Free Slice Behavior in Nightlies

Meatballsub · Post by **Meatballsub** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:35 pm

I'm in the process of converting Ruin over to the nightly version, and I can already tell you of two issues that have risen since the change.

Free Slice isn't working how it was in Beezlebufo. It essentially is not clearing anything on the screen from what I can tell. For example, it is ignoring a command like free slice (encounterslice) in my game. Was there a change in how slices are handled in the nightly versions?

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:57 pm

Normally, if a "free slice" command is not working, my first guess is that you accidentally loaded two copies of the slice you are trying to free:

Code: Select all

variable&#40;sl&#41;
sl &#58;= load hero sprite&#40;0&#41;
sl &#58;= load hero sprite&#40;0&#41;
free slice&#40;sl&#41;

The code above will look as if free slice has done nothing, because there were two copies of the sprite, and only the second one was pointed to by the handle.

This type of error can be debugged by using "View/Edit Slice Tree" option in the F8 debug menu

HOWEVER....

Since you say the script worked fine in beelzebufo and the problem only appeared in the nightly, it seems more likely that you have discovered a bug.

Can I see the script in question? Even if this is an engine bug, seeing the script that triggers it will help me locate the problem area.

Meatballsub · Post by **Meatballsub** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 5:12 pm

Bob the Hamster wrote:Normally, if a "free slice" command is not working, my first guess is that you accidentally loaded two copies of the slice you are trying to free:
Code: Select all
variable&#40;sl&#41;
sl &#58;= load hero sprite&#40;0&#41;
sl &#58;= load hero sprite&#40;0&#41;
free slice&#40;sl&#41;
The code above will look as if free slice has done nothing, because there were two copies of the sprite, and only the second one was pointed to by the handle.

This type of error can be debugged by using "View/Edit Slice Tree" option in the F8 debug menu

HOWEVER....

Since you say the script worked fine in beelzebufo and the problem only appeared in the nightly, it seems more likely that you have discovered a bug.

Can I see the script in question? Even if this is an engine bug, seeing the script that triggers it will help me locate the problem area.

Didn't know about that debug command, but it really helped with figuring this out. Looks like you were correct and the slice was erroneously loaded twice. I've figured out how to fix it because of that. Thanks!

Post by **TMC** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 4:09 am

Commands for creating and freeing slices did undergo some internal changes recently. It may be that these changes exposed a pre-existing bug in your game: maybe you are incorrectly freeing a slice somewhere else. Also, slice glitches have appeared in Char's lovely home which were not there in Beelzebufo, so there may be a real problem with slices in nightlies. Even if it was also a preexisting bug there, that's pretty concerning. I haven't looked into it yet.

Meatballsub · Post by **Meatballsub** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:08 am

I feel pretty certain that it was a preexisting issue in my case.