Will multiple hotspots / action points be added at some point?

This has been a thing in Clickteam products for as long as I can remember, and I started using it back in the OG Games Factory days. I think it would be cool but I doubt it will become a feature.

I totally agree that it would be a big improvement, but I have no idea how hard it would be to implement. I suspect the fact that it hasn't changed in so long means it might be harder than you think. I mean, people must have asked about it before right? I know it's definitely something I've thought about.

I can see how multiple action points would be handy.

Here's a post about multiple actions points from Yves about this from 2007:

Quote from Yves

It was on the list of things to do for MMF2, like thousands of other things, but we couldn't implement this feature before the release and we can't do it in a patch. If it's done, that will be in MMF3, but we have so many other important things to do, I can't even promise it will be done in MMF3.

From that post, it sounds like it wouldn't be an easy thing to do. I would expect that complicating factors include (1) the need to change the UI to support the feature, (2) the need to change how the file format handles hot spots and action points while maintaining backwards compatibility, and (3) the need to update the engine across multiple platforms.

the work around is using on the object (or put another invisible object that follows/overlays to track hotspots) - is to force a frame with a new hotspot; update positioned object to that hotspot / force to next frame/ position other object to the re-positoned hotspot etc.

Could someone create a new active object (v.2.0) that has better options for handling multiple action points?

You could vote for it Please login to see this link.. It'll be a sizeable undertaking though.

Super Active Object, I think it would be one of the most useful and most used extensions of all that can be created

An improved version of the Active Object would be very useful.

This extension should have been created by Clickteam already!!!

I was thinking that same thing! Could be that hard? I wonder.

How would you suggest doing it? How many hotspots? And how would it be managed in the interface?

Infinite action points! All the things!

It would be a custom extension, as separated from runtime as needed to prevent limitations (like not being able to use vector graphics, etc).

At the moment though, it's a pipe dream - I'm more likely to work on Firefly since I've been given access to that recently.

I guess what I'm driving at is that I would encourage those who think it would be relatively simple to imagine how they would actually implement it. My feeling is that it wouldn't be as straightforward as some think.

Firstly, you'd want the new hotspots to be tied into the existing graphics editor, and retain the current ability to set them by dragging a crosshair, and able to set them differently for different frames and directions (If you had to close the graphics editor and go somewhere else just to set a 3rd hotspot, then what's the point?)

Secondly, you'd want them to integrate into the expression side of things as seamlessly as possible. What you don't want is a situation where the additional hotspots just end up complicating your code, which I think is likely with an external extension. For example something like the below, where you not only need to reference a 3rd party object, but then you need to hunt down the fixed value of your active object, and the result is a big mess of syntax:

Set X("armour") to X("enemy")

Set X("helmet") to ActionPointX("enemy")

Set X("boots") to customHotspotX( "Fred's multi-hotspot extension", >index of hotspot<, >fixed value of target object<, >starting frame (0 for default)<)

Thirdly, you'd want to make sure that the new hotspots integrate everywhere else where hotspots and actionpoints currently feature in the interface. For example, in the "launch object" dialog or the "create new object" dialog, not to mention be available in the dropdown menus of the active object itself.

Any proposed solution would have to tick a lot of boxes before it became genuinely more convenient to use than one of the many current workarounds. I personally can't imagine this being done via any external extension, due to the extra hoops that would create for the user to jump through. Unless it was a truly massive project like the Super Action Object that Phi is alluding to, which would probably require a brand new bespoke animation editor and a whole bunch of features deeply-integrated into core Fusion, and is, as Phi says, a pipe dream.

The other alternative is that Clickteam do this from the inside. I could imagine that there would be a third button in the existing graphics editor for a new, 3rd type of hotspot - let's call it a "superPoint". This button would be married to a dropdown box, so that you could have as many of these superPoints as needed, with each of these having its own index. The expressions for these could remain manageably simple. Something like:

Set X("boots") to SuperPointX("enemy", >index<)

Similarly, areas of the interface that currently feature hotspots and actionpoints would need one more radio button and/or dropdown to accommodate superPoints too.

This seems a more manageable proposition to me, but still pretty unrealistic. I suspect that this already would be pretty complicated for Clickteam to get working under-the-hood, and there are no doubt complications that I haven't thought of. And I've been around the Clickteam animation system for long enough to know not to expect big changes there. There are idiosyncracies of the animation system that I'm pretty sure even Yves isn't sure how they work exactly.

I don't see that many problems

It seems clear that it should be a new object that inherits and can do everything the active object does, adding new functions.

I like the name Superpoints for the new reference points and I don't think it was necessary for them to be infinite, with 5 more it would already be a step forward.

Quote from TonyThunder

I don't see that many problems

It seems clear that it should be a new object that inherits and can do everything the active object does, adding new functions.

Other than the fact that it's never going to happen, no problems at all . What you just described would be a massive undertaking that would involve reprogramming/redesigning many of Fusion's core mechanics and UI interfaces from scratch, and therefore no one will do it. Even Phi - who is one of the few people around who might actually be able to pull off something like this - admits that it's pretty unlikely he'd ever actually get it done.

I think I'm not explaining myself well or you don't understand me.

Objects can be created without affecting the interface.

The only thing that would be needed is for the object to be able to store the positions of the reference points in variables.

Obviously this could already be done with the same active object right now using its modifiable values.

But an object with new functions and variables dedicated to this would be much better.

Don't be so negative!!!

I'm not sure if images are currently stored in a box mode spritesheet in fusion

So might be why they only have one hotspot and one action point

If I was going to roll my own I'd use an array or list storing the following

Object name, animationID, DirectionID, frameID, Actionpoints(x0,y0,x1,y1,x2,y2)

I suppose one issue will be having a dynamic amount of action points

Quote from TonyThunder

I think I'm not explaining myself well or you don't understand me.

Objects can be created without affecting the interface.

The only thing that would be needed is for the object to be able to store the positions of the reference points in variables.

Obviously this could already be done with the same active object right now using its modifiable values.

But an object with new functions and variables dedicated to this would be much better.

Don't be so negative!!!

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Before someone can make your object with its new functions, they first have to successfully replicate all the features of the existing active object, as a base to start from. That includes graphical editing, full animation system, spritesheet and .ANM file import, shader support, and much more. I think that's a much more complicated and time consuming task than you give it credit for.

Quote from Volnaiskra

Before someone can make your object with its new functions, they first have to successfully replicate all the features of the existing active object, as a base to start from. That includes graphical editing, full animation system, spritesheet and .ANM file import, shader support, and much more. I think that's a much more complicated and time consuming task than you give it credit for.

That's true, so it would be better if Clickteam did it.

Or maybe Clickteam could provide the active object code with the SDK so that someone can create a new and improved object.

I think that in addition to a SuperActive Object, another simpler and lighter version of the asset could be created, SimpleActive.

Could it be created, for example, without the predefined movements to get a better performing ?

Would that be possible?

It CAN be worked around - use your imagination. same old argument pops up by a new user every 10 years.