Question

Ok, so I’ve got the following code structure:

var environment:AvEnvironment = new AvEnvironment(stage.stageWidth, stage.stageHeight);   
addChild(environment);      
environment.addChild(new Player());
environment.addChild(new Terrain());

the player class passes information on its x and y to the environment class so that the environment class will center on the player object. As terrain is also a child of the parent, the terrain class will also be centered. However, I do not want this to be the case: I want the terrain class to be at the top left of the parent (environment) when the game is created.

This is the code I am trying to implement in the terrain class:

if(parent)
            {
                var ev:AvEnvironment = AvEnvironment(parent);

                this.x = -ev.x
                this.y = -ev.y

            }

However, this does not work in the constructor method as parent returns null and I’m not sure why.

Answer 1

I’m thinking your Terrain gets initialized, calling your code above, before it gets a parent (addChild()). You can try the following in your Terrain class:

this.addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, doDNATest); //Place this in your Terrain() constructor

function doDNATest(evt:Event) {
  //By the time this event is called you should know who the father is
  //since this is called once Terrain is on it's parent's (environment) display list
      if(this.parent)
      {
          var ev:AvEnvironment = AvEnvironment(this.parent);
          this.x = -ev.x
          this.y = -ev.y
      }
}