Hey I'm just wondering about how much more space your application would use if you used an active object rather than a backdrop object. I'm always hesitant to use active objects when I only need to move them some place during game play, but I don't see any other way. What is some input on this?
Actives only use more memory because they require the mmf runtime to check on them every loop, whereas backdrops are only rendered, and added to the collision mask if necessary. Actives also use more processing power. With todays computers you shouldn't have to worry about it too much. Just code efficiently.
I used actives as foreground objects in Sam which was the cause of the crappy performance, but some frames had kajillions of the things. I don't know if MMF2 is more effecient at rendering them but in MMF1.5 actives were a bit of a drain. Personally I'd just use backdrops, and if they had to be above the player I'd stick them on a higher layer.
It should do, as Monk said MMF2 wouldn't be running any event checks on them. I'd imagine that would take up more resources than a layer. But who knows with MMF2
I really need to find an old Bill Nye episode and conglomermash together a clip of the "DID YOU KNOW THAT.... NOOOOW YOU KNOW..." for these types of situations.
Will adding "Only one action where event loops" to events that it is acceptable for help with speed in a big way? This is assuming the event is only something miniscule like setting an alterable value to 1 or whatever.
Any action that the computer will have to perform will take processing power. Whether or not it actually effect performance is another thing. There is no way to really know for sure how mmf2 handles things. All the info you will ever get about the inner workings of the mmf2 monster will be obtained through experimentation, and observation. If the game gains performance by changing all the instances of "always" to "only one action when event loops" then go for it!
That's a good thing, I've been heavily using groups in this point & click adventure I'm doing. Though it isn't exactly a CPU intensive genre, I still have a pretty efficient system going. Anyone interested in the project can PM me, since I'm looking for people who are willing to do some art.
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