vx (property)

Get or set the horizontal speed of motion for a sprite in pixels per second.

Get

Get the horizontal speed of the sprite.

let mySprite: Sprite = null

let horzSpeed = mySprite.vx

horzSpeed = mySprite.vx

Returns

a number that is the current horizontal speed of the sprite in pixels per second.

Set

Set the horizontal speed of the sprite.

let mySprite: Sprite = null

mySprite.vx = 0

mySprite.vx = 0

Parameter

value: the new horizontal speed for the sprite in pixels per second.

Sprite motion

A sprite that isn’t a projectile has no motion when it’s created. You make the sprite move by setting it’s speed, or velocity, in the x direction, the y direction, or both. For the x direction, setting the speed to a positive value makes the sprite move to the right. To make the sprite move to the left, you use a negative speed value.

If you don’t follow the sprite with the camera or check for when the sprite reaches the end of the screen, the sprite will move off the screen.

What is speed, really?

Speed, or velocity, is how much distance an object moves during some period of time. A car can travel 50 kilometers in one hour so it moves at 50 kilometers per hour (50 km/h). A jet airplane can fly as fast as 913 k/mh and travel across some continents in 3 or 4 hours.

Distance in your game is measured in pixels so the speed of a sprite is in pixels per second. If the screen is 160 pixels wide, then a sprite with a speed of 40 pixels per second will move across the screen in 4 seconds.

Examples

Go to each side

Send a sprite moving to the right at 40 pixels per second. When it reaches the right side of the screen, send it back to the left side.

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.left = 0
mySprite.vx = 40
game.onUpdateInterval(500, function () {
    if (mySprite.x < 0 || mySprite.x > scene.screenWidth()) {
        mySprite.vx = mySprite.vx * -1
    }
})

How many pixels travelled?

Set a sprite in motion. Check after about 1 second and see how far the sprite has travelled.

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.left = 0
mySprite.vx = 60
game.onUpdateInterval(1000, function () {
    if (interval == 1) {
        mySprite.vx = 0
        mySprite.say("I went " + mySprite.left + " pixels")
    }
    interval += 1
})