Graphics Help

[Powerstack]

Thanks for your response Dunfiddlin.

To answer your question on whether there was any reason to depart from the default sender and e variables --- I'm afraid I don't know enough about Visual Basic to answer that question =( I cut-and-pasted the code from someone else that posted on the forums and then chopped out the unnecessary bits and switch some code positions around. The event coding is a left over from my cut-and-paste job ---- I really don't know enough about event coding ---- as a matter a fact, I know next to nothing about it other than it pops up when I double-click an object on a form =)

So your 1st suggestion about adding all the form objects is a bit lost on me --- I might be able to play around with it and figure out what you mean but I can already visualize myself getting frustrated. Still, I'm going to try your suggestion(s) and see if I can figure them out ---- I'm usually clever enough to get myself in trouble at least...

I have been learning from several different books and probably jumping around too much. But I am having much more fun trying to make a game than I am writing a business application to figure out compound interest... that's for sure!

So thanks again Dunfiddlin and thanks again to everyone who has responded ---- these forums are great! It's nice to be able to get some advice on what I'm trying to do.

[Powerstack]

Ok, let me try this again --- I had posted everything including the new code but then my internet crashed --- <grumble>

I'm not going to post the code again (mainly because I didn't copy it on to my flash drive and I'm on my work computer). But here's what I've tried so far. Per Dunfiddlin's suggestion, I started focusing on how I was taking user input. I added all the objects in the program to the event handler --- no change. Then I surfed to MSDN to see what they had to say on single key input. They still used the keypress method but their sender (and whatever the 2nd variable after the comma is called) was closer to what Dunfiddlin wondered why I departed from. So I used that... and I axed the 'select case' in favor of if statements using the ASCII code for each character. I figured I was really onto something --- then I compiled and the exact same behavior.... lol, doh!!!!

Ok... so.... here's what I'm thinking. Tell me if it sounds like I'm on to something. When you move the ship left or right and hold the key down --- the alien stops moving. Haven't checked the laser (should have done that.... will when I head back to the room for the night). But so what I'm wondering is ---- while VB is running the keypress method ---- or any other method I guess ---- can this cause the timertick event to stop or pause? I would think they'd be asynchronous but something's going on....

The only other thing was I ran across a program called EZInvaders online and they said some users of their programs tried to put an image in the background form and it causes what sounded like the same behavior as I'm having in my program.

Any thoughts on this??

I'll keep trying to reserach solutions as well but you guys are just so damn convenient!!! haha, seriously --- I would have never figured out the double buffering thing... and more ideas are always welcome. Tinkering is more fun when you have an idea what to tinker with.... =)