ay (property)

Get or set the vertical acceleration for a sprite in pixels per second, per second.

Get

Get the vertical acceleration of the sprite.

let mySprite: Sprite = null

let horzAccel = mySprite.ay
horzAccel = mySprite.ay

Returns

  • a number that is the current vertical acceleration of the sprite.

Set

let mySprite: Sprite = null

mySprite.ay = 0
mySprite.ay = 0

Parameter

  • value: the new vertical acceleration for the sprite in pixels per second, per second.

Sprite vertical acceleration

The value for acceleration determines how quickly the speed of the sprite will change. Acceleration of a sprite makes it speed up in a direction toward the bottom or top. A positive value causes the sprite’s speed in the bottom direction to increase. A negative value causes the sprite’s speed in the top direction to increase.

Acceleration can be used as an opposing force too. If a sprite is travelling toward the bottom at a certain speed and a negative vertical acceleration is applied, the sprite will keep moving to the bottom but it will slow down. When the sprite’s speed reaches 0, the sprite will begin to move to the top.

How speed changes

Speed, or velocity, is how much distance an object moves during some period of time. Distance in your game is measured in pixels so the speed of a sprite is in pixels per second. Speed is changed by accelerating an object. In your game, a sprite is accelerated by some amount of change in speed per second. So, acceleration is measured in pixels per second per second.

If the speed of a sprite is currently at 0 and it’s acceleration is set to 2, the sprite will be moving at a speed of 2 pixels per second after one second of time. After two seconds the sprite is moving at 4 pixels per second and so on.

Examples

Go to each side

Accelerate a a sprite as it moves from the top side of the screen to the bottom side and back.

namespace SpriteKind {
    export const Example = SpriteKind.create()
}
let mySprite = sprites.create(img`
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 
7 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 7 
7 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 7 
7 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 7 2 2 7 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 7 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 7 
7 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 7 
7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 
`, SpriteKind.Example)
mySprite.top = 0
mySprite.vy = 0
mySprite.ay = 10
game.onUpdateInterval(500, function () {
    if (mySprite.y < 0 || mySprite.y > scene.screenHeight()) {
        mySprite.vy = mySprite.vy * -1
        mySprite.ay = mySprite.ay * -1

    }
})

How fast was it?

Accelerate a sprite at 100 starting with a speed of 0. Check after about 1 second and see how fast the sprite was travelling.

namespace SpriteKind {
    export const Example = SpriteKind.create()
}
let interval = 0
let mySprite = sprites.create(img`
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 
7 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 7 
7 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 7 
7 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 7 2 2 2 2 7 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 7 2 2 7 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 7 4 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 4 7 
7 5 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 4 7 
7 5 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 7 
7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 
`, SpriteKind.Example)
mySprite.top = 0
mySprite.vy = 0
mySprite.ay = 100
game.onUpdateInterval(1000, function () {
    if (interval == 1) {
        mySprite.say("My speed is " + mySprite.vy + " pixels/sec")
        mySprite.ay = 0
        mySprite.vy = 0
    }
    interval += 1
})

Opposite force

Make a sprite move from the top of the screen to the bottom. Apply acceleration in the opposite direction to slow the sprite down and send back to the top.

let mySprite = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . . . 
    . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . 
    . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . 
    . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . 
    . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . 
    . . . . . 5 5 5 5 5 5 . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)
mySprite.setStayInScreen(true)
mySprite.top = 0
mySprite.vy = 80
mySprite.ay = -35

See also

ax, vx, vy