Game Control and Utility Functions

Game Control

friGame.REFRESH_RATE

The constant that represents the game refresh rate expressed in milliseconds. Any parameter in the game that makes use of milliseconds (for example animation frame rate or callback call rate) is rounded to a multiple of this constant.

Currently it is defined as 1000 / 60

New in version 2.1.0.

friGame.startGame([callback])

This function will prepare the game to be started by pre-loading the resources and will start the main loop. If a function is given as a parameter it will be called once everything is loaded.

Changed in version 2.1.0: It is not possible to change the refresh rate of the game

Arguments

  • callback – The function to call

Returns

The friGame object

The callback function will be called with the following parameters:

  • this

    The friGame object

Example:

$("#startbutton").click(function () {
    friGame.startGame(function () {
        $("#welcomeScreen").remove();
    });
});
friGame.stopGame()

This function stops all the timers used by friGame.

Warning

After using this function all the callback functions will not be called anymore. In order to resume the game, the startGame function must be called from an event handler, or directly by the function that called stopGame.

Returns

The friGame object

Example:

friGame.stopGame();
friGame.forceRedraw()

This function forces a redraw of the scene. It is useful when the scene has been chenged during a stopped game.

New in version 2.2.0.

Returns

The friGame object

Example:

friGame.forceRedraw();
friGame.loadCallback(callback)

This function provides a callback to be called with the current loading progress as argument.

Arguments

  • callback – The function to call

Returns

The friGame object

The callback function will be called with the following parameters:

  • this

    The friGame object

  • percent

    The current loading progress in floating point from 0 to 1

Example:

fg.loadCallback(function (percent) {
    $('#loadingBar').width(400 * percent);
});
friGame.startCallback(callback)

This function provides another callback to be called after all the resources have been loaded. If this function is called more than once, all the callbacks will be called in the same order as the startCallback function calls. After all the callbacks from startCallback are called, the function passed to startGame will be called. This function can be useful when writing friGame plugins that require all the resources to be loaded in order to initialize correctly, without interfering with the game logic.

Arguments

  • callback – The function to call

Returns

The friGame object

The callback function will be called with the following parameters:

  • this

    The friGame object

Example:

friGame.startCallback(function () {
    // Some initializations
});

friGame.startGame(function () {
    // This will be called after the two callbacks passed to the startCallback functions
});

friGame.startCallback(function () {
    // Some other initializations
});
friGame.playgroundCallback(callback)

This function provides a callback to be called after the playground has been initialized. If this function is called more than once, all the callbacks will be called in the same order as the playgroundCallback function calls. This function can be useful when writing friGame plugins that require the playground to be initialized, without interfering with the game logic.

Arguments

  • callback – The function to call

Returns

The friGame object

The callback function will be called with the following parameters:

Changed in version 2.2.0: The dom parameter is not a jQuery object, but a native DOM element instead

Example:

friGame.playgroundCallback(function (dom) {
    var offset = $(dom).offset();

    // Some initializations
});

Utility Functions

ECMAScript 5 Compatible Functions

friGame makes available some functions that are part of the ECMAScript 5 standard, even in older browsers that do not sopport this standard.

Object.create(o)

See external reference: Object.create

Date.now()

See external reference: Date.now

performance.now()

See external reference: performance.now

Misc. Utility Functions

friGame.pick(obj, keys)

This function returns a new object with only the keys defined in the keys array parameter.

Arguments

  • obj – The object to be filtered

  • keys – An array listing the keys to keep in the returned object

Returns

A new object containing the obj parameter values, but only with the keys defined in the keys parameter

Example:

color_without_alpha = friGame.pick({b: 255, a: 0.3}, ['r', 'g', 'b']));
friGame.truncate(n)

This function truncates the decimal part of a floating point number and returns only its integer part.

Arguments

  • n – The floating point number

Returns

The truncated integer

Example:

twenty = friGame.truncate(20.6);
minus_twenty = friGame.truncate(-20.6);
friGame.clamp(n, minVal, maxVal)

This function returns the nearest value of n that is guaranteed to be in the range between minVal and maxVal.

Arguments

  • n – The number

  • minVal – The minimum acceptable value for n

  • maxVal – The maximum acceptable value for n

Returns

The clamped number

Example:

twenty_point_six = friGame.clamp(20.6, 0, 255);
zero = friGame.clamp(-20.6, 0, 255);
two_hundred_and_fifty_five = friGame.clamp(300, 0, 255);
friGame.Maker(proto)

This function returns a maker function that will create a new object derived from the proto parameter using prototypal inheritance, and will call the init function of the newly created object

Arguments

  • proto – The prototype object

Returns

The maker function

Example:

// The prototype object
PPlayer = {
    // Some default values
    grace: false,
    replay: 3,
    shield: 3,
    respawnTime: -1,

    // This function will be called by the maker function
    init: function (node) {
        this.node = node;
    }
};

// Player is the maker function
Player = friGame.Maker(PPlayer);

// new_player is a new object derived from PPlayer
new_player = Player(friGame.sprites.player);