Accelerometer issue - phone sleeps

sniffy176

Hi, newbie here so please go easy!

I'm using PC and Windows 7 with latest version of Gamesalad.

I'm looking at creating a labyrinth style game game (top down ball rolling) so I got the basic mechanics working, published, and then tested on my Desire S.

Problem is - because you don't interact with the screen, the phone falls asleep as it would normally if there is a period of inactivity.

Has anyone had this issue and is there an easy fix that is staring me in the face? I've tried searching around and have come up blank so far.

Thanks in advance!

Chakku

@sniffy176 ....I can't think of a way around that, but I would imagine that the player does accidentally touch the screen a bit, and doesent it dim before it shuts off? Usually, when I don't otuch my electronics for a while, they dim, THEN shut off, and my reflex is to touch it when it dims, so it ights up again. I'm talking about Apple devices, though.

My suggestion is to make some minor reason for the player to touch the screen, depending on the game.

Hope this helps,
Chakku

sniffy176

Thanks Chakku,

Yeah that was my initial thought, but in reality that would completely change and defeat the concept of the game.

If you are trying to slowly get this ball rolling through a tight gap or around a tricky obstacle and then the screen starts to dim or you have to press the screen, the control of the ball is massively compromised. It's going to ruin the whole experience.

I'm just wondering if I can setup an actor off screen that has any kind of behaviour that fools the phone into thinking something is being pressed/touched.

If this is in fact a problem that can't be solved, I'm suprised t-shirt booth has a youtube tutorial up explaining how to even create this type of game.

Anyway, I'm rambling! Appreciate the reply and hopefully there is a solution!

Sniffy.

Chakku

@sniffy176

NO, you can't trick the phone; it's not possible with GameSalad.

However, I did think of a solution! Time the amount of seconds before the screen dims and create a rule:

Rule:
When touch is pressed

Timer:
After (seconds before screen dims) seconds:
Pause game and select a scene where there's an actor that says "screen is dimmed, so tap to resume" or something

I'm certain this should work, but ask me if you have any questions.

Hope this helps
Chakku

sniffy176

Nice thinking!

Unfortunately that would just ruin the game if it keeps pausing every 45 seconds. (the duration my phone is set to)

Plus each phone will have different time-out settings.

Chakku

@sniffy176

Unfortunately, this is the best that can be done.

Another suggestion would be to tell the user that he needs to change his screen settings to "never dim" in order to fully experience the game.

Hope this helps,
Chakku

sniffy176

@Chakku

Thanks for the advice, I'm not really sure users would appreciate that option and I'm fairly sure the ratings would reflect badly on such a request.

Not to worry, if this is something Gamesalad cannot do, then I'll have to scrap the idea. Thankfully I didn't get too far into development before noticing the problem.

Sorry to sound so negative, but the only valid option I feel is that the game does prevent the screen dimming while ever the ball is moving.

Thanks again!
Sniffy.

Chakku

@sniffy176 Well, the users can't (shouldn't!) blame you for a default feature of their phone...but I dod see what you mean. I develop for Apple devices, and don't know how critical the average Android user is, so perhaps you are right about getting bad reviews.

Hope it goes well,
Chakku