Blob monster code

Community Forums/Showcase/Blob monster code

jkrankie (Posted 2010) [#1]

I've made a little code tutorial about animating stuff using trig. I've put it on my blog here: http://www.charliesgames.com/wordpress/?p=441 Full blitzmax code is included. I'm kind of hoping for some feedback on whether people find it interesting. If so i'll do some more. Cheers Charlie Last edited 2010

Tachyon (Posted 2010) [#2]

Absolutely amazing effect with such a compact piece of code. Thank you for sharing this! I will learn a lot from playing around in there.

xlsior (Posted 2010) [#3]

Very impressive.

MGE (Posted 2010) [#4]

Cheers! Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Oddball (Posted 2010) [#5]

The enemies in Irukandji are sumptuous and this a great example of how you achieved such a compelling style. I am actually amazed it's all done with a single image. An excellent use of procedural animation. Thanks for sharing.

jkrankie (Posted 2010) [#6]

Thanks chaps! I guess i'll have to think of some other stuff to write about now! Also, for the more adventurous among you, this post contains the draw method for the crab boss in Irukandji. You'll probably need to edit it a bit, and add some more fields, but it shouldn't be too tricky to get working... http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=88064#1000285 Cheers Charlie Last edited 2010

BlitzSupport (Posted 2010) [#7]

Brilliant!

Jesse (Posted 2010) [#8]

really nice Charlie. Thanks for taking time and provide such a nice demo to learn from.

dmaz (Posted 2010) [#9]

fantastic, thanks! nice job on the code commenting too.

_Skully (Posted 2010) [#10]

This is simply.. awesome!

rs22 (Posted 2010) [#11]

Wow, that's brilliant!

Panno (Posted 2010) [#12]

like it a lot ! thx

TartanTangerine (was Indiepath) (Posted 2010) [#13]

This is really special....made me dust off the old BMAX and gave much inspiration! THanks

big10p (Posted 2010) [#14]

Gorgeous! Trig really can be a lot of fun. :)

smilertoo (Posted 2010) [#15]

nice effect.

Ked (Posted 2010) [#16]

This is really cool.

_Skully (Posted 2010) [#17]

Oh thanks alot now I'm totally distracted playing with this LOL I'll post what I've done soon ;)

jkrankie (Posted 2010) [#18]

@Skully, looking forward to seeing your blob monster! Cheers Charlie

smilertoo (Posted 2010) [#19]

jkrankie: are you using normal sprites or some quad system? thats a lot of glowey things flying around.

jkrankie (Posted 2010) [#20]

Normal max2d sprites. The source code is in a zip file available from the link above. It's also been ported to flash now as well! Cheers Charlie

FreakForFreedom (Posted 2010) [#21]

This is awesome! Thanks a lot :)

_Skully (Posted 2010) [#22]

So I didn't mess with the general creature I just added a minor AI (its still a little buggy) and made it so you could spawn multiple monsters. Three points on the monsters back represent how much food and pleasure the creature has and the red dot is how much pain its in. The AI just looks around for food (green dots) and pleasure (blue dots) and should avoid pain from red dots... if it gets too much pain it dies, if it starts to starve it causes pain which would in turn cause it to die. Once its full it looks for pleasure (treats) and when it's had enough of those it looks for a mate. When 2 monsters are close for long enough a new monster is born. Red dots emit food every 1000 game iterations. 'How to make an Irukandji style blob monster. 'By Charlie Knight, 2009/2010 'http://www.charliesgames.com ' 'This code is public domain. Feel free to use as you please. 'If you use the code as a basis for your own blob monsters, let me know! I'd love to 'see what you came up with! ' 'The code is written using the Blitzmax language, but it should be fairly easy to port 'to C++/Java/Whatever with a suitable graphics library. ' 'the image blob.png can be found at <img src="http://www.charliesgames.com/wpimages/blob.png"> ' 'Cheers 'Charlie ' Modified by Skully Nov 2010 Same as above. SuperStrict AppTitle=("Charlie's Blob Monster! Skully Mod One") 'open a graphics window Graphics 640, 480, 0, 60 'load the image Global blob:TImage = LoadImage("blob.png") Global time:Float = 0 'speed, try changing it Global speed:Float = 1 Global monsters:TList=new TList SeedRnd MilliSecs() 'simple class (type in Blitzmax) to hold a 2d coordinate Type point Field x:Float, y:Float Field vx:Float,vy:Float End Type Global food:TList=New TList Global danger:TList=New TList Global treat:TList=New TList 'here's the blob monster type Type blobMonster 'x and y coords Field x:Float, y:Float 'number of nodes along the body, try changing it to 100 Field segments:Float = 10 'array to hold the points along the body Field tail:point[segments] Field smellDist:Int=60 Field feelDist:Int=40 Field touchDist:Int=20 Field myspeed:Float=1 Field belly:Float=5 ' how much food is in the belly Field bellyfull:Float=10 Field pain:Float=0 ' how much pain is the creature in? Field PainHeal:Float=0.999 ' how quickly pain disappears Field maxpain:Float=100 Field pleasure:Float=0 ' how much pleasure the creature has had Field neediness:Float=0.99 Field MaxPleasure:Float=100 ' most satisfied Field seekx:Float=Rnd(0,640) Field seeky:Float=Rnd(0,480) Field findmate:Int=False Method AI() Local painPoints:TList=New TList Local foodPoints:TList=New TList Local pleasurePoints:TList=New TList Local p:point If belly>0 belly:-0.001 pain:*PainHeal pleasure:*neediness For p=EachIn food If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<touchDist And Self.belly<Self.bellyfull ' eat it! If belly<bellyfull belly:+1 If pleasure<MaxPleasure pleasure:+1 food.Remove(p) Else If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<smellDist foodPoints.AddLast(p) End If Next For p=EachIn danger If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<touchDist If Self.pain<Self.maxpain Self.pain:+1 Else monsters.Remove(Self) ' dies.. not doing that yet End If EndIf If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<smellDist painPoints.AddLast(p) Next For p=EachIn treat If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<feelDist Or Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<smellDist If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<feelDist And pleasure<100 pleasure:+1 pleasurePoints.AddLast(p) EndIf Next ' ok now that we are aware of our environment Local foodweight:Float=1.0-(Self.belly/Self.bellyfull) Local painweight:Float=Self.pain/Self.maxpain Local pleasureweight:Float=Self.pleasure/maxpleasure If painweight > foodweight Self.GoAwayFromPain(painPoints) ElseIf foodweight>0.7 GoForFood(foodPoints) Else If pleasureweight>0.8 findmate=True GoForPleasure(pleasurePoints) EndIf End Method Method AngTo:Float(x:Float,y:Float) Return ATan2(y-Self.tail[0].y,x-Self.tail[0].x) End Method Method GoAwayFromPain(ps:TList) Local fd:point For Local p:point=EachIn ps If fd If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<Self.DistTo(fd.x,fd.y) fd=p Else fd=p End If Next If fd MoveAway(fd.x,fd.y) End If End Method Method FindAMate() Local bm:blobMonster=blobMonster(monsters.First()) If bm For Local b:blobMonster=EachIn monsters If b<>Self And b<>bm Local dt:Float=DistTo(b.x,b.y) If dt<DistTo(bm.x,bm.y) If dt<touchDist findmate:+1 ' rubbing If findmate>100 ' 100 rubs and boing Local test:blobMonster = New blobMonster.Create(x, y) pleasure=0 belly=Min(belly-33,2) findmate=False ' go back to normal End If End If bm=b EndIf End If Next MoveToward(bm.x,bm.y) EndIf End Method Method GoForPleasure(ps:TList) If findmate FindAMate() Return End If Local fd:point For Local p:point=EachIn ps If fd If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<Self.DistTo(fd.x,fd.y) fd=p Else fd=p End If Next If fd MoveToward(fd.x,fd.y) Else Wander() 'sleep End If End Method Method GoForFood(ps:TList) Local fd:point For Local p:point=EachIn ps If fd If Self.DistTo(p.x,p.y)<Self.DistTo(fd.x,fd.y) fd=p Else fd=p End If Next If fd MoveToward(fd.x,fd.y) Else Wander() End If End Method Method Wander() MoveToward(seekx,seeky) If DistTo(seekx,seeky)<touchDist seekx=Rnd(0,640) seeky=Rnd(0,480) End If End Method Method MoveAway(x:Float,y:Float,percent:Float=1) Local ang:Float=Self.AngTo(x,y)+180 tail[0].x:+Cos(ang)*myspeed*percent tail[0].y:+Sin(ang)*myspeed*percent x=tail[0].x y=tail[0].y End Method Method MoveToward(x:Float,y:Float,percent:Float=1) Local ang:Float=Self.AngTo(x,y) tail[0].x:+Cos(ang)*myspeed*percent tail[0].y:+Sin(ang)*myspeed*percent x=tail[0].x y=tail[0].y End Method Method DistTo:Float(x:Float,y:Float) Local x1:Float=Self.tail[0].x Local y1:Float=Self.tail[0].y Return Sqr((x-x1)^2+(y-y1)^2) End Method 'function that returns a new blob monster object. Blitzmax equivalent (kind of) 'of a constructor in C++/Java Function Create:blobMonster(inX:Float, iny:Float) Local n:blobMonster = New blobMonster 'starting point of the blob monster n.x = inX n.y = iny 'give the tail some coordinates, just make them the same as the main x and y for now For Local i:Int = 0 To n.segments - 1 n.tail[i] = New point n.tail[i].x = inX n.tail[i].y = iny Next monsters.AddLast(n) Return n End Function Method Update:Int() AI() If belly<2 And pain<maxpain pain:+1 'time is a bit misleading, it's used for all sorts of things 'here the x and y coordinates are updated. 'this uses the following as a basic rule for moving things 'around a point in 2d space: 'x=radius*cos(angle)+xOrigin 'y=raduis*sin(angle)+yOrigin 'this basically is the basis for anything that moves in this example ' 'the 2 lines of code below make the monster move around, but 'you can change this to anything you like, try setting x and y to the mouse 'coordinates for example 'put the head of the tail at x,y coords 'tail[0].x = x 'tail[0].y = y 'update the tail 'basically, the points don't move unless they're further that 7 pixels 'from the previous point. this gives the kind of springy effect as the 'body stretches For Local i:Int = 1 To segments - 1 'calculate distance between the current point and the previous Local distX:Float = (tail[i - 1].x - tail[i].x) Local distY:Float = (tail[i - 1].y - tail[i].y) Local dist:Float = Sqr(distX * distX + distY * distY) 'move if too far away If dist > 7 Then 'the (distX*0.2) bit makes the point move 'just 20% of the distance. this makes the 'movement smoother, and the point decelerate 'as it gets closer to the target point. 'try changing it to 1 (i.e 100%) to see what happens tail[i].x = tail[i].x + (distX * (0.3)) tail[i].y = tail[i].y + (distY * (0.3)) EndIf Next Return False End Method Method Draw() 'time to draw stuff! 'this sets the blend mode to LIGHTBLEND, or additive blending, which makes 'the images progressively more bright as they overlap SetBlend LIGHTBLEND SetColor 0, 200, 150 '########### 'draw the main bit of the body 'start by setting the images handle (i.e the origin of the image) to it's center MidHandleImage blob 'begin looping through the segments of the body For Local i:Int = 0 To segments - 1 'set the alpha transparency vaue to 0.15, pretty transparent SetAlpha 0.15 'the (0.5*sin(i*35)) bit basically bulges the size of the images being 'drawn as it gets closer to the center of the monsters body, and tapers off in size as it gets 'to the end. try changing the 0.5 to a higher number to see the effect. Local sc:Float=1.0 + (0.5 * Sin(i * 35.0)) SetScale sc,sc 'draw the image DrawImage blob, tail[i].x, tail[i].y sc=0.1 Select i Case 2 sc:+(belly/bellyfull)/2.0 SetColor 100,255,100 Case 5 sc:+(pain/maxpain)/2.0 SetColor 255,100,100 Case 7 sc:+(pleasure/MaxPleasure)/2.0 SetColor 100,100,255 Default SetColor 0, 200, 150 End Select 'this next chunk just draws smaller dots in the center of each segment of the body SetAlpha 0.8 SetScale sc, sc DrawImage blob, tail[i].x, tail[i].y Next '######################### 'draw little spikes on tail SetColor 255, 255, 255 'note that the x and y scales are different SetScale 0.6, 0.1 'move the image handle to halfway down the left edge, this'll make the image 'appear to the side of the coordinate it is drawn too, rather than the 'center as we had for the body sections SetImageHandle blob, 0, ImageHeight(blob) / 2 'rotate the 1st tail image. basically, we're calculating the angle between 'the last 2 points of the tail, and then adding an extra wobble (the 10*sin(time*10) bit) 'to make the pincer type effect. SetRotation 10 * Sin(time * 10) + calculateAngle(tail[segments - 1].x, tail[segments - 1].y, tail[segments - 5].x, tail[segments - 5].y) + 90 DrawImage blob, tail[segments - 1].x, tail[segments - 1].y 'second tail image uses negative time to make it move in the opposite direction SetRotation 10 * Sin(-time * 10) + calculateAngle(tail[segments - 1].x, tail[segments - 1].y, tail[segments - 5].x, tail[segments - 5].y) + 90 DrawImage blob, tail[segments - 1].x, tail[segments - 1].y '##################### 'draw little fins/arms SetAlpha 1 'begin looping through the body sections again. Note that we don't want fins 'on the first and last section because we want other things at those coords. For Local i:Int = 1 To segments - 2 'like the bulging body, we want the fins to grow larger in the center, and smaller 'at the end, so the same sort of thing is used here. SetScale 0.1 + (0.6 * Sin(i * 30)), 0.05 'rotate the image. We want the fins to stick out sideways from the body (the calculateangle() bit) 'and also to move a little on their own. the 33 * Sin(time * 5 + i * 30) makes the 'fin rotate based in the i index variable, so that all the fins look like they're moving 'one after the other. SetRotation 33 * Sin(time * 5 + i * 30) + calculateAngle(tail[i].x, tail[i].y, tail[i - 1].x, tail[i - 1].y) DrawImage blob, tail[i].x, tail[i].y 'rotate the opposte fin, note that the signs have changes (-time and -i*30) 'to reflect the rotations of the other fin SetRotation 33 * Sin(-time * 5 - i * 30) + calculateAngle(tail[i].x, tail[i].y, tail[i - 1].x, tail[i - 1].y) + 180 DrawImage blob, tail[i].x, tail[i].y Next '################### 'center the image handle MidHandleImage blob 'Draw the eyes. These are just at 90 degrees to the head of the tail. SetColor 255, 0, 0 SetScale 0.6, 0.6 SetAlpha 0.3 Local ang:Float = calculateangle(tail[0].x, tail[0].y, tail[1].x, tail[1].y) Local x:Float=tail[0].x Local y:Float=tail[0].y DrawImage blob, x + (7 * Cos(ang + 50)), y + (7 * Sin(ang + 50)) DrawImage blob, x + (7 * Cos(ang + 140)), y + (7 * Sin(ang + 140)) SetColor 255, 255, 255 SetScale 0.1, 0.1 SetAlpha 0.5 DrawImage blob, x + (7 * Cos(ang + 50)), y + (7 * Sin(ang + 50)) DrawImage blob, x + (7 * Cos(ang + 140)), y + (7 * Sin(ang + 140)) 'draw beaky thing SetColor 0, 200, 155 SetScale 0.3, 0.1 SetAlpha 0.8 SetImageHandle blob, 0, ImageWidth(blob) / 2 SetRotation ang + 95 DrawImage blob, x, y 'yellow light MidHandleImage blob SetColor 255, 255, 0 SetAlpha 0.2 SetScale 4, 4 DrawImage blob, x, y ' SetScale 3,3 ' DrawImage blob,seekx,seeky 'Finished! End Method Function UpdateAll() For Local b:blobMonster=EachIn monsters b.Update() Next End Function Function DrawAll() For Local b:blobMonster=EachIn monsters b.Draw() Next End Function EndType 'This function calculates and returns the angle between two 2d coordinates Function calculateAngle:Float(x1:Float,y1:Float,x2:Float,y2:Float) Local theX:Float=x1-x2 Local theY:Float=y1-y2 Local theAngle:Float=-ATan2(theX,theY) Return theAngle End Function 'create a blobMonster object Local test:blobMonster = New blobMonster.Create(10, 10) Local test2:blobMonster=New blobMonster.Create(50,50) test.myspeed=2 For Local ct:Int=0 To 20 Local p:point=New point p.x=Rnd(10,630) p.y=Rnd(10,470) food.AddLast(p) p=New point p.x=Rnd(10,630) p.y=Rnd(10,470) danger.AddLast(p) p=New point p.x=Rnd(10,630) p.y=Rnd(10,470) treat.AddLast(p) Next Global oscRate:Int=5 'main loop While Not KeyHit(KEY_ESCAPE) 'update and draw the blobmonster Local y:Float = (15 * Cos(time * -6)) + (240 + (180 * Sin(time * 1.3))) Local x:Float = (15 * Sin(time * -6)) + (320 + (200 * Cos(time / 1.5))) Local y1:Float = (15 * Cos(time * -4)) + (240 + (180 * Sin(time * 1.3))) Local x1:Float = (15 * Sin(time * -4)) + (320 + (200 * Cos(time / 1.5))) time:+1 For Local p:point=EachIn food p.x:+p.vx p.y:+p.vy p.vx:*0.99 p.vy:*0.99 SetScale 0.2 + (0.1 * Sin(time * oscRate)), 0.2 + (0.1 * Sin(time * oscRate)) SetColor 100,255,100 DrawImage blob,p.x,p.y Next For Local p:point=EachIn danger p.vx:+1 If p.vx>1000 p.vx=0 Local pp:point=New point pp.x=p.x pp.y=p.y pp.vx=Rnd(-1,1) pp.vy=Rnd(-1,1) food.AddLast(pp) End If SetScale 0.4 + (0.3 * Sin(time * oscRate)), 0.4 + (0.3 * Sin(time * oscRate)) SetColor 255,100,100 DrawImage blob,p.x,p.y Next For Local p:point=EachIn treat SetScale 0.2 + (0.1 * Sin(time * oscRate)), 0.2 + (0.1 * Sin(time * oscRate)) SetColor 100,100,255 DrawImage blob,p.x,p.y Next blobMonster.UpdateAll() blobMonster.DrawAll() SetScale 1,1 SetAlpha 1 SetRotation 0 Flip;Cls Wend EndGraphics() End 'Finished! Thanks jkrankie, this was a fun diversion. Time to get back on the job of my current project... still throwing this into the samples package though! Last edited 2010

jkrankie (Posted 2010) [#23]

That's really good! Cheers Charlie

jkrankie (Posted 2011) [#24]

I Monkified it! http://www.charliesgames.com/wordpress/?p=543 Can't figure out how to re-colour images in Monkey though? Cheers Charlie

taumel (Posted 2011) [#25]

Sadly that doesn't work, it's not supposed to work. I also miss this. *snip* Sets the current color. The current color is used by all drawing operations except Cls and DrawImage. *snap* Last edited 2011

Steve Elliott (Posted 2011) [#26]

That's cool, thanks for sharing. Good tutorial and well commented, clear code. Last edited 2011

Why0Why (Posted 2011) [#27]

That demo is gorgeous. Thanks for posting.