1000 objects

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, Shari  wrote:

>> The best way to manage this number of objects is to group them.
>> 
>> So the next question is, do you really need 1000 objects?


> The answer is from a recent post:
> 
>> What is so unique about the chips?  If they're separate then yes, you would
>> use a separate object for each chip.  If your question is how to manage them
>> efficiently, you could create your chips as buttons and set their icon
>> properties to the appropriate source chip image stored in your stack.  This
>> way you can have a thousand chips (buttons) with virtually no additional
>> overhead since all the chips are only pointers original chip art.

That's not really an answer, that was an observation.


> 7 players into 1000 = 142 chips allowed per player.  While in my
> world I would likely not accumulate that many chips, there are some
> very serious players whose world makes it very likely.  The objective
> is to ensure that only in an extremely rare case will the game
> actually use up all the chips.

It seems unlikely that a player is going to be able to interact with 142
separate objects at one time on their screen, much less 1000.  I wonder if
they would even fit on the screen, if your game contains environmental art
(card table, other players, etc).  But assuming there was space, I would say
it's up to you to effectively manage what players have access to, and to use
representations of groups of chips when appropriate.  If a players stacks 10
chips, you replace the stack of 10 objects with a single "chip stack"
object.  If the player wants to play with the chips separately, maybe they
have to place the "stack" on the table (or whatever is appropriate).  This
requires some efficiency planning on your part.

Just because you *can* have access to 1000 objects/chips doesn't mean you
*have* to make them separate objects.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
-----
E: scott at tactilemedia.com
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