MMF 2 Bugs and a couple of ideas

[QuickSilva]

Hi, I don`t know if anyone else gets this but I get tearing (lower half of screen) when in full screen mode even when using the vsync option, things work fine in windowed mode though with the same settings. I also have a lot of trouble selecting the resize handles on objects when I have zoomed out the display for example by 50%, by this I mean I have to keep trying to get the mouse to actually recognise the handles (which seem hard to pick up because they have shrunk) which is very fiddly.

And finally I have a couple of ideas that I think would improve MMF2 a little. Firstly, how about displaying the speed at which a point is set to when using paths just above each point for easy viewing, and a way to delete the whole path easily would be nice. Secondly, it would be handy to have the preview anim window (image editor) remain open when adjusting anim speed settings and so fourth to see what effect the settings are having and lastly, how about dividing the white space in the frame editor up with dashed lines so that people can see where the screen boundaries are which would be useful for placing objects. For example if the frame is 640 x 480 and the display mode for the game is 320 x 240 then the frame would be divided into four sections. If the frame was 640 by 240 and the display was 320 x 240 then it would be divided into two sections and so on. At the moment I find it hard to place objects at the screens edges as I cannot see them visually and it is a little trial and error.

Nothing major but some small things that would aid productivity I feel.

Well done though on an otherwise fantastic product. Despite these minor issues it`s a real joy to use <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Jason.

[QuickSilva]

Hi, I don`t know if anyone else gets this but I get tearing (lower half of screen) when in full screen mode even when using the vsync option, things work fine in windowed mode though with the same settings. I also have a lot of trouble selecting the resize handles on objects when I have zoomed out the display for example by 50%, by this I mean I have to keep trying to get the mouse to actually recognise the handles (which seem hard to pick up because they have shrunk) which is very fiddly.

And finally I have a couple of ideas that I think would improve MMF2 a little. Firstly, how about displaying the speed at which a point is set to when using paths just above each point for easy viewing, and a way to delete the whole path easily would be nice. Secondly, it would be handy to have the preview anim window (image editor) remain open when adjusting anim speed settings and so fourth to see what effect the settings are having and lastly, how about dividing the white space in the frame editor up with dashed lines so that people can see where the screen boundaries are which would be useful for placing objects. For example if the frame is 640 x 480 and the display mode for the game is 320 x 240 then the frame would be divided into four sections. If the frame was 640 by 240 and the display was 320 x 240 then it would be divided into two sections and so on. At the moment I find it hard to place objects at the screens edges as I cannot see them visually and it is a little trial and error.

Nothing major but some small things that would aid productivity I feel.

Well done though on an otherwise fantastic product. Despite these minor issues it`s a real joy to use <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Jason.

[Sarah]

[] a way to delete the whole path easily would be nice.[/]
There are two ways to do this. Either change the path movement to Static, and then back to Path Movement again - this wipes the original.
Or - if you have several movements for that object and you want to completely get rid of the Path movement, use the delete movement feature in the Properties Bar. (Double click on the name of the Movement, double click on the +/- button, then, in the Movements pop-up window, select the movement to be deleted and click on the X button.)

[Sarah]

[] a way to delete the whole path easily would be nice.[/]
There are two ways to do this. Either change the path movement to Static, and then back to Path Movement again - this wipes the original.
Or - if you have several movements for that object and you want to completely get rid of the Path movement, use the delete movement feature in the Properties Bar. (Double click on the name of the Movement, double click on the +/- button, then, in the Movements pop-up window, select the movement to be deleted and click on the X button.)

[QuickSilva]

Thanks for the tips Sarah, any ideas as to the other stuff I mention?

Jason.

[QuickSilva]

Thanks for the tips Sarah, any ideas as to the other stuff I mention?

Jason.

[Harvy]

As for dividing up by "screens", I agree it could be useful (and I like how MMF2 does that in the upper-left corner), but you can get similar functionality by changing the grid setup to have the size of the window... or you can calculate screen boundaries and set the X/Y directly in "properties."

[Harvy]

As for dividing up by "screens", I agree it could be useful (and I like how MMF2 does that in the upper-left corner), but you can get similar functionality by changing the grid setup to have the size of the window... or you can calculate screen boundaries and set the X/Y directly in "properties."

[Sarah]

Not really <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> AndyH might have some suggestions about the VSync issue when he wanders by.

[] I also have a lot of trouble selecting the resize handles on objects when I have zoomed out the display for example by 50%, by this I mean I have to keep trying to get the mouse to actually recognise the handles (which seem hard to pick up because they have shrunk) which is very fiddly. [/]
Just remembered <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Shift+arrow keys resizes the object for you. Saves fiddling about with the handles.


For the path nodes, I name the crucial ones. It can be handy to increment an Alterable variable/counter each time the object reaches a new path node, and use that for speed calculations - or simply set the speed to something other than the default 50 each time a new node is reached.

[Sarah]

Not really <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> AndyH might have some suggestions about the VSync issue when he wanders by.

[] I also have a lot of trouble selecting the resize handles on objects when I have zoomed out the display for example by 50%, by this I mean I have to keep trying to get the mouse to actually recognise the handles (which seem hard to pick up because they have shrunk) which is very fiddly. [/]
Just remembered <img src="/center/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Shift+arrow keys resizes the object for you. Saves fiddling about with the handles.


For the path nodes, I name the crucial ones. It can be handy to increment an Alterable variable/counter each time the object reaches a new path node, and use that for speed calculations - or simply set the speed to something other than the default 50 each time a new node is reached.