Looking for some navigation tips
Hi guys,
I have working with gamesalad for quite some time now and my game has got quite complex to the point the I need a few tips and pointers. Here are some of the issues I am coming across
1. Selecting very small actors in a scene is very tricky i.e. 1x12pixels. I find that I have to double click just above or to the left it to get to its properties.
2. Finding invisible actors in scene requires me to change the alpha on the actor.
3. Layer organisation is quite tricky too. I often unlock actors in scene so they can use the properties of other actors, but as I iterate and test the game functionality I find it can be a very fiddly.
So my question, is there a way to easily find, select and organise actors in the scene? I almost imagine another panel that has a list of all actors in layered order with a quick search filter...
I have working with gamesalad for quite some time now and my game has got quite complex to the point the I need a few tips and pointers. Here are some of the issues I am coming across
1. Selecting very small actors in a scene is very tricky i.e. 1x12pixels. I find that I have to double click just above or to the left it to get to its properties.
2. Finding invisible actors in scene requires me to change the alpha on the actor.
3. Layer organisation is quite tricky too. I often unlock actors in scene so they can use the properties of other actors, but as I iterate and test the game functionality I find it can be a very fiddly.
So my question, is there a way to easily find, select and organise actors in the scene? I almost imagine another panel that has a list of all actors in layered order with a quick search filter...
Comments
Either select through the layers panel, or zoom in using OSX's built in zoom (have smoothing turned off so you can see individual pixels) and click, you need to learn which pixel on your cursor actively selects in OSX, it's not the tip of the cursor but one of the black pixels (2nd from the top) on the lefthand side. This zooming in method is easily the fastest for when you want to select tiny objects (I had a bunch of 2x1 pixel objects in one project) certainly faster that heading over to the layers panel each time.
2. Finding invisible actors in scene requires me to change the alpha on the actor.
When constructing your project keep all your actors visible (alpha = 1) so you can see what is going on.
Then make the following behaviour: [Change Attribute / self.colour / alpha= 0] and cut and paste it into all your actors that need to be invisible when the game starts.
Result = you can see all your actors when designing your game, but those that need to be invisible turn invisible when you hit 'preview'.