Set permanent SKSpritenode image orientation - ios

Question

Hi I have a bunch of round SKSpriteNodes with a circle physical body. Now when these balls roll down a path I want some of these SKSpritenodes image to stay upright even when rolling. So think of an arrow pointing upwards. When the ball starts rolling the arrow spins in circles. But for some balls Id like the arrow to remain pointing up even when the ball rolls. Whats the best way of doing this?
Edit
So an answer was given but from testing it turns out it is not the correct one. Not allowing the ball to rotate affects the way it rolls down the path. So I guess what I want is rotation to be on but the image to always appear to the user like its not rotating. Thanks.

Answer 1

This looks like a job for SupermSKConstraint. Constraints are evaluated and applied after the physics simulation runs on each frame, so you can use them for tasks like making a node point a certain direction regardless of what physics does to it. For this, you'd want a zRotation constraint.
But there's a bit more to it than that. If you set a zero-rotation constraint on the ball:
// Swift
let constraint = SKConstraint.zRotation(SKRange(constantValue: 0))
ball.constraints = [constraint]
You'll find that SpriteKit resets the physics body's transform every frame due to the constraint, so it only sort-of behaves like it's rolling. Probably not what you want. (To get a better idea what's going on here, try adding a zero-rotation constraint to a rectangular physics body in a world without gravity, applying an angular impulse to it, and watching it try to spin in a view with showsPhysics turned on. You'll see the sprite and its physics body get out of sync and shake a bit -- probably due to accumulated rounding errors as the physics engine and the constraint engine fight it out.)
Instead, you can do a bit of what's in 0x141E's answer, but use constraints to make it less code (and run more efficiently):
Give the ball node a circular physics body. (And possibly no texture, if the only art you want for the ball is a non-rotating sprite.)
Add the arrow node as a child of the ball node. (It doesn't need its own physics body.)
Put a zero-rotation constraint on the arrow.
Wait, that doesn't work -- I told the arrow to not rotate, but it's still spinning?! Remember that child nodes are positioned (and rotated and scaled) relative to their parent node. So the arrow isn't spinning relative to the ball, but the ball is spinning. Don't worry, you can still solve this with a constraint:
Tell the constraint to operate relative to the node containing the ball (probably the scene).
Now the constraint will keep the arrow in place while allowing the ball to rotate however the physics simulation wants it to.
Here's some test code to illustrate:
// Step 1: A rectangular spinner so we can see the rotation
// more easily than with a ball
let spinner = SKSpriteNode(color: SKColor.redColor(), size: CGSize(width: 300, height: 20))
spinner.position.x = scene.frame.midX
spinner.position.y = scene.frame.midY
spinner.physicsBody = SKPhysicsBody(rectangleOfSize: spinner.size)
scene.addChild(spinner)
spinner.physicsBody?.applyAngularImpulse(0.1) // wheeeeee
// Step 2: Make the arrow a child of the spinner
let arrow = SKSpriteNode(color: SKColor.greenColor(), size: CGSize(width: 20, height: 50))
spinner.addChild(arrow)
// Step 3: Constrain the arrow's rotation...
let constraint = SKConstraint.zRotation(SKRange(constantValue: 0))
arrow.constraints = [constraint]
// Step 4: ...relative to the scene, instead of to its parent
constraint.referenceNode = scene

Answer 2

Here are two methods to create a ball with a physics body and an arrow:
Add an arrow as a child of a ball
Add both the ball and the arrow directly to the scene
Here's what will happen when you add the above to the SpriteKit simulation:
The arrow will rotate when the ball rotates
Both the arrow and the ball will move/rotate independently
If you want the arrow to rotate with the ball, choose Option 1. If you want the arrow to remain fixed, choose Option 2. If you choose Option 2, you will need to adjust the rotation of the arrow to ensure that it points upward. Here's an example of how to do that.
-(void)didMoveToView:(SKView *)view {
self.scaleMode = SKSceneScaleModeResizeFill;
/* Create an edge around the scene */
self.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithEdgeLoopFromRect:view.frame];
// Show outline of all physics bodies
self.view.showsPhysics = YES;
CGFloat radius = 16;
SKNode *balls = [SKNode node];
balls.name = #"balls";
[self addChild:balls];
// Create 5 balls with stationary arrows
for (int i = 0;i<5;i++) {
// Create a shape node with a circular physics body. If you are targeting iOS 8,
// you have other options to create circular node. You can also create an SKSpriteNode
// with a texture
SKShapeNode *ball = [SKShapeNode node];
// Create a CGPath that is centered
ball.path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(-radius,-radius,radius*2,radius*2)].CGPath;
ball.fillColor = [SKColor whiteColor];
ball.position = CGPointMake(100, 100+i*radius*2);
ball.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithCircleOfRadius:radius];
[balls addChild:ball];
// Create an arrow node
CGSize size = CGSizeMake(2, radius*2);
SKSpriteNode *arrow = [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithColor:[SKColor blackColor] size:size];
arrow.name = #"arrow";
arrow.position = CGPointZero;
[ball addChild:arrow];
// Apply angular impulse to the ball so it spins when it hits the floor
[ball.physicsBody applyAngularImpulse:-1];
}
}
- (void) didSimulatePhysics
{
SKNode *balls = [self childNodeWithName:#"balls"];
for (SKNode *ball in balls.children) {
SKNode *arrow = [ball childNodeWithName:#"arrow"];
arrow.zRotation = -ball.zRotation;
}
}

Answer 3

sprite.physicsBody.allowsRotation = NO;
The allowRotation property should control exactly what you are asking.