Footsteps (Running faster and faster)

Zilla

I want to simulate the sound of a running player that moves faster and faster.
I want to control the sound of a footstep with a timer that has a variable speed (depending on the elapsed time of the game).

I tried to implement the concept of "How do I have the Timer behavior use variable speeds?" from the Wiki:
http://gamesalad.com/wiki/how_tos:gsc_variable_timer_speed

But it doesn't seem to work the way I made it... Does anybody know of an existing, similar example that I coud download or study?

jonmulcahy

there was another thread about this earlier in the week, and none of us could figure out that tutorial last I read it

What I would do as a simple work around is create a few different rules.

when speed is < 10
timer every 1 sec play footstep

when speed is > 10 and < 50
timer ever .5 sec play footstep

when speed is >50
timer every .25 play footstep

It's a little more work, and not truly variable, but it should work fine.

Zilla

@mulcahy
Thank you very much
I was using your approach in my last game "Walk The Line":
http://gamesalad.com/game/play/35111

There the player runs - and the obstacles appear faster and faster... but only as you suggested within three different ranges...

I wanted to have the effect a little smoother....

scitunes

it is possible! I was the one with all the problems and finally got it working. It is really useful! I'll find the thread and post it.

scitunes

I'm uploading it right now. Look for "Timer with Variable Rate" in the shared projects. I can't take any credit for this, but I forget who had the original idea and I couldn't find his project so I just uploaded my copy of it.

scitunes

it's up

Zilla

@scitunes
This is exactly what I was looking for ))

Thank you very much ))

scitunes

just paying it forward! It made a huge difference in the game I am working on.

rebump

For an "every x seconds" timer expression, just make the expression a fraction of the actor's speed. Say if the actor has a max speed of 200, maybe an expression of "(max_speed - current_speed)/100" would suffice. This would give the actor a footstep repeat of every two seconds when barely moving and down to every one hundredth of a second at a speed of 199.

Since low around zero and including zero would include a footstep and in the upper range the footstep may come too quickly (for performance too), you would want to handle a speed of zero (or even a small lower range that includes zero) and a speed of 200 (or even a small upper range that includes 200) separately.

Adjust the "/100" piece to vary it up a bit. You could even play with "log10()" and "ln()" to make the adjustment less linear. You could also use "min()" or "max()" to play with the lower and upper ranges a bit. You could also play with the equation itself using something that maybe fits your needs better. Open up a spreadsheet program and make a table of the values and any equations or sub-equations to see what you can come up with.

Also, you could make the footstep sound either a one-step or a two-step sound to fit your equation better.

scitunes

rebump, was this your original solution? I think it was, right? Some reason I couldn't find your original project in shared. Maybe, I just over looked it.

good suggestions here for how to spice it up!

Thanks, again! I am putting out a jumping game soon and all of the moving actors use this to make the game get harder and harder so it was really key!

Zilla

@scitunes
Your example works like a charm

@rebump
Thank you very much for your ideas: I love math Especially in a game engine like GS where you spend most of your "coding" by clicking through behaviours...

rebump

@scitunes: Nope, wasn't mine and was unaware of one being out there. I actually typed most of that up and then got sidetracked by my toddler before sending. If I would have been sidetracked earlier, I probably would have seen your responses since that time and not replied. :-)

Oh well. Maybe it is similar to what you presented maybe not. Either way...the more info out there, the better.

@Zilla: I like math too. Too bad it has been decades since I took any math courses in college. If I get into this more and more, I may go take a class or two to refresh. :-)