"Single flame flashes" when loading game.

[CASEY]

Okay, I have no idea how to fix this. I have two problems which may or may not be related.

First of all, I have a save game system in place which remembers the X and Y co-ordinates of the player's character, and the X and Y co-ordinates of the 'scroller' - an invisible item which dictates where the screen is centered. I have two events dictating the scroller's position:

The first (in each individual level) sets the scroller's co-ordinates to the middle of the 'first screen' on that level, at the Start of Frame. This is necessary because each level starts in a different place (I.E. not always the top left screen.)

The second (in the global events) checks to see if the player is loading a game, and, if they are, sets the scroller's co-ordinates to the ones found in the save file. This also happens at Start of Frame.

What happens is, when loading a game, the top-left screen of the level shows up for 1 frame, and then everything looks normal. This is disorientating and weird and I'd like to get rid of it.

My second problem is that I have some levels which are 'dark', made possible via use of a large Active Overlay which is always set to a relative position to the Scroller object. This means that, even though the Overlay is only the size of the window, it appears that the entire level is dark because the 'darkness' follows the player.

The problem is that when changing screens, the new screen shows up light for 1 frame before the darkness overlay moves into place and blocks it off as it should. This is not only annoying but also reveals solutions to the player that they SHOULD have to look for by moving the torch around.

Does anyone have any idea how to get around either of these? They're the only bugs in my game that have me totally stumped now.

[Benicle]

The darkness can be solved using a layer with scroll co-efficiants set to 0.

The other one frame problem I'm not sure on, maybe a fastloop would help?

[Dynasoft]

Can't you set the overlay to not follow the frame in its properties? Then you wouldn't need any events to position it

Same with Benicle's idea.

[LB]

To fix the first problem, just put the scroller where you need it, instead of positioning it after 1 frame. This way, the screen won't do that wierd thing. I have tried this and it works.

[CASEY]

Thanks for the help so far, everyone!

The darkness can be solved using a layer with scroll co-efficiants set to 0.

The other one frame problem I'm not sure on, maybe a fastloop would help?

Unfortunately, I can't do that, since the main character is the only object in front of the darkness. Moving it to another layer would make it obscure her, and moving her to another layer would mean she couldn't interact with any objects on the level.

Can't you set the overlay to not follow the frame in its properties? Then you wouldn't need any events to position it

Same with Benicle's idea.

The funny thing is... it already HAS 'follow frame' unchecked. Weird.

To fix the first problem, just put the scroller where you need it, instead of positioning it after 1 frame. This way, the screen won't do that wierd thing. I have tried this and it works.

Sounds good, but unfortunately it won't quite do... see, each level can be entered at multiple points. The lack of a single point of entry for a level means there's no single point to set the scroller to. But even beyond that, this is a problem that occurs with loading a game. Since the player could be anywhere on the playfield in the savegame, it's impossible to predict where the scrolling object should start without using events.

[LB]

To fix the first problem, just put the scroller where you need it, instead of positioning it after 1 frame. This way, the screen won't do that wierd thing. I have tried this and it works.

Sounds good, but unfortunately it won't quite do... see, each level can be entered at multiple points. The lack of a single point of entry for a level means there's no single point to set the scroller to. But even beyond that, this is a problem that occurs with loading a game. Since the player could be anywhere on the playfield in the savegame, it's impossible to predict where the scrolling object should start without using events.

Just save the position of the scroller along with everything else that gets saved.

[ansemsnobody]

To fix the first problem, just put the scroller where you need it, instead of positioning it after 1 frame. This way, the screen won't do that wierd thing. I have tried this and it works.

Sounds good, but unfortunately it won't quite do... see, each level can be entered at multiple points. The lack of a single point of entry for a level means there's no single point to set the scroller to. But even beyond that, this is a problem that occurs with loading a game. Since the player could be anywhere on the playfield in the savegame, it's impossible to predict where the scrolling object should start without using events.

Just save the position of the scroller along with everything else that gets saved.

His problem is that for a split secound he sees the upper left corner of the level (am I right?) I have had this problem alot
and am not realy sure what to do sorry.

[Blake]

make sure the extension that you are loading the frame position with has "create before frame fade in" checked in its properties.

other than that, if you load the data and scroll at the start of frame, it should work perfectly.

[Brandon]

If you see things in the upper-left hand corner of the screen it is because of the order of the events. The object isn't positioned within one frame of being created, thus the quick flicker in the corner.