Perhaps a Y position comparison for each object in combination with the "Move to Front/Behind" action will solve your problem.

See this example capx. It demonstrates a different issue (how can an enemy first come in line with the player and then start to move towards him/her) but it also follows the "Move to Front/Behind" principle (although somewhat limited in power).

http://www.eli0s.com/Tests/DoubleDragon.capx

If I understand correctly, every time the player gathers 5 hearts you want to add 1 value of health to the total amount of health...(?)

The problem is that once you've gathered the 5th heart the =5 stays true for every tick, thus adding health continuously. That's why when you gather the 6th heart the problem goes away.

You need to reset the heart count after you add the +1 to the total health, so that the =5 condition doesn't hold true.

See this example capx -> http://www.eli0s.com/Tests/HeartCount.capx

Glad I could help.

If not many objects have them, I don't think so.

If you need many objects to share the same effect, I believe it's best to put them on a dedicated layer and add the effect to that layer. The same thing applies to families.

You can always use the debugger to check the cpu usage with or without an effect.

Use webGL effects like Pulse or Warp. Alternatively you can stack some wavy sprites with the sine behavior and make a puppet-theater like water.

Example capx (version 167.2) http://www.eli0s.com/Tests/Waves.capx

https://www.scirra.com/tutorials/67/delta-time-and-framerate-independence

https://www.scirra.com/blog/141/common-mis-used-events-and-gotchas?utm_campaign=v2Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Blog_141 Look at the "Using 'dt' in 'Every X seconds" section, it gives a good explanation.

What do you mean with the word "transition"?

-Transition between layouts? As within the context of a video editor?

-Transition from one color to an other?

-From one point to an other (translation.position)?

You have to be more specific.

The examples is a capx file which is working just fine. Download it, open it with Construct 2 (version >167) and run the layout to see some practical usage from the aforementioned methods. In this capx you can see different ways to do some of the above. The logic is sound, you can basically make any "transition" using these methods, especially by using the "every tick -> change some value by an amount * deltaTime (dt)" way, which, in most cases, is the more versatile and powerful of all.

Anyhow, best of luck to your research.

I am not sure if I understand what you mean. You need to animate a property (like opacity) over time?

There are many ways to do that. You can use the Sine Behavior, the Fade Behavior or the custom made Lite Tween / Ease Tween (you can find them on the C2 Plugins and Behaviors List (https://www.scirra.com/forum/c2-plugins-and-behaviors-list_t65170). You can always use the self.opacity +(something) * dt expression which gives you more control, especially if combined with variables that check if a condition is met.

Some examples: http://www.eli0s.com/Tests/AnimatedValues.capx

I've tried to use some of the stuff that I mention above (not the custom behaviors) to show you how you can change a sprite's and a layer's position and/or rotation and/or opacity values over time.

Strange...I can't replicate this behavior that you describe. Is there by any chance a multiple monitor setup in your rig and when you are checking/unchecking the corresponding boxes, the panels appear on an turned off monitor..?

Have you tried uninstalling-reinstalling Construct?

One simple and low in resources method will be to use pre-blurred sprites in relation to their speed. See the following example:

http://www.eli0s.com/Tests/BulletBlur.capx

An other thing that comes to mind is to somehow link the horizontal velocity to the effect Horizontal Blur and the vertical velocity to the Vertical Blur. But this is dependent with the method that you use to move the bullet (bullet behavior, physics impulse, every tick move x self.X+(something)*dt)... In every case you'll have to figure a solid way to do the linking and it will surely be more taxing to the cpu, calculating the effect for every sprite and all...

But maybe there is a simpler and more efficient way out there that I don't know of

Have a look at this:

https://www.scirra.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=64528&start=0

Also, for embedded videos try this:

https://www.scirra.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=69356&start=0

dankhan , yes, I use the latest beta. Glad you sorted it out anyway!

There's just the plugin's forum topic currently.

Dear R0J0hound , your canvas plugin is both one of the most promising and yet occluded extensions in Construct 2. The possibilities that it opens, game-play and aesthetically speaking, are tremendous, although hidden behind its complexity that lay in understanding what it's actually capable of doing and how to do it.

I really wish there was a way to officially implementing the canvas plugin within construct, with detailed manual entry, tutorials and examples

Have you thought the possibility for the above? Does Ashley have in mind the official implementation of the canvas plugin?