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Question for Makslane: Tiled Actors

PostPosted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:00 pm
by pyrometal
This question is for you Makslane, since I doubt anyone else would know the answer except the the man which created GE himself! I wanted to know more specifically how the tile actor functions work when used. For my project, Gelman!, I have 4 main tiled actors which constitute my map, the floor actor (which is also the walls and ceiling), the foreground actor which puts visual elements like grass take priority in Z-depth over the player, a background actor which is used to put visual elements in the back of the two previous actors, and finally a water tile which, of course, acts as water. My question concerns the efficiency of tiles. Are the tiled actors loaded entirely at all times, or are only the visible tiles loaded into the view? I have to know, would it be better for me to use only those 4 actors and tile enormous maps with them, or would it be better to create more actors which act the exact same way for every section in my game? Also, I'm using activation regions for every section, does this affect the tiles in any way? I discovered that the tiles' initial positions must be in the activation region in which the view starts, otherwise they do not get created. Please let me know a few of these answers, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance! --Pyro

Re: Question for Makslane: Tiled Actors

PostPosted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:07 pm
by Kalladdolf
Question for makslane as well:
Do tile-created maps slow down the game?
If yes, would there be a better way to make one?

Re: Question for Makslane: Tiled Actors

PostPosted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:09 pm
by makslane
pyrometal wrote:Are the tiled actors loaded entirely at all times, or are only the visible tiles loaded into the view?
I'm using activation regions for every section, does this affect the tiles in any way?


The load is per actor. If you have one actor holding a big tile, all tile will be load with this actor.

pyrometal wrote:I have to know, would it be better for me to use only those 4 actors and tile enormous maps with them, or would it be better to create more actors which act the exact same way for every section in my game?


More actors is better. For example, if you have 10 levels, each with your own activation region, is better use 10 floor actors. So, each floor will be loaded and unloaded as necessary.

==Kalladdolf== wrote:Do tile-created maps slow down the game?


No.

Re: Question for Makslane: Tiled Actors

PostPosted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:20 pm
by pyrometal
Thank you very much, now I know how to proceed with my games' design.