Achieve parallax effect in libGDX game - java

I'm working in a game with some friends in which we have a large horizontal world and a OrthographicCamera that shows only 1/3 of it. This camera it's moved when the horizontal position of the player change so the camera only move to the left and to the right.
Some of the objects showed in the game are near the player point-of-view but others are far away (for example, islands). With this in consideration, we cannot set fixed positions for elements and move only the camera. We need to achieve a parallax effect taking in consideration the distance of the elements.
Here is a simple image to explain it better:
The viewport to the left shows 3 objects of the game. The green one is near the player, the red ellipse is far and the yellow one is in the middle. In the viewport to the right the camera has been moved to the right so all the objects disappear to the left. The thing is that the relative movement of the green rectangle is greater than the movement of the yellow. In the same way, movement of yellow object is greater than red object movement.
I created all my assets scaled taking in consideration how far they are but now, how can I simulate this perspective using libGDX? Is there any class to do it? If I have to set elements position in each iteration, how could I calculate the right position?

Note that the example below is not tested as I am just recalling how I did it. The idea is simple - create layers with an extra layer for each with initial positions and velocity and move them. If a layer goes off the edge, put another one (that is why we create an extra layer) at the opposite edge.
Say you have a parallax object that takes initial positions, size, and velocity-
public class Parallax extends DynamicGameObject {
public float width, height; // Use setter/getter if you prefer
public Parallax(float x, float y, float width, float height, float velocityX, float velocityY) {
super(x, y, width, height);
velocity.set(velocityX, velocityY);
this.width = width;
this.height = height;
}
public void update(float deltaTime) {
position.add(velocity.x * deltaTime, velocity.y * deltaTime);
}
public void setPosition(float x, float y) {
position.set(x, y);
}
}
DynamicGameObject is taken from SuperJumper demo-
public class DynamicGameObject extends GameObject {
public final Vector2 velocity;
public final Vector2 accel;
public DynamicGameObject(float x, float y, float width, float height) {
super(x, y, width, height);
velocity = new Vector2();
accel = new Vector2();
}
}
GameObject as well-
public class GameObject {
public final Vector2 position;
public final Rectangle bounds;
public GameObject(float x, float y, float width, float height) {
this.position = new Vector2(x,y);
this.bounds = new Rectangle(x - width/2f, y - height/2f, width, height);
}
}
Say we have two layers - one in front and the other goes at back. We have one texture for each. Each texture fills the entire screen. We create two instances for each layer so that when one texture starts going off the screen, the other shows up at the edge to fill the gap. If you have smaller textures, you need to determine first how many textures you need to fill the screen and then create layers with one extra to fill the gap in between.
We can create an array of parallax layers during world creation-
Array<Parallax> parallaxList = new Array<Parallax>(4);
We can create the layers like this-
// Back
/* First parallax for back layer is at 0 x-axis. If you want to move the texture from right to left, the value of BACK_VELOCITY_X should be negative. You can experiment with velocity value for desire pace of movement. We do not want our layer to move on y-axis. Hence, it is set to 0. */
parallaxList.add(new Parallax(0, BACK_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, BACK_TEXTURE_WIDTH, BACK_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, BACK_VELOCITY_X, 0));
/* This one is also for back layer but it is positioned at the right edge of the layer above*/
parallaxList.add(new Parallax(BACK_TEXTURE_WIDTH, BACK_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, BACK_TEXTURE_WIDTH, BACK_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, SOME_VELOCITY_X, 0));
// Front
parallaxList.add(new Parallax(0, 0, FRONT_TEXTURE_WIDTH, FRONT_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, FRONT_VELOCITY_X, 0));
parallaxList.add(new Parallax(FRONT_TEXTURE_WIDTH, 0, FRONT_TEXTURE_WIDTH, FRONT_TEXTURE_HEIGHT, FRONT_VELOCITY_X, 0));
We update the layers on an update call in each frame-
// In our example, TOTAL_LAYERS is 4
for (int i = 0; i < TOTAL_LAYERS; i++) {
int tmpInt;
Parallax parallax = parallaxList.get(i);
parallax.update(deltaTime);
// If one layer is off the edge, put it at the right of the next one
// In this example, layers are moving from right to left
if (parallax.position.x <= -parallax.width) {
// We know that parallaxList's indexes 0 and 1 hold the back layers
// and indexes 2 and 3 have the front layers. You can add additional
// parameters in Parallax class to indicate a group so that you do not
// have to determine the group in dirty way like this
if(i == 0){
tmpInt = 1;
} else if(i == 1) {
tmpInt = 0;
} else if(i == 2) {
tmpInt = 3;
} else {
tmpInt = 2;
}
parallax.setPosition(parallaxList.get(tmpInt).position.x + parallax.width, parallax.position.y);
}
}
You can use an OrthographicCamera and a SpriteBatch to draw the parallax layers. You can actually use the game camera you have but I think using a separate camera is much cleaner. Anyways, parallax textures are usually big enough to be batched in a separate call so using the game camera most probably will not save you a draw call.

Related

Java little ball runs away from cursor

I'm trying to make a graphic project where a Ball runs away from my cursor, I already did the other way around where the ball seeks my cursor and when she arrives she loses velocity so it's like she's running fast until she comes around a range of 10 pixels and then she loses velocity until she touches the cursor.
The thing is, I can't find a way to make the ball run away from the cursor in a way that when I enter a diameter(from the ball), she runs slow, if I approach more she starts to run faster to get away but when my cursor leaves the diameter, she runs slow until she stops once again.
I hope I made it clear, I thought about a solution but I don't know if there's a library or some built function in Java that I could use guys:
-have like a percentage from 0 to 100 where the distance between my cursor and the ball fits inside, 0% is velocity=0, 100% is velocity=4 for example, do you have any idea if there is such thing that I could implement?
Thank you in advance!
I've made a Vector class where I change it and access the X and Y coordinates to make the ball move, I used basic trigonometry to make the vector ALWAYS the same length.
code of my ball (Chaser) class:
public class Chaser {
private double x;
private double y;
private double vel = 1;
private double hyp;
private Vector vector = new Vector(0, 0);
private double distance;
public Chaser(int width, int height){
x = width/2;
y = height/2;
}
public void setVel(Point m){
if(m.x != x)
hyp = Math.sqrt(Math.pow(Math.abs(m.x - x), 2) + Math.pow(Math.abs(m.y - y), 2));
else
hyp = Math.abs(m.y - y);
}
public void setDirection(Point m){
if(hyp == 0) return;
vector.change((m.x - x)/hyp, (m.y - y)/hyp);
}
public void draw(Graphics g){
g.setColor(Color.RED);
g.fillOval((int)x - 10, (int)y - 10, 20, 20);
g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
g.drawLine((int)x, (int)y, (int)(vector.getX()*15*vel) + (int)x, (int)(vector.getY()*15*vel) + (int)y);
}
public void move(Point m){
setVel(m);
setDirection(m);
useVector();
}
public void useVector(){
if(vector == null) return;
x -= vector.getX() * vel;
y -= vector.getY() * vel;
}
public void calculateVelocity(Point m){
if(vector == null) return;
// I don't know what to do yet
}
}
If you want to just push the ball around you can do something simple. Let's use vectors to make it easier to understand. Say ball holds the ball's center (x,y) and mouse contains the mouse position (x,y).
You can compute the distance between ball and mouse, that is (mouse - ball).length() to get how far away the mouse is from the ball.
If the distance > ball radius then the mouse is outside.
Otherwise you can do:
tmp = ball - mouse // get the vector from mouse to the ball.
tmp = tmp / tmp.length() * ball_radious // change the vector's length to match the radious of the ball.
ball = mouse + tmp // Move the ball such that the mouse will be on the edge.
As you move the mouse the ball will get pushed by the mouse.
If you want a bit of inertia, so the ball doesn't just stop when you don't push it anymore then you need to keep an additional vector speed and use tmp to get an acceleration.
Something like this:
tmp = ball - mouse // get the vector from mouse to the ball.
force = max(0, ball_radious - tmp.length()) // how strong we push the ball.
acceleration = tmp / tmp.legnth() * f(force) // compute the acceleration vector. f(force) is some function based on force, try k*f or k*f*f and see what looks better for your setup.
speed = speed * kDrag + acceleration // update the speed, kDrag should be between 0 and 1, start with something like 0.8 and try different values.
ball = ball + speed * time_delta // Update the ball's position.
You can play with the constants to get the right feel that you're looking for. time_delta is meant to normalize the speed between frams so you don't need to worry too much if there's some inconsistency between them. You can use a constant as well, but the movement might become jerky at times.
All operations above are vector operations.

Move rectangle by touching the screen

I want to move blocks with different x-positions without changing their shape by reducing the x-position.
I have tried to run the following code, but it seems like the blocks move to a tow position way to fast (correct potion and other i can't see where).
downBlocks=new Arraylist<Rectangle>;
for (DownBlocks downBlocks:getBlocks()){
if(Gdx.input.isTouched()) {
Vector3 touchPos = new Vector3();
touchPos.set(Gdx.input.getX(), Gdx.input.getY(), 0);
camera.unproject(touchPos);
downBlocks.x = (int) touchPos.x - downBlocks.x;
}
}
To do a drag, you need to remember the point where the finger last touched the screen so you can get a finger delta. And as a side note, avoid putting code inside your loop iteration if it only needs to be called once. It's wasteful to unproject the screen's touch point over and over for every one of your DownBlocks.
static final Vector3 VEC = new Vector3(); // reusuable static member to avoid GC churn
private float lastX; //member variable for tracking finger movement
//In your game logic:
if (Gdx.input.isTouching()){
VEC.set(Gdx.input.getX(), Gdx.input.getY(), 0);
camera.unproject(VEC);
}
if (Gdx.input.justTouched())
lastX = VEC.x; //starting point of drag
else if (Gdx.input.isTouching()){ // dragging
float deltaX = VEC.x - lastX; // how much finger has moved this frame
lastX = VEC.x; // for next frame
// Since you're working with integer units, you can round position
int blockDelta = (int)Math.round(deltaX);
for (DownBlocks downBlock : getBlocks()){
downBlock.x += blockDelta;
}
}
I don't recommend using integer units for your coordinates, though. If you are doing pixel art, then I recommend using floats for storing coordinates, and rounding off the coordinates only when drawing. That will reduce jerky-looking movement. If you are not using pixel art, I would just use float coordinates all the way. Here's a good article to help understand units.

MouseDrag drawing a Square not working as intended

#Override
public Shape getShape() {
final Rectangle2D.Double result = new Rectangle2D.Double();
result.setFrameFromDiagonal(getStart(), getEnd());
//FIX this is causing square to move when going opposite direction
result.setRect(result.getX(), result.getY(),
result.getHeight(), result.getHeight());
return result;
}
So here is my code that is drawing a square using Rectangle2D.Double. The getStart() and getEnd() are points that are being returned from mouseDrag events. When I drag to the right or up, it works as intended and creates a square. When I drag left or down the square moves with the drag as it draws. I am fairly new to Java swing and paint components. Wondering if anyone know what is causing this and why?
You need to consider a few specialities:
Save the first coordinate on mouse click: x,y
Save the last coordinate on mouse drag x2,y2
Set min x and y coordinates as the startpoint for setRect: Math.min(x,x2);
Use the absolute value of the coordinate difference to calculate the height and width of rectangle: Math.abs(x-x2);
px = Math.min(x,x2);
int py = Math.min(y,y2);
int pw=Math.abs(x-x2);
int ph=Math.abs(y-y2);
result.setRect(px, py, pw, ph);

For loop drawing PGraphics in an array [Processing]

I'm trying to build a Drawing Program using Processing. I am currently stuck on using PGrapchics.
When the user draws a rectangle, it shows the shape being drawn. When the user releases their mouse, it then creates a PGraphic of the final shape. I would then like the user to draw on top of that. Here is my problem:
I had to reset the background of the canvas when drawing a rectangle because otherwise, it shows a trail of rectangles. The result is that while the user draws a new rectangle the old ones disappear and come back once the mouse has been releasd
Some thoughts:
I would also like to add features where the user can select on a previously drawn rectangle and change it's colour, stroke, send to back, bring to front etc..
To achieve this, I'm storing all drawn rectangles (PGraphics) into an ArrayList which will be drawn via a for loop. This will allow me to adjust the behaviour by moving the PGraphics elements up and down the ArrayList.
PS: Instead of creating my own class of Shape am I better off using PShape?
int startX;
int startY;
int endX;
int endY;
boolean drawing;
int strokeW = 3;
Shape shape;
PGraphics shapeLayer;
ArrayList<PGraphics> layersList = new ArrayList();
void setup() {
size(500, 500);
cursor(CROSS);
background(255);
smooth();
}
void draw() {
strokeWeight(strokeW);
if (key >= '0' && key <= '9') {
strokeW = key - '0';
}
for(int i = 0; i < layersList.size(); i++) {
image(layersList.get(i), 0, 0);
}
if (drawing) {
shape.createRectangle();
}
}
void mousePressed() {
startX = mouseX;
startY = mouseY;
shapeLayer = createGraphics(width, height);
shapeLayer.beginDraw();
}
void mouseDragged() {
drawing = true;
endX = constrain(mouseX, 0, 500);
endY = constrain(mouseY, 0, 500);
shape = new Shape(startX, startY, endX, endY);
shapeLayer.clear();
}
void mouseReleased() {
drawing = false;
shapeLayer.endDraw();
layersList.add(shapeLayer);
}
Here is the Shape Class:
class Shape {
int startX;
int startY;
int endX;
int endY;
Shape(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2) {
startX = x1;
startY = y1;
endX = x2;
endY = y2;
}
void createRectangle() {
background(255, 0);
shapeLayer.strokeWeight(strokeW);
shapeLayer.rectMode(CORNERS);
shapeLayer.rect(startX, startY, endX, endY);
rectMode(CORNERS);
rect(startX, startY, endX, endY);
}
}
In the future, please try to narrow your problem down to a MCVE before you post. For example you could have hard-coded it to draw a rectangle when the user drags instead of including all the code for every shape.
But your problem is caused by drawing to the screen and never clearing it out. You need to break your problem down into smaller pieces and then approach those pieces one at a time.
Step 1: Can you create a sketch that just shows a rectangle as you drag, but has the rectangle go away when you let go of the mouse? Start over with a basic sketch that does just this one thing, and get it working perfectly before you move on to the next step.
Step 2: Can you draw shapes to an off-screen buffer? It looks like you've tried this in your current code, but note that you never actually draw any shapes to your buffer, and you never actually draw your buffer to the screen. Again, start with a basic sketch that just does this. Don't even worry about user input or anything yet, just get a hard-coded rectangle drawn to an off-screen buffer, then draw that off-screen buffer to the screen.
Step 3: Can you combine those two to show the rectangle when you're drawing it, then draw it to the off-screen buffer when the user lets go?
Step 4: Only when you have the rectangle working perfectly, then move on to other shapes.
This is how programming works: you have to break your problem down into small steps like this, and then you have to approach each step in isolation. If you get stuck, you can come back with an MCVE showing just one of these steps, and we'll go from there. Good luck.
In addition to Kevin's answer: it does look like you are using another PGraphics buffer to draw into, but the whole sketch could be simpler.
Unless you need an undo/redo mode, where remembering the drawing commands and their order is needed, you can get away with something slightly simpler.
You can find a detailed answer with commented code showing something very similar. You simply need to add the pencil and line modes.

How to implement Frustum Culling? (Lag when rendering many blocks)

I'm creating a game, in which when I render many blocks. The fps goes seriously down and everything lags. I know why it is lagging, because of many objects being rendered at once, but I can't figure out how to create and implement a frustum culling or any type of culling class to my game.
NOTE: I'm using VBOs.
I just can't find on the net; please help.
Here is some of my code:
//Render Game this were I render my game
public void Render_GAME() {
Update();
if (isGameRunning == true) {
Update();
world.render();
p1.Update();
}
}
Flat Class: where I render block
package game.terrain.biomes;
import core.camera.*;
import core.graphics.*;
import core.math.*;
import game.blocks.*;
import game.Player;
public class Flat{
//Global Variables:
private int width;
private int height;
private int depth;
private SpaceStone[][][] blocks;
public Flat(int width, int height, int depth)
{
this.width = width;
this.height = height;
this.depth = depth;
blocks = new SpaceStone[width][height][depth];
createBlocks();
}
//Create Blocks
private void createBlocks()
{
SpaceStone.createBlock();
for(int x = 0; x < width; x += 5)
{
for(int y = 0; y < height; y += 5)
{
for(int z = 0; z < depth; z += 5)
{
blocks[x][y][z] = new SpaceStone(new Vector3f(x, y, z), new Vector3f(0, 0, 0), new Vector3f(2.5f, 2.5f, 5f));
}
}
}
}
//Render Blocks
private void renderBlocks()
{
Shader.BLOCK.Enable();
SpaceStone.blocktex.bindTexture();
SpaceStone.block.Bind();
Shader.BLOCK.setUniform1i("tex", 1);
Matrix4f viewMatrix = Player.getViewMatrix(Player.getCamera());
Shader.BLOCK.setUniformMat4f("pr_matrix", Player.getPerspective());
for(int i = 0; i < width; i += 5)
{
for(int j = 0; j < height; j += 5)
{
for(int k = 0; k < depth; k += 5)
{
Matrix4f transform = new Transformation().getTransform(blocks[i][j][k], viewMatrix);
Shader.BLOCK.setUniformMat4f("vw_matrix", transform);
SpaceStone.block.Draw();
}
}
}
Shader.BLOCK.Disable();
SpaceStone.blocktex.unbindTexture();
SpaceStone.block.Unbind();
}
//Render Flat Biome
public void renderFlatBiome()
{
//Render Blocks
renderBlocks();
}
}
If you want more information, such as classes or the whole project please comment and notify me.
OpenGL performs the frustum culling, it sounds like you need to do some processing every frame to decide which blocks to pass to OpenGL to render (or maybe not every frame, new frustum culling calculations would be required every time the geometry or the camera changes). You need to construct a representation of the frustum and test yourself which geometry to be rendered. The viewing frustum could be considered a volume and so you are looking for which cubes are contained within that volume.
First thing is to see which geometry is behind the near clipping plane and further than the far clipping plane. This can be done by simply calculating the distance to the near and far clipping planes and ensuring they are on the correct side of the plane.
The next thing to do is check which geometry is too far left or right to fit in the frustum, and this is slightly more complicated due to the nature and different projections. Orthographic projection is a lot easier to calculate since the frustum for an orthographic projection is essentially cuboid itself. Perspective is trapezoidal in shape (depending of the field of view), but the principle is the same. Construct two planes which represent the left and right clipping planes of the frustum, and cull geometry which is the 'wrong' side in relation to your camera position.
You are simply relieving GL of geometry to draw which GL will determine not to draw anyway. Depending on the scene, the size of the geometry, the way its stored in the buffers and other aspects, the overhead of binding/unbinding and the vertex processing could easily outweigh any performance hit from culling client side.
I haven't written java for years so can't provide source, however I have outlined the simplest form (and not necessarily optimized) of doing this client side (in relation to OpenGL). By spatial grouping geometry data this some form of hierarchy (bounding volume, KD-tree, AABB etc), you can reduce the amount tests required for the culling.
In a lot of cases, the most basic form of hierarchal grouping is Axis Aligned Bounding Box (AABB), which (if none of your cubes ever have a rotation) is what you already have since you are using cubes. Discrete geometry is usually grouped in some form using cuboid volumes denoted by bounding boxes or 'slabs' (two parallel planes which define a volume between them).

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