Creating objects and saving memory

I'm doing some (hopefully) final tweaks on my project, but in trying to optimize it as best as possible for all platforms (basically PC and mobile), I've run into a conundrum.

I need to be able to continuously create enemies on screen, for the player to destroy, but also destroy any unused enemies, when they wander off screen, take relieve memory.

Here's an example of how I set it up.

Attachment 24852

I use the "NObjects < xx" to prevent entire clusters of these guys from forming on screen. But that creates a problem, if more of them wander off than the player is able to destroy. I need to constantly create enemies until the score reaches a certain number. Setting the limit too high, creates more enemies than is needed, and creating too little, causes the all activity to cease before the the desired score is reached.

I'm possibly overthinking it, but I've wracking my brain for days trying to figure this out.

TL; DR Need to constantly create objects without slowing down the game too much. :D

Have you tried setting the score as another Conditional? So, right now you have "NObjects < xx" but you don't have "Score < yy." You can then set the needed score (yy) to be dynamic in a separate event, based on the number of flies on screen.

I actually never thought of that. The only real conditional that I have regarding the score, are the events that happens once that score is reached. So would I set that "Score < yy" where "yy" = the required score?

Well, I gave that a try, but this time the flies disappeared altogether. I'm also willing to entertain the very real possibility that I did something wrong. What I did was:

*NObjects < xx
*Hit Count < yy
* Every 00"-xx
**Create object at (position)
**Set X Position to Random(Frame Width)
**Set Y Position to RRandom(50, 280)

Is that what you were suggesting dsilvers?

You could also just re-position the flies as they leave the screen instead of destroying them and recreating another. Also check that you have increased the object count in the frame properties.

I think your problem is the timer. If you want all the flies on screen at the start, you should run a Fast Loop that either creates all the flies at once (less recommended), or run it once per event while the NObjects is still lower than the target amount (so you'd do On Fast Loop -> Stuff Here + Run Fast Loop). Because of the "NObjects < xx" in the event, the fast loop won't run more times than it has to.

If this is for mobile I would recommend you create a large pool of enemies and hold them offscreen at Start of Frame. Then instead of creating an enemy when you need one you simply choose one from offscreen and reposition it. Same thing for when you destroy and enemy. You move it offscreen instead. I tend to set a flag ON to identify “active” enemies and OFF to identify enemies in the pool.

This method is handy for anything you create and destroy a lot (fx particles, bullets, etc). If you create and destroy often you could very well run into RAM issues.

Per your PM request, here is a basic object pool example. You can use this setup for simple things like particles or coins or whatever. Just make sure you create enough duplicates at the Start of Frame for your needs. If you use them all at once on screen, then nothing will appear when the game attempts to grab another one. If you need the pool to contain a lot of different objects, just put all the objects into a Qualifier group and change the code to use qualifiers.

Keep in mind, when you recycle your objects back to the pool, you should take care to return all Vars, Flags and Animations to their default state. I find it is better to do this when you recycle them.

Attachment 24995

Thanks @mobichan , I like this a lot. My only issue is, I'm not sure how to go about recreating the current "swarm" effect that I have using the timers, and creating and destroying. That's what I'm after; the illusion of a swarm of critters invading the area that player must knock off one-at-time, to wrack up points. When I do it the current way, I have

+Every 00"xx
- Create Fly at (-15, 72)
- Create Fly at (-16, 283)
- (Fly) Set X position to Random(Frame Width)
- (Fly) Set Y position to RRandom(50, 300)


Also, I see that in the example you posted, that a double-click is what triggers the objects to appear on screen. I know timers slow things down in mobile apps, so I'm wondering if I should perhaps use global values as a timer?

You can replace any create action with the pick one at random event line I have in the example. You don’t need to use the timer var I made. That was specifically to show an automated way to recycle things to the pool. You can recycle any way you want.

Not sure what you are saying about slowdown. I use tons of vars that count down like timers and have no issues.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mobichan

You can replace any create action with the pick one at random event line I have in the example. You don’t need to use the timer var I made. That was specifically to show an automated way to recycle things to the pool. You can recycle any way you want.

Not sure what you are saying about slowdown. I use tons of vars that count down like timers and have no issues.

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Sorry, I was in a rush while typing my initial post earlier, plus I had someone talking to me at the same time lol.

When I said timers, I was referring to Fusion's native timer in the Event Editor. I've seen that those timers can cause slow-down in mobile apps, which I believe is what dsilvers was saying a few posts up. I'm going to study what you did here and see if that fixes my problem(s).