So I now have got the engine to recognize the save data files spit out by the editor. So, that’s a positive. The bad part is that it seemed to break stuff. Like stupid stuff. In effect, I’ve built the engine to run on a certain kind of input – namely having all of the level information hard coded. Now, I’m telling it to run using a different input, with different attributes, and they telling it, “You’ll like it. It’s better for you, and the environment.” So, like the title says, I put Diesel in it.
So, first issue first. After some tweaking I finally got the code to compile again. Then, it would load the level. Heck, even the Portal Rectangles on the edges would work when you touched them. If you managed to die (from a new bug probably) it would load nothing! Nothing at all. It would create a nothingness, and then drop you into it. At which point a safeguard built into the engine from way back before it worked well would give Zero the final mercy and kill him. Then it would again reload into a deep pit of despair, from which there is no escape.
So, killed that. Killed that HARD. Had to update the Check Point code a bit. So now, the Editor saves if the screen is a checkpoint or not as a 1 or 0. Now, in the Engine, when it loads it looks for that number and updates the Check point like a good little system.
Second, for some reason, the stupid climbing code stopped working too. I don’t have any idea why it would do this, other than it is dumb. It worked fine previously. Now, it won’t. I think i have to double check the Event Handling to be sure everything is going in the right order.
-For those at home that don’t know what Event Handling is, I’ll explain. When a computer does anything, it does it in a specific order – usually top to bottom (well, we’ll think about it that way for the sake of simplicity). Individually, there are little bits of coded instructions that tell the computer what to do. An Event Handling bug occurs when the individual coded pieces are all working fine, but an error happens due to the order that the pieces are happening in. Sometimes they cancel, other times they amplify (I had the jump doing some really weird stuff once), but they are generally difficult to spot and fix. Since, the error isn’t a single line, but often, the System itself. Here’s my thought on these:
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-Woo hoo. All better now. I increased the amount of play the climbing gives, so it’s a little better now. Also, found a weird bug. Seemed that, if you grab on something that is shorter than you with something below you, then it gets confused and kills you. Hmm…
-Nope. Still no go. It’ll just be a known bug for now. In the future I’ll have to try to avoid making small ledges.