I guess I wasn’t thinking about releasing multiple games that you have to load up, save your progress to an external file, then load up the other game. The architecture I was thinking about was the reverse (or something like the reverse) where you have a single main game, and it stays loaded, but reaches out to external “content” files, one at a time when different conditions are met.
I read the external files documentation, and it looks like I can store a table in an external file. I have questions about this. If I am using an structure where 1 table is used to store the information about 1 object, would that mean if I had 1000 objects, each with their own table, that I’d have to have 1000 external files? I was hoping for a way to store external data in a single, or limited number, of files.
Is any of this making any sense, and if so, is it possible?
Also, reading these other topics, I keep running across people making claims that you should be able to have a game that is so large you could never write enough code to fill it, like multiple gigabytes worth, and that people have written games that have thousands of objects. If that is so, why is there this problem here:
A prop is a kind of thing.
The void is a room.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
The kitchen is a room.
The player is in the kitchen.
This compiles without issue, but this does not (note there are 100 additional props):
A prop is a kind of thing.
The void is a room.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
The kitchen is a room.
The player is in the kitchen.
So I try to up memory settings, and admittedly I have no idea what I am doing with these, but I just keep adding zeros:
Use MAX_PROP_TABLE_SIZE of 100000000.
Use MAX_OBJECTS of 10000000.
Use maximum things understood at once of at least 10000.
Use MAX_STATIC_DATA of 100000000.
A prop is a kind of thing.
The void is a room.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
100 props are in the void.
The kitchen is a room.
The player is in the kitchen.
This works, but adding another 100 props makes it fail again. Beyond this point, adding more zeros to the memory settings doesn’t allow for any more things. Now, there are only 1800 things here, and the game is as simple as can be, with no properties on those things, or any logic. That’s not “thousands” of things or anywhere close to 2 gigabytes of data. I realize I may sound dumb to those that understand the internal workings of the memory allocation mechanics, but that’s why I am asking the questions here. What am I missing to get a big application? Why is it that I am limited to less than 2000 things, without even having a real game, but people are saying that you should be able to make a game so big you never will be able to?
Are they using some kind of methodology similar to that of my OP in this thread, or how is this accomplished?