renpy.randint not working as expected.

[Imperf3kt]

I'm not able to supply code snippets at the moment due to not having access to the computer they're on.

The short version:
renpy.randint is giving me headaches, is there an alternative for displaying a random image on a screen such as the main menu?

The long version:

I am making an app for Android and I want to have a single image on the main menu, cycle between 4 choices.
I used renpy.randint to randomly generate a number from 1 to 4, then added an if clause to my main menu which basically checks which number the generator came up with, and used an assigned image accordingly.
This works perfectly except for one small issue.

Since I am only just starting development of this app, there is no real content yet, so I added a few lines of dialogue.
Upon reaching the end of the dialogue, the game returns to the main menu. This is where the issue appears, approximately 0.25 seconds pass between arriving at the main menu, and a new image showing. The old image being replaced as expected, but still being visible for that fraction of a second is rather unwanted.

This happens on both my PC and an Android device.
Should I define a default variable for the image to use, or would that not make a difference?


Honestly, I'd prefer not to use random at all and would prefer to load the images in sequence each time a user visits the screen. Is there a better way of doing this?
I can supply code in about 8 hours if necessary.

[nyaatrap]

the game returns to the main menu. This is where the issue appears, approximately 0.25 seconds pass between arriving at the main menu, and a new image showing. The old image being replaced as expected, but still being visible for that fraction of a second is rather unwanted.

This is a ren'py bug - store variables are reset to the default values before transition to the main menu finished. One solution is use persistent variables instead of store variables. Another solution is always hide images before returning to the main menu.

load the images in sequence each time a user visits the screen. Is there a better way of doing this?

This may also work as well (Sometimes screen variables give an 'undefined error' when returning to the main menu. But If you carefully code it, it will work)

[Imperf3kt]

Ah okay, thats helpful to know.
I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the help.

E:
Works like a charm!

Here's what I did:

screens.rpy

Code: Select all

screen main_menu():

    tag menu

    style_prefix "main_menu"

    add gui.main_menu_background
    add gui.main_menu_text
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite == 1:
        add gui.main_menu_sprite_1
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite == 2:
        add gui.main_menu_sprite_2
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite == 3:
        add gui.main_menu_sprite_3
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite == 4:
        add gui.main_menu_sprite_4

gui.rpy

Code: Select all

## Main and Game Menus #########################################################

## The images used for the main and game menus.
define gui.main_menu_background = "gui/base.png"
define gui.main_menu_text= "gui/main_menu.png"
define gui.game_menu_background = "gui/game_menu.png"#not needed, remove later
define gui.main_menu_sprite_1 = "gui/menusprites/1.png"
define gui.main_menu_sprite_2 = "gui/menusprites/2.png"
define gui.main_menu_sprite_3 = "gui/menusprites/3.png"
define gui.main_menu_sprite_4 = "gui/menusprites/4.png"

script.rpy

Code: Select all

init -1:
    default persistent.main_menu_sprite = 1

label start:

    #some text goes here#

    $ persistent.main_menu_sprite += 1
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite >= 5:
        $ persistent.main_menu_sprite -= 4

    return

Now all images cycle between the available sprites as intended with no laggy switching out of the previous image.
The only thing to work out now is how to apply this function so when a user prematurely exits to the main menu, it still takes effect. perhaps if I fiddle with the exit button. Though that won't solve ALT+F4 exits.

Anyway, cheers! I'm happy enough with this.

[Imperf3kt]

Small update:
I changed the behaviour so now the image changes every single time a user visits the main menu:

From script.rpy I removed:

Code: Select all

    $ persistent.main_menu_sprite += 1
    if persistent.main_menu_sprite >= 5:
        $ persistent.main_menu_sprite -= 4

And instead added this to the bottom of my main menu:

Code: Select all

    if persistent.main_menu_sprite == 1:
        imagebutton idle "gui/button/start.png" hover "gui/button/start.png" xpos 0 ypos 899 focus_mask True action ShowMenu("modesel"), SetField(persistent, "main_menu_sprite", 2)
    elif persistent.main_menu_sprite == 2:
        imagebutton idle "gui/button/start.png" hover "gui/button/start.png" xpos 0 ypos 899 focus_mask True action ShowMenu("modesel"), SetField(persistent, "main_menu_sprite", 3)
    elif persistent.main_menu_sprite == 3:
        imagebutton idle "gui/button/start.png" hover "gui/button/start.png" xpos 0 ypos 899 focus_mask True action ShowMenu("modesel"), SetField(persistent, "main_menu_sprite", 4)
    elif persistent.main_menu_sprite == 4:
        imagebutton idle "gui/button/start.png" hover "gui/button/start.png" xpos 0 ypos 899 focus_mask True action ShowMenu("modesel"), SetField(persistent, "main_menu_sprite", 1)

Just to clarify, my main menu is actually a menu, before my real main menu. It is just a welcome screen of sorts, with the text (as an image) overlayed on a base menu background plus the sprite(s) and a Start / Touch to Continue button.

The code above pretty much says (in human readable terms):
show this image and when this button is pressed, change it to this image.

I figured this may be useful to someone else, so I posted this extra information in order to help.