# 64M35 4-2: A Practice Passion Project

**URL:** <https://forum.defold.com/t/64m35-4-2-a-practice-passion-project/67718>\
**Category:** Dev diaries\
**Created:** [March 5, 2021, 11:18pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/64m35-4-2-a-practice-passion-project/67718 "2021-03-05T23:18:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![thebone](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/user_avatar/forum.defold.com/thebone/32/23821_2.png) [@thebone](https://forum.defold.com/u/thebone)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://forum.defold.com/t/64m35-4-2-a-practice-passion-project/67718/9 "2022-05-27T14:54:31Z")

</div>

**Captain’s log No.4,** _ **2022-05-27T13:20:00Z** _  
_The **Backbone** (I guess)_

**T+4days**  
It’s been a while, huh? I’d lost time, lost motivation for this, but hadn’t lost interest.

To regain some motivation I wanted to overhaul the visual footprint of the project – easier to work on a pretty project than a placeholder-sprite-filled one.

* * *

_Idea: **sketch drawing!** Works well with the nature of the project, since its sole purpose is to teach me the mechanics of game development and it would look interesting with a simplistic visual pattern. Crude geometric shapes made in half a second in Photoshop didn’t really sit with me._

_ **Problem:** _ _It’s a lot easier to sketch by, well, sketching than by running my mouse across my desk, so I guess that part will still have to look crude until I can either borrow or buy a graphic tablet for my computer (which is a priority for academic purposes anyway)._

* * *

**T+3days**  
After about a year of not opening the project, I had to reacquaint myself with Defold _(again)_ and with my project. I do not like to delete things, so while I was doing some necessary housework for bad ideas and bad code, I created a few _‘legacy’_ folders and a lot of `--[[comments]]--`. _(some scripts have hundreds of lines and about 50 of them actually functioning un-commented)_  
 ![27-05-22_legacy folders](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/uploads/default/original/3X/8/7/876f9d6933b5c26607bac5a12a44f362b7f84c6e.png)  
I’ll probably have to delete all of it at some point. _But that’s a future me problem._

* * *

**T+2days**  
What now? Well I do need a main menu and could maybe use one of those intro sequences with massive logos saying _ **“Built with Defold”** _ and _ **“Made by blackbird”** (the name I usually go by online)_

> **So let's make a main menu.**
>
> ## ![27-05-22_main menu gui](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/uploads/default/original/3X/1/0/1065aa37b5787fa9fc89783b0768bb3cd0ad47fa.png) _ **BOOM! Done!** _

Now I’m sleepy.

* * *

**T+1days\_yesterday**  
I’ve missed programming. Even if after all this time 50% of it is looking up the Defold Manual, Examples and API. Some things do not change though – most of the time was still spent staring at the code and reading it slowly out loud, thinking where I’d gone wrong.

[What is a ‘Proxy’ in Defold?](https://defold.com/examples/collection/proxy/)

> **manager:controller#manager.script**
>
> ```lua
> -- i left out the init() function, because it does not really matter for this blog --
> function on_message(self, message_id, message, sender)
> if message_id == hash("load_menu") then
> show(self, "#PRXY_main")
> elseif message_id == hash("load_level") then
> show(self, translate(self, message.gui_node))
> elseif message_id == hash("proxy_loaded") then
> self.current_proxy = sender
> msg.post(sender, "enable")
> elseif message_id == hash("proxy_unloaded") then
> print("Unloaded ", sender)
> end
> end
> 
> function show(self, proxy)
> if self.current_proxy then
> msg.post(self.current_proxy, "unload")
> self.current_proxy = nil
> end
> msg.post(proxy, "async_load")
> --print("I done did it pardner")
> end
> 
> --translate the gui node that initiated an action to a usable proxy name 
> function translate(self, gui_node)
> return self.names[gui_node]
> --[[ this was defined in init()
> self.names = {["pong_box"] = "#PRXY_pong", }
> ]]--
> end
> 
> ```

* * *

The language I’d spent most time on in my life is _Python._ And _Lua_ is just different enough to have me doubt the simplest expressions and peruse official Lua documentation.

for loops of all things got me beat.

> **why I am this confused with Lua**
>
> ```lua
> python
> for i in range(1,10):
> i += 1
> for thing in list:
> something(thing)
> 
> ```
> 
> ```lua
> lua
> for i=1,10,1 do
> something(i)
> end
> for index, item in ipairs(list) do
> something(item)
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> _but what **my** brain wanted to do…_
> 
> ```lua
> for i in 1..10 do
> sth(i)
> end
> for item in list do
> sth(item)
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> Don’t know why, don’t ask.

> **also pro-tip about local functions:**
>
> If you’re pedantic like me and want your `function init(self)` at the top and don’t want to start scripts with local functions;
> 
> ```lua
> local func1
> local func2
> 
> function init(self)
> func1(a)
> func2(b)
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> This works if you need to call these functions immediately. Because what I’d been doing before is:
> 
> ```lua
> function init(self)
> --everything else i needed done immediately
> local func1
> local func2
> 
> func1(a)
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> This returns an error, because I tried to call a nil value at line 6. I guess local functions need more than a few lines’ time to get acquainted with everyone. Apparently works perfectly fine, so long as you don’t call the functions in the init() space.

The reason I brought these two issues up _(the for loops and forward-announcing local functions)_ is because the main\_menu.gui didn’t want to recognise the “touch” action. _(I defined LMB as “touch”)_

Now, I never intended this game to use the mouse anyway, so I started work on a system to allow the keyboard or controller.

> **Allowed controls**
>
> **W A S D LCtrl  
> ↑ ← ↓ → RCtrl  
> ↑ ← ↓ → ▢**

> **self.matrix**
>
> _Please refer to the first screenshot under **‘T+2days’** _
> 
> ```lua
> self.matrix = {
> {"pong_box", "lvl2_box", "lvl3_box", nil; },
> {"lvl4_box", "lvl5_box", "lvl6_box", nil; },
> {nil, nil, nil, "exit_box"; }; 
> }
> 
> ```
> 
> This nested list represents the rows and collumns in which the buttons are arranged. I can move vertically and horizontally with ease using `self.matrix[x][y]`
> 
> **Oh, also!** Apparently in Lua, indexes start at 1, not 0.

> **function reset(self) in 'manager:controller#manager.script'**
>
> In order to show which box was selected, I set all of the to alpha=0.7 and would only make the selected box fully opaque. Here’s where the confusing`for` loops come to play
> 
> ```lua
> inactive_alpha = 0.7
> active_alpha = 1
> function reset(self) 
> for i, rw in pairs(self.matrix) do
> for ii, clm in pairs(rw) do
> --reset each node to inactive_alpha=0.7
> if clm then
> gui.set_alpha(gui.get_node(clm), inactive_alpha)
> end
> end
> end
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> Although I found the `gui.set_alpha(node, number)` function on [the API](https://defold.com/ref/stable/gui/#gui.set_alpha:node-alpha) it didn’t exist? Autocomplete didn’t recognise it and it returned an error saying I tried to access nil value.
> 
> ```lua
> -- work-around
> if clm then
> local node = gui.get_node(clm)
> local xyzw = gui.get_color(node)
> xyzw.w = inactive_alpha
> gui.set_color(node, xyzw)
> end
> 
> ```

```lua
-- if you use the action key on an active node then
msg.post("manager:controller#manager", "load_level", {gui_node = self.current})
-- from main:main_gui#main_gui

```

* * *

**T-0days\_today**

```lua
ERROR:GAMEOBJECT: Instance 'manager:controller#manager' could not be found when dispatching message 'load_level' sent from main:/main_gui#main_gui

```

I swear, I’ll be learning how to use the `msg.post()` function for the entirety of this project.

> **How the proxy is set up**
>
> ![27-05-22_pathways](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/uploads/default/original/3X/0/a/0a1b4db9832fae6c1fab1509ecad11c09f3cfe3d.png)  
> _both the main and manager collections are in the same directory_  
> ![27-05-22_bootstrap](https://forum-defold.b-cdn.net/uploads/default/original/3X/a/c/acb860d274b78a42c0beafe857f1107fd2db0708.png)  
> _manager.collection is loaded immediately and never unloaded_
> 
> ```lua
> -- function init(self) in 'manager:controller#manager.script'
> function init(self)
> msg.post(".", "acquire_input_focus")
> self.current_proxy = nil
> msg.post("#", "load_menu")
> end
> 
> ```
> 
> _main.collection is immediatelly loaded_
> 
> _**if I change the msg.post() in main\_gui.gui\_script:**_
> 
> ```lua
> msg.post("manager:controller#manager", "load_level", {gui_node = self.current})
> or
> msg.post(msg.url("manager:controller#manager"), "load_level", {gui_node = self.current})
> -->ERROR:SCRIPT: /main/main_menu.gui_script:95: Could not send message 'load_level' from 'main:/main_gui#main_gui' to 'manager:controller#manager'.
> -->stack traceback:
> --> [C]:-1: in function post
> msg.post(hash("manager:controller#manager"), "load_level", {gui_node = self.current})
> -->ERROR:GAMEOBJECT: Instance 'manager:controller#manager' could not be found when dispatching message 'load_level' sent from main:/main_gui#main_gui
> 
> ```
> 
> I do not see a reason, why the message can’t be delivered, since both collections are definitely loaded.

* * *

Anyway. I’m looking forward to working on this again for a few weeks until I inevitably dip again for months or years. 🙂

_End log, 2022-05-27T14:53:00Z_

---

_[View the full topic](https://forum.defold.com/t/64m35-4-2-a-practice-passion-project/67718)._