Controlling movement without the PlayerManager

#1 This shouldn't be a problem. I just threw this together and it seems to work pretty well...

If your project is based on the Torque X StarterGame project, then you should still have the MovementComponent.cs file. That's a good place to make the change.

Add the following private field to the MovementComponent:

T2DSceneObject _target;

Next, add some public properties to expose this object:

public T2DSceneObject TargetObject
{
     get { return _target; }
     set { _target = value; }
}

Next, change the _SetupInputMap to look like this:

private void _SetupInputMap2(TorqueObject player, int playerIndex, String gamePad, String keyboard)
{
     // Set player as the controllable object
     PlayerManager.Instance.GetPlayer(playerIndex).ControlObject = player;

     // Get input map for this player and configure it
     InputMap inputMap = PlayerManager.Instance.GetPlayer(playerIndex).InputMap;

     int gamepadId = InputManager.Instance.FindDevice(gamePad);
     if (gamepadId >= 0)
     {
          inputMap.BindMove(gamepadId, (int)XGamePadDevice.GamePadObjects.LeftThumbX, 
               MoveMapTypes.StickAnalogHorizontal, 0);

          inputMap.BindMove(gamepadId, (int)XGamePadDevice.GamePadObjects.LeftThumbY, 
               MoveMapTypes.StickAnalogVertical, 0);
            
          inputMap.BindMove(gamepadId, (int)XGamePadDevice.GamePadObjects.RightThumbX, 
               MoveMapTypes.StickAnalogHorizontal, 1);

          inputMap.BindMove(gamepadId, (int)XGamePadDevice.GamePadObjects.RightThumbY, 
               MoveMapTypes.StickAnalogVertical, 1);
     }
}

Next, Change the ProcessTick() method to look like this:

public void ProcessTick(Move move, float elapsed)
{
    if (move != null)
    {
        _sceneObject.Physics.VelocityX = move.Sticks[0].X * 20.0f;
        _sceneObject.Physics.VelocityY = -move.Sticks[0].Y * 20.0f;

        _target.Physics.VelocityX = move.Sticks[1].X * 20.0f;
        _target.Physics.VelocityY = -move.Sticks[1].Y * 20.0f;
    }
}

That's it for the code. Now rebuild the project and open Torque X Builder.

Drag your target/crosshairs object into the scene.

Go to the Edit tab & Scripting rollout and enter the name "target" into the Name field.

Then select your player object (which should have the MovementComponent attached).

Select the Edit tab & Components rollout.

Under the MovementComponent, there should be a new field called TargetObject.

In that list you should be able to select "target" that references your target/crosshairs object.

That's it. Now save everything and run. If all goes well, the left thumbstick should move the player around and the right thumbstick should move the crosshairs around. And the best part of this approach is that the MovementComponent has a quick reference to the player object and the target object, so it's quick and easy to get an angle between the two as your direction of weapons fire.

John K.

#2 That worked great John! Thanks a lot for your help :)

#3 How would you go about making the player rotate with the target object? My player object is a sprite with a gun in hand and would like to have the gun be pointing at the target object for aiming. Thanks.

#4 This will setup rotation via the right thumb stick

_sceneObject.Physics.AngularVelocity = move.Sticks[1].X * 20.0f;

After reading your question again, this is probably not the solution your looking for. I will post again if I figure it out :-)