Collectible items to appear once?

[N64Mario]

Say you have a collectible item (active object) on the map editor. It is a 1-up.
You make a condition player collides with item. The item on the map gets destroyed and it adds 1 to the # of lives.

How can I keep this 1-up item from re-appearing on the map every time the stage restarts? I just want it to appear on the map once. Just want it to spawn there only once when you start the stage, but not restart at it.
I tried setting the 1-up as a global object, but I don't think that works. any other way around this?

[DavidN]

I believe that setting it as a global object would be a way to do it, but you would need to set it up to, say, change one of its alterable values before it was destroyed, and then check for this value when the frame is restarted to destroy it if it's already been collected.

An alternative is to store the state of that item having been collected in a global value, or one of the save methods such as INI+ or any of the Array objects - search the forums or look at the Tutorials link on the right for more on these.

[N64Mario]

Sorry to bring this topic back up, but I'm having trouble with this regarding the same issue.

Say for example, there are 2 1-ups on the screen. One on the left side, one on the right side of the screen.

The player picks up the 1up one on the right, but leaves the one 1up on the left. When I go to restart the frame (either when the player dies, or a temporary debug restart), both 1ups either BOTH get destroyed, OR none of them get destroyed at all. I set the 1up alterable value A to 1 on player collision. Then 1up alt. value A > 0 = destroy 1up. But that one collected keeps appearing. I even tried setting the collectible 1up item as a global object, but I don't think that helped.

When I set global value X to 1 when the 1-up on the right is collected, then restart the frame, they BOTH get destroyed. So maybe there is an error with my code, I'm not sure.

Maybe I should try to make a collectible item invisible spawner instead? I don't know, what do you think?

[nivram]

You need to save the value(s) to an array or INI. Once you restart the application, the values are reset.

Marv

[N64Mario]

But why would I need an INI just for this? Aren't INI scripts meant for saving/loading game positions and saved states? I would think there would be a simpler method of making certain items appear once before collected without the need of INI scripts.

[nivram]

You really don't have to use INI. Any storage object will work. Once you stop your application, values reset. The INI and other storage object are also used to save values also.

Did I read your post correctly? You are re-starting your game each time? Re-starting the frame itself, no storage method will work. You need to run Application, not frame.

If you have the Associative Array Extension, I have an example of this on my website.

Marv

[N64Mario]

Yes, I am running the frame only, and restarting the same frame.

Should I try to run the whole application first, THEN restarting the frame to see if it works?

[nivram]

The values will reset. If you are using a data storage system, you have to "run application". Values need to be stored, so they keep their proper settings once you end your application. Save them prior to ending the application. Load them after you start your application.

Marv