Best way for make a full screen pause menu?

[Endymian]

Sorry to necromance this thread again, but it is relevant to my interests. I have a number of ideas that I am thinking about starting and they all pretty much require a technique like this.

I think I understand using the subapp and all of that, but (without MMF2d in front of me) I guess I don't quite understand how to make an application and another application communicate with each other.

Does anyone have an example mfa they could share? This is a pretty perplexing technique that I really, really, really need to master to make my visions come to life.

Thanks

Edit: I am experimenting with it now, trying to understand it. I set up a blank frame with a bouncing active and set the Sub-Application object to pause the application when I press Q just to see if it would work...it didn't. What is the trick here? Can anyone help?

[dragonguy]

If you want a full screen pause menu, you can always modify my Pause Menu to do that.

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=107819#Post1078 19

[DavidN]

Perhaps upload what you have so far to the File Archive and see if anyone can point out what's gone wrong.

[Endymian]

If you want a full screen pause menu, you can always modify my Pause Menu to do that.

http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=107819#Post1078 19

Yeah! I actually saw yours too and I have been playing with it. This is pretty much what I want to do, but integrating it in a game is where I am getting lost. I also wonder if it would be possible to do this in a way that doesn't take the whole screen, but that is a minor concern over making it just work

[Endymian]

Perhaps upload what you have so far to the File Archive and see if anyone can point out what's gone wrong.

Below is a link with the mfa I made in 5 mins just trying the concept. I must be doing this wrong...
thanks for the help!

http://www.gamersuniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/pausing-test.mfa

[DavidN]

The "pause the application" action is something separate (it doesn't tell the sub-app to pause the main application, as you look to be using it). You only need a subapp object in the frame you want to be pausable. It should be set to point to "A frame in this application", your pause menu, and to flesh out the instructions from before -

The subapp should be set to Popup and Modal, and all Share boxes should be checked. "Visible on start" and "Create on start" for the subapp should be unchecked.

Events:

When (the event to trigger subapp's apperance - User Presses Q in your case) AND number of subapp = 0: Create subapp at (0,0) on top layer, show.

When subapp is finished (only one action when event loops): Destroy subapp.

Within the subapp frame, use "End of application" to end the frame and return to the main game.

To get an image of what's behind the subapp in the main frame, you can use the Screen Capture object to save to a picture just before the subapp is loaded and then load this in a Picture object in the background of the subapp frame. It sounds mad, but it works.

[Endymian]

I am confused, the way you are explaining it makes it sound like you are actually using two separate applications for this, and not just a frame within the application. Or are you?

[DavidN]

The subapp object, though it sounds like a separate application (and is treated as one), can be set up to point to another frame in your application that contains the pause menu.

[FUF]

hi,
DavidN,

first of all, thanks for enlighting us in using subapp,
unfortunately I came across a problem by the end of the process,

the global variable doesn't transfer the value back to the main application, my little subapp can read my global value which I have assigned in the main application and its displayed in a counter, but it doesn't return the "new" value back when I end the application.


any solution to that? or anyone who can participate please ?

thanks in advance!

[DavidN]

That's odd... the global variable should stay to whatever the subapp set it to when control returns to the main application. The most likely thing I can think of is that you have an event somewhere that's setting the global value back to what it was before the subapp started.