ID:260761
 
Could it be made that animate_movement has an effect on screen objects, so that when screen_loc is modified to a nearby x/y coordinate it will "slide" there just like regular movement would?

It would certainly improve on using second map elements for cameras (showing other parts of the "real" map using screen objects) / movies.
Android Data wrote:
Could it be made that animate_movement has an effect on screen objects, so that when screen_loc is modified to a nearby x/y coordinate it will "slide" there just like regular movement would?

Probably not. There are several reasons.

1) Screen objects were never designed for movement--the gliding code isn't built for them.

2) Any kind of atom can be a screen object, including non-movables like turfs and areas. The animate_movement var does not exist for these nor is there any provision given to putting them in motion.

3) An object that already exists on the map can be a screen object as well. To support gliding, every atom would need separate screen-glide coordinates and a separate version of the animate_movement var made just for the HUD. Using the regular animate_movement var for this purpose would break a lot of existing HUDs.

4) Certain elements like pixel_x/y already have to be handled separately.

With considerable work of course it could be done, but the payoff would not be that great. It'd involve adding a few shadow variables to copy ones already in use, a new client-side glider type reserved just for screen objects, and so on, so it would be a little on the hacky side.

However I suspect that future map features may obviate the need for this anyway. It could be that the kind of behavior you're hoping for will fall naturally out of some other improvement.

It would certainly improve on using second map elements for cameras (showing other parts of the "real" map using screen objects) / movies.

I think multpile true maps would in many ways be a better goal to that end. While more complicated, it has a much greater reward.

But at this point, it's hard to say what will or won't make it into a future release. We have a lot of options on the table.

Lummox JR