Variables only change the compatibiity of save-games?

[Crimson Wizard]

I just want a named variable - as in, create ThisIsAVar, then use it later. indexes are a bit impersonal and I'll likely make a mistake.

Is there any way to have named global variables? (other than named arrays with just pure indices)

If the problem is only in using some name to access an element of array, then there are multiple solutions to this.

First of all, as I mentioned earlier, you may create regular arrays too (not dynamic). After you do that, each time you need extra variable you add one right before that array, and subtract one element from array. This way total size of variables and their order stays the same.
For example, you have this:

Code: ags

int GVInt[999];

then you have this:

Code: ags

int myNewVariable;
int GVInt[998];

and then

Code: ags

int myNewVariable;
int myNewVariable2;
int GVInt[997];

Second, you may declare enum and use it as named indexes. Note that new enums do not break saves, because they are just named constants so don't take any program memory.

Code: ags

enum MyVariables {
    eVarNewGlobalInt = 0,
    eVarSecondGlobalInt = 1
};

and the use them to access array as:

Code: ags

GVInt[eVarNewGlobalInt]

Third, you may create attributes... But that's part of advanced scripting, and I am not sure if I should suggest that here.
If you're suddenly interested, there's where they are mentioned in the manual: https://adventuregamestudio.github.io/ags-manual/OOProgramming.html#defining-attributes

[bx83]

Thankyou for this, just what I was looking for


As usual, having trouble defining things...

.asc

Code: ags

enum eGVInt {
  eFirst=0, 
  eSecond=1,
  eThird=2
};


function game_start()
{
  GVInt = new int[999];
........
}

export eGVInt;

.ash

Code: ags

import int eGVInt;

error: "eGVInt is already defined" (referring to line 'enum eGVInt {', first line in .asc)

[Khris]

Header:

Code: ags

enum eGVInt {
  eFirst=0,
  eSecond=1,
  eThird=2
};

import int GVInt[]; // after import this is the exact same as the declaration

Main script:

Code: ags

int GVInt[];
export GVInt; // just the name

function game_start() {
  GVInt = new int[999];
}

[Crimson Wizard]

Yes, you should export array, not enum. Array is the real variable, enum is not a variable, it's just a named constant, and of course you need to have it in the header, otherwise no other script would know what names are there.

[Cassiebsg]

Sure, just create a bunch of variables in Global variables and call them"Dummy1", "Dummy2", etc... Once you need to use a dummy to patch the game, just grab one of them and rename it and it's ready to use. 

[bx83]

Thank you, works

One more bit of fun; I've found https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=55545.0, which is a great Timer script to replace standard timers in AGS.
To define a global timer (with a name), how do I do it?

.ash

Code: ags

Timer              *GVTimers[20];
export GVTimers;

.asc

Code: ags

import Timer              *GVTimers[];

error: .ash, expected variable or functions after import, not 'Timer'

ps. only 20 indices because that's the maximum amount of timers that can run simultaneously.

[Crimson Wizard]

error: .ash, expected variable or functions after import, not 'Timer'

Make sure you have Timer module above the script where you declare these arrays.

Also, when you are importing regular arrays you must include their size.

I will link same article about import/export again:
https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags-manual/wiki/ImportingFunctionsAndVariables

ps. only 20 indices because that's the maximum amount of timers that can run simultaneously.

For the Timer module you can increase that amount to whatever you want, by changing MAX_RUNNING_TIMERS in the module's header.
Then, you can create much more timer variables. It's just that only so much of them would be able to run at the same time. You may have timers that run only sometimes.