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The Root Of The Problem

I had a jam game today. Deadline at midnight. Hoped I'd get it done way before then (I'm actually typing in this post around 5 PM - still have barely made it past the interface design - writing this a little ahead of time) but of course it's probably going to be done at the last moment possible...

Technically I have a few hours extra before midnight EST, but work awaits tomorrow and I didn't sleep well last night (tailbone pain all of a sudden, can't lie on my back - can't lie easily on my sides either - very problematic) so I really don't want to stay up that late if I can help it.

This is all beside the point though. Neither here nor there. Nor over there. Nor anywhere.

But anyway, the point is: I think I finished up my interface bit about an hour or so ago. Maybe even earlier. A complex mash-up of movie clips and tweens and buttons as to give the game a floating kind of feeling (you'll see if you play it) and the only thing that remained was adding in some actions to those buttons to direct the users to the relevant frames within said game... and it just wouldn't work! I used an action I'm pretty sure I've used plenty of times before, namely:

on(press){_root.gotoAndPlay(1);}

...but it just didn't happen! Nothing happened when you pressed it.

I tried copying the button outside the movieclip it was embedded in.

I tried copying it outside the additional movieclip it was embedded in within that (had one for a rotating question mark in addition the wave FYI).

I tried swapping out _root for _parent, and adding in the scene number along with the frame, and adding in a frame name instead of the number, and then actually copying the button outside the movieclip and removing that _root bit there... and suddenly it worked fine.

What's the problem? _root is an accepted parameter, so why wouldn't that work?

I've been looking through code examples and tutorials and what-not trying to figure this out, wondering if maybe a button can't be clickable within a tween, or with layered MCs, or with too many MCs on the same frame, or if there was maybe a problem with the MC name (it had a space in it, could that be it?). Tried applying the code to the MC itself instead of the button too. The MC doesn't play then, but debug doesn't say there's anything wrong with it, might actually work with button actions on an MC - finna need to test that a bit further some other time.

In the end though I settled for a working workaround. I cut out the _root bit of it all, and instead just added in a regular gotoAndPlay within the MC, beyond the last frame of the loop, with this:

_root.gotoAndPlay(4);

...and...

gotoAndPlay(1);

...on the last frame of the loop, as to keep it looping seamlessly without automatically taking the user to the aforementioned frame in the root of all should the user not click said button.

And it worked! For some reason it works when the action's applied to the frame itself, but not when it's applied to the button.

I'm battled, and slightly frustrated I spent one or two hours on this tiny thing, but that's that. And that's it for writing/spending all the more time on this thing that I don't really need to spend time on. It's functional though. Documentation and vent in one.

Now onto the rest of that game...

Lies & Tricks!

Want to join in on a random four five seven day game jam hosted by the highly spontaneous @ChibiWilli who just asked if I'd help spread the word about a jam if he'd decide to host one and then moments later hit me back with this link that holds all the details you'll need to get started on said game if you so choose to join?

The theme is lies, games that'll tell you one thing, but aren't actually telling the truth. First place wins 10 USD, and digital trophies await for all top three. :) The jam starts in an hour and a half and the deadline is February 27th 2021 at 12:08 AM! (EST? Maybe? Click link above for counter.)

If you have a moment to spare this weekend and two three five days and feel like delving into the realm of falsehood and trickery maybe this is just the thing for you!

Never made a game before? It's never too late to start.

Could possibly enter your game into the Flash Forward Jam currently running at NG at the same time if you happen to dabble with Flash too! Direct potential ponderings regarding the jam here plz.

Good luck. And/or may the best jam win.

UPD: One more day to deadline! And I just joined.
UPD: And two more!

Fat Tuesday 2021

Fat Tuesday 2021

It's that day again! Or was, this Tuesday, just been a bit too swamped to post any pics.

Of course we're still going according to tradition though, this year with a batch of home-baked oat-based buns that'll probably be lasting at least a couple weeks. No commercial ones this year.

They didn't turn out exactly as planned - a bit more flour than necessary and as such a bit more compact than they may have been meant to be but - still good. Soon as you add in that cream and almond honey.

Happy Belated Fat Tuesday y'all.

Birds Of Prey (2020)

Birds Of Prey (2020)

The trailer might've been totally misleading, but the movie? Hell yeah.

Harley seems a bit different here. A bit softer. She talks and acts a bit differently too, and I try to feel like it's a new side of her, but it feels more like she sometimes just moves outside her role a bit.

But then we have things like the dock scene with the grenade, and the rollerskate (not blade) chase, and all sorts of awesomeness that leave you hoping for a sequel... and appreciating the prequel to ditto if so. Of course.

It might not have the same level of wittiness as the Marvel movies do, but it's got a good kind of crazy, good fight choreography - even if they sometimes try a bit more than they can handle with the collaborative ones (like how you can see Harley clearly wobbling on the skates in the background while Canary beats up bad guys), good personas, and just a satisfying tale of revenge, and breaking free, and all that shizzle at once.

This is female empowerment done right. Doesn't belittle anyone, even if all the bad guys happen to be just that. Guys. Not that 'guys' seems to be gender-specific these days anyway. But anyway. Just goes all out.

Nice work DC.

These Gotham tales lately are getting pretty fun to follow.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Conspiracy (2008)

Conspiracy (2008)

Val Kilmer gets to play out his most unresponsive face ever in a movie with a somewhat generalizing and cliche name considering it's really a captivating tale of vengeance and justice, and the final showdown left me in a dilemma when I reached it, as I really had to go to bed and get up early for work but could barely leave this for another day... when was I last that captivated by a fight that hadn't even started?

It takes a while to build, and I doubt Kilmer's acting capabilities for the longest time (didn't realize it was him!), but when you get into this for real then there's no stopping it. Good ol' Western vibe too, but with a modern twist, and Gary Cole plays a convincing - albeit maybe not overly strong and emotional - villain.

I guess the movie is like that too. It's great, all the way, just never so overly strong or emotional it stands out as much as it maybe should.

There's a very stylistic; sensual bedroom bit in the beginning too. And a well-deserved nod to the consequences of PTSD. And war overall. The motives. The everything behind it. It's got good things going for it from the start, and it builds up nicely.

They just took it a bit further than they needed to with the title.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Tokyo Raiders (2000)

Tokyo Raiders (2000)

Spy movie a la Hong Kong be here!

I've spent so many days watching through this one that it's getting pretty stupid at this point. Think I started on it about three months back, and have had sporadic catch-up sessions since - whenever time allowed. Since when did I ever have this little time in a month?! (That was last month btw.)

It's not an amazing movie really, but it's a feelgood one if you want to escape a bit, with the occasional good fight - especially in the beginning, and a little romance action love story drama that never gets all that serious or dramatic even when it has potential to.

I like the gadgets (diesel-driven skateboards?!). I like the locales (more so in the beginning too - did they start running out of budget towards the end?), but though it keeps you watching it feels like it misses the mark when it comes to both the tension and the relation. It doesn't delve deep enough. Maybe it doesn't move fast enough. The highway chase was on the verge of making it all feel pretty intense but then... it didn't after all.

Missed opportunities in all areas, traditional music mixed with techno that doesn't always do the best to build the mood, I assume a little budgetary restriction and an end that doesn't feel all that satisfying... not to mention a bit too much slow and shaky camera work. But it has its moments, and a charismatic cast, and Hong Kong!

Ain't so bad after all.

 rated 3/5: not bad

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