Get a list of nodes in an specific area? - swift

Question

I'm working in a side-scolling game and I need to know what nodes are in an area to implement something like "line of sight". Right now I'm trying using enumerateBodyiesInRect() however it's detecting bodies that are 20px or more from the evaluated rect and I cannot figure out why it's so imprecise.
This is what I'm trying now:
import SpriteKit
import CoreMotion
class GameScene: SKScene, SKPhysicsContactDelegate
{
var player = SKShapeNode()
var world = SKShapeNode()
var rShape = SKShapeNode()
override func didMoveToView(view: SKView) {
self.physicsWorld.contactDelegate = self
self.scaleMode = SKSceneScaleMode.AspectFit
self.size = view.bounds.size
// Add world
world = SKShapeNode(rectOfSize: view.bounds.size)
world.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(edgeLoopFromPath: world.path)
world.position = CGPointMake(self.frame.size.width/2, self.frame.size.height/2) // Move camera
self.addChild(world)
// Add player
player = SKShapeNode(rectOfSize: CGSize(width: 25, height: 25))
player.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(rectangleOfSize: player.frame.size)
player.physicsBody.dynamic = false
player.strokeColor = SKColor.blueColor()
player.fillColor = SKColor.blueColor()
player.position = CGPointMake(90, -50)
world.addChild(player)
}
override func update(currentTime: CFTimeInterval) {
// Define rect position and size (area that will be evaluated for bodies)
var r : CGRect = CGRect(x: 200, y: 200, width: 25, height: 25)
// Show rect for debug
rShape.removeFromParent()
rShape = SKShapeNode(rect: r)
rShape.strokeColor = SKColor.redColor()
self.addChild(rShape)
// Evaluate rect
rShape.fillColor = SKColor.clearColor()
self.physicsWorld.enumerateBodiesInRect(r) {
(body: SKPhysicsBody!, stop: UnsafePointer<ObjCBool>) in
self.rShape.fillColor = SKColor.redColor() // Paint the area blue if it detects a node
}
}
}
This code should show the evaluated rect and ray on the screen (for debugging purposes) and paint them red if they contact the player node. However you can see in the screenshot how it turns red when the player is 25px or more away from it, it's like if the drawing is a little bit off, or smaller than the actual area being evaluated. You can copy paste it to a project to duplicate the problem.
Could this be because this is just beta or am I doing something wrong?

Answer 1

You are creating a physical world where there is a specific rectangle that has 'special properties' - this is the rectangle that you use in enumerateBodiesInRect(). Why not create an invisible, inert physical body with the required rectangular dimension and then use SKPhysicsBody to check for collisions and/or contacts? You could then use allContactedBodies() or some delegate callbacks to learn what other bodies are inside your special rectangle.
Think of it like a 'tractor beam' or a 'warp rectangle'.

Answer 2

I believe you want SKPhysicsWorld's enumerateBodyiesInRect() instance method, which will iterate over all nodes in a given rectangle. If you're looking to get at the physics world through your scene, usage could look like this:
self.physicsWorld.enumerateBodiesInRect(CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50)) {(body: SKPhysicsBody!, stop: UnsafePointer<ObjCBool>) in
// enumerates all nodes in given frame
}

Answer 3

I've experimented quite a bit with enumerateBodiesInRect now, and I've found it to be incredibly inaccurate. It seems to not have any of the claimed functionality, and instead produces random results. I honestly cannot even determine any pattern from its products.
enumerateBodiesAlongRay seems better, but still very buggy. The problem with that function seems to be the conversion between Screen and PhysicsWorld coordinates. I would avoid that one, as well.
I think your solution should simply be to use the existing contact detection system. All of your desired functionality can be written in the didBeginContact() and didEndContact() functions. This has the added benefit of allowing you to specify distinct functionality for both entering and leaving the area. You can also add particle effects, animations, and similar, as well as intentionally ignoring specific types of nodes.
The only thing to ensure success with this method is to clarify that the contact area has a unique category, that the contactTestBitMask contains all desired nodes and the collisionBitMask is set to 0.

Answer 4

The enumerateBodiesInRect method of SKPhysicsWorld expects the rect parameter to be in scene coordinates. This is important. If you have a scene hierarchy of nodes, you need to convert the rect you calculate from a reference node to the scene coordinates.
I faced a lot of issues with this method returning bodies that were off by values like 30px to the left etc. and finally realized the issue was because of the rect parameter not defined in scene coordinate space.
In my case, I had a worldNode inside my scene, and all objects were created in the worldNode. My camera was moving the worldNode about, and applying scaling to it for zooming out and in.
In order to use enumerateBodiesInRect correctly, I had to do something as follows:
// get your world rect based on game logic
let worldRect = getWorldRect()
// calculate the scene rect
let sceneRectOrigin = scene.convertPoint(worldRect.origin, fromNode:scene.worldNode)
let worldScale = scene.worldNode.xScale // assert this is not 0
// now to get the scene rect relative to the world rect, in scene coordinates
let sceneRect = CGRectMake( sceneRectOrigin.x, sceneRectOrigin.y, worldRect.width / worldScale, worldRect.height / worldScale)
world.physicsWorld.enumerateBodiesInRect(sceneRect) {
// your code here
}
Hope this helps.

Answer 5

I am not sure if this is a good practice. Correct me if not. But I am using
let shapeNode = SKShapeNode()
shapeNode.intersects(playerNode)
I checked selected nodes with simple loop if they intersect the player. Additionally I created SKShapeNodes which are drawn in front of nodes representing view sight of other actors in the game. They are moved along those actors.

Answer 6

There is only nodesAtPoint: method.
To achieve what you want you'd better to store all enemies in an array and have an int variable, something like nextEnemyIndex. This approach lets you to easily return the next enemy node, it's much more efficient than trying to find a node on the scene.

Answer 7

yes problem may occur because of your player's image, for example try to use 10px smaller body size:
player.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(rectangleOfSize: CGRectMake(self.frame.origin.x, self.frame.origin.y, self.size.width-10, self.size.height-10)));