Level-loading tutorial?

Hey,
I read on a Daily Click article that there are heaps of good tutorials for this out there, but I can't actually find one. Could someone point me in the direction of one? (Mainly the effective loading thing, I think I'm alright to handle a level editor itself.) Or alternatively, provide a few tips on it? Due to the nature of my game I think it'd be a lot easier to use a loader than making each level in a frame as I've been doing.

Don't worry, I'm not expecting anyone to write a full walkthrough on it (but if there's an existing one, go ahead and link me to it!), just a few tips is fine. =) Especially what to do about allowing scrolling without glitches and allowing different size levels...

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=76135

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=147791

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=89199

Thanks, but examples aren't really what I'm after... tutorials or tips would be preferable. It's easier than going through someone else's code and decoding how to adapt the ideas to my own purposes.

As I said, I can probably handle most - the big one is effective scrolling, while still handling collisions offscreen. Resizable levels is another tough point that I'm not sure on how to deal with.

Resizable levels is easy, use the window control object to resize the frame. ;)

As for tutorials, I don't know where to look. Sorry. :(

Thanks for that idea. =)
I'll have a look at some possible scrolling solutions. The main problem for me is if there's objects off-screen, they still need to be able to detect solid areas, yet I don't want to use an object for every tile since it'll take up too much of the object quota, and (correct me if i'm wrong) pasting into background outside the viewing area is glitchy? Or has this been fixed?

Paste into background is temporary and get's erased when you scroll away from it. It is meant to be this way. Maybe what you want is the 'add backdrop' effect. You also don't aneed a collider to scan the elevl, if you use active objects you can just add them to a qualifier and then loop through all the objects. Somone made a nice editor doing this a while back and postd he MFA, so it's definantly possible.

Also, have you tried looking in backdrops/active object's properties for collisions outside the frame?

Yes, I do get those... what it comes down to is: If I'm creating backdrops, or using active objects for every tile that could exist, isn't it going to hit the object limit pretty quickly?

I haven't actually started such a thing yet, I'm wanting to get these kinds of questions answered and the ideas for them sorted first.

With the MMF2 params object, you can set the max object limit at runtime. ;)

Keep in mind, though, when you load a level in game, it should just move actives around and create backdrops for them. That way you use less memory at game-time than edit-time. Using an Array to store everything would be an even better way to manage things, because then you could have the editor with only backdrops, and you could use the Delete Backdrop at Position action to remvoe objects. ;)

Namida if you are making a large tile based game, use the background image object to display your background :)

Didn't know about either of those... thanks! Although, I suspect the ultimate 20000 limit is going to get in the way anyway, since I do plan on rather large levels. In fact, the editor is not the problem - I can indeed use an active for every tile in the editor, as all that matters is displaying (stuff outside the visible area doesn't need to exist except in an array). Not so for the player, where collisions need to be detected off screen in some situations.

@Bigredron: I don't appear to have that extension. Which pack has it or where can I download it? (Or is it MMF2 Dev only? I only have standard.)

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=148570#Post1485 70 ;)

Thanks for that. =)
Another fairly simple question: What formats are supported by Load Frame on active objects?

Go to application peroperties and edit the image filters to whatever you want. I think that should match up with what you want.

Got another question...
I know how to do it in the level player, but in the level *editor*, what's the best way to use a tileset from a single file (rather than having a seperate file for each tile)?

The first link in that list demonstrates this.

As I said - example files have always been a bitch for me to follow.

However, I think I have a good (albeit a little bit odd on the coding side, should work just fine on the using side and besides the editor is for internal use only) idea on how to get a working system anyway. =)

Thanks for your help. =)



Now... as a thanks to everyone who helped me, and just for a little something to play for everyone who wants something extra to mess with, here's the OLD version of my project. Of course, it's being redone from scratch to have a smoother and less-glitchy engine (not that many of the glitches are anything more than graphical), as well as of course support editable levels. =)
But here you go:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/2/20/2767553//n00bninjaolddemo.zip

(EDIT: Just to make sure everyone knows, I had no intention of keeping the Crash Bandicoot sound effects and music for the final release.)

(ANOTHER EDIT: Any feedback is welcome, as the final result is likely to be similar, just with better levels - it's much easier to bother designing them well with a tile based editor than with quick backdrops.)