GP2X questions + a sound question

[foleyjo]

i have a couple of questions about developing games for the GP2X.

1 - my player actor is as you would think controlled by the control stick. However i cant seem to get it to move diagonally. Ive got up down left right doing there relevant moves but they don't work together. I tried adding up+left and up + right but they didn't work either.

example --
key down up,left all keys pressed

Code: Select all

x = xprevious - 5;
y = yprevious - 5;


2- What should I do with my images(sprites and backgrounds) to make them optimized for Gp2X. What i mean is what sizes and colour limits should I use. Especially for my backgrounds which at the moment are infinite.

3- Is it ok to use transparency or should I avoid it. I had a nice cloud effect going over my game but it made the game crawl. i really want it in. Im hoping question 2 will provide me with a way of using it but if its the transparency causing problems then Ill have to kill it.
It was basically a sky image with loads of transparancy cloned and then 1 went down while the other went right both at different speeds

4 - Can I get infinite sound loops or do I just have to put a very large number.

[pixelpoop]

To move diagonally use, home, page up, page down, and end.
If you click ->config ->game properties and set game resolution to GP2X. then look at the bottom pull down menu and you will see all the keys available and you may also remap them here.

Sprite color/resolution doesn't matter because GE changes them all to its own thing once you export. So just make your sprites 72dpi and the highest color bits you can. I believe that the smaller the image you are using as an infinite actor the better your fps.

Transparencies should be avoided, especially ones that cover the whole screen. For every overlap of transparencies you have the screen has to be redrawn, so your GP2X is doing twice the work for every frame.
Instead of transparencies you could take a solid cloud and punch a whole pattern out of it like old school games. It won't look as nice but it should up your fps.

Sound loops I'm not sure about I think if you leave the field blank or put in a 0 that it loops almost infinitely.

[foleyjo]

THANK YOU

Sorted my diagonals out now. Will change my backgrounds later. The main image is a big one. Ill reduce it to a smaller size.
Sad that I have to loose my cloud effect but I choose speed over graphics

As for sound loop I got an error when I tried what you said. Ive just increased the loops to in the thousands