Stickman - Miscellaneous files

I've been hanging around Flash forums since the middle of 1998, and in that time I've answered a lot of questions. Often, I'd back an answer up by creating a file to go with it. Most of these files have long since been forgotten about and are just gathering dust on my server.

But no longer! I've dusted them off (the ones I could still find, anyway) and here they are, for your education and/or amusement. I don't promise that any of them will be of any use to anyone, and I probably won't answer any questions you might ask about them. Mostly they're pretty basic because they were done in a hurry, to help someone on a board somewhere with a problem.

Think of it like a jumble sale (or a rummage sale if you're from the US...) -- no money back, no guarantee. What you might see is a file appear here that goes on to become the subject of a tutorial...maybe.

Ver.	File	Created

MX 2004	Draggable, scaleable map A way to have a map that will zoom and scale, while remaining centred in the view window -- updated for Flash MX 2004 by Anthony Kosky. Thanks!	1st July 2005

5	Tool tips How to simulate tooltips (those little boxes that pop up and tell you what you're pointing to). Another We're Here question.	6th February 2002

5	Constrain drag to any shape How to keep a dragged movie clip within the bounds of an irregular shape. In response (sort of) to a thread on We're Here	25th January 2002

5	Filled graph A line graph that's 'filled' underneath. Here's the question on We're Here that inspired it	24th January 2002

5	Add and remove objects with slider Use a slider to add and delete movie clips. In response to a question on We're Here	23rd January 2002

5	Additive colours In reply to a challenge on We're Here ("It can't be done!"). Someone wanted to be able to move red, green and blue circles around and have the overlapping areas change colour (like coloured lights mixing). Check out the thread for some info on how its works.	10th January 2002

5	Bendy line In response to the same question as the 'Springy rod' file below -- a line that can be 'twanged' but also bends as you pull it. You can also make it taper -- check out this page for details	4th December 2001

5	Text autcomplete This was a knotty problem -- an autocompleting text field. Check it out, I'm quite proud of it. In response to this question on We're Here.	30th November 2001

5	Springy rod A line that can be 'twanged' (drag the blue ball). In response to a question on We're Here.	29th November 2001

5	Dynamic circular mask effect A question on We're Here -- how to create an effect like 'slices' of a circle appearing, to reveal a whole image	23rd November 2001

5	Steerable arrow Move the arrow around the screen with the cursor keys -- left and right to steer, up to accelerate, down to brake.	23rd October 2001

5	Remove duplicate items from an array A quick demonstration of a technique for removing duplicate elements in an array -- nothing to look at but check out the variables before and after pressing the big black button.	8th October 2001

5	Constrained pan with zoomed image A very rough demonstration -- move the pic around within the constraints of the box, zoom in with the A key.	4th October 2001

5	Resizable mask Not an original idea, but just to show how it's done -- a mask that can be resized.	2nd October 2001

5	Mouse-following Arrow An arrow that points at and moves towards the mouse.	28th September 2001

5	Eight-way pointer An arrow that points at the mouse, but only in 45-degree increments. It uses an eight-frame movie clip so you can have the mc look different depending on the rotation. From a question on Flashkit (although the code has been amended since)	25th September 2001

5	Springy, stretchable text Pull the text around, let it go, watch it wobble...	7th September 2001

5	Change centre point of a movie clip Another Flashkit question prompted me to create a file that demonstrates how to change the centre point of a rotating movie clip	14th August 2001

5	'Throwable' object Drag the box and throw it around.	8th August 2001

5	Balls on elastic Hard to explain -- an experiment in elastic motion. It doesn't really correspond to any 'real' motion, but it's a nice effect.	16th July 2001

5	Set colour with sliders This question asked how it would be possible to create a colour slider-bar. I didn't have a lot of time, but I put this together quickly to demonstrate the basics.	12th July 2001

5	Send function calls from HTML to Flash with FSCommand Once again, this was created in response to a question on Flashkit -- how to execute functions in Flash from HTML? I was unable to come up with a direct method of doing it (if you know of one, drop me a line) so I devised this technique. See the flashkit page for more info on how it works.	6th July 2001

5	Spinning arrow In response to a question on Flashkit, here's a simple spinning arrow (like in Twister).	5th July 2001

5	'Wave' text A variation on PrayStation's 'tsunami' effect, where instead of scaling, the text moves vertically in relation to mouse position. Created in response to this Flashkit question regarding the effect in the People section of Poolside.	24th April 2001

5	Jittering 'Se7en' text Text that wobbles about randomly, like the credits in the film Se7en. Check out this Flashkit thread for some info on how it works	12th April 2001

5	Dynamic buttons Create buttons -- with different text -- on the fly. Very basic.	5th April 2001

5	'Scratchcard' game simulation Another academic excercise using masks -- how to simulate a scratchcard with an image in the foreground and background. It works, but it's so slow that it's totally useless	19th March 2001

5	Join the dots A quick demo of how to create a join-the-dots type of game.	12th March 2001

5	Sliding 'Yuogo' menu Yet another copy of this rather over-used style of 'sliding' menu as popularised by the great YugoP. There's a Flash 4 version further down.	6th March 2001

4	Text with gradient Dynamic text with a gradient fill. Funky, but rather resource-hungry so it's pretty much an academic exercise	26th Feb 2001

4	Get browser dimensions Use FSCommand and JavaScript to return the dimensions of the browser window	20th Feb 2001

4	Draggable, scaleable map A way to have a map that will zoom and scale, while remaining centred in the view window NEW! Anthony Kosky has very kindly updated this file for Flash MX 2004. Thanks!	1st Feb 2001

5	Join two points with a line A Flash 5 version of the file featured in this tutorial -- for drawing a line between two points	18th Jan 2001

5	Pick lottery numbers A small file that picks unique random numbers for entering a lottery. It's based on this tutorial.	7th Dec 2000

4	Pick lottery numbers A Flash 4 version of the above file, which picks unique random numbers for entering a lottery. It's based on this tutorial.	7th Dec 2000

4	Padlock and key Drag the key onto the padlock and the door opens. Pretty basic	1st Dec 2000

4	Random letter Draw a random letter on the screen	31st Oct 2000

5	Snap to position very simple demo of how to have an object 'snap' into position. Drop the top-left corner of the blue box inside the white square.	5th Sept 2000

4	Random squares Highlight a certain numbr of random squares in a grid. I have no idea what it was for...	23rd Aug 2000

4	Draggable Slider A box that follows the y position of the mouse, but only in a certain area. I think it was for a Flash-based DJ's mixing desk, or something	26th Jun 2000

4	Resizeable window A draggable window that can be resized, like in a GUI -- Windows, MacOS or whatever	15th Jun 2000

4	'Wave' effect Hard to explain - it's like a diagonal wave using multiple copies of a small movie clip. I'm not really happy with the way it works, but I figured I'd put it up anyway	26th May 2000

3	Random selection A blast from the past -- how to achieve 'randomness' in Flash 3. Of historical interest only, I suspect	5th May 2000

4	Dial A dial that moves smoothly between two settings	28th Apr 2000

4	Scaling caption An odd combination of tweening and actionscript to create the effect of text starting large and getting smaller. Could be done more efficiently with actionscript only	27th Apr 2000

4	Credits list A scrolling list of credits like you get at the end of a movie. Not very smart code, but it works	10th Jan 2000

4	Fading text Type in text and have it 'fade in' as you type. The box at the bottom is just for show -- you could delete it and the technique would still work	6th Jan 2000

4	'Cool' mouse The one that everyone wanted to know about when Flash4 came out -- how to make a mouse trailer. This is just one of thousands...	5th Jan 2000

4	Adjustable circle Create a circle that changes shape according to the position of the mouse	15th Dec 1999

3	Enetserve intro An old intro with scaling, fading letters -- from Enetserve	10th Dec 1999

4	Rotating cross Don't ask me what this is about -- a cross that rotates, then grows if you roll over it. Bizarre.	25th Nov 1999

4	Sparkler A sparkler which leaves a trail -- actually quite funky. Based on this tutorial	1st Nov 1999

4	Sliding 'Yugo' menu A flash 4 version of the thoroughly over-used sliding menu by YugoP. There's a Flash 5 version further up.	29th Oct 1999

4	Headline ticker Like it says -- a vertically-scrolling headline ticker with clickable links. Stops on rollover, can scroll up or down on click.	14th July 1999

4	Track and drag How to drag an object while tracking the position of the mouse, in Flash 4.	13th July 1999

4	Mouse trail effect Yet another kind of mouse-following effect. Not very clever.	7th July 1999

4	Zoom, rotate and pan A Flash 4 version of this Flash 3 tutorial	6th June 1999

3	'Zooming' text Not zooming in, but zooming around, with a trail. Uses a guide layer.	8th April 1999

3	Random damage A rather cunning way to create random damage in a game -- not a problem with actionscript, of course, but this is for Flash 3...	9th March 1999