at my wit's end

I’m having a problem with a coldstone game i am currently developing:

I have four maps linked to one another in a square like this

2 3
1 4

the player begins in map one, which is linked to maps two and four. Each map is 40 x40 tiles with the tiles set at 36 x36 pixels. When the player moves from map one to map two or four, things go as expected, however if the player tries to move from maps two or four to map three, the application does one of two things:

1. The game suddenly quits with no alert or error message
   Or..
2. The game suddenly quits with an error type 2 message.

Are there any known bugs that might cause something like this to happen?

I have tried everything I can think of to resolve this problem, including turning up the memory for my game... I must be missing something though.

I have an iMac G3 (OS rom 4.6.1) running OS 9.1 with 576 MB built-in memory.

Any help on the subject would be greatly appreciated

Hi filthywings. Welcome to the boards.

My first question is a rather obvious one. Have you double checked the map links? In Map 2, when you bring up the Location Editor and select the "Additional" tab, does the East border link to Map 3? In Map 4, it would have to be the North border linking to Map 3 as well. Map 3's West border should connect to Map 2 and the south border to Map 4.

If you are using a teleportation event to move from one map to another, make sure that the player doesn't get teleported to a tile which sends him back to the map he just left. This kind of circle can cause the game to crash.

DO NOT use the border links AND a teleportation event at the same time - - A crash is sure to occur.

If this does not correct the problem, please post back with details about how you have linked your maps.

There's no known bug that I'm aware of with this problem. ~RD

Edit: I just had a thought. You have created a "location" for Map 3 with the same name as the name of the map, right?

Also, another thing to consider is that your problem may be a corrupted file/bad event on map 3. You may want to check this by adding in a hotkeyed teleport event and press the necessary key while on map 1, thus avoiding the transitions altogether. If it works, you know it has to do with the transitions. Otherwise, it's likely a corrupted file issue (probably an image or event). Look over all the pictures, events, etc. you're using and see if anything stands out to you. It is hard to locate corrupted files, but with a little work you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck!

Hey, welcome to the boards.

If your Player is traveling from one map to another via the borders, the Player must NOT be entering a no-access tile. It would show up in your map window after you hit the radio button "access." So check map three for access tiles by the borders. If you try to cross into a no-access tile, it WILL crash your game. You will need to match your no-access tiles from map to map along the borders.

Debra, on Dec 13 2004, 08:17 PM, said:

Hey, welcome to the boards.

If your Player is traveling from one map to another via the borders, the Player must NOT be entering a no-access tile. It would show up in your map window after you hit the radio button "access." So check map three for access tiles by the borders. If you try to cross into a no-access tile, it WILL crash your game. You will need to match your no-access tiles from map to map along the borders.
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Not in my experience. What i've seen with that is that it sends the player to the next available spot. The only problem i could see is if the entire line of movement tiles is blocked.

Well, golly, in my experience, the dang computer crashes! So you can bet your britches that I've matched the no-access tiles from map to map in MY game!!

Everything's relative, ain't it?!

We have conflicting data here. I have done extensive experimentation with both border crossings and teleportation in the plugins for PoG. Here's what I've found:

Concerning border crossings where the map location calls for an entry into a new map; If a map with clear area extending to the border buts up against a map with a line of trees (blocked access), when the player reaches the border he is sent to the nearest clear tile in the next map. The blocked tiles could be thirty deep, it doesn't matter, he will land on tile 31. If you unblock the tiles with a load call, he still lands on tile 31. My guess here is that the load call loads after the teleportation to the new map. Games don't usually use load calls, plugins do.

If you use an actual teleportation event to move to the new map (as in cave mouths, doorways, etc.), the player will land on whatever tile you designate whether it is blocked or not. However, this tile becomes unblocked for the duration of your stay in that map. If the player has teleportation abilities he can carve a path through trees, walls, etc. by moving one tile at a time as long as the tiles chosen touch each other on their side or diagonal. Once the path is open, the player can move freely back and forth until such time when he leaves this map. The tiles then revert to their blocked state.

Note that the player will seem to be frozen if every surrounding tile is blocked. He cannot turn around or move unless two or more adjacent tiles are unblocked.

I wasn't lying, bro. :blink: I cross a border into a no-access tile and my computer crashes. Tested WAY too many times! I guess other factors are involved. Anyway, I hope FW has his problem solved.

Debra, on Dec 13 2004, 11:23 PM, said:

I wasn't lying, . . . my computer crashes.
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I never thought you were . . . and never doubted it did. What I said was, "We have conflicting data here."

Obviously the safe and prudent way is to make sure access areas line up correctly on adjacent maps. There is not enough input to know why you're experiencing difficulty and OgreBob and I are not on this particular issue. We all know we're working with an irascible piece of software, so coddling it is advisable. Don't give Coldstone an oppportunity to bite back if at all possible.

Thanks for all the help everyone. To answer some questions:

My maps all have coresponding locations and all my borders are linked in the appropriate way. In each case the player is teleporting onto an accessable square. I've checked each file and even deleted and replaced it, but the same thing happens every time. I've also tried teleportation between maps using an event on a single map square, which imediatly caused the game to crash. I'm going to try rebuilding the game from the begining and see if that does anything.

This suggests to me that you have a corrupted file somewhere in the map you are trying to load. Check that all images and files are correct and that nothing is missing (i.e. changed picture names, etc.).

I made a map titled "A" that crashed all the time with no solution. I had to rename the map "A" to "Ab". Go figure!

Trying to place more than one item on a map via the open map window causes nasty things to happen. (At least with me.) I think this is a bug. I place all items on a map via the location window. That works well for me.

Good luck!