Thinkscroller - Pixel-perfect parallax scrolling

[juicymangoz]

Hi
I use Sprite Manager to create my objects - can I use this to create the elements for the scrolling scene?

[Thinksquirrel]

Hello mangoblue,

This is being developed for the next update - object scrolling will offer scroll functionality for any GameObject.

[juicymangoz]

Okay thanks - when's the next update out?
Cheers

[Thinksquirrel]

Hoping to have 1.1 ready for testing next week and for submission soon after that.

[Thinksquirrel]

Scratch that - Found some time today and finished the implementation.

I've sent some PMs to a few users regarding testing 1.1. If you would like to beta test, send me a PM with the invoice # from the asset store, and I'll get the package for you. =)

Here's the changelog:

******** VERSION 1.1 ********
Thinkscroller:

• Separated the default shader from the ScrollLayer script
• Added Object Layers! Disable Auto Billboards and enable "Object Layer"
  
  • Object Layers scroll the transform and ignore any textures on the object
  • They can also scroll groups of objects, and work with physics
  • Fully compatible with most sprite/2D game management systems
  • Object Layers scroll in world space (relative to the parallax camera), as opposed to UV space
  • Object Layers can also be enabled and disabled through the API using the isObjectLayer property

[Thinksquirrel]

Version 1.1 has been submitted and should be released shortly!

Also, some good news: I have also decided to keep the product at its introductory price, $20.

[megmaltese]

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[rstehwien]

Thinkscroller can't be found in the asset store and the link given on the first page doesn't work. Hope the asset store gets fixed so I can buy this at the $20.

[Thinksquirrel]

Access denied. You may need to login below or register to access this page.

The Thinksquirrel.com website should be working now, it had a hiccup earlier. Let me know if you're still getting access denied errors.

Thinkscroller can't be found in the asset store and the link given on the first page doesn't work. Hope the asset store gets fixed so I can buy this at the $20.

My apologies,

I've contacted the Asset Store team. Hopefully everything will be sorted out within a few days.

[Thinksquirrel]

Thinkscroller is back up on the Asset Store, and version 1.1 has been released.

[thylaxene]

Thanks v1.1 is a nice update.

I'm using Object Mode with 2D Toolkit and all seems happy. One feature request for Object Mode is to have a reset method to call. Eg:

Parallax.ResetAllObjects(Vector2.zero);

or

Parallax.ResetAllObjects();

which just resets the X and Y of the Objects to their start X and Y.

I can easily do it with Tags and looping through a GameObject[]. But as I'm already using Thinkscroller and calling "Parallax" for others things it would be convient to have a Object Reset call every time I restart a level of the game.

Cheers.

[Thinksquirrel]

Thanks v1.1 is a nice update.

I'm using Object Mode with 2D Toolkit and all seems happy. One feature request for Object Mode is to have a reset method to call. Eg:

Parallax.ResetAllObjects(Vector2.zero);

or

Parallax.ResetAllObjects();

which just resets the X and Y of the Objects to their start X and Y.

I can easily do it with Tags and looping through a GameObject[]. But as I'm already using Thinkscroller and calling "Parallax" for others things it would be convient to have a Object Reset call every time I restart a level of the game.

Cheers.

Just sent you a PM with a pre-release patch - let me know how that works out! I'll include this along with some minor bugfixes for the next release.

[Pr3Z]

While I really like the tool, I've found that it's almost doubled my loading time for my app and the ram use on my android phone has jumped from about 60mb to almost 120mb. :/

[Thinksquirrel]

While I really like the tool, I've found that it's almost doubled my loading time for my app and the ram use on my android phone has jumped from about 60mb to almost 120mb. :/

Hm... I'll check this out - sounds like something's leaking. Are you using the default setup or object scroll layers?

[Pr3Z]

I'm using a scroll layer, and it's the only thing I have parallaxing. It's set up just as it was in the example except I'm using the ScrollWithTransform so that the layer will parallax with my character.

[Thinksquirrel]

Hm. I'm unable to track this down - wondering if it's a device issue.

The mesh is only updated once on Awake (or just loaded if that's turned off) - I'm wondering if SetTextureOffset() is causing some unnecessary allocation. Try this checklist:

1) If you're using the textures from the Asset Store package, make sure they're compressed in the texture import settings - the default project doesn't use compressed textures.
2) Try disabling the main parallax component to see if memory usage still increases.

Also, what device are you using? And is this memory increase over a period of time or only on load?

[Pr3Z]

It's a Samsung Galaxy S, no increases over time from what I can see. I'll check out the texture thing now and report back

[Pr3Z]

Definitely had to do with the texture compression, not sure as to why it nearly doubled my ram usage though. Interesting. Thanks for the fix man!

[Thinksquirrel]

Definitely had to do with the texture compression, not sure as to why it nearly doubled my ram usage though. Interesting. Thanks for the fix man!

No problem, and good to hear! I'll make sure it's compressed by default for the next version, as other people may run into that issue.

[Pr3Z]

Awesome to hear I also have a question about the Parallax manager script. When I hit "replay" at the end of my game, the level is reloaded, but each time it reloads a new Parallax Manager spawns? Just wondering if there's a way to avoid this.