optimizing large groups

[npgames]

im making a zombie game and want to have a large number of zombies on the screen at one time, 50+, and so far im controlling them inside a while loop that goes through all of the zombies, and im curious if there is a faster way to control all the zombies at the same time. and also if using something besides movieclips would make a huge difference as well, i want to use the best methods to make the game run smoothly

[Lou]

You should take a look at this thread about not using movieclips in games. If you have a bunch of movieclips on the stage at once, it will tend to bog down a bit.

http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276114&highlight=movieclip+games

[npgames]

i looked through the first 3 pages, and collected a few ideas, and so would using just generic variables that each hold the info for each zombie, and then attach a picture each frame for each one. would that work?

[ajcates]

I would have a zombie class, and inside it I would have code for controlling a zombie, then just have a bunch of zombie objects on the stage.

[npgames]

would that be more effective than a while loop?

[ArmoredSandwich]

would that be more effective than a while loop?

Not as much as stop using movieclips, but then again, nothing much is :)

[npgames]

ok thx, ill see what i can do