What are layers good for?

Diegan

Hi, simple question. When should I need layers for, and what use should I give them? I don't quite see the need form them, so if you guys could give me an simple example or two about when would be a good moment to use layers, and how should they be used in that particular example, would be great.

Thx chaps

SlickZero

If you have a game that is larger than the iPhone window, you can have the camera follow the main actor and everything will move accordingly, and if you have your controls on a separate layer, and uncheck scrollable, the controls will always stay in position even while the background is moving along with the camera.

Diegan

Great! Thx so much!

What is the only use of layers? Prevent scroll from making actors dissapear?

SlickZero

I'm sure there are other uses, but I mainly use it for content management, so everything isn't just clumped together, and for keeping the controls in position. But you have to be careful when using it for content management, because some things can get covered up when using several layers, so you have to make sure things are on the proper layer so they display correctly.

Diegan

Great guys, thx!

I can see that when a game grows, there would be many actors in the game, all displaying in the actors tab. Can i group them so i dont have tons of them mixed together?

tenrdrmer

You can only rearrange the actors in the actor window but you cannot group them other than with tags. Tags are nice for some things but they do not provide much organization.

The layers are also goos for organizing your scene. If you have lots of background stuff put that in the bottom layer and you will never have to worry about your player walking behind them.