Hi I know there are plenty of questions on here about the timer, but nothing I can find about this specific issue. Thanks in advance for any help.
I am trying to use a sequence of SKActions to simulate a typing animation (in an SKLabelNode I've called actualLabel) that begins after a user touch.
I have the following:
var charArray = []
var labelText = ""
var calls = 0
And then, in touchesEnded:
if calls < charArray.count + 1 {
let wait = SKAction.wait(forDuration: 1)
let block = SKAction.run({
self.redoLabelText()
})
let sequence = SKAction.sequence([wait,block])
run(SKAction.repeatForever(sequence))
}
With my function as the following:
func redoLabelText() {
if labelText.characters.count < charArray.count {
labelText += charArray[calls]
actualLabel.text = labelText
calls += 1
}
}
And then touchesBegan resets all the initial variables and the process starts again. Everything works fine, except the typing is really choppy. Every time the user presses again, the typing gets faster. It's as if after one press it works fine, then after two etc there are more characters waiting in labelText at each second interval.
Thanks again, got me baffled.
Related
I'm writing an application that displays chemical reactions and molecules in 3D. I read in all the values and positions of each atom from a text file and I am creating each atom shape with SCNSpheres. I have all the other values I need read in properly, but I can't figure out how to add keyframe animations to each node object in my scene.
I set up the molecules like this in ViewController.swift
func makeAtom(atomName: String, coords: [Double], scene: SCNScene) {
guard let radius = atomRadii[atomName]?.atomicRadius else { return }
atoms.append(Atom(name: atomName, x: coords[0], y: coords[1], z: coords[2], radius: radius, positions: []))
let atomGeometry = SCNSphere(radius: CGFloat(radius))
let atomNode = SCNNode(geometry: atomGeometry)
atomNode.position = SCNVector3(coords[0], coords[1], coords[2])
scene.rootNode.addChildNode(atomNode)
atomNodes.append(atomNode)
}
I know that the CAKeyframeAnimations are supposed to be set up like this
let animation = CAKeyframeAnimation()
animation.keyPath = "position.y"
animation.values = [0, 300, 0]
animation.keyTimes = [0, 0.5, 1]
animation.duration = 2
animation.isAdditive = true
vw.layer.add(animation, forKey: "move")
I just don't know where I should be declaring these animations and how the layers factor into all this. What layer should I be adding the animations to? And how can I trigger them to play? I've been searching all over the internet for help with this but I can't find anything that just shows a simple implementation.
I can provide more code if need be, I'm pretty new to StackOverflow and want to make sure I'm doing this right.
You can do it different ways, but I like this method: 58001288 (my answer here) as you can pre-build some animations using scenekit and then run them as a sequence.
Per the comment.. needed more room.
A sequence is a fixed thing. You can start, repeat, and stop it. However, it's hard to interact with it during phases.
If you really need to do that, then one way is to break up your sequence into its parts and call the next one yourself after a completion handler of the current one. I keep an array and a counter so that I know where I am. So basically it's just a queue of actions that I manage - if I'm on a certain step and the button is pressed, then I can cancel all current actions, set the desired effect, and restart it.
Edit:
The completion handler calls itself at the end of the function and advances its own array count so that the next one in the list can be called. This is obviously a bit dangerous, so I would use sparingly, but that's how I did it. I started mine on a timer, then don't forget to clean it up. I had a global GAME_ACTIVE switch and within the code I checked for it before calling myself again.
Edit2: This is actually a moveTo, but it's still just a custom set of SCNActions that calls itself when complete based on duration so that it immediately goes to the next one without a delay.
func moveTo()
{
let vPanelName = moves[moveCount]
let vLaneNode = grid.gridPanels[vPanelName]!.laneNodes[lane]
let vAction = SCNAction.move(to: vLaneNode.presentation.position, duration: TimeInterval(data.getAttackSpeed(vGameType: gameType)))
node.runAction(vAction, completionHandler:
{
self.moveCount += 1
if(self.moveCount >= self.moves.count - 1)
{
self.killMe(vRealKill: false)
return
}
else
{
self.moveTo()
}
})
}
I have 2 actions that i put in a sequence. In the first action I am calling a method to calculate the new waiting time for the next action. The next action is just a wait for this duration, but the second action always executes straight away, so the time must be 0. I debugged it and in the method spawnFlowers i get the time returned as 3.5 seconds.
these are my 2 actions
let spawnFlowerAction = SKAction.run {
self.WaitTime = self.calculateWaitingTime()
}
let waitForNewFlower = SKAction.wait(forDuration: self.WaitTime)
I execute it this way:
let spawnSeq = SKAction.sequence([spawnFlowerAction, waitForNewFlower])
let spawnRepeat = SKAction.repeat(spawnSeq, count: 4)
self.run(spawnRepeat)
Result: 4 times spawned without waiting, printing 4 different calculated times in the console from the calculateWaitingTime function (in which the spawning happens)
What is a good way to fix this?
The problem is trying to dynamically change the values used within SKActions after the action has been created. For example when your WaitTime variable changes while running the spawnFlowerAction, the waitForNewFlower Action's wait time won't change dynamically because it doesn't reference WaitTime. Instead its wait value is whatever your variable WaitTime was when you declared let waitForNewFlower = SKAction.wait(forDuration: self.WaitTime) (Which I'm guessing was initially 0). Same concept goes with your other two spawn actions.
I usually use the dispatch Queue for things like these, but to use SKActions here's a function. Just call it once and input the number of times you want it to repeat.
func spawnRepeat(count: Int) {
//Put whatever code to spawn flower here
print("SPAWN FLOWER")
if count > 1 {
//Recalculate WaitTime
WaitTime = calculateWaitingTime()
let waitAction = SKAction.wait(forDuration: WaitTime)
run(waitAction, completion: { self.spawnRepeat(count: count - 1) })
}
}
ok so first off I have an achievement Variable that is defined from a struct like so:
struct Achieve {
var node: SKSpriteNode?
var aName:String = ""
var aDes:String = ""
var aImage: String = "" {
didSet {
node?.texture = SKTexture(imageNamed: aImage)
}
}
var aAmount:Int = 0
var aRequired:Int = 0
var aStage:Int = 0
}
var Ach1 = Achieve(node: nil, aName: "Player", aDes: "Games Played", aImage: "locked", aAmount: 0, aRequired: 10, aStage: 1)
My problem is when I try and change the number of the aAmount property it isn't displayed on the SKLabel that displays the amount it just stays at 0 my sklabel is defined in a function like below:
func generateLabels(location: CGPoint, page:SKSpriteNode, text: String) -> SKLabelNode {
let node = SKLabelNode()
node.fontColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
node.fontName = "Helvetica"
node.position = location
node.fontSize = 15
node.text = text
page.addChild(node)
return node
}
func menu() {
_ = generateLabels(CGPointMake(0, -285), page:page1ScrollView, text: "\(Ach1.aAmount) / \(Ach1.aRequired)")
}
It seems to work if I make changes to aAmount when I stop running it and then change it and then run the game again. it also seems to make changes to the aAmount property during gameplay but it doesn't seem to update the label for some reason during the gameplay. Can someone please tell me why it won't update?
Also i'm updating the aAmount property like so:
Ach1.aAmount += 1
print("\(Ach1.Amount)")
In your Achieve struct, add a property called label:
var label: SKLabelNode?
And change the aAmount property to look something like this:
var aAmount: Int = 0 {
didSet {
label?.text = "\(aAmount) / \(aRequired)"
}
}
Now when you generate the labels, replace this:
_ = generateLabels(CGPointMake(0, -285), page:page1ScrollView,
text: "\(Ach1.aAmount) / \(Ach1.aRequired)")
with this
var label = _ = generateLabels(CGPointMake(0, -285), page:page1ScrollView,
text: "\(Ach1.aAmount) / \(Ach1.aRequired)")
Ach1.label = label
Now when you change the aAmount property of Ach1, the label's text should change as well.
Suggestions:
Judging from this and your last question about sprite node images not updating, I think your programming skills are not mature enough. In the long term, you should learn the basics first. Try playing around with UIKit and read more others' code. See how other people do things. You will definitely learn a lot. In the short term though, you shouldn't make each of all these properties binds to a node. That will make Achieve too dependent. What you should do is make Achieve a subclass of SKSpriteNode and add those other sprite nodes and label nodes as sub nodes of the Achieve node.
If I read your code, there isn't any part where you update your SKLabelNode.
If you call the function :
func menu() {
_ = generateLabels(CGPointMake(0, -285), page:page1ScrollView, text: "\(Ach1.aAmount) / \(Ach1.aRequired)")
}
for example to didMoveToView, it generate a label with your aAmount value when you call your scene (so 1 time only as didMoveToView works).
Instead, assuming that you call this menu function many times, it generate everytime a new label but there is no code written from you where you remove the previous label or labels added in past (see page.addChild(node)) and I don't understand why you want to return a label from your function if you don't use it, in fact you assign your result to _. Also you don't explain what is "page1ScrollView", are you using a scrollview?
Anyway, the best mode to update your label is simply to create 1 time only (for example on didMoveToView) and, everytime you want to update it, doing:
myNodeLabel.text = "\(Ach1.aAmount) / \(Ach1.aRequired)"
instead of re-create it everytime. I hope this helps to understand the dynamics that prevent your label to upgrade.
You have to reassign the text of the SKLabel. So when you call the function to change the number (or whatever it is), also run the code to make the label what you want it to be. My guess as to why it only works sometimes is that sometimes you call it in the update (or somewhere else that gets called repeatedly) and sometimes you call it somewhere like didMoveToView (only called once, so label doesn't get updated because of the way your code is).
Just whenever you update aAmount, add this code after it:
label.text = "\(aAmount)"
I would need help with this while loop - what I'm trying to do is slow down the whole process of removing and adding new circles while radius is changing every time this happens. I'm becoming really desperate, I've tried using both dispatch_after and sleep inside the loop (which I found online) but neither of them is suitable, they basically stop the whole app. If I put them in the while loop, nothing happens. Thanks in advance!
while radius < 100 {
self.removeAllChildren()
addCircle()
radius++
print(radius)
}
Basically you just need to do few simple things:
Wait for a certain duration and add a node to the scene
Repeat this step forever (or certain number of times)
Here is the example of how you can do it. The important part is action sequence. You create the step above, and repeat it forever. Each time you check radius value and based on that you stop the action (remove it by the key). And that's it. You can change spawning speed by changing action's duration parameter.
Using NSTimer might seem like an easier solution, but NSTimer doesn't respect node's (or scene's or view's) paused state. So, imagine this situation:
You start spawning of nodes
User receive phone call and app automatically goes to background
Because NSTimer is not automatically paused, the nodes will continue with spawning. So you have to take an additional step and invalidate/restart timer by your self. When using SKAction, this is done automatically. There are some other flaws of using NSTimer in SpriteKit, search SO about all that, there are some posts which covering all this.
import SpriteKit
class GameScene: SKScene{
var radius:UInt32 = 0
override func didMoveToView(view: SKView) {
startSpawning()
}
func startSpawning(){
let wait = SKAction.waitForDuration(0.5)
// let wait = SKAction.waitForDuration(1, withRange: 0.4) // randomize wait duration
let addNode = SKAction.runBlock({
[unowned self] in //http://stackoverflow.com/a/24320474/3402095 - read about strong reference cycles here
if(self.radius >= 30){
if self.actionForKey("spawning") != nil {
self.removeActionForKey("spawning")
}
}
self.radius++
let sprite = self.spawnNode()
sprite.position = CGPoint(x: Int(arc4random()) % 300, y: Int(arc4random()) % 300) // change this to randomize sprite's position to suit your needs
self.addChild(sprite)
})
//wait & add node
let sequence = SKAction.sequence([wait, addNode])
//repeat forever
runAction(SKAction.repeatActionForever(sequence), withKey: "spawning")
}
func spawnNode()->SKSpriteNode{
let sprite = SKSpriteNode(color: SKColor.purpleColor(), size: CGSize(width: 50, height: 50))
//Do sprite initialization here
return sprite
}
}
The sleep stops the whole app because you are running the loop on the main thread.
You can solve this problem in one of two ways...
1) Use an NSTimer. Set it to the amount of time you want to delay. Put the body of the loop in the timer's trigger function and disable the timer when it has been called enough times. This is the best solution.
2) Wrap the loop in a dispatch async block to a background thread and put a sleep in the loop. If you do this though, you will have to wrap the UI code in another dispatch async block that comes back to the main thread.
I have several buttons (SKSpriteNodes) which I am trying to cycle through and animate, with a small delay between each. My code compiles, but when I run it - I only get a white screen and a crash with this error: "Message from debugger: Terminated due to memory issue". Here is my code:
var sequence = SKAction.sequence([animationUp, animationDown])
runAction(SKAction.repeatActionForever(SKAction.sequence([
SKAction.runBlock({
button1.runAction(sequence)
SKAction.waitForDuration(0.5)
button2.runAction(sequence)
SKAction.waitForDuration(0.5)
button3.runAction(sequence)
SKAction.waitForDuration(0.5)
}),
])))
So what I am trying to accomplish is an up/down animation on every button I'm drawing to the screen, with a 0.5 second delay between each button. The animation should run forever until I change the current screen. I had no problem animating these buttons simultaneously but I'd really like to add a uniform delay so that they don't all animate at the same time. Any ideas?
let waitAction = SKAction.waitForDuration(0.5)
let movementAction = SKAction.sequence([animateUp, animateDown])
let button1Block = SKAction.runBlock({
button1.runAction(movementAction)
})
let button2Block = SKAction.runBlock({
button2.runAction(movementAction)
})
let button3Block = SKAction.runBlock({
button3.runAction(movementAction)
})
let sequence = SKAction.sequence([button1Block,waitAction,button2Block, waitAction, button3Block, waitAction])
runAction(SKAction.repeatActionForever(sequence))
I'm not certain about how the SKAction.sequence initiates/destroys, but possibly your loop in .repeatActionForever(..) creates and destroys objects, whereas memory won't be released until the loop is allowed to complete.
Try to run your inner runAction block within an autoreleasepool { .. } block:
autoreleasepool {
runAction ...
}
But there is one situation we do need to autorelease, that is we
create a lot of objects in a method scope and want to release them
sooner. It is extremely useful when these objects turn to a pressure
on memory.
http://en.swifter.tips/autoreleasepool/