AnimationEngine Arcade "shooter" strategy?

[John Patten]

Hi All...

Trying to come up with a "simple" arcade shooter type game.  I'm using  
Animation Engine. I would like to be able to aim a cannon (button that  
switches icon based on the FindAngle of canon and mouseLoc)  at a  
moving target (img) and then check for collision between projectile  
and target.

1. I can animate the canon rotation with FindAngle, however will  
probably need to rename images so direction of cannon matches angle  
returned.

2. I (think) understand the AE collision too..

3. What I'm having trouble with is understanding how to animate and  
direct the projectile, based on the direction of the canon. So many of  
the AE examples are based on a path, that I assume I will need to  
create a path, line (invisible),  between the canon and the proposed  
target. Creating the first point of that line is pretty straight  
forward, however, determining the angle of the canon's muzzle (canons  
have muzzles?) and the complimentary angle of the line and the  
intended target, a point farther down the line, feels way beyond my  
skills.

Would it be wise to have the user drag a marker, something like a  
"cross-hair" image, to a screen location to represent the user's  
proposed aim, and then get the loc of the cross hair image and then  
the loc of the cannon to create the line path? Or are their better  
ways of doing what I'm trying?


Thank you!

John Patten