Controlling Sprites

This section explains how to configure and control sprites after they've been created and registered.

Setting Sprite Color

You can set the color of a sprite after creating it -- and you're free to change it at any time afterward. To set a sprite's color, use the setSpriteColor function.

Arguments:

• spriteID: The ID of the sprite.
• red, green, blue, alpha: The color components in RGBA format, each specified in the range from 0 to 255.

What Is RGBA Format?

RGBA stands for Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha -- the three primary colors of light plus a transparency value.

The alpha value represents the opacity of the color: 0 means fully transparent, and higher values move toward full opacity.

Color blending is done using additive color mixing, which simulates how light behaves -- unlike mixing paints, which uses subtractive blending. For example:

• (red, green, blue) = (255, 255, 255) gives white, not black.
• (red, green, blue) = (255, 255, 0) gives yellow.
• (red, green, blue) = (0, 255, 255) gives cyan.
• (red, green, blue) = (255, 0, 255) gives magenta.

Setting Sprite Depth

Each sprite has a depth value.

When multiple sprites are rendered together, those with higher depth values appear behind those with lower values. To set a sprite's depth, use the "setSpriteDepth" function.

Arguments:

• spriteID: The ID of the sprite.
• depth: The new top-left position for the sprite.

This function can be used with rectangle sprites, ellipse sprites, text sprites, and image sprites.

Changing Sprite Size

To change a sprite's drawing size, use the "setSpriteSize" function.

There are two variations depending on the type of sprite.

For Point Sprites:

Arguments:

• spriteID: The ID of the point sprite.
• x, y: The radius of the point.

For Rectangle, Ellipse, Text, and Image Sprites:

Arguments:

• spriteID: The ID of the sprite.
• width, height: The new width and height of the sprite.