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User at 2:00 pm, Jun 7, 2024

I want to animate some italic text to scroll accross the screen when the user finishes a phrase.

Do I have to create a PNG of the text?

What is the simplest way to show animated text that just scrolls from right to left?

Codeium at 2:00 pm, Jun 7, 2024

You do not need to create a PNG of the text to animate it scrolling across the screen. You can achieve this by using CSS animations with your text element styled in italic.

Here's a simple way to show animated text scrolling from right to left using TSX and CSS:

In your TSX file, add a new component or modify an existing one to include the text you want to animate:

// Add this CSS class to your stylesheet
// Assuming you have a stylesheet imported that applies styles to your components

<div className="scrolling-text">Congratulations! You've completed the phrase.</div>

Then in your CSS (or SCSS/LESS if you're using a preprocessor), add styles for .scrolling-text with a keyframe animation that moves the text from right to left:

@keyframes scrollLeft {
  from {
    transform: translateX(100%); /* Start off the right edge of the screen */
  }
  to {
    transform: translateX(-100%); /* End off the left edge of the screen */
  }
}

.scrolling-text {
  position: absolute;
  white-space: nowrap; /* Ensures the text stays on a single line */
  font-style: italic; /* Makes the text italic */
  animation: scrollLeft 10s linear infinite; /* Adjust timing as needed */
}

This will create a simple scrolling animation without the need for image files. Adjust the 10s value to control the speed of the animation. If you only want the text to scroll once and not repeat, you can remove the infinite keyword from the animation property.

Make sure the text element is positioned in a way that allows it to move across the entire screen, possibly within a container that has overflow: hidden to prevent scrollbars from appearing.

User at 2:02 pm, Jun 7, 2024

But I want to display it over the game canvas. I guess I should have mentioned that. It should be in front of the other backgrounds, but behind the Hero

Codeium at 2:02 pm, Jun 7, 2024

To display animated text over your game canvas but behind the Hero, you can use the CSS z-index property to layer the elements correctly. You'll want your text element to have a higher z-index than the canvas and a lower z-index than the Hero.

First, ensure your canvas and Hero component have a z-index set in your CSS. For example:

/* Set the z-index for the game canvas */
canvas {
  position: relative; /* element must be positioned for z-index to work */
  z-index: 1; /* Adjust as needed */
}

/* Set the z-index for the Hero */
.hero {
  position: relative; /* element must be positioned for z-index to work */
  z-index: 3; /* Ensure this is higher than the canvas and scrolling text */
}

Then, modify your scrolling text to have a z-index between the canvas and the Hero:

/* Add this CSS to your stylesheet */
@keyframes scrollLeft {
  from {
    transform: translateX(100%);
  }
  to {
    transform: translateX(-100%);
  }
}

.scrolling-text {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0; /* Adjust as needed */
  left: 0;
  white-space: nowrap;
  font-style: italic;
  z-index: 2; /* Between the canvas (1) and the Hero (3) */
  animation: scrollLeft 10s linear; /* Adjust timing as needed */
}

In your TSX code, you can add the scrolling text within a container that positions it over the canvas:

<div className="game-container">
  <canvas ref={this.canvasRef} width={this.props.canvasWidth} height={this.props.canvasHeight} />
  {/* ... other elements such as the Hero */}
  <div className="scrolling-text">Congratulations! You've completed the phrase.</div>
</div>

Make sure that the .game-container is positioned relatively or absolutely, so the absolute positioning of .scrolling-text is relative to the game container. Adjust the top and left properties of the .scrolling-text class to position the text exactly where you want it on the screen.

User at 2:04 pm, Jun 7, 2024

The Hero is a sprite in the game canvas. Not a website CSS hero.

I think the z-index of everything in the canvas is the same.

Codeium at 2:04 pm, Jun 7, 2024

Indeed, within the canvas all drawing operations happen on the same plane, and the z-index CSS property doesn't apply. Instead, you manage the drawing order programmatically: elements drawn later will appear on top of those drawn earlier.

For your scrolling text requirement, you can draw the text directly onto the canvas using the CanvasRenderingContext2D API. To position it in front of the background but behind the Hero sprite, you'll want to draw your text after the background has been drawn but before the Hero sprite is drawn.

Here's an example of how you might implement the scrolling text in TerminalGame.tsx:

class TerminalGame extends React.Component<ITerminalGameProps, ITerminalGameState> {
  // ... existing class properties and methods

  // Add a new field for the text animation
  private textScrollX: number = this.props.canvasWidth; // Start offscreen to the right
  private textToScroll: string = "Congratulations! You've completed the phrase.";

  startAnimationLoop(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
    const loop = (timestamp: number) => {
      // ... existing animation loop code

      // Draw the background
      this.drawBackground(context);

      // Draw the scrolling text
      this.drawScrollingText(context);

      // Draw the Hero sprite
      if (this.drawHero) {
        this.drawHero(this.state.heroPosition);
      }

      // ... rest of the animation loop code
    };

    // ... existing code to start the loop
  }

  drawScrollingText(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
    context.font = 'italic 20px Arial'; // Customize as needed
    context.fillStyle = 'white'; // Text color
    context.fillText(this.textToScroll, this.textScrollX, 50); // Adjust Y coordinate as needed

    // Update the X position for the next frame
    this.textScrollX -= 2; // Adjust speed as needed

    // Reset text position if it's fully offscreen to the left
    if (this.textScrollData < -context.measureText(this.textToScroll).width) {
      this.textScrollX = this.props.canvasWidth;
    }
  }

  // ... rest of the class
}

This code snippet adds a method to TerminalGame that handles the text animation and is called at the appropriate point in the animation loop. The text's X position is updated each frame to create a scrolling effect, and it's reset once the text has fully scrolled offscreen to the left.

Remember to adjust the font size, style, and the Y coordinate in context.fillText to suit your game's appearance. The speed of the scrolling text can be adjusted by changing the value subtracted from this.textScrollX each frame.

User at 2:16 pm, Jun 7, 2024

I don't want to draw the "Congratulations" text on every animatin loop.

I think I have to to load it before the Hero, so that it displays behind him, but it should only animate accross the screen when the game is completed.

Codeium at 2:16 pm, Jun 7, 2024

To draw the "Congratulations" text only when the game is completed, and ensure it animates across the screen behind the Hero, you can add a conditional check within your animation loop to determine when to draw the text. You might also want a flag in your state to indicate whether the game has been completed.

Here's how you could structure it:

Add a flag to your state to track the game completion status:

class ITerminalGameState {
  // ... existing state fields
  gameCompleted: boolean = false; // Add this line
  // ...
}

In your animation loop, check this flag before drawing the text, and only draw it if the game is completed:

class TerminalGame extends React.Component<ITerminalGameProps, ITerminalGameState> {
  // ...

  startAnimationLoop(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
    const loop = (timestamp: number) => {
      // ...

      // Draw the background
      this.drawBackground(context);

      // If the game is completed, draw the scrolling text
      if (this.state.gameCompleted) {
        this.drawScrollingText(context);
      }

      // Draw the Hero sprite
      if (this.drawHero) {
        this.drawHero(this.state.heroPosition);
      }

      // ...
    };

    // ...
  }

  drawScrollingText(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
    // ... existing drawing code for the text
  }

  // ...
}

Trigger the game completion state when the phrase is completed, and start the text scrolling:

// Call this method when the game is completed
completeGame() {
  this.setState({
    gameCompleted: true,
    textScrollX: this.props.canvasWidth, // Reset scroll position
  });
}

Make sure to call the completeGame() method at the appropriate point in your game logic, which will set the gameCompleted flag and start the text scrolling across the screen.

Since the text is drawn after the background but before the Hero, it will appear behind the Hero sprite. The drawScrollingText method will only be called when the game is marked as completed, so it won't draw the text on every frame of the animation loop unnecessarily.

User at 2:21 pm, Jun 7, 2024

In your existing code, I don't know what textScrollData is:

  drawScrollingText(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
    context.font = 'italic 20px Arial'; // Customize as needed
    context.fillStyle = 'white'; // Text color
    context.fillText(this.textToScroll, this.textScrollX, 50); // Adjust Y coordinate as needed

    // Update the X position for the next frame
    this.textScrollX -= 2; // Adjust speed as needed

    // Reset text position if it's fully offscreen to the left
    if (this.textScrollData < -context.measureText(this.textToScroll).width) {
      this.textScrollX = this.props.canvasWidth;
    }
  }

Codeium at 2:21 pm, Jun 7, 2024

Apologies for the confusion. There was a typo in the code snippet. The textScrollData variable should actually be textScrollX, which represents the current horizontal position of the scrolling text. Here is the corrected version of the drawScrollingText method:

drawScrollingText(context: CanvasRenderingContext2D) {
  context.font = 'italic 20px Arial'; // Customize as needed
  context.fillStyle = 'white'; // Text color
  context.fillText(this.textToScroll, this.textScrollX, 50); // Adjust Y coordinate as needed

  // Update the X position for the next frame
  this.textScrollX -= 2; // Adjust speed as needed

  // Reset text position if it's fully offscreen to the left
  if (this.textScrollX < -context.measureText(this.textToScroll).width) {
    this.textScrollX = this.props.canvasWidth;
  }
}

In this method, this.textScrollX is decreased each frame to move the text to the left. When the text has scrolled completely off the screen to the left (i.e., when this.textScrollX is less than the negative width of the text), this.textScrollX is reset to the canvas width, which would start the text from the right again. If you want the text to scroll only once, you can remove the reset logic or add additional conditions to control when the text should start and stop scrolling.