Detect other Spritenode within range of Spritenode? - swift

Question

I have a (moving) sprite node.
I'd like to detect other (moving) sprite nodes within a certain range of this node. Once one is detected, it should execute an action.
The playing an action part is no problem for me but I can't seem to figure out the within-range detection. Does have any ideas how to go about this?

Answer 1

A simple, but effective way to do this is comparing the position's in your scene's didEvaluateActions method. didEvaluateActions gets called once a frame (after actions have been evaluated but before physics simulation calculations are run). Any new actions you trigger will start evaluating on the next frame.
Since calculating the true distance requires a square root operation (this can be costly), we can write our own squaredDistance and skip that step. As long as our range/radius of detect is also squared, our comparisons will work out as expected. This example shows detect with a "true range" of 25.
// calculated the squared distance to avoid costly sqrt operation
func squaredDistance(p1: CGPoint, p2: CGPoint) -> CGFloat {
return pow(p2.x - p1.x, 2) + pow(p2.x - p1.x, 2)
}
// override the didEvaluateActions function of your scene
public override func didEvaluateActions() {
// assumes main node is called nodeToTest and
// all the nodes to check are in the array nodesToDetect
let squaredRadius: CGFloat = 25 * 25
for node in nodesToDetect {
if squareDistance(nodeToTest.position, p2: node.position) < squaredRadius {
// trigger action
}
}
}
If the action should only trigger once, you'll need to break out of the loop after the first detection and add some sort of check so it does not get triggered again on the next update without the proper cool down period. You may also need to convert the positions to the correct coordinate system.
Also, take a look at the documentation for SKScene. Depending on your setup, didEvaluateActions might not be the best choice for you. For example, if your game also relies on physics to move your nodes, it might be best to move this logic to didFinishUpdate (final callback before scene is rendered, called after all actions, physics simulations and constraints are applied for the frame).

Answer 2

Easiest way I can think of without killing performance is to add a child SKNode with an SKPhysicsBody for the range you want to hit, and use this new nodes contactBitMask to determine if they are in the range.
Something like this (pseudo code):
//Somewhere inside of setup of node
let node = SKNode()
node.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(circleOfRadius: 100)
node.categoryBitMask = DistanceCategory
node.contactBitMask = EnemyCategory
sprite.addNode(node)
//GameScene
func didBeginContact(...)
{
if body1 contactacted body2
{
do something with body1.node.parent
//we want parent because the contact is going to test the bigger node
}
}