Yes @F3Art , sure I have a link. How else would I get back in to edit it 
Ohhh, or do you mean if I would share it? ROFL
Nope … normally I don’t like to share links of demos that have a high tendency to crash, are unsorted and just a mess in general.
OK, OK, OK, … stop twisting my arm, here it is: Raycast Test
DISCLAIMER :
I take no responsibility for computer crashes and the mental damage it might cause when you loose your favorite files. I also take no responsibility for any radiation damage caused by the extensive use of rays. Wear proper safety equipment and keep a minimum distance of 2 arms length to the computer!
Actually I’m working on a different version, so have fun. The way I approached it might give you ideas for your own game development. Basically I did the same as I did for the ‘Skew’ demo, I gave each spawn it’s own ID and made them independent smart units.
Note to @grazer, any chance of being able to identify and address spawns by their ID? Like with the raycast, if it would also hand back the target ID … I would give you one big hug … maybe TWO
P.S. … before I get the question, YES, part of the routines can be used to make a grapple hook 
Now that I released the link, what about a little coding challenge?
It’s always a good exercise to challenge yourself
Task 1:
Change the ray length calculation so that it stops at the target wall.
The part to change is in the ray behavior, see here:
Hint: Remember it is a grid based map with a fixed cell size of 32x32 … ‘mod’ it up folks
Task 2:
Extend the code so that it highlights the hit targets like so:
Yep, that really challenges your Flowlab knowledge
Any takers?
You like coding challenges like this?
What if you just change the Layer order of the Wall blocks?
This way they would always be above the raycasts Ahah. @TinkerSmith
I might be able to do this but I’m not sure. the most advanced thing I’ve done in flowlab is an auto tile bundle.
@TinkerSmith OK. I saw the words “Amiga Demo Reel” above and now I know we’ve got to get together on something. I cut my teeth on Deluxe Paint 4 and my college “demo reel” is on a VHS tape. LOLOL!
Also, I DO like coding challenges like this (although this one might be a little outside my skill range), but my head it too full of excitement for Flowjam 2020 to focus on anything else for the moment.
LOL @todorrobot , how small is the world
Ex member of Destiny Seven here, subdivision of RSI.
2 or 3 of our demos are on Youtube, sadly not our best ones 
, but i think you find the rest in the Amiga archives.
BLITTER RULES WHOOP WHOOP
… now you know where I learned to throw text over the screen, HAHA
Maybe we should convert one of the demos to Flowlab and throw in some cool Soundtracker mods
I’m super excited for flowjam too @todorrobot
hey @TinkerSmith if we have the raycasts ouputting a number, what if we assign each raycast to a sliver of colour on screen and depending on how far the raycast goes, the sliver is shorter or longer. thought it might be a cool test. unless that’s what you’re trying already. I think I know how to do this if the rest is done. (outputting the number) maybe into a global number?
Hiya @F3Art ,
got any visual example about those slithers?
I hav to admit my head is not awake enough yet to follow
Hey @TinkerSmith I have been fiddling around with these ideas for a while. The best way I can see doing it is exactly what @grazer said, but didnt think was possible. Let me explain.
He said since there was no way to edit every pixel at a synchronized time for your purposes, since they are bundled in blocks, it would be impossible. My solution: Make every block 1 pixel!
Blocks automatically adjust hitbox size to their sprite size. So, if you wanted a rayscast that’s accurate, use a spawn and/or position block to line the sides of walls with 1 pixel wide blocks.
Yes @TinkerSmith I have a bit of a prototype based on your raycast test. Ill send a link later.
Sweet
The more examples we get the better. Even failed ones help … others to avoid them.
If you know what I’m saying.
@TinkerSmith
I had trouble with getting the protototype to work, but i have an image for the idea.
https://www.pixilart.com/art/3d-idea-10790a9cf423b48?ft=new&ft_id=
i was thinking that every raycast would be assigned to a number and it would output a number based on how close the wall is. only problem is that i"m not sure how i would turn how close the wall is into the y size of the screen blocks/slivers.
Hi there @F3Art
Good on you … as in, not taking examples as they are, investigate and put your own thoughts to it.
Best way of learning actually. Most things I learn by taking other stuff apart and by trying to follow/recreate the thought process.
Regarding your idea:
If you look closely into the example you will notice that each ray actually has it’s own ID = it has a number assigned. I did that for exactly the same reasons you were thinking of.
Now, about the distance to the wall, here we have a little problem. The RayCast in Flowlab does not work exactly as we would wish for the needs here. It does not give you the distance to the side/wall it hit, it gives you the distance to the center arc of the object hit. Thats why it looks like a fan in the example.
For simple fake 3D that might be good enough. For more accurate results you would need to know at least the 4 corner points of the sides in question. (For example if you would want to do it like in the skew example).
Even so, with a bit of fiddling around, at least one can identify the object hit:
https://flowlab.io/game/play/1450332
So what we got:
- we know our own (player) position
- we know the obstacle position
- as in, we have access to the (center) distance and the angle
What to do with that? You have to consult the mighty gods of Trigonometry, Sinus, Cosinus and sometimes auntie Tangent Or other related Vector maths.
It all depends on what you try to achieve.
@TinkerSmith Thats cool! Sorry I havent been much help on the coding side of things, but I dont have as much experience that you have.
Ill try to help more with what I can.
So if the vector line changes its x axis based on hitting the center of an object, and the object is able to react to this, could we make (lets say a 2d tree sprite) change its size based on how far the line is stretching? If so what type of calculation would we use? Im guessing this would use a lot of global numbers and expressions.
What I mean is maybe its better to see if we can use what we have already to try to make a single object in a fake 3d space before moving on to full walls. Might be a good start. One thing I cant quite figure out is how to make it move sideways based on where the player is looking.
Hiya @F3Art
Simplest one would be like the example @murten101 did:
3D World
Move sideways? As in tilted? Like in the skew example?
Skew This
That would be possible, but quite the task
@TinkerSmith woah i didn’t know somebody had already done something like raycasted walls. I might be able to use that for what i was thinking of making. I’d like to make it a bit better still, but it’s a REALLY good start. what i meant by moving sideways is just the object (like a tree) moving in and out of view based on where the player is looking.
i can probably copy the code of the walls in 3D world and just change a few things.
@murten101’s 3D world is close to what I was thinking from that doodle. I haven’t actually snooped in the code yet but it works on the outside how i was thinking.
Glad we found something that gives you a start and looking forward to see what you are comming up with @F3Art
Let me know if you get stuck.