I am Making Breakout, trouble with the brick collision, need array for high score

[TwoBit]

Hello

I have a project that I am doing on bricks. I have most everything done but I am running into the same problems over and over. the first one being my brick collision, this is the code I use to get rid of ONE brick :

If shpBall.Top <= (shpBrick(1).Top + shpBrick(1).Height) And _
shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(1).Left + shpBrick(1).Width) And _
shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(1).Left) Then
shpBrick(1).Visible = False
End If

you have to hit it right on, or it won't dissapear, can this be done more efficiently? another problem I'm haveing is how to get the score to work properly when I hit a brick, does anyone have any idea on how I can set up a scoring system? and third I have been playing with the Highscore table and I can't think of how to make all the arrays work so that I can have the top 7 scores and have them saved on to the table so it stays there until replaced by a higher score.

please, anything will help.

[Rune Bivrin]

Hello

I have a project that I am doing on bricks. I have most everything done but I am running into the same problems over and over. the first one being my brick collision, this is the code I use to get rid of ONE brick :

If shpBall.Top <= (shpBrick(1).Top + shpBrick(1).Height) And _
shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(1).Left + shpBrick(1).Width) And _
shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(1).Left) Then
shpBrick(1).Visible = False
End If

you have to hit it right on, or it won't dissapear, can this be done more efficiently?

Why, are you having performance problems, or do you have one test per brick?
If it's the second issue, just put the code in a loop:

For brickNumber = LBount(shpBrick) To UBound(shpBrick)
    If shpBall.Top <= (shpBrick(brickNumber).Top + shpBrick(brickNumber).Height) And _
       shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(brickNumber).Left + shpBrick(brickNumber).Width) And _
       shpBall.Left <= (shpBrick(brickNumber).Left) Then
       shpBrick(brickNumber).Visible = False
    End If
Next brickNumber

another problem I'm haveing is how to get the score to work properly when I hit a brick, does anyone have any idea on how I can set up a scoring system? and third I have been playing with the Highscore table and I can't think of how to make all the arrays work so that I can have the top 7 scores and have them saved on to the table so it stays there until replaced by a higher score.

please, anything will help.

You need ONE array, and a User Defined Type:

Option Explicit

Private Type HiScoreEntry
    Name As String
    Score As Long
End Type

Private m_Hiscores(1 To 7) As HiScoreEntry

Private Sub AddToHiScoreList(ByVal Name As String, ByVal Score As Long)

    Dim index As Integer
    
    If Score > m_Hiscores(7).Score Then
        ' It belongs on the list, so the lowest entry will leave the list
        index = 6
        Do While Score > m_Hiscores(index).Score
            'Bump the next lowest down one spot
            m_Hiscores(index + 1) = m_Hiscores(index)
            index = index - 1
            If index < 1 Then ' It's a high-score!
                Exit Do
            End If
        Loop
        m_Hiscores(index + 1).Name = Name
        m_Hiscores(index + 1).Score = Score
    End If

            
End Sub

Private Sub cmdAdd_Click()

    AddToHiScoreList txtName.Text, CLng(txtScore.Text)
    FillHighScoreList
    
End Sub

Private Sub FillHighScoreList()

    Dim i As Integer
    
    lstHighScores.Clear
    
    For i = 1 To 7
        If m_Hiscores(i).Score > 0 Then
            lstHighScores.AddItem m_Hiscores(i).Name + vbTab + CStr(m_Hiscores(i).Score)
        End If
    Next i
End Sub

Rune

[mstraf]

you hit the wall....
your collision test is wrong. Lines intersection is one of the first things to be tought in CS101, and altough easy can be tricky. Take for example your case. The ball moves from position A to position B. Now, both A and position B can be outside a brick, that there was indeed a collision is any point between A and B intersects any point of the brick. And because the ball is not a point, this line must be "thick". You can make the problem easier creating two lines between A and B, as far as the ball diameter, and check both lines. And check the collision only with the bottom line of the brick. So this is the trick. Create the two lines between A and B (or, if have a point as the ball, one line is fine). Compute the X point of the A-B line(s) at the coordinate of the bottom part of the brick. If X is between the left and the right of the brick, you got a hit
Marco

[TwoBit]

I don't really understand that though( the A and B stuff ) do you think you could simplify or elaborate on the matter, I'm only a Freshman in High School. do you have any examples? that would be a better way for me to understand.
Thank you

[Rune Bivrin]

I think what he's trying to say is that if the ball moves so quickly that before movement it is on one side of the brick, and after movement it has moved through the brick but is still outside, your test won't catch that. It's a non-issue if movement is slow enough. However, there's also the issue of the actual ball being round, whereas your test works with a rectangular shape. If I were you, I'd leave that 'til later...

Rune

[TwoBit]

this is like the last thing I have to do now. is just the bircks and the score when you hit a brick.