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ingenious.applications

Hello all,
I've taken a hiatus from development for the past couple months for a few reasons, but now that I'm getting back into the action, I wanted to see if I could get a couple of bones thrown my way.

1) My app uses a few very large tables; roughly 500 cells each in total (only one or two at a time; determined by difficulty chosen). I've been told that GS doesn't exactly work well with this type of app....after the fact, so I would like some veterans to weigh in on this one, please. Assuming that tables of this magnitude work fine within GS, my question is if someone could give me some examples and/or post a template showing me how I could use table cell values as rule conditions. The only alternative I can think of...not that it's a better one at all...would be to use attributes in place of every, single table cell I am trying to reference.

2) I'm having a huge issue with resolution independence. For one, I can't even figure out how to use it (where the option is, etc). Secondly, I wanted to make sure that I'm on the right track. I've poured many months into my app prior to this requirement, so I was told by someone that if I simply double (to the exact pixel) each image (hopefully they don't become too distorted) and overwrite the file in GS, I don't have to manually replace every actor I have already placed. If I have to replace every actor (and thus all the rules attached), I might as well scrap the whole project, so I hope that isn't the case.


Any insight to these would be greatly appreciated.

jonmulcahy

i think GS only has trouble when you have more than 999 rows in multiple directions. I have an app that has 999x999 rows and columns and it works great. for rule conditions, you can check out the latest nightly if you are pro, or wait for the next major release, it should have an expression editor on both sides of the rule expression.


for RI:
1. make sure resolution independence is turned on the project info tab
2. design your artwork 2x as large as the actor (so a 100px actor should have artwork that is 200px, as @danieldoe said)
3. ENSURE that all artwork is divisible by 4. (200/2 is 100, which is the size of the actor. 100/2 is 50 which is the pixel it will center on when placed in the game, you can't rest on .5 a pixel, it can turn out blurry)
4.Drag artwork into GS and program as normal.

ingenious.applications

1. make sure resolution independence is turned on the project info tab
2. design your artwork 2x as large as the actor (so a 100px actor should have artwork that is 200px, as @danieldoe said)
3. ENSURE that all artwork is divisible by 4. (200/2 is 100, which is the size of the actor. 100/2 is 50 which is the pixel it will center on when placed in the game, you can't rest on .5 a pixel, it can turn out blurry)
4.Drag artwork into GS and program as normal.

1) Is resolution independence something you can only select from a newer version of GS?
2) You say to enlarge my artwork 2x it's current size, which is what I referenced as well. However, if it's also supposed to be divisible by 4, what should I do in the event that I am modifying/updating an image that is an odd number, typically not divisible by 4? If I can simply make the new size divisible by for, that's fine. I just want to make sure that won't screw things up more for me.

tatiang

1) 500 cells is actually quite small. GameSalad can easily handle large tables... something of the magnitude of 500 columns * 500 rows = 250,000 cells. It all depends on what you're asking GS to do with that information, but straightforward data retrieval and mathematical calculations should present no problem at all, especially with only 500 cells.

ingenious.applications

i think GS only has trouble when you have more than 999 rows in multiple directions. I have an app that has 999x999 rows and columns and it works great. for rule conditions, you can check out the latest nightly if you are pro, or wait for the next major release, it should have an expression editor on both sides of the rule expression.

Any comment on how to use them as rule conditions...or an idea of when the next release fixing this issue will be released?

ingenious.applications

*Bump*

The_Gamesalad_Guru

It good to always be mindful to specify what platform of creator you're using aka Mac or Windows. This way people can give you better info as they are two different beasts.

ingenious.applications

It good to always be mindful to specify what platform of creator you're using aka Mac or Windows. This way people can give you better info as they are two different beasts.

Thanks for the tip. I am using the Mac creator...although it's almost exactly a year old (the mac mini can't handle the next OS, so it's stuck behind with GS. I have an incredibly powerful pc, so I've pondered transitioning over to the Windows creator as long as it wouldn't create any conflicts when then trying to publish to the app store later on.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Yeah you really need to be using creator 10.3.

ingenious.applications

So, changing over to the windows creator would be my best bet, correct?

The_Gamesalad_Guru

I'm not a fan of that either but if you have no other options I guess so. If you're serious about game making I would be looking for a new mac.

jonmulcahy

you need to be on 10.3 in order to publish due to some changes apple made last spring, and the windows creator is pretty far behind in terms of features.

time for a new (to you) mac

ingenious.applications

I would love to buy a new mac, but that isn't an option at the present time. So, with this current setup, I would believe that I could do at least 90% of the work and then take the files to a friend's home, who has the latest and greatest of mac products to finish it all off.

ingenious.applications

you need to be on 10.3 in order to publish due to some changes apple made last spring, and the windows creator is pretty far behind in terms of features.

time for a new (to you) mac

1) Is the windows creator at least better than using a year+ old version of GS (I want to say 9.93, but I'm not 100% positive on that)? I have access to do final tweaks and publishing at a friend's place, but the bulk of my build will have to be completed at my home.

2) Could someone please assist me with my concern with getting tables to work?

ingenious.applications

I hate to have do bump this again, but....
*bump*

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Yes current windows is better than anything below version 10 Mac. Having the proper equipment to do a project is vital. If you don't have the proper equipment you might want to do a smaller game first and put the demanding one on hold. I know it kinda sucks but such is life. Watch my videos on tables as to your other questions. The resolution independent check box is right under where you select project type, like iPad, iPhone et..