ActionScript 3.0: moving object with delay between movements

Question

I am working on a game in which I want a movie clip to move from one random location to another, with a pause in between each movement. I have written some code with the help of some tutorials, but I can't get it to work the way I want it to. I am extremely new to ActionScript, so I'm probably doing everything wrong. Right now all my game does is pause for a certain amount of time, and then the object just jumps from one location to another extremely quickly and doesn't stop.

//movement of searchlight

var i:int;
for (i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
var startTime = getTimer();

stage.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, timeDelay);

function timeDelay(event:Event):void
{
    var timePassed = getTimer();
    if (timePassed - startTime >= 5000)
    {
        moveTo();
    }
}

myObject.x = Math.round(Math.random() * 550);
myObject.y = Math.round(Math.random() * 400);
myObject.rotation = Math.round(Math.random() * 360);

// a counter that counts the current
// frame of the animation
var currentFrameCount:int;
// the total frames in the animation
var totalFrameCount:int = 20;

// the location when the animation starts
var initialX:Number;
var initialY:Number;
// the distance between the initial
// location and the destination
var distanceX:Number;
var distanceY:Number;

// when animation starts
function moveTo():void
{

    var myLocationX = Math.round(Math.random() * 550);
    var myLocationY = Math.round(Math.random() * 400);

    // the destination location 
    var destinationX:Number = myLocationX;
    var destinationY:Number = myLocationY;

    // reset frame count to 0
    currentFrameCount = 0;
    // set initial locations to the
    // current location of myObject
    initialX = myObject.x;
    initialY = myObject.y;
    // find the distance values by finding
    // the difference between initial and destination
    distanceX = destinationX - initialX;
    distanceY = destinationY - initialY;
            // set up rotation
    var initialAngle = myObject.rotation;
    var myAngleStart = Math.atan2(myLocationY-initialY,myLocationX-initialX)/(Math.PI/180);
    var myAngle = myAngleStart + 284;
    myObject.rotation = myAngle;

    // set up the enterFrame loop to 
    // animate the animation
    myObject.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animateMoveTo);

    // handling the animation over time;
    function animateMoveTo(evt:Event):void
    {
        // each frame, increment the frame count
        // to move the animation forward
        currentFrameCount++;
        // if the frame count has not yet reached the
        // final frame of the animation, myObject
        // needs to be moved to the next location
        if (currentFrameCount < totalFrameCount)
        {
            // find the progress by comparing current frame
            // with the total frames of the animation
            var progress:Number = currentFrameCount / totalFrameCount;
            // set myObject's position to include the new
            // distance from the original location as
            // defined by the distance to the destination
            // times the progress of the animation
            myObject.x = initialX + distanceX * progress;
            myObject.y = initialY + distanceY * progress;
            myObject.rotation = initialAngle + myAngle * progress;
        }
        else
        {
            // when the animation is complete, set the
            // position of myObject to the destination
            myObject.x = destinationX;
            myObject.y = destinationY;

            // remove the enterFrame event handler so the 
            // animation ceases to run
            myObject.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, animateMoveTo);
        }
    }
}
}

UPDATE: Here's what I ended up doing:

import com.greensock.TweenLite;

//set random starting location and rotation
myObject.x = Math.round(Math.random() * 550);
myObject.y = Math.round(Math.random() * 400);
myObject.rotation = Math.round(Math.random() * 360);

//create variables
var initialX:Number;
var initialY:Number;
var destinationX:Number;
var destinationY:Number;
var myAngleStart;
var myAngle;

//timer
var timer:Timer = new Timer( 12000 )
timer.addEventListener( TimerEvent.TIMER,rotate );
timer.start();

//function rotate
function rotate( e:TimerEvent ):void{
//set variables for current location
initialX = myObject.x
initialY = myObject.y
//set new destination
destinationX = Math.round(Math.random() * 550);
destinationY = Math.round(Math.random() * 400);
//set rotation
myAngleStart = Math.atan2(destinationY-initialY,destinationX-initialX)/(Math.PI/180);
myAngle = myAngleStart + 284;
//rotate towards new destination
TweenLite.to(myObject, 5, {rotation:myAngle, onComplete:moveTo});
}

//function moveTo
function moveTo():void {
TweenLite.to(myObject, 7, {x:destinationX, y:destinationY});
}

Is this code exactly how you have it in your project? I can see at least one issue with a nested function. — The_asMan
Can you be a little more descriptive on what effect you are trying to get? — The_asMan
Basically an object moves from one random location to another, and needs to be pointed in the direction it's moving. when it gets to the location, it should stop, rotate to face the next randomly generated location, and then move there (and repeat these actions continually). i haven't really coded in the rotation part correctly yet, i was mostly working at trying to get it to move to one location, stop, and then move to another, etc. — Sara
Thanks everyone, I ended up using a combination of all three answers. :) — Sara

scriptocalypse scriptocalypse · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-18T23:20:30

You should look into one of the many convenient Tweening engines, such as TweenLite or Tweener. They make this sort of thing very easy.

ActionScript 3.0: moving object with delay between movements

3 Answers