When going to the next level, I'd like my character and variables (health, high score, etc) to enter the next level just as he left off when he exited the first level.
How do I do this?
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Global variables!
Positioning is trickier, you might want to look at
scirra.com/manual/82/includes
Why global variables? You can use layouts as levels, set all the levels to the same event sheet.All the instance variables are saved. That's about it.
Why not global variables? Or better yet, an array! Dictionary object is not a bad choice either. A lot of good ways to do this.
Arrays
Dictionary
If you want to keep the value of your variables, simply use one event sheet for all your layouts. If you want to reset of those variables use the "end of layout" action.