Adding a label to an animated sprite with CCSpriteFrameCache - iphone

Question

I have an animated sprite using CCSpriteFrameCache that represents my game character. I want to add a text label as a child of this sprite to represent the (dynamic) character name, however I run into complications with 'CCSprite is not using the same texture id'. Because the text is dynamic, I can't include it in the sprite sheet the character is using. What is the best approach to get this text overlay on to my character?

Answer 1

I tend to use a CCNode derivative for this, that also implements the RGBA protocol. You can play the animation from inside the node, and add the label to the node (as well as others like a health bar), and then move the node, make it visible (or not), use some animation like fading in and out the entire content.

Answer 2

Composition over inheritance is true in this context.
You can see my code which should be a template for you to implement on your own.
#interface Player : CCNode
+ (instancetype)playerWithName:(NSString*)name sprite:(CCSprite*)sprite
- (id)initWithName:(NSString*)name sprite:(CCSprite*)sprite;
#property (nonatomic, retain) CCSprite* sprite;
#property (nonatomic, copy) NSString* name;
#end
#implementation Player {
BOOL _nameLabelAdded;
BOOL _spriteAdded;
}
#define LABEL_NAME_TAG 0e1
#synthesize sprite = _sprite, name = _name;
+ (instancetype)playerWithName:(NSString*)name sprite:(CCSprite*)sprite {
return [[[self alloc] initWithName:name sprite:sprite] autorelease];
}
- (id)initWithName:(NSString*)name sprite:(CCSprite*)sprite {
if (self = [super init]) {
//NOT TESTED..
self.name = name;
self.sprite = sprite;
}
return self;
}
- (void)setSprite:(CCSprite*)theSprite {
if (theSprite != _sprite) {
[_sprite release];
_sprite = [theSprite retain];
if (!_spriteAdded) {
/* initialize position etc here */
[self addChild:_sprite];
_spriteAdded = YES;
}
}
}
- (void)setName:(NSString*)theName {
if (![_name isEqualToString:theName]) {
[_name release];
_name = [theName copy];
if (![_name isEqualToString:#""]) {
CCLabelTTF* name_label;
if (!_nameLabelAdded) {
name_label = [CCLabelTTF labelWithString:_name];
/* init the name_label */
[self addChild:name_label z:1 tag:LABEL_NAME_TAG];
_nameLabelAdded = YES;
} else {
name_label = (CCLabelTTF*)[self childWithTag:LABEL_NAME_TAG];
name_label.text = name;
}
}
}
}
#end

Answer 3

I had this situation on my last released game.
The best way to solve this problem was to create a parent node and add the label and sprite as child. It's better to manage the node separately, mainly because you can adjust the position of both without interfering with each other.
Node hierarchy:
- Node parent
- Sprite with CCSpriteFrameCache
- Label