Oh, yeah, that makes more sense. The version of cocos2d I am using in my current project and used to come up with my solution didn't have that yet. That said, the actionsWithArray: method does the exact same thing as I wrote (compositing a action tree), it just hides it from the user. Thanks!

Here is an alternative solution

int pat_x1, pat_y1;
NSMutableArray *moveActions = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:[patrolPathX1 count]];

for (int x = 0; x<[patrolPathX1 count]; x++){

    pat_x1=[[patrolPathX1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];
    pat_y1=[[patrolPathY1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];

    [moveActions addObject:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:1.5 position:[self positionForTileCoord:CGPointMake((float) pat_x1, (float) pat_y1)]]];

}

[enemy2 runAction:[CCSequence actionsWithArray:moveActions]];

Also, an alternative method of storing the coordinates would be 1 array of NSValues, which can be used to store a CGPoint.

Thanks very much Thomvis! Works perfectly :)

You call runAction for each individual coordinate. All CCMoveTo actions are executed simultaneously, instead of in sequence (to be more precise: all CCSequences containing one single CCMoveTo action are executed simultaneously). What you want is to have one big CCSequence with all the CCMoveTo actions in it. You can achieve that with the following code:

int pat_x1, pat_y1;
CCAction *moveSequence = nil;

for (int x = 0; x<[patrolPathX1 count]; x++){

pat_x1=[[patrolPathX1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];
pat_y1=[[patrolPathY1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];

CCMoveTo *patrolAction = [CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:1.5 position:[self positionForTileCoord:CGPointMake((float) pat_x1, (float) pat_y1)]];
if (moveSequence != nil) {
 moveSequence = [CCSequence actionOne: moveSequence two: patrolAction];
} else {
moveSequence = patrolAction; //the first action
}

}
[enemy2 runAction:moveSequence];

At the end of the loop, you have a single action containing all the CCMoveTo's to run. Note that you actually create a kind of tree structure of actions, because each CCSequence has two child actions: a CCSequence child-action (containing a CCSequence and CCMoveTo) and a CCMoveTo. This is similar to what happens when you create a CCSequence with variable arguments.

Final note: I didn't test it, there might be stupid syntax errors or even worse. Also, I assumed you are using ACR, so I did no memory management.

Hello! Long time reader, first time poster.

I have a predefined set of coordinates which form a path stored in two NSMutableArrays (one containing the x values, one for the y values). There are roughly 40 sets of coordinates.

Below is the section of code I am currently using:

id patrolAction;
int pat_x1, pat_y1;
CCSequence *moveSequence;

for (int x = 0; x<[patrolPathX1 count]; x++){

pat_x1=[[patrolPathX1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];
pat_y1=[[patrolPathY1 objectAtIndex:x]intValue];

patrolAction = [CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:1.5 position:[self positionForTileCoord:CGPointMake((float) pat_x1, (float) pat_y1)]];

moveSequence = [CCSequence actions:patrolAction, nil];

[enemy2 runAction:moveSequence];
}

The aim is to get the sprite (enemy2) to move along this predefined path, however the sprite is just moving across to the final set of coordinates straight away. When I take out the for loop and hardcode them individually, it works fine.

(When I put the "runAction" outside of the for loop, the same effect is produced)

I have tried putting in a CCDelayTime in the sequence, yet this doesn't seem to help.

Can anyone help me out with this issue?

Thanks in advance :)

Ah I see. I feel dumb for not knowing about all these samples. Got it building and running on the device. Seem super quick so Ill take a look at how it implements sound in depth. Thanks!

@Arbel - it doesn't have a project file you just change the target in XCode like any other demo that ships with cocos2d.

So I tested it by not playing the sounds on touches, but when the notes were supposed to be hit. Same lag issue..so maybe its not completely about touches...However, when I ran it on the simulator for the first time, most of the lag was gone! Im not sure really what this means tho...

@Steve Thanks, however I couldn't find the sample project file, just the source plus sounds. Last time I had those and could get it to compile but nothing was playing. Will give it a shot again!

@JC Im not doing it quite like how Guitar Hero does it, similar to Reflect Beat or Cytus if you've played? The sound will be played when the user touches, so they can hear if they are getting "off-beat". I know this is possible at least on the iPad, as Reflect Beat (A konami music game for iPad/Arcade) used note sounds, and they are perfectly on time. I appreciate the advice though :) Did you make a music game?

nice graphics! looks like one of those quiz games you find in a bar.

Hi Everyone. I just finished developing Hangman Wild West using the cocos2D engine. The game was developed for http://www.fatspanner.com/ and http://www.bluechilligames.co.uk/

iTunes Link :
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/hangman-wild-west/id493921521?mt=8

YouTube Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbmmx8OKfAw

Description:
Yeeeehaaa!! Can y’all save Johnny from being hung at the Glory Hole Gallows? The classic Hangman Game is back with a wholesome southern twist. All y’all have to do is spell out the word that is being described in the hint, its’s easy! Now y’all can play it at home so there are no excuses not to help Johnny escape Sheriff Shiner.

Game Features:
Fun sound effects and animations.
Game Center Leaderboard
In-App purchase extra content packs.

A few screenies:

We've had some pretty good feedback so far and we have a few updates lined up. There is a Lite version on the way which is currently in review by Apple.

Coming Soon:
Multiplayer Game Mode
More Content Packs

do you want to do something similar to guitar hero ?

if yes, for me, you don't have to play sound when user do input, you play sound when it 'must' be played and "tweek" it depending on user touch.

ex :

in your "music", you have to play the sound "XXX" at 1.0 sec:
- you play it at 1.0 and keep is handle
-> if you get no input from user during X ms, cut/fadeout the sound
-> if you get wrong input from user, modulate sound frequency
-> is you get good input from user, do nothing

it's only a short sample, on how I probably do something similar to guitar hero. you will probably need some other tricks like reminding the user do nothing on previous sound so play next sound with volume off and fade in if inputs coming...

anyway, i think there is no way to have no latency between touch input and sound playing in music games.

The DrumPad demo ships with cocos2d, it includes all the sound files.

Havent looked at this for a while but attempted to download the DrumPad demo and get it working. Does anyone have a link to the project file? The demo I found only had source files and I tried to make the project but when I got it running I was getting no sounds.

As for the lag issues, Ive been experimenting by removing all of my touchMove code, changing the file to mono, and enabling the flag for fast event in cc config. Nothing seems to change.

Anyone have any additional advice on where I could look?

My comment about batch nodes is very much related to Karl's excellent explanation. If you have multiple batch nodes, because of what Karl as explained, you can never do something like:

background sprite: batchnodeA.sprite1
middle sprite: batchnodeB.sprite1
foreground sprite: batchnodeA.sprite2

This also applies to mixing batch node sprites with non-batched sprites.

Let's say for example that you have two custom nodes: DogNode and CatNode. Those custom nodes have their own children (various body parts, which are implemented as CCSprites). You could lay them out like so:

Your layer has 2 children: a dog and a cat.

The dog has 3 sprites as children, and the cat also has 3 sprites inside it.

Dog has a Z order of 0 inside layer (its parent), and cat has a Z order of 1, so dog will always be drawn before cat no matter what order you added them in:

[layer addChild:dog z:0];
[layer addChild:cat z:1];

is exactly the same as:

[layer addChild:cat z:1];
[layer addChild:dog z:0];

Inside cat, body has a z of 0, eyes 10, ears 11, so they always will be in that order.
However, dog has all of them at the same Z order (1000), so then cocos2d falls back on the order you added them in. In this case:

[dog addChild:body z:1000];
[dog addChild:eyes z:1000];
[dog addChild:ears z:1000];

is NOT the same as:

[dog addChild:ears z:1000];
[dog addChild:body z:1000];
[dog addChild:eyes z:1000];

Now when it comes time to render this graph, cocos2d does it like this (simplified):

layer's parent: draw layer.
    layer: draw dog.
        dog: draw body
        dog: draw eyes
        dog: draw ears
        dog: no more children to draw
    layer:draw cat
        cat: draw body
        cat: draw eyes
        cat: draw ears
        cat: no more children to draw
    layer: no more children to draw
layer's parent: no more children to draw.

So the order the sprites get drawn in is: dog body, dog eyes, dog ears, cat body, cat eyes, cat ears.
If the cat is in the same location as the dog, the cat comes out over top because the ENTIRE cat gets drawn after the ENTIRE dog. This happens even though the dog's components have a z order of 1000 while the cat's components have Z orders that are smaller. Z order is only relative to your immediate peers (other children of the same parent).

Thanks.

What I found really useful:

Duckwit: "Except, 'before things get confusing':
If you have a sprite on a layer at z:100, you can have more than 100 sprites below it simply by using negative values."

Rickms: "Particularly important when it comes to batch nodes."

- I want/need to know what you meant because it may be related to my current problem (i.e., using batch nodes for multiple sprites/layers and having z values get mixed up)...so please, Rickms, explain more about your comment...

Karl: " If you add two nodes with the same z value, they are placed in the same area of the list, but the node you added earlier will always be before the node you added later. When it comes time to draw, cocos2d will step through the list, drawing each child. Children drawn later will overwrite any part that overlaps with a previously drawn child node."

- this is really useful. Perhaps this is why my previous layer objects have disappeared (i.e., I've overwritten them with newer ones "Children drawn later" )...

Karl: "Either all children of node A will draw before all children of node B, or vice versa"

- perhaps this is the key to understanding things...

i.e., if node B draws after node A...then B overwrites whatever A has done.

DOES THAT MEAN: whoever draws last takes highest priority?

>>>
It seems to be based upon nodes, so a quick explanation of nodes would be nice
>>>

One thing you should consider as well if you are going to be using the Z tag a lot is setting up a typedef in the .m file and give some of them an name to make it easier to track like

typedef enum {
Layer1Z = 1,
Layer5Z = 20,
etc
}ZLayers

Then when you start adding your different sprites and layers you can actually have a word in the z so things aren't as confusing (ex CCSprite *a-sprite z:Layer1Z). It also helps for when you need to do stuff later and try to track something down based on tag or z order (I do the same for my Tag's that will be used frequently).

Child nodes are actually stored in a list internally. The "z" value determines their relative position in the list. Higher numbers are placed later in the list than lower numbers. If you add two nodes with the same z value, they are placed in the same area of the list, but the node you added earlier will always be before the node you added later.

When it comes time to draw, cocos2d will step through the list, drawing each child. Children drawn later will overwrite any part that overlaps with a previously drawn child node (unless you're using a custom blend mode).

Each node has its own list of children, so the z value of nodes in different parents have no effect on each other. Either all children of node A will draw before all children of node B, or vice versa.

Also, the z value is just an integer. You could use 100000, for example.

Yes, this is how it works. Particularly important when it comes to batch nodes.

Yes. You are correct.

Except, 'before things get confusing':
If you have a sprite on a layer at z:100, you can have more than 100 sprites below it simply by using negative values.

e.g:
sprite z:100
sprite z: 90
sprite z:50
sprite z:20
sprite z:10
sprite z:5
sprite z:0
sprite z:-1
sprite z:-10
sprite z: -50
etc...

Just wondering if I am right about the priority of z orders and layers...

>>>
That is:

Layer 1 : z:0

CCSprite *a-sprite z:100 // a-sprite is contained within Layer 1 so even though it has an individual z order of 100, it stays within the z:0 layer and all objects (on different layers) are above it if the layer they are on is greater than z:0 (see below)

//it also means I can have 99 more sprite "sub layers" within layer 1 before things start to get confusing

Layer 2 z:1 // everything in this layer is above all of the objects in Layer 1

CCSprite *b-sprite z:100 //i.e., even though they have the same z value, b-sprite is NOT in the same layer as a-sprite because it has been created in layer 2...

>>>
Am I right with the above?

Ooops, my bad, I forgot to import the files I needed :(

But anyway, if anyone can upload my file to the Cocos2D GitHub I will be very grateful if you could PM me :)

Thanks :D

I have a problem with my game the problem is that i have plate sprite which load after some time the plate sprite is is in plate object which have many more objects like 1.percentage sprite 2.item sprite 3.OrdertextSprite

i the game working on the simulator fine but when i played that game on iphone it is doing little bug first after some time (no time is fixed) 1.plate Sprite created and moved but some time it left it's clone back i solved this issue by creating the plate sprite behind the scene but no good sloution 2.when the object moved to the plate then percentage calculated according to the object cooked but some time the percentage sprite left behind on the scene i am destroying and removing child also but the percentage sprite didn't remove can any body have this type of problem the below is the code of the plate create plate,Add Percentage,MovePlate,DestroyPlate so check that

-(CCSprite *)CreatPlate:(Plate *)objPlate
{
    PlistReader *objPlistRead = [[PlistReader alloc] init];
    [objPlistRead initWithFileName:@"Plates&Order"];
    CCSprite *PlateSprite = [[CCSprite alloc]init];
    if(objPlistRead.LengthOfPList>0)
    {
        NSDictionary *PlatesInfo = [objPlistRead GetTheObjectById:@"Plates"]  ;
        NSString *Path = [[CommanMethods GetCompletePath:[PlatesInfo
                                                objectForKey:@"PlateImage"]] copy];
        int PositionX = [[PlatesInfo objectForKey:@"PositionX"] intValue];
        int PositionY = [[PlatesInfo objectForKey:@"PositionY"] intValue];
        PlateSprite = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:Path];
        PlateSprite.scale = .58;
        PlateSprite.position = ccp(PositionX, PositionY);
        [self addChild:PlateSprite];
        Path = [[CommanMethods GetCompletePath:[PlatesInfo
                                                          objectForKey:@"WithImage"]] copy];
        objPlate.WithSprite = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:Path] ;
        objPlate.WithSprite.scale = .58;
        objPlate.WithSprite.position = ccp(PositionX, PositionY);
        objPlate.WithSprite.visible = NO;
        objPlate.WithSound = [[PlatesInfo objectForKey:@"WithSound"] copy];
        [self addChild:objPlate.WithSprite];

        objPlate.PercentageArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:[PlatesInfo objectForKey:@"Percentage"]]  ;
        //Path = nil;
        //[PlatesInfo release];
        //PlatesInfo = nil;
        //[Path release];

    }
    [objPlistRead release];
    objPlistRead = nil;
    return PlateSprite;

}

-(void)MovePlate:(NSMutableArray *)ObjectsArray
{
    Plate * objPlate = [ObjectsArray objectAtIndex:0];
    CGPoint MovePosition = [[ObjectsArray objectAtIndex:1] CGPointValue];
    float Speed = [[ObjectsArray objectAtIndex:2] floatValue];

    [objPlate.PlateSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition ]];

    if(objPlate.ItemSprite!=NULL)
    {
        if(objPlate.IslectuaseLeave)
        {
            //[ObjItemSprite runAction:[CCRotateTo actionWithDuration:0 angle:90]];
            int x = MovePosition.x+7;
            int y = (MovePosition.y-15);
            [objPlate.ItemSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:ccp(x,y)] ];
        }
        else
        {
            [objPlate.ItemSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];
        }
    }
    if(objPlate.SecondItemSprite!=NULL)
    {
        if(objPlate.IslectuaseLeave)
        {
            //[ObjItemSprite runAction:[CCRotateTo actionWithDuration:0 angle:90]];
            int x = MovePosition.x+7;
            int y = (MovePosition.y-15);
            [objPlate.SecondItemSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:ccp(x,y)] ];
        }
        else
        {
            [objPlate.SecondItemSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];
        }
    }
    if(objPlate.WithSprite!=NULL && objPlate.WithSprite.visible!=NO)
    {
         [objPlate.WithSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];
    }
    if(objPlate.SecondOrderSprite!=NULL && objPlate.SecondOrderSprite.visible)
    {
        float x = MovePosition.x;
        float y = MovePosition.y;
        if(objPlate.OrderTextSprite.visible)
        {
            [objPlate.OrderTextSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:CGPointMake(x, y+15)] ];
            [objPlate.SecondOrderSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:CGPointMake(x, y-15)] ];
        }
        else
        {
            [objPlate.SecondOrderSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];

        }
    }
    else
    {
        [objPlate.OrderTextSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];
    }
    if(objPlate.PercentageSprite!=NULL)
    {
         [objPlate.PercentageSprite runAction:[CCMoveTo actionWithDuration:Speed position:MovePosition] ];
    }
    else
    {
        objPlate.PercentageSprite.visible = NO;
    }
    [ObjectsArray removeAllObjects];
   // [ObjectsArray release];

}

-(void)showPercentage:(Plate *)objPlate
{
    NSString *FileName = @"nill";
    NSString *Path;
    if(objPlate.TotalPlatePercentage>=99)
    {
        FileName = [objPlate.PercentageArray objectAtIndex:3];
    }
    else if(objPlate.TotalPlatePercentage>=95)
    {
         FileName = [objPlate.PercentageArray objectAtIndex:2];
    }
    else if(objPlate.TotalPlatePercentage>=80)
    {
        FileName = [objPlate.PercentageArray objectAtIndex:1];
    }
    else if(objPlate.TotalPlatePercentage>=70)
    {
        FileName = [objPlate.PercentageArray objectAtIndex:0];
    }
    if(![FileName isEqualToString:@"nill"])
    {
        Path = [[CommanMethods GetCompletePath:FileName] copy];
        objPlate.PercentageSprite = [CCSprite spriteWithFile:Path] ;
        objPlate.PercentageSprite.position = objPlate.Position;
        objPlate.PercentageSprite.scale = .58;
        [self addChild:objPlate.PercentageSprite];
    }
}

-(void)DestroyPlateObject:(NSMutableArray *)ObjectsArray
{

    [self CheckLevelUp];
    if([PlatesArray count]<=0 && topSeekBarStage >2)
    {
        topSeekBarStage = 2;
    }
    if(Sound)
    {
        [[SimpleAudioEngine sharedEngine] playEffect:[[CommanMethods GetCompleteSoundPath:@"ordercomplete.wav"]copy]];

    }
    CompletedOrders += 1;
    if(CompletedOrders%10==0)
    {
        [self  CheckAcheivement];
    }
    [CompleteOrderLable setString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d",CompletedOrders ]];
    [CurrentEarningLable setString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%.2f",CurrentEarning]];
    Plate  *objPlate =[[ObjectsArray objectAtIndex:0] retain];

    [self removeChild:objPlate.PlateSprite cleanup:YES];
    [self removeChild:objPlate.ItemSprite cleanup:YES];
    [self removeChild:objPlate.OrderTextSprite cleanup:YES];
    [self removeChild:objPlate.WithSprite cleanup:YES];

    if(objPlate.SecondOrderSprite!=NULL)
    {
        [self removeChild:objPlate.SecondOrderSprite cleanup:YES];
        [self removeChild:objPlate.SecondItemSprite cleanup:YES];
    }
    if(objPlate.PercentageSprite!=NULL)
    {
        [self removeChild:objPlate.PercentageSprite cleanup:YES];
    }
    //[objPlate.PercentageArray removeAllObjects];
    objPlate.PercentageArray = nil;
    [objPlate.PercentageArray release];

    [objPlate release];
    objPlate = nil;

    SelectedItemIndex = -1;
    PaneSelected = -1;
    //[ObjectsArray release];
    [ObjectsArray removeAllObjects];
    //[self ReArrangePlates];

}

Hello Dani,

Thank you for your response! We are working on trailer video currently.

Hello. Looks good. Besides explaining the game rules, a live gameplay video will help your marketing and encourage some people to buy the app, so try it out. Use another iPhone to record the video, or Screenflick, for example.

I want to remind that Virus Wars on sale since yesterday!

I found the problem this class is sound loading class so i was loading the sound mushroom.wav on playeffect but the sound file name was mashroom.wav that's why the imagePathComponents have no value b/c both files are different so i changed the name of the file

i developed a game and i am using the xcode 4 after playing some time the game crash and the IDE point to this function

+(NSString*) fullPathFromRelativePath:(NSString*) relPath
{
    // do not convert an absolute path (starting with '/')
    if(([relPath length] > 0) && ([relPath characterAtIndex:0] == '/'))
    {
        return relPath;
    }

    NSMutableArray *imagePathComponents = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:[relPath pathComponents]];
    NSString *file = [imagePathComponents lastObject];

    [imagePathComponents removeLastObject];
    NSString *imageDirectory = [NSString pathWithComponents:imagePathComponents];

    NSString *fullpath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:file ofType:nil inDirectory:imageDirectory];
    if (fullpath == nil)
        fullpath = relPath;

    return fullpath;
}

and trying to remove the

[imagePathComponents removeLastObject];

but got error b/c it is not available it is in the "CocosDenshion.h" Class so can any body tell me that what type of thing this function is removing so i fixed that thing in my code thanks

ok i will try to figure it out

That's all possible via the example shown. Do you have a specific background and speed for every level? If so you can add those two lines as additional parameters to the XML in the example. It's going to take a little work but like I said that example shows pretty much exactly what you want on adding specific information for each level in a XML file and then parsing the file to show those specific items. It's going to take a little leg work but it's definitely not that hard to implement. I'm using the same XML type of design on my game prototype and I have XML file setup so that in each level it determines which sprites should be shown on that level and each sprites movement speed.