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Creating collectibles in top-down scrolling games

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SM

ScrollMaster_Dev

Posted on July 22, 2025 • Intermediate

🎮 Mystery solved: Collectibles in scrolling games!

I’ve been working on a large-scale Zelda-style RPG and noticed something strange - most top-down scrolling games don’t use cloned collectibles! After digging deep into this mystery, I finally cracked the code. 🕵️‍♂️

The challenge with cloned collectibles in scrolling games is that they need to:

  • Move with the camera/scroll system
  • Stay in their world positions
  • Handle collision detection properly
  • Be memory efficient for large worlds

Has anyone else tackled this challenge? I’d love to share my solution and hear other approaches! 💎

NC

NinjaCoder_Pro

Replied 2 days later • ⭐ Best Answer

Great question @ScrollMaster_Dev! I’ve actually implemented this in several RPG projects. The key is understanding how to sync clones with your scrolling system. Here’s the complete solution:

🗺️ Collectible System Architecture

Here’s how the collectible system works in a scrolling environment:

flowchart TD A[🚀 Game Start] --> B[Load World Data] B --> C[Create Collectible Clones] C --> D[🎮 Game Loop] D --> E{Player Moves?} E -->|Yes| F[Update Scroll Values] E -->|No| D F --> G[Update All Clone Positions] G --> H{Clone in View?} H -->|Yes| I[Show Clone] H -->|No| J[Hide Clone] I --> K{Player Touches?} K -->|Yes| L[💰 Collect Item] K -->|No| D J --> D L --> M[Play Sound Effect] M --> N[Update Score/Inventory] N --> O[Delete Clone] O --> D style A fill:#e1f5fe style L fill:#e8f5e8 style O fill:#ffebee

🔧 Step 1: World Coordinate System

First, set up variables for world positioning and scrolling:

    when flag clicked
set [scroll x v] to [0]
set [scroll y v] to [0]
set [world width v] to [2000]
set [world height v] to [1500]

💎 Step 2: Collectible Clone Creation

Create collectibles at specific world coordinates:

    // Main collectible sprite setup
when flag clicked
hide
set [collectible count v] to [0]

// Create collectibles at world positions
repeat [20]
change [collectible count v] by [1]
create clone of [myself v]
end

// Clone initialization
when I start as a clone
set [world x v] to (pick random [-800] to [800])
set [world y v] to (pick random [-600] to [600])
set [collected v] to [0]
show
forever
// Update screen position based on scroll
go to x: ((world x) - (scroll x)) y: ((world y) - (scroll y))

// Check if in view (optimization)
if <<(x position) > [-300]> and <<(x position) < [300]> and <<(y position) > [-200]> and <(y position) < [200]>>>> then
show

// Collision detection
if <touching [player v]?> then
if <(collected) = [0]> then
set [collected v] to [1]
change [score v] by [10]
play sound [coin collect v]
hide
stop [this script v]
end
end
else
hide
end
end

🎮 Step 3: Player Movement & Scrolling

Update scroll values when player moves:

    // Player sprite movement
when flag clicked
forever
set [old x v] to (x position)
set [old y v] to (y position)

// Player movement
if <key [right arrow v] pressed?> then
change x by [5]
end
if <key [left arrow v] pressed?> then
change x by [-5]
end
if <key [up arrow v] pressed?> then
change y by [5]
end
if <key [down arrow v] pressed?> then
change y by [-5]
end

// Update scroll based on player movement
change [scroll x v] by ((x position) - (old x))
change [scroll y v] by ((y position) - (old y))

// Keep player centered
go to x: [0] y: [0]
end

🚀 Step 4: Advanced Optimizations

For large worlds, add these performance improvements:

    // Collectible manager sprite
when flag clicked
forever
// Only update clones near player
broadcast [update collectibles v]
wait [0.1] seconds
end

// In collectible clones
when I receive [update collectibles v]
if <(distance to [player v]) < [400]> then
// Update position and check collision
go to x: ((world x) - (scroll x)) y: ((world y) - (scroll y))

if <touching [player v]?> then
change [rupees v] by [1]
play sound [rupee collect v]
delete this clone
end
else
// Hide distant collectibles
hide
end

💡 Pro Tips for Large Worlds

  • Chunk Loading: Only create clones for collectibles in nearby areas
  • Distance Culling: Hide collectibles that are too far from the player
  • Persistent Data: Save collected items to prevent respawning
  • Memory Management: Delete clones when switching areas

This system works perfectly for Zelda-style games with hundreds of collectibles! The key is treating clones as world objects that respond to camera movement. 🎯

SM

ScrollMaster_Dev

Replied 1 hour later

@NinjaCoder_Pro This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! 🎉 The world coordinate system makes perfect sense now.

I implemented your solution and it works flawlessly! My Zelda RPG now has over 200 rupees scattered across the world and they all work perfectly with the scrolling system. The performance optimizations are genius too! 💎

Mystery officially solved! Thanks for sharing this knowledge with the community! 🙌

RD

RPGDeveloper_Alex

Replied 3 hours later

Fantastic solution! I’ve been struggling with this exact problem in my Pokemon-style game. 🎮

One addition - for games with save systems, you’ll want to track which collectibles have been collected:

    // Add to collectible clone
when I start as a clone
set [collectible id v] to (join [collectible_] (collectible count))

// Check if already collected
if <[collected items v] contains (collectible id)?> then
delete this clone
else
// Normal collectible behavior
end

// When collected
if <touching [player v]?> then
set [collected items v] to (join (collected items) (join (collectible id) [,]))
delete this clone
end

This prevents items from respawning when you reload the game! 💾

VB

Vibelf_Community

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