GameStylus: Frequently Asked Questions

Here you can find the answers to frequently asked questions about making games in the GameStylus system. Don’t miss them.

How is it possible to make a real application for Android?

When you finish your game, please contact us. Every game can be converted into a full-fledged application for Android. We will discuss with you the best way how to publish your app - depending on the nature of your game or another application.

The hero goes in a different direction than he should. What is going wrong?

You probably used a wrong animation for the journey. The walking uses the assigned animation: If you, for example, use an animation of walking to the left for a walk to the right, then the hero goes left and never comes to the target point. We will explain the reasons for this in another article.

Why does the hero move strangely? Why does he shift or jump?

The position points of the animation are probably set wrong. More about them can be found in another article. There may also be another reason: Walking is based on your animation, but the GameStylus system calculates the path so that the hero goes in the right direction (you can, for example, use the animation of going right for walking right-down; with the exception that has been mentioned above). Any animation of walking must be quite uniform, not very long strides. It must start and end with the same frame.

To keep the hero on the way you have defined, he/she is – in every single way-point - put exactly to this point. It can make the walk strange on some long straight paths. If this is the case, move the way-points slightly to tune the walk.

How much I can magnify/shrink the hero? Why is the change reflected in the list of paths?

At any point you can set the size of the hero from 0 to 100% (in practice, even increasing above 100% will work, but we don‘t recommend it). If you change the size of the hero at any point it will reflect in the list of points after reloading of the location.

Hero is animated - during an event - over and over again. What to do?

If the hero does not have to repeat an animation, adjust the duration of the last step (frame) of the animation to 1,500,000. Then after the last frame the animation ends.

The Hero walks and in the target point he turns in the wrong direction. What do I do?

The hero turns to look in the direction, where the player tapped. You can change it by simply walking to a point and then using an instruction to turn the hero to the desired direction (you can use an idle animation with just a single frame; which is the same as you use in the cases when the hero is standing still).

I don‘t want the hero to be in a scene...

Give it to the point where the size of the hero is 0%.

I don‘t want any hero in my game...

Even this is possible. However, you need to upload one picture of the hero (it may be empty, monochrome). And you need to create one animation of the hero (you can just place two blank images to it, for example). Give the animation this name: hero. And now, in the settings of the game, set all hero animations as using this one - hero. The system will be satisfied by this and you can create your game without any hero now.

Why is the size of backgrounds limited to 500 KB? And why there is a limit for uploads?

Keep in mind that mobile devices tend to have very limited memory size and limited performance. Do not force the user to download unnecessarily bulky games. Compress the JPG files appropriately and use 8-bit (256-colors) PNG and the limits in place won’t restrict you.

Why are the images jagged? Why are there some strange colors around the edges?

When you create and store images in your graphic editor, use antialiasing - thus smoothing the edges of images. But it is usually necessary to choose a suitable background color for aliasing the edges: For example, if you select a white background for the antialiasing and the object is placed on a dark background in the game, the edges can appear unnaturally grey. And if you select pink as the background then the edges will be pink... Do not forget to set the transparency correctly in your graphic editor too.

Why does an object in the animation change, even when all steps of the animation are almost the same?

It is probably caused by the reduction of the graphics to a smaller display with a lower resolution. More about how to prevent it you can read in another article.

How can I add some more steps to an existing animation? How do I delete some steps?

You can add the steps as a new animation and then change their animation number manually - in the menu item more... Just change the animation number and the step number of each step. This way, you can move any frame from one animation to another. If you need to remove a step from an animation, you can delete it or move it to another animation.

Why is my animation flashing?

There are probably some steps missing. It is important to note that steps are numbered consecutively - so if you delete a frame, the others need to be moved so that the numbers of steps begin from 1 and gradually progress (1, 2, 3...), no numbers can be missing.

Why did some of the changes I make not get saved?

Some of the changes are saved automatically (the sign WORKING! is shown briefly), while some must be saved manually by pressing the button Save in the appropriate section. If you interrupt the process of saving or do not save manually, where it is necessary, the changes simply aren‘t saved.

Why I can’t see an object in the game? I am sure I inserted it into the scene...

Maybe it is hidden behind another object. If so, it is necessary to increase the Z-index of the hidden object. Or it is maybe dependent on a flag. If that’s the case, then the flag is probably set wrong. Is it the first step in an animation that is not allowed to run and the first step is set as invisible? Then it needs to be corrected. Do you use too many or too large images? In extreme cases (especially when the space of images is used wastefully - with a lot of empty space between the sub-images) the memory of the mobile device can be full and then some images cannot be displayed. Use more economic graphic options.

Why is an animation in the location played only once when player wants to start it again?

You have probably not allowed repetition of the animation.

Why is an animation executed each time the hero enters the scene?

Running of the animation probably does not depend on any flag or this flag is set so that the animation is allowed to run.

Why does an active area not work?

Maybe it is covered by other active areas. Or there is a condition which has not been met.

What exactly does the fade out/in instruction do?

The scene is dimmed and then lighted up again. If followed by a transition to a new location, dimming is done in the original location and the light comes in the new one.

Is it possible to let the hero die?

There is no special function for this, because it depends on what you want from the player in this case. Will he/she be able to return to the game? Will he/she have to restart the game (not recommended, as it is usually annoying for the player)? We recommend using common functions of the GameStylus system.

Some backgrounds/images suddenly disappeared. Why?

You probably deleted the backgrounds/images from the list of backgrounds/images. Or maybe you uploaded them to the system, but not to your mobile device (it can happen when using the Downloads for very experienced users inappropriately). Beware, it can lead to a very strange behavior of the game when debugging!

The game is frozen, it does not respond to touch. What do I do?

You probably turned uninterruptible sequence on and forgot to switch it off later. Correct it and use the menu to download the corrected version of the game.

When restarting the game what does the option (!) mean?

The (!) option is intended for cases when a game freezes. It should be an absolutely exceptional situation, but given that on the GameStylus can anybody create a game, this situation can not be ruled out. The (!) interrupts the so-called uninterruptible sequence of instructions. More useful than for normal players this option probably is for game developers.

Why sometimes when you tap on screen a text which is shown doesn't disappear?

If a game displays several texts in a row, there is a minimum time interval set after which it is allowed to hide a text. During our testing it has been found that players sometimes mistakenly quickly double-tapped and a new text was hidden earlier, than they were able to read it.

When I pause the game its state is not saved. Why?

When the interruption or termination of the game occurs, its state is always saved so that the player can continue playing later. There is only one exception: During an uninterrupted sequence the state is not saved, but the state before the beginning of this sequence is saved (because it is uninterruptible, the player cannot enter into the middle of the action). During the uninterruptible sequence the state is saved only when the instruction for opening of the menu is used. Therefore, it is wise to use uninterruptible sequences wisely.

The translation is defective, some pieces of text are not displayed/are displayed wrongly. What do I do?

Note that translations must be saved and loaded in encoding UTF-8. Without exception, including English.

Instead of a text there is just a sign --. What do I do?

The -- shows when the text is not translated for selected language. During the debugging process it may occur if you upload a modified game (with changed basic language), while the GameStylus app maintains the original settings. Simply restart the game.

If I change texts / add new texts to the game - what to do with translations to other languages?

If you just change a text, you should also change its translation accordingly. If you add a text, you must export all the texts again, prepare a file with translations of the texts and then upload the file.

An error occurred during downloading the game. Why?

Either you have a problem with your Internet connection, or the internal and external memory of your mobile device is full. When downloading a new game the old one (in this slot - 1 or 2) is deleted. But if - a developer - downloads only selected files, then the game is not completely erased (although it seems so). Then it is possible to download only the files with error and the game is functional again.

How is the game data protected on mobile devices?

Due to the possibility of so-called root of the mobile device - any application - and its data – can be accessed by users. Although the data of the game can be - theoretically – completely encrypted, it would increase the demands on the performance of the mobile devices and increase power consumption when playing games.

Do not miss: VIDEO + Basic instructions on creating games, Games: Working with graphics.