"jolting" continuous movement

programming flash
1

Hi there, I’m having a little trouble creating a true continuous movement in AS1.0 syntax.
The syntax,


on (keyPress "<Down>"){
    hero._y += speed;
}

Does achieve a continuous motion, but begins with a “jolt.” I hate the jolt, as it ruins a few mechanics of the game.

I tried, doing the following,


on (keyPress "<Down>"){
     dir = 1;
 }
if (dir == 1){
     tellTarget("hero"){
          _x += speed;
     }
}

That code does the job of not “jolting,” but** continues to move after the key is released.

I can easily achieve this effect using AS2.0 syntax by the


if (Key.isDown(Key.DOWN)) {
        dir = "duck";    
}
if (dir == "duck"){
        hero.gotoAndStop("duck");
}

However, my question is how to do this effect using the AS 1.0 syntax…
note: I can’t simply use AS2, unfortunately…

thanks guys,
kpxnamja