Quick way to enter and condense repeated lines of code

Question

Hiya everybody

I was wondering if there was a way to condense and also reduce the time it takes to repeat some lines of code?

In my current script I need to call different sound effects for different situations.

So far what I've come up with the following

 for(var sfxObjects : GameObject in GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("SFX"))
             sfxObjects.BroadcastMessage ("SoundPlayer", jumpSound);

This is pasted into any script after lines that cause an action that needs a sound effect (CharacterControl for jumping, powerUpControl for when items appear etc). It sends a message to a SFX holder near the camera (so the sound can come out clear and isn't cut off if the object is destroyed) which hold the following script.

 #pragma strict
 //to play all SFX in game
 //to be attached to SFX Holder
 
 @script RequireComponent(AudioSource)
 
 
 function SoundPlayer (playedSFX : AudioClip)
 {
     audio.PlayOneShot (playedSFX);
 }

So I've managed to reduce it down a little. I was just wondering if it was possible to reduce it more in JavaScript/UnityScript.

For example make the BroadcastMessage lines of script into something seemly like

 BroadcastSFX([Insert SFX Variable Here]);

Thank you for your time and I look forward to reading your answers.

Answer 1

Thank you Martin and while your answer is genius. There are a few problems with it. I need it in JavaScript. Not because I don't understand C# but because the person I'm doing it for doesn't. Also I don't seem to be clear in what I'm explaining. There is only one SFX object in the scene. I just use the For loop to find it. I guess I should do:

 sfxObject = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("SFX");

However it was late when I wrote this and the code up but with bright eyes and a little sleep, I've found my answer. Thank you again though for your help.

All I need to do is declare it as the following at the beginning of each script that will call ay SFX

  var sfxObject : GameObject = GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("SFX");
 //Find the sfxHolder in the scene

Then for any sfx the script may need to deploy declare them

  var jumpSound : AudioClip;
  var stepingSound : AudioClip;
  var landingSound: AudioClip;
  //All the sound files needed by current script

When it needs to be called in the main body of the script

  sfxObject.SendMessage ("SoundPlayer", jumpSound);

But then this can be copied into scripts that are attached to different object such as the power ups, enemies , scenery and so forth.

As I mentioned the connecting script attached to the sfxObject has the following lines of script

 function SoundPlayer (playedSFX : AudioClip)
 {
     audio.PlayOneShot (playedSFX);
 }

All in all I reduced it by one line of code for every additional Sound FX called. Which is a lot as there are a lot of Sound FXs in this game.

Answer 2

Answer by SubatomicHero · May 07, 2013 at 07:19 AM

Well I'm not sure why you would want to reduce your lines of code count...you only have a handful anyways. If youre talking of thousands of lines of code then I could see the merit in it, but otherwise why bother?

But I will say that you shouldn't loop through each SFX in your scene.

I personally would control the SFX playing by using states and put all your SFX you want to play for your player into an AudioClip[] array (public) either attached to your player for 3D sound) or your camera, whichever you prefer.

Then create an enum like this (C#):

 public enum playerState
 {
     idle, isRunning, isJumping, hasPowerUp etc etc;
 }
 public playerState pState;

Then you can switch through the states that you change i.e if the player jumps for a few seconds change the state to isJumping. Then in an update function check it like so:

 switch (pState)
 {
     case playerState.isJumping:
     {
         // play jumping sound here
         // after jump animation has occured change state back to idle
         break;
     }
 
     // other states here
 }

Obviously you will know if your jumping sound is at the firs element of your array (element [0]) so you always play that when jumping. You could also have separate arrays for each movement type (jumping, running etc) and play a random sound from each bank to give a nice audio touch to your game.

 public void playRandomJumpingSound()
 {
     int random = Random.Range(0, JumpSFXArray.Length);
     audio.Clip = JumpSFXArray[random];
     audio.Play();
 }

I hope this helps!

Martin

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Fattie · May 07, 2013 at 07:56 AM 1

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a generous answer

SubatomicHero · May 07, 2013 at 08:08 AM 0

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Thanks Fattie :D

SubatomicHero · May 07, 2013 at 12:06 PM 0

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Well I'm glad I helped in someway :)

Quick way to enter and condense repeated lines of code

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