Does Director 1.2 have an "overlay" effect?

Director Class
#1

I have been using Director 1.1 for quite some time with great results, however judging by the improvements to 1.2, it looks like it’s time for me to update my game using this version.

My question is, does 1.2 have an “overlay” effect of any sort? What I mean is, another scene which transitions on top of the existing scene without clearing the initial scene (and then later, another effect can transition the overlaying scene back out, clearing it and all of its variables/images from memory while retaining the core initial scene underneath).

One useful example of this is a pause screen that doesn’t take up the entire screen, and clears when the player wants to return to the game. I actually modified my copy of Director 1.1 to do exactly this, but it involved some tricky manipulation and another one or two functions which tell Director to not clear the original scene. I could probably add this to version 1.2 in a similar manner, but as development of Director goes forward presumably into 1.3 and beyond, it’s a bit tedious to add this functionality to each new version and hope that it works properly with the other additions/changes.

Perhaps this feature already exists and I’m just not seeing it? I notice functions like “directorView” and “effectView” but I can’t locate the documentation about what these mean and how they work. Has anybody tackled the above scenario?

Brent
[import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 308629[/import]

#2

+1! [import]uid: 14018 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 31706[/import]

#3

Does anyone have an example of how to do this? All I can find in the documentation is to use popup for emails and sms messages. [import]uid: 49863 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121147[/import]

#4

Hi @crazypsycho6973052,

I think Director 1.4 has this. Which version are you using, or planning to use? I totally understand the agony of “upgrading” versions of Director if you’ve already got an older version plugged into your app. I’m not sure the different versions are even compatible with each other, honestly. That being said, if you’re starting from scratch, Director remains a VERY useful tool, it has a huge support base, and 1.4 (or later) should contain the overlay effect you need.

The alternative, of course, is switching over to Corona’s own Storyboard, but I also understand if you’re a fan of Director and want to keep using it, since you’re familiar with how it works and it just “makes sense”. Storyboard, at first glance, strikes many users as “Huh? why change over?”. That being said, the following blog post might be useful to you (I haven’t read it yet, but I have it bookmarked on my reading list for later).

http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2012/08/21/storyboard-basic-usage/

I actually don’t use either of Director or Storyboard now. I found a wonderful code sample in the Code Exchange titled “Director in 24 lines” or something (sorry I can’t dig up the link or the author’s name; just search and you should be able to find it easily enough). This is a great, elegant, simple module that accomplishes the basics of Director without all the bells and whistles. I further modified it to allow passing of variable(s) and tables between modules. So, it suits my needs and I haven’t looked back. :slight_smile:

Best of luck,
Brent
[import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121159[/import]

#5

Maybe there is some confusion. I was just wanting to know how to implement this in code. [import]uid: 49863 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121172[/import]

#6

Does anyone have an example of how to do this? All I can find in the documentation is to use popup for emails and sms messages. [import]uid: 49863 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121147[/import]

#7

Hi @crazypsycho6973052,

I think Director 1.4 has this. Which version are you using, or planning to use? I totally understand the agony of “upgrading” versions of Director if you’ve already got an older version plugged into your app. I’m not sure the different versions are even compatible with each other, honestly. That being said, if you’re starting from scratch, Director remains a VERY useful tool, it has a huge support base, and 1.4 (or later) should contain the overlay effect you need.

The alternative, of course, is switching over to Corona’s own Storyboard, but I also understand if you’re a fan of Director and want to keep using it, since you’re familiar with how it works and it just “makes sense”. Storyboard, at first glance, strikes many users as “Huh? why change over?”. That being said, the following blog post might be useful to you (I haven’t read it yet, but I have it bookmarked on my reading list for later).

http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2012/08/21/storyboard-basic-usage/

I actually don’t use either of Director or Storyboard now. I found a wonderful code sample in the Code Exchange titled “Director in 24 lines” or something (sorry I can’t dig up the link or the author’s name; just search and you should be able to find it easily enough). This is a great, elegant, simple module that accomplishes the basics of Director without all the bells and whistles. I further modified it to allow passing of variable(s) and tables between modules. So, it suits my needs and I haven’t looked back. :slight_smile:

Best of luck,
Brent
[import]uid: 9747 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121159[/import]

#8

Maybe there is some confusion. I was just wanting to know how to implement this in code. [import]uid: 49863 topic_id: 8629 reply_id: 121172[/import]