Text displays instantly? Don't want that

[dizzyinc]

So I am working on a new game and have never had this issue in MY LIFE! but for some reason now I do,

in the game a cut scene initiates transfering the player to a new map, on the new map a series of parallel processes run and display a scene.

Then the scene ends, character is transfered to another map and the game continues on. My problem is, directly after that scene is some text,

it displays instantly instead of like regular, what i mean is a whole line of text displays, then the next like .2 seconds after and if the message isn't that long

the whole box just closes if I have it set to autoclose. I have tried using /@@ since I am using ATS 3.0c but doesn't do anything.

using \S[1]\< helps slightly and even putting \| helps slightly but it still is way too fast. 

 

Game's page: 

http://gamedevunderground.com/game/horror/the-end

 

Here is a beta package for anyone who wishes to help with this: 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8hfna45ni7upje/T...0End%20Beta.rar

 

Please someone help me with this, it's just weird, iv tried everything and can't get it to work, perhaps someone from an outside perspective can take a look and see what's going on.

 

THANK YOU!!

 

[Shaz]

Show us screenshots of your event please.


And since you posted in Script Support, let us know if you're using additional scripts (and link to them, don't just list them).

 

[dizzyinc]

I provided a demo, which shows all of the events and scripts I am using. That's the point of providing a demo, so you can see exactly what is being done. Screenshots are not going to help in this case considering you'd only be able to see what I am talking about if I were to screen record and post as a video. I would suggest opening the edit file in the demo package to see the events and such. 

 

[Celianna]

... Not everyone wants to download a 100MB file just to see your tiny problem, when you could show us screenshots instead.

 

[Shaz]

Or playing through who-knows-how-much of a game to HOPEFULLY get to the point where the problem happens.


Normally we like to take a look at the event itself, then if that doesn't reveal where the issue is, check what scripts you have that could be affecting it. Asking for a copy of your game is a last resort if we can't solve the problem by other means. And if your demo allows us only to PLAY and SEE the problem, but not to edit your project and do some debugging, then the demo is not even useful (I don't know if that's the case with yours, but people HAVE provided compressed demos in the past, assuming just seeing it happen would be enough to find a solution).

 

[Tsukihime]

I provided a demo, which shows all of the events and scripts I am using. That's the point of providing a demo, so you can see exactly what is being done.

Unless the problem cannot be demonstrated in less than 2 MB I really don't see why you need to upload your entire game. Remove all the graphics and all the audio; demos for debugging shouldn't be more than 2 MB.

 

[dizzyinc]

I feel like you all are being very ummm lazy considering that games nowadays are 10gb in size, 100mb is very very small compared. 

Considering that I have already removed all unnecessary files and the only thing that is actually making the file that big is the soundtrack and sound effects (audio) that I have included.

Once again considering that if all files and such are not as the original to re-produce the problem then there is literally no point, that means having all character, events, audio, etc. exactly as they were set up when the problem arose. As I said above, which you must have missed, the edit file is included in the package, which means you can open this in rpg maker vx and see all the events and such just as it is. I stated that in the 1st post and my 3rd post

The problem arises in the second map, there is only 4 maps, this game has barely begun being worked on. Which is why it's so odd that I have come across this problem.

The problem starts in the second map after a cut scene ends, in that cut scene the player is transferred to another map where 30 events run as parallel processes to display the cut scene. Which is why haha I cannot simply show you the event because I feel like I don't know which one is causing the issue. the parallel process events end, close out and the player transfers to another map where the text begins to display after a short fade in. 

Simply it cannot be shown with a screenshot, yet i explained that twice already lol if you would just play the demo, which is only 4 maps long and the issue arises almost 2 min. into gameplay, youd actually see what I am talking about. 

If i remove anything from how the game was set up when the error occured, that even included bgm and bgs, the problem may not arise again, i have been using the engine for 5 years now, I think I know what I am talking about.

EDIT: to add on further, i barely use any files from enterbrain to make my game, in short I use a lot of custom files and custom music thus explaining again why the file may be larger. Now that I have wasted 10 min of my life explaining this when it should have been quiet aparent, especially to a MOD, I would love it if someone would please actually help me with this issue instead of complaining about the file size  

 

[Shaz]

WHY do you have 30 events running as parallel processes just to do one cutscene? I'm guessing THAT may have something to do with your problem.


Cutscenes work best when you have ONE event controlling all the others, and that event should be set to autorun, not parallel process. Since you've been using the engine for 5 years now, you probably should have figured that out on your own. It's just bad design, and will be incredibly confusing trying to figure out who's doing what.


That's as much help as I'm giving until you rework your cutscene to use ONE autorun/parallel controlling event and no other parallel process events (I really DO think that's likely to be at the heart of your problem). I'm "too lazy" to even try looking at a cutscene made up of 30 parallel process events.


Remember, WE are helping YOU. WE have our own projects to work on, a forum to support, most of us have other jobs, and family. WE do not have all the time in the world to download big projects and sift through 30 events looking for a problem. And nowhere did you previously say you've removed all unnecessary files, that there are only 4 maps in the whole project, or that the problem occurs only 2 minutes into the game. You said "a" cutscene, not "the first" cutscene, and cutscenes could be anywhere in the game. And it should not be "apparent that you barely use any Enterbrain resources but replace them all with your own" to anyone. If it matters (which it doesn't in this case) you should say so instead of assuming people know.


Next time you want help, try giving the people who are helping you what they ask for, rather than insulting them - "especially to a MOD"

 

[dizzyinc]

I have a train and cars moving to simulate a car crash scene, iv already tried that, it doesn't function correctly with all the events needing to run simultaneously.

Well it would only be a given that i would remove all unnecessary files, why would i send over things you won't need? that's just... bad uploading

Yes i do understand others have their own projects to work on, i myself have my own yet i too still take the time to help others when i can.

Now that you have more information on the actual issue you can easily look at the edit file and see what the issue is possibly lol 

 

[Shaz]

Alright - I've downloaded it, and I'm sorry, but there are so many things wrong with this. It has taken me over half an hour just to look at and identify the issues with a single map.


You didn't actually state WHICH line of text is the one that displays the whole line at a time, and I didn't notice any, so you will have to give more info about that before I can look at it. In the meantime, here are the other problems, JUST from the first map ...

• The player is sooooooo slooooooow! Why would you change the player speed to barely moving? Going from one map to the next is painful.
• The 'box' picture fadein is jerky. Is that the effect you were after? You can do a Show Picture, with opacity 0, then do a Move Picture with opacity 255 over 120 frames to have a much more gradual fade in.
• So many unnecessary parallel process events! The waterfall animations - if priority is Above Characters, you don't need to turn THROUGH on. If your animation is done by Stepping Animation ON, you don't need to set the event to parallel process. I also don't think it needs to be parallel process for the light script to pick up that comment. So you can turn all those parallel processes off (that should reduce some of the lag that's happening).
• Don't use multiple events for your cars. One event per car is good. With 3 events each, they don't move together and I can see the car breaking and rejoining as it moves. Redo your spritesheet so an entire car is in a single cell, then use one event for the whole car.
• You have 3 separate events to detect the player walking over the line for the "I have to get out of here" dialogue. But you turn on a self switch when the event is done. That means I can walk onto the left tile, get the text, walk onto the middle tile, get the text again, walk onto the right tile and get the text again. Use a switch instead, and have the second page on all 3 events conditioned by the same switch (or you can look at my large collision script for Ace and see if you can easily reconfigure it for VX)
• All the blood marks are done with events. Put the sprites into your tileset and draw them on the map instead. Fewer events = less lag
• Combine your cutscene events. Event 1 does a bit of stuff then turns on a switch. Event 2 is a parallel process event, and it's not even conditioned by that switch - you just use a conditional branch. That means that event is going to be running the entire time, whether the switch is on or not, and because you don't have any wait statement, that's one more event that's going to contribute to lag. Why don't you just put everything in event 2 into event 1?
• The blood throw up is another parallel processing event that has a conditional branch and when the condition is met, it turns on a self switch. Just delete the first page of the event, and condition page 2 by switch 22 (IN the condition section, NOT as a conditional branch)

I'm sorry to say, but if you've been doing THIS for 5 years, then you've been doing it WRONG for 5 years. There are so many technical issues with the way you've done these events. NOW you might understand why I said nobody will want to search for your issue on a map with 30 parallel process events? And when I said that, I didn't realize it was going to be as bad as it is. I think you could learn a lot by reading some basic tutorials on event processing (conditions, triggers and options)

 

[Tsukihime]

Now that you have more information on the actual issue you can easily look at the edit file and see what the issue is possibly lol

Why didn't you provide that before you asked people to spend the time to download 100 MB?

Once again considering that if all files and such are not as the original to re-produce the problem then there is literally no point, that means having all character, events, audio, etc. exactly as they were set up when the problem arose. As I said above, which you must have missed, the edit file is included in the package, which means you can open this in rpg maker vx and see all the events and such just as it is. I stated that in the 1st post and my 3rd post

Did you take the time to verify that the bug cannot be reproduced when all of those unnecessary things are removed?

If i remove anything from how the game was set up when the error occured, that even included bgm and bgs, the problem may not arise again, i have been using the engine for 5 years now, I think I know what I am talking about.

Did you try that to see whether you are correct or not? You are not using a microsoft program and wondering why it fails. You are developing your own project where everything is accessible to you.


Perhaps you do support work for a living and this is what you have learned over your years and deal with very technical stuff that most people probably have no idea about.


Perhaps this is what support people tell you.


I've been using this engine for about a year, so I obviously am not as knowledgeable about game development as you, but I'm sure my debugging techniques when it comes to RM are pretty solid.


No one wants to upload 100 MB, and I tell people not to bother doing that and just reproduce the issue first. Maybe they'll find the problem on their own. Maybe they'll reproduce the issue and have no idea why it still happens. Or maybe they'll have recreated their 100 MB project and only hit the issue when that happens. But usually they at least take out the graphics and audio or replace them with dummy placeholders; I doubt your issue can only be reproduced when you use a very specific piece of music.


I don't know how much effort you put into debugging. Maybe it really is a complex issue.


But so far you did not mention anything about your own debugging efforts that might have been help for others so they don't waste time doing the same things.

 

[dizzyinc]

understand what a beta or iv been working on this for a week means? this is scratch, basic setup so i can get the idea of how i want things to work.

Thanks for taking the time to write all of that out . 

and for sukiheme... your just as lazy as the mod lol iv given enough for other people on other forums to be able to reply and help, haha 100 mb, so tired of hearing complaining about the file size. 

EDIT: ok so I fixed it, i just deleted all the events that were supposed to display the cars/train and turned those into images that i overlayed and controlled from one event as you suggested. The image overlay worked out better then eventing other events, also i took out the tiles completely and used a screenshot as the background image. No problem with the text now, solved  

 

[Tsukihime]

Yes, I'm too lazy to bother to have to spend more than 5 minutes on someone that doesn't put any effort into getting help. Especially if you want someone to download 100 MB.


Glad you figured it out on your own.

 

[Shaz]

Only 5 minutes Hime? I gave in way too early then.


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