Facing the big problem

It's time to go back to work. And now I must face a big issue I've been avoiding for months: I must create an algorithm that supports different zones. The issue started when the map grew too much. Now it's so big that adding more space produces performance problems, as making game slower and FPS reduce (mainly in old computers). For now is OK, but I need more space for new enemies and quests. Thus, before adding more stuff, I must fix it.

I've thought about creating different zones, so when you go out from zone A to enter zone B, the game must delete all elements in zone A. So players keep feeling the map as a continous zone, with no FPS reduction.

Imagining it is easy, making it real is hard. So, it's time to work.

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- Update 1: The algorithms to detect where Beth is, and the Algorithm to swap zones are perfectly working! The next steps are:

• Delete sprites in the zone Beth is going out. But only the not important sprites. Bosses and items with state (such as chests or quest items) must not be deleted in order to mantain their states.
• Divide the map details into zones and between zones.

 - Update 2: Deleting sprites task finished. Now I'm proceding with the final step to get the algorithm ready.

- Update 3: Algorithm es basically done and working. I'm finally polishing a couple of bugs.

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The algorithm is finished. Game works perfect. The game performance is supposed to have been improved for slow computers. The only difference other users will find is some slight pauses when Beth gets into a new zone due to the creation of the new area.

That's why next update bar has progressed to 70%.

^_^