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1

Bug Archives / Fullscreen : Scale to Fit (Letterbox) has Weird Bugs

« on: June 03, 2015, 01:33:41 am »

I have noticed, that the recommended "Scale to Fit" (Letterbox) Fullscreen method for pixel art games is buggy.
http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/full-screen-mode/

It leads to weird display errors on several machines (PC) and does NOT respect the aspect ratio.
Unfortunately the tests so far do not indicate any clear pattern.
On some machines “Letterbox“ works perfect ... on other machines graphic issues appear.

I have posted a detailed described case here:
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,41621.0.html

Also the Stencyl user Bombini has confirmed the buggy behaving of the fullscreen- scale to fit (letterbox) method.

Is this bug known?

2

Ask a Question / Fullscreen Graphic Issues (Scale to Fit-Letterbox/Wrong Aspect Ratio) on PC

« on: June 02, 2015, 08:33:46 am »

Even if my game works fine on my own Mac and gamer PC, the exported PC file seems not to work accurate on some other PCs.
As soon as fullscreen mode is toggled, graphic issues appears in 50% of the cases.
It seems, that the scale mode (Scale to fit ((Letterbox)) doesn’t respect the aspect ratio.
Also a strange display error appears on the left edge of one actor art.
(See attached Images)

The weird thing:
If the user toggles the fullscreen mode off and on again, the issue disappears in “most“ of the cases.
Toggling the fullscreen mode off and on again, leads to the issue again.

A friend from Brazil was so kind and recorded a video of this bug:
https://vimeo.com/129532805

It’s not yet clear in wich case this error appears, since the exported file seems to work perfect on my personal PC. But also another friend reported this issue on his PC.

Maybe this issue depends on the monitor resolution?

Example:
It seems to work fine on a laptop with 1366x768 px resolution.
Error appears on a desktop PC with 1920x1080 px resolution.

Facts:
I originally created this game on my Mac and transferred the project to my PC.
I have used the Stencyl build 8281 on Mac & PC.
On my PC I have installed Visual Studio 2013 express.
The conspicuous display error appears on the left edge of a 32x22 px transparent actor art.
Game Display Settings: 852x480 px
I have used the recommended Desktop Game Settings for pixel art games:
http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/full-screen-mode/
Strange: I had a related issue on my Mac a while ago, but it disappeared by adjusting the game settings.
See the old topic here: http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,40402.msg227101.html#msg227101

You can download the exported test file here:

PC
http://siriusrising.mazeon.com/downloads/2015-06-01/2015-06-01_SiriusRising_PC.zip
MAC
http://siriusrising.mazeon.com/downloads/2015-06-01/2015-06-01_SiriusRising_Mac.zip

Press "F" for fullscreen.

I really don’t know how to handle this issue since I don’t have this issue on my personal PC.
I would appreciate help of some experienced Stencyler’s here!
Any tipp helps!

3

Ask a Question / Is it possible that a scene region drastically affect the games performance?

« on: May 19, 2015, 02:22:40 pm »

Hi there,

I created a region in the scene, which triggers a grid move script when the player enters the region .
(via a game attribute (boolean = Block Drone Alarm, see attached PNG)).

The triggered script is complex (with random number generation etc.), but it works well during game play when it’s not triggered via the region. No frame drops.
But as soon as I add a scene event (player enters/exits region) to trigger it, the frame rate goes under 20 FPS when the player enters the region.

It seems to affect only the Flash export.
The desktop version runs without performance loss with constant 59 FPS.

Are there specific things I must observe in regard to scene regions?

Every tip is welcome.
Thanks in advance.

PS:
(The BlockDrone Silo behavior uses the boolean to start remotely another actor behavior with the complex script.)

4

Ask a Question / What are the system requirements for the exported desktop games (Win/Mac)?

« on: May 18, 2015, 11:24:19 am »

Hi there,

in case I want to spread my exported desktop game, what shall I write in regard to the minimum system requirements?
Does someone know the exact requirements for Win & Mac?

Thanks in advance.

5

Resolved Questions / [SOLVED] Collision Group Detection seems to work incorrectly

« on: May 14, 2015, 12:32:07 pm »

Tested Builds: 8274 & 8218 for Mac

I figured out that the collision group detection seems to work incorrectly in my case.

Basic Physics Settings:
World = No Gravity
Enemy = Cannot be pushed, Can’t Rotate, Not Affected by Gravity
Actor Mode = Normal (Box 2D)
Normal box collision shape (Enemy Actor)

My moving Enemy Actor should collide with tiles & the Player Actor.
The Enemy Actor detects the collision with the Player, but it doesn’t detects the collision with the tiles.
(See animated GIF 1)

Double & tribble checked the collision groups … that shouldn’t be the problem.

After some time of experimenting, I figured out that changing the kind of Actor Type from “Cannot be pushed“ to ”Normal“ solved the issue …  (Animated GIF 2)
But that’s a really bad adjustment and brings problems with it in regard to my gameplay. :-/

Changing the Actor Mode from ”Normal“ to “Simple“ doesn’t work … My Enemy simply do “nothing” after changing to “Simple”.
(Holds position at x/y of self … no collision detection anymore).

Is this a known bug?
If so … is there a known work around?

Any tipps are welcome!

GIF 1 (Moving Enemy, Actor Type = Cannot be pushed)


GIF 2 (Moving Enemy, Actor Type = Normal)

6

Ask a Question / How do I mask/hide parts of a shadow actor when it’s not on ground?

« on: May 13, 2015, 04:35:22 am »

Hi there,

I’m working on a Uridium-like top down shooter and I would like to hide parts of the shadow actor whilst the transition from space- to ground-parts.

Currently I’m working with scene regions (in addition with positioning request) and actor fading (opacity) to do that, but it’s quite inaccurate. The animated GIF below should give you a better picture how I do it currently.

I’m looking for a way to mask my shadow actor in an accurate way, so that I don’t need to fade it. I know that I could handle it with a black (color of the space) layer „above“ the shadow actor, but I would like to use a spacey parallax background with moving stars, therefore this isn’t the solution I look for.

Positive example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_QG7B7yp-o

Does anyone know a solution how to mask my shadow actor on space parts?

Any kind of tipps are welcome!
Thanks in advance.

Current way I hide the shadow actor:

7

Ask a Question / Standard brightness effect causes performance issues on desktop app (MAC)

« on: May 05, 2015, 04:34:52 am »

Hey there,

I figured out that using the standard "Adjust Brightness" effect is causing critical performance issues on my exported MAC app file. All other effects (Tint, Saturation etc.) work fine, but aren't what I'm looking for.

The brightness effect doesn't cause any problems on the exported flash file - therefore I'm wondering if this is a MAC specific bug ... (haven't yet tested a PC export)

I have read this Stencylpedia section:
Don’t continually re-apply effects every frame of the game.
http://www.stencyl.com/help/view/effects/

I would love to use this effect to give the player a visual feedback when an enemy is hit.
Since the player projectiles are fast and the hit feedback should be shown continually, I'm wondering if there is a way to stick to this effect via a workaround or something similar. 

The effect is included in the "health" behavior - in a quite normal way I think.
See attached.

Any tipps how to avoid these performance issues?

Thanks in advance.

8

Resolved Questions / [SOLVED] Help needed for "Ellipse Around a Point" Behavior

« on: May 01, 2015, 03:27:17 pm »

Hi there,

I've found a behavior by Northfield82 at Stencylforge what I was exactly looking for.
It's a behavior what makes the actor rotate around in an ellipse around a point of origin.
Unfortunately the actor starts to move at the "Y origin" and "End of X Radius (A)" position and not at "X/Y of Self".
I haven't found a way to change this yet and would like to ask if someone could give me an advice how to do it?

The behavior is based on the "Rotate Around a Point" behavior in which the actor starts to move at "X/Y of Self".
I've tried to copy from it, but failed ...

Any tipps would be great!
Thanks in advance.

9

Ask a Question / Display Errors in Fullscreen Mode after Desktop Publishing

« on: April 13, 2015, 09:41:42 am »

Hi there,

after publishing the desktop version (Mac) of my game, everything looks crispy and accurate at 1:1.

But as soon as I toggle the fullscreen mode, some display errors appears.
Some sprites seems to have a dark “glow“, the edges are darken (thin contours) and uncrsipy. Lighter tiles have a little dark dot in the corner (looks disturbing especially on lighter monochrome tiles). Also some fine artifacts appears here and there (thin lines).
Since the art work of my game is very minimalistic, these display errors are a bit annoying.
I have attached some pics to show these issues.

My export settings are as recommended for retro pixel art games.

Does anyone know this problem? Is it an export bug?
What can I do to avoid these errors?

Thanks in advance!

10

Ask a Question / "Null" Result : How do I Get Attribute Values from Other Behaviors?

« on: March 25, 2015, 02:30:24 pm »

Dear community,

unfortunately the "Get/Set Attributes for Other Behaviors" part in the Stencylpedia couldn't help me.

I would like to create a HUD with a speed bar which shows the current speed of the player (as a number & bar).
I know how to do it with "game attributes", but have no clue how to use these "remote" attributes which seem to be more comfortable in the long term.

My movement behavior contains a "_CurrentSpeed" attribute which works fine and shows the right numbers.
I created a scene behavior with a simple "Drawing" Event which should show a bar (or text) with the attribute value of my movement behavior:
The only output is "null".

I have attached the code blocks of my HUD & movement behavior.
What have I done wrong?

Any help is much appreciated!

11

Ask a Question / Help needed for ground detection whilst actor is hovering

« on: March 23, 2015, 07:33:19 am »

Dear community,

I plan to start a hover board game and my player should hover with a fixed offset over ground tiles. If The hover board touches the ground, the player will fall off the board.

The problem:
The player actor needs a ground detection to set the x/y position and animations (e.g. for jumps). But when the hover board should never touch the ground, how can I detect if it’s hovering over a ground tile?

A little graphic with the game art and collision shapes for a better understanding is attached to this topic.

My approach to solve this problem:
In fact, the „shadow“ (2) of the board is the main player actor.
It detects if the player art (1/hover board rider) is over a ground tile (3) and controls the animation & position of the rider.
In other words, it’s like a „remote control“ for the main character.

Am I on the right track or is there a better - more simple - solution to solve this problem?

Any kind of tip helps!
Thanks in advance!

12

Chit-Chat / Does someone know a well executed horizontal shmup, done with Stencyl?

« on: May 22, 2014, 06:00:59 am »

Inspired by Vanguard, Scramble, R-Type, Uridium etc., I'm playing with the idea to develop a classic horizontal (or vertical) shoot 'em up with Stencyl.

Not sure if Stencyl is the right engine for such kind of games.
Good examples done with Stencyl could wipe away my doubts ...

So, if you know some nice examples, please let me know!
TY!

13

Bug Archives / Parallax bug with animated backgrounds in Stencyl 3.0/3.1

« on: May 20, 2014, 03:56:03 am »

[EDIT]
Maybe you need to look closer to the animations to see the issue ... Thanks for the hint, dripple!
[EDIT]

Hi there,

I've found a bug regarding frame animated layers in combination with parallax scrolling.

This bug report is a summary of this topic I posted some days ago in the 3.x category:
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,32090.0.html

I would like to make a parallax background with 3 layers.
Each layer is animated (6 or more frames).
The animation of the background is playing fine when the value of "horizontal scroll speed" is "ZERO".
As soon as I enter a value for "horizontal scroll speed", the animation of the layer is NOT playing anymore ... only the first frame of the layer/background is shown.

I tested my parallax scene in both Stencyl versions (2.2/3.0 & 3.1)
The layer in the middle is animated (some TINY details are moving up and down / left and right).
Back- and front-layers are simple PNGs without frame-animations.

The scene is NOT playing the TINY animation in 3.0/3.1 :
http://www.mazeon.net/test/Parallax-Test-Stencyl3.swf

I haven't changed anything and it works fine in 2.2:
http://www.mazeon.net/test/Parallax-Test-Stencyl2.swf

Therefore I came to the conclusion, that it must be a BUG of Stencyl 3.0/3.1.
(In addition, the tempo seems to be different with the same value (3.0/3.1 is faster).)

14

Windows / Mac / Flash / HTML5 / Baby Mummy's Curse : It's done!

« on: March 13, 2014, 04:16:03 pm »

Dear Stencyl community,

after one year of development, I’ve completed my first game from scratch. I never have done such an extensive project in my spare time before, therefore I am really excited about the fact, that this game is really “finished”.
I came to the realization that I’m a horribly lame developer, though.

The one or  the other already knows "Baby Mummy's Curse" from the Stencyl Arcade section.
However,  the official release is fully playable online now .

I have implemented two play modes for the release: easy and hard. If you play the tough “Hard Mode”, no Golden Ankh’s will appear and the restart/recharge feature is disabled. Only three lives - like back in the days!

As soon as it’s clear that the release is bug-free, I will publish a standalone app for MAC & PC on Game Jolt, Indie DB and itch.io in addition.

You can play it on:

Stencyl Arcade:
http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/19043

Game Jolt:
http://gamejolt.com/games/platformer/baby-mummy-s-curse/16394/

itch.io:
http://mazeon.itch.io/baby-mummys-curse

Or on my server:
http://babymummyscurse.mazeon.com/

Hope you like "Baby Mummy"!
Big thanks to all those Stencylers who gave me priceless feedback on my game and answers to my forum questions!
YOU ROCK!!!

15

Ask a Question / Ladder Top Issue : Player gets stuck from time to time

« on: September 03, 2013, 09:33:24 am »

Hi there,

since a while I have an issue with the ladder top actor.
The player gets stuck on the border of any ladder top actor. 
It's exactly on the transition to the normal ground tile.

I reckon that the "on ground" behavior is not working accurate when the player moves from a tile to an actor ... but not sure here.

This issue appears only from time to time, therefore it's kinda hard for me to solve this problem.

Here's a little video to illustrate the issue:
https://vimeo.com/73694252

If you jump or move right/left, the problem is solved and everything's fine ...
Hmmm ... really strange!

Does someone has an idea how to solve this issue?
Thanks a lot in advance!!!