alter the location of a graphic image?

You would use variables to keep track of current position. You should create a bullet class with variables to store current location, etc. and methods to calculate the next position. In the tick event, you would retrieve the new position of the bullet and draw a circle at those coords.