I dunno. Maybe you could make a few different types of small asteroids and spawn random ones.

It'd probably look better than stretching them, too.

[quote:1kkuv2z4]Why are you so sure I'm looking for excuses?

It was a joke

Anyway, lucid is right. Set the default value for the chase timer to 0 and it won't trigger at the beginning.

You don't need to ID the asteroids at all.

And you're using a System compare to compare the asteroid damage value. The system doesn't know which asteroid you mean, so it's picking the first one, and watching that one. When that one goes kablooey, all the asteroids are destroyed because you don't have a sprite picked.

Use the asteroid sprite's own Compare Private Variable condition to check whether it's own damage is equal or greater to 100, and it works just fine.

You also need to "Remember picked objects" when you spawn your small asteroids with a function, so Construct knows which big asteroid to spawn from. Otherwise, when you kill asteroid 2, 3, or 4 then asteroid 1 will spawn the small asteroids because Construct can't remember which asteroid it was working with.

Also, you should check out the Custom collision mask for the astroids... with physics behavior you can draw a polygon around them to define a mask.

Normally I would jump in and help, but I've been down this road before. I remember the sheer frustration I had last time I tried to tackle this.

All I can do at this point is say "good luck." Hopefully someone smarter than me can help you out. This sort of thing is just out of my league.

1) I'm trying to come up with a good way to organize files and events so I don't run into problems later. If you could give me some general hints it would be cool, but my more specific question right now is, Can I include files in construct? I mean can I say make separate file that has all Combat and AI events, and then include it in another master cap file? Or is like one cap file per one game?

It is one .cap file per game. If you find yourself using the same basic template over and over again, you can make an actual template. But as of right now, there is no capability to import event sheets and such from other .caps.

2) How does loading new level\layout work? and will some info be lost when new layout is loaded?

to be specific : a) Can I make new levels load seamlessly like in Braid ?

b) Can I teleport player back and forth between two layout? and do so without loosing data like players health?

a) Yes

b) Yes

You can store information like Health and such as a global variable that is accessible from all layouts.

There are 176 million free file hosting services on the internet. I know, I counted them all.

Here's a short list:

http://www.box.net/ My favorite long-term host. Sign up for an account.

http://www.willhostforfood.com/ Kinda good, no account needed.

http://www.mediafire.com/ Kinda... not as good.

https://www.getdropbox.com/home <- My favorite short-term host. You can just drag files into your dropbox folder on your desktop and they automatically upload and sync with your online storage. Then you just right-click your file to get a link to post. Very useful.

Or you can upload your .cap to a thread in the Uploads forum:

Now, no more excuses! If you want help, you need to help us help you.

Twitter seems more like a frequent-updates kind of thing. Like, multiple times per day.

New builds and status reports for Construct aren't all that frequent. I think posting on the front page and making announcement threads is sufficient. Maybe email notification, as was mentioned in another thread.

At any rate I don't have a Twitter account and I don't plan on getting one.

Another thing I noticed when I "Run" the level is that it starts with the "Player" letting off a single round, by default.

Tick "Destroy on startup" for your bullet object in the Properties panel, under Attributes. I'll bet you a nickle that the first shot you see is actually the bullet object that is sitting in your layout, and when the game runs, it starts moving.

It also appears that some of the monsters start moving at the "accelerated" speed, without being struck by a bullet. Is this a bug?

It might be, but it's probably not. It sounds like an instance picking issue to me... in other words, a logical error in your events. Post your .cap so someone can take a look.

Thread moved to Help/Tech

Is there another event that must be added to insure that the original speed is reinstated?

Yes. Create a new event that reads like so:

Condition: Chase timer Equal to 0
      Action: Set monster speed to whatever
[/code:3e5sicau]

Remember, computers are stupid.  They only do what you tell them to do.  They are completely literal, so you have to be equally literal.  If you skip a step, or put things in the wrong order, the computer won't be able to interpret your intentions properly, so be sure to mind your logic.

Are you using Platform behavior? If so, add "Is on ground" to your jump event.

Like so:

+ "Jump" Button is clicked
+ Player: Platform: Is on ground
  -> Jump
[/code:2df6wlcg]

If you're not using Platform behavior then do it like so:

[code:2df6wlcg]
+ "Jump" Button is clicked
+ Player is Overlapping Ground at Offset (0, 1)
  -> Jump
[/code:2df6wlcg]

Okay, as far as your bullets go, there is an easy fix: DON'T make them Solid . They don't need to be Solid. They work just fine when they are not solid.

As for your black hearts... there is not a lot you can do about that if you want them to push the player. If two hearts push on the player from different directions, you will get strange results. The player will teleport, or jitter, or get stuck.

There a few things you can do to fix this:

1. Do not make enemies or bullets solid. Make only the player solid, and any walls or obstacles that do not move. As a general rule, if an enemy or a bullet is moving, then you probably should not make it solid.

2. Use Physics instead of 8Direction on your player, and use Physics instead of Bullet on your hearts. (You will have to make them move with events.) That way they can push each other around all day and it will work properly. Physics behavior is made to have solid collisions with many moving objects, Bullet behavior is not.

3. Write your own custom collision routines with events. This is not recommended for beginners.

Good luck

Upload your .cap so someone can have a look.