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Now that we have a way to figure out if the spaceship has collided with the vector, we need to find out exactly where the collision happened. But let s first consider when it won t happen. When two vectors are parallel, they ll never intersect. And that means that a collision between them will never happen. What do I mean by parallel vectors Those are vectors that are pointing in exactly the same direction or exactly opposite directions. Figure 2-28 shows three examples of parallel vectors. They run alongside each other like the two rails of a train track. You can always tell when two vectors are parallel because their dx and dy values will be exactly the same.

Most vectors aren t parallel and will intersect at some point or another. Sometimes the intersection will happen in the future; other times the intersection has already happened in the past. Figure 2-29 illustrates two pairs or intersecting vectors.

Finding the intersection point is not hard. A little bit of math comes to our rescue again. Figure 2-30 illustrates the general idea behind finding the intersection point. The key is that you need to extend a third vector between v1 and v2. The third vector helps us calculate the coordinates of the intersection point. v3 is like a ghost vector that quietly and invisibly contributes a bit of extra data that your calculations need to find the intersection point. The math involves a value called a perpendicular dot product. It s nothing to be afraid of! In fact, it s exactly the same as finding an ordinary dot product, except that instead of using v1 in the equation, you use v1 s normal: the perpendicular vector. The perpendicular dot product is sometimes called the perp product or perp-dot product. In the example code, it s represented by a variable named perpProduct. perpProduct = v1.ln.vx * v2.dx + v1.ln.vy * v2.dy;

Figure 2-30. The crosshair marks the intersection point. No big deal, right We ve used this sort of calculation before. You can use either the right or left normal, and the result will be the same. Here s how to use a perp-dot product to find the intersection point of v1 on v2:

dividing the two values together. (t is for tangent, the point of intersection, and is a common convention for representing this value.) t = perpProduct1 / perpProduct2

precise intersection point with real x and y coordinates. We can find this by adding v1 s start point to its velocity and multiplying it by t. intersectionX = v1.a.x + v1.vx * t intersectionY = v1.a.y + v1.vy * t

I can just imagine the giddy delight on the faces of the first mathematicians who first figured this out. Mathematicians: 1; Mysteries of the Universe: 0.

Now let s see how this works in a live example. In the chapter s source files, you ll find a folder called Intersection. Run the SWF, and you ll see something that looks like Figure 2-31. The ship s intersection point with the line is marked by a small crosshair. (The ship s motion vector has been scaled by 10 so that you can see it clearly.) You can move the drag handles to change the line s inclination, and the intersection mark will have no problem keeping up. The status box also displays whether the intersection happens in the future or might have happened in the past. Because the intersection is found using the ship s velocity, not the direction its pointing in, the ship often looks like it s going to miss the intersection. But the intersection point is always predicted with spooky, pinpoint accuracy. Again, most of the code in the source files is routine. Here, we ll look at the important sections that create the intersection. The names of the vectors are the same as in Figure 2-30.

Figure 2-31. The code predicts where the intersection will take place. First, we need three vectors: v1 is the ship s motion vector, v2 is the target vector on which we want to find the intersection, and v3 is the helper vector between v1 and v2 that helps to calculate the correct point.