Copy Scene = lots of invalid paths

Help with this one guys... its more of a headache than anything because ultimately I COULD just REPROGRAM every single invalid path every time I copy a scene to make a new level..but when I'm planning 60+ levels..that is a lot of reprogramming of something that should already just work.

So here's the issue.
I created level 1 of my game.. YAY!
I copied Level 1 Scene and renamed it to Level 2 Scene
I noticed a lot of the rules and stuff now have "invalid path".

For example:
An instance of "snow surface" has:
Change Attribute: Set self.offsetX to self.position.x - invalid path

Invalid Path should have copied over just fine from the previous scene to be:
scene.collision surfaces.rock ledge.position.x

Maybe it is trying to still reference to scene 1 when it should automatically reference to the current scene (in this case scene 2).

I dunno... But it sure would save me the tedious task and countless hours of re entering each of the attributes if someone knows a way to fix this.

Thanks!

Comments

  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    Not sure if this is your issue or not, but I have copied scenes and logic and it has emptied out some of the logic. So I would click on the expression editor button which I thought logic was there, but once clicked it was entirely empty.
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    @FallacyStudios. (congrats on 500 posts hehe) No, I don't think that is my issue...

    It is simply that I created level 1 scene.. copied and renamed to level 2 scene and now a lot of stuff in the expression editor says "invalid path" in the copied version (level 2) of the scene.

    This is causing a lot of work to reprogram every single invalid path because I have to switch back to scene 1 to see what it was supposed to be referencing to and then switch back to scene 2 and edit it... and HOPEFULLY I don't miss an invalid path somewhere in my code...

    And on top of that, I'll have to do this for EVERY single new level in my game... this can't be right....
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    I've never known that to happen! Are they instances or prototypes? Is this Mac or Windows version?
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    Thanks. Yea I don't know then. I have never had that issue before and I quite frequently build the first scene as the template and just copy and paste them over and over. This shouldn't be a problem, but do you have actors open accessing Scene attributes?
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Thanks for the comments guys. I just tried to do it again, copied Level 1 Scene...and sure enough, still lots of 'invalid path's.

    @beefy_clyro This is using Windows version. Having a look through to see which actors have invalid paths, it appears to be only (so far I haven't found a counter example) in actors that are instanced and referencing to other actors in the scene.

    For example. I have an actor that needs to have its X, Y position constrained to a rock that the player can move around by dragging. In order to be able to constrain it to the rock's position then this actor needs to be instanced to have access to the scene attributes. I COULD make a global/game variable and just keep it updated with the rock's X, Y position and use that in a prototype..but that seems like a workaround and would cause hassles because what if I wanted to have 2 rocks..3....10...100...

    @FallacyStudios Yes, the actors are accessing scene attributes. For example:

    Constrain Attribute: actor.position.x to scene.collision surfaces.rock ledge.position.x

    However, when I copy and paste the scene... it is instead:
    Constrain Attribute: actor.position.x to invalid path.


    Thanks guys!
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    Yea see I haven't seen that issue using Mac version. So if I had to guess it is a bug on the Windows version.
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    Yup sorry, I'm a Mac user and copying scenes is always fine with me, no invalid paths no matter how i've set it up :(
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Well POOP!
  • VolontaArtsVolontaArts Member Posts: 510
    is your windows software old? because on my mac, resolution independence wasnt working, then i updated my mac to the newest and it started to work.
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    I have Windows GameSalad version 0.10.00. When I go to Help -->Check for Updates from inside GameSalad, it says it is up to date.

    I am downloading the latest version anyway. 0.10.30....oops, nevermind that was the Mac version. The Windows version available for download is 0.10.00, which is what I have installed already...so I do have the latest version.

    Maybe I should try to make a small dummy-project with an instanced actor and references to other actors in the scene and then copy the scene to see if I can replicate the problem.
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Ok, I tried it. I made a barebones project in Windows GameSalad creator. Two actors.

    Actor 1 = rock
    Actor 2 = thumb

    I instanced thumb so that it can reference the X, Y position of rock and I added the following 2 constraints to the instance of thumb.

    constrain attribute self.position.x to scene.background.rock.position.x
    constrain attribute self.position.y to scene.background.rock.position.y

    I tested it and it worked.

    I copied the scene and pasted it.

    The constrain attributes in the copied scene were now
    constrain attribute self.position.x to invalid path
    constrain attribute self.position.y to invalid path

    I also tried alt+drag drop to copy the scene... still same problem.... This is a bug or am I doing something wrong? This is going to cause a lot of work for me if this is a bug...
  • SquareHeartSquareHeart Member, PRO Posts: 69
    I bet if you didn't use scene attributes but constrained the X/Y out to a game attribute - it'd work fine.
  • The_Gamesalad_GuruThe_Gamesalad_Guru Member Posts: 9,922
    Layer linking is very sensitive. Those links can be broken even by reordering a layer. At this point the windows version is very unstable.
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Layer linking is very sensitive. Those links can be broken even by reordering a layer. At this point the windows version is very unstable.
    Oh lordy... Then I guess I'm left with 4 options:

    Option 1) Bite the bullet and reprogram all the "invalid paths" manually. Each new level will have several invalid paths that I will have to do over and over...

    Option 2) Try exporting, opening it on my mac.. copy+paste the scene and hope that no "invalid paths" appear. Then resave it.. and open it back up in Windows GameSalad to continue working. I prefer using my PC (so sue me!) to do work.

    Option 3) Use game variables.... eww... tacky.. workaroundish... and I already kinda tried it in a dummy project and it didn't work very well... I could try other ways, but I don't like the idea of using tons of game variables to store locations of actors.

    Option 4) Wait for someone to post a solution... the silver bullet that "if you just do this then you will no longer have this problem"...



    I've been doing Option 4 for the past day..... meanwhile my project is on hold... None of the other options look to appealing, but ...... *sigh*



  • BoomshackBarryBoomshackBarry Member Posts: 712
    Layer linking is very sensitive. Those links can be broken even by reordering a layer. At this point the windows version is very unstable.
    Option 2) Try exporting, opening it on my mac.. copy+paste the scene and hope that no "invalid paths" appear. Then resave it.. and open it back up in Windows GameSalad to continue working. I prefer using my PC (so sue me!) to do work.
    If you have access to a mac I'd strongly recommend using that for Gamesalad development and forgetting about the windows version for now. The mac version is more up to date and as FBS said more stable. Right now the windows version is okay for those who don't have access to a mac, but if you do that's definitley the best way to go, IMO.
  • MlabAppsMlabApps Member, PRO Posts: 79
    This has been happening for me to! However in my experience the bug only happens for local actor attributes. This is why I am trying to use game attributes when possible! ;)
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    Layer linking is very sensitive. Those links can be broken even by reordering a layer. At this point the windows version is very unstable.
    Option 2) Try exporting, opening it on my mac.. copy+paste the scene and hope that no "invalid paths" appear. Then resave it.. and open it back up in Windows GameSalad to continue working. I prefer using my PC (so sue me!) to do work.
    If you have access to a mac I'd strongly recommend using that for Gamesalad development and forgetting about the windows version for now. The mac version is more up to date and as FBS said more stable. Right now the windows version is okay for those who don't have access to a mac, but if you do that's definitley the best way to go, IMO.
    I was really hoping someone wouldn't say this..lol I have a mac and a PC but the mac is older and not as good. I use it for publishing and xcode programming. I don't want to buy a new mac... GameSalad has a windows version..thats a big plus for me. Most of the things in the windows version work well for me....but I understand its still in beta and has its problems. Still, I don't want to just switch to using my mac because I will be less productive. That is why I will try to export to mac, copy+paste the scene and then try to reopen it in windows version and continue working...
  • BoomshackBarryBoomshackBarry Member Posts: 712
    I totally get where you're coming from. Most of the updates going on (nightly builds etc) seem to be mainly based on the mac version, but I know they're looking at methods of bringing feature parity between the mac and windows version too, so if you hold out I'm sure the windows version will get some attention in the not too distant future.

    Not that this helps your current situation though :(
  • thumbfrenzylabzthumbfrenzylabz Member, PRO Posts: 50
    My temporary solution is Option 2...
    I have tried option 2 today ... open project in mac... copy scene....save... transfer back to PC...open it up.... it worked...no more invalid paths.

    So, every time I need to make a new level, I go copy the scene on my mac.... not the most convenient solution but I guess that's what I've got to do...

    Windows creator bug = coping scenes makes references to scene variables = invalid path.
Sign In or Register to comment.