Magic Mouths closing text too fast

[aer0blue]

I have a series of magic mouths that activate with a Magnetic Switch (set to On/Off). However, when the key comes within range, the magic mouths activate for about half a second, and then the text closes. Is there a way to have the speech bubble opened up longer?

[Trap_T]

Do they have cut-scene cameras?

[KAPBAM]

I get this problem pretty frequently... I sometimes find a way around the problem by just messing around with one thing or another, but I have no set solution, as sometimes no matter what I trym the problem does not go away... If anyone has a solution, I'm all ears as well!

[aer0blue]

Do they have cut-scene cameras?

Nope, just a standard Magic Mouth.

[RangerZero]

I have a series of magic mouths that activate with a Magnetic Switch (set to On/Off). However, when the key comes within range, the magic mouths activate for about half a second, and then the text closes. Is there a way to have the speech bubble opened up longer?

Maybe you'd like to have proximity switch that activates an emitter for spawning a mag key. This key could activate a mag switch (on/off) that would in turn activate your mouth. This way, not only the mouth will have the range you want (tks to the proximity switch) but it will be activated for as long as you want (tks to the emitter settings).

[Morrinn3]

I've had this same problem. As with KAPBAM it seems to come and go... I dont know what exactly, but I think it may be connected to glue issues, sometimes after detaching and re-gluing things together the mouth will automatically work next time I test it.

[Elbee23•]

The easiest work around I can think of is having the magnetic key switch fire a permanent switch, set to inverted on/off, which then opens a magic mouth. That should help a little bit I hope.

Also remember that the game gets a bit fiddly when you have more than 8 mouths in close proximity.

Finally, if the player is too far away from the mouth itself it will close quickly or not even open. If the player is on the move, that might be the problem.

Just a few quick thoughts.

[Jaeyden]

I found that it helps to use only one mag switch per mouth to avoid this problem. So if you have three mouths..you use three different mag switches.

[aer0blue]

Finally, if the player is too far away from the mouth itself it will close quickly or not even open. If the player is on the move, that might be the problem.

This was the problem. The Magic Mouths were too far away. Problem solved! Thanks!

[KAPBAM]

This was the problem. The Magic Mouths were too far away. Problem solved! Thanks!

Hmm, this is usually the cause of the problem for me to but problem not solved in my case, as I somtimes want a character that's further away to say something... So I don't want to bring the mouth closer...

[Elbee23•]

Hmm, this is usually the cause of the problem for me to but problem not solved in my case, as I somtimes want a character that's further away to say something... So I don't want to bring the mouth closer...

You can make the mouth invisible but still use the character's "voice". I use that concept all through my "How to" levels. If you line up the mouth in relation to the player right, it can still look like the character is talking as the speech bubble will point in the right direction. It's just a matter of fiddling to get it right.

The magic mouth "How to" has some bad examples of it as there are just far too many magic mouths in the one area for me to get it always right, but the other two are pretty much correct in terms of speech bubble positioning.

[KAPBAM]

You can make the mouth invisible but still use the character's "voice". I use that concept all through my "How to" levels. If you line up the mouth in relation to the player right, it can still look like the character is talking as the speech bubble will point in the right direction. It's just a matter of fiddling to get it right.

The magic mouth "How to" has some bad examples of it as there are just far too many magic mouths in the one area for me to get it always right, but the other two are pretty much correct in terms of speech bubble positioning.

A) Magic mouth "How To"?

B) Yea my problem is that it's with cutscene cameras... So I have to put the mouth where I want the camera to be, cause you can only go so far with the camera angles... But maybe I'm just trying to do the impossible with those... I always manage somehow anyway... Actually if you want to see what I'm talking about, check out my latest level HO HO... OH NO! It's the one that Mm fixed for me, and there are good examples of what I mean and at the very end, Santa says something to you and you have about a second or so to read it (so I made it short & sweet ).

[Elbee23•]

A) Magic mouth "How To"?

That's referring to my level, "Dr. Spongehead's How to... magic mouths". It's a level I've published. There is a link in my signature. It's part of a bigger "How to" series.

B) Yea my problem is that it's with cutscene cameras... So I have to put the mouth where I want the camera to be, cause you can only go so far with the camera angles... But maybe I'm just trying to do the impossible with those... I always manage somehow anyway... Actually if you want to see what I'm talking about, check out my latest level HO HO... OH NO! It's the one that Mm fixed for me, and there are good examples of what I mean and at the very end, Santa says something to you and you have about a second or so to read it (so I made it short & sweet ).

Magic mouths can cut out for all sorts of reasons. They just get very jumpy some times. I've listed a few possible reasons earlier. Sometimes repositioning or reworking the mouths in different ways helps prevent them cut out. It's always annoying when they do.

If it's just one mouth though, have your tried the permanent switch work around I mentioned?

[KAPBAM]

If it's just one mouth though, have your tried the permanent switch work around I mentioned?

Yea I read that and it seemed like the most likely solution to work, I'll have to give it try And I'll check out your how to levels too, knowing you they must be very explanatory

[NinjaMicWZ]

I get this alot too.

No definite fix, but the best fix is to maximize the radius of the magic mouth all the way out that way the player can't pass it's range without pressing O, and increasing the range of the key switch as large as possible for the mechanics of the event that you're trying to trigger.

The problem is that when the key passes from the radius the magic mouth ON synch is over. It functions the same way it does when a player walks out of the range of a mouth. In this case, the switch is the player.

Slowing the speed of the magnetic key if it's attached to a piston helps, as well. That way it spends more time in the radius.

PAUSE can help too. If you can set up a way for the key to pause at a certain location, say, against a block of dissolve that is rigged to a counter system, or a sensor switch that the player can trigger by moving forward after they've had their fill of the text (or while ignoring it and running past). That way, when they're done reading and have pressed O or started walking, the dissolve block dissolves and allows the magnetic key to continue on it's path towards the next scripted event or mechanical sequence.

Also remember that if your magic mouth is far away and the camera must swing towards it, the radius is only so big and might not even trigger because the players not within range, regardless of the key activating it.