In this new series, I’m going to discuss parallel events in Smile Game Builder: how they work and their relationships with other events on the maps.

What Is A Parallel Event?

A parallel event is any of the three automatic triggers in an event’s Event Details.

These run in the background until one or more conditions becomes true to trigger the sequence of events. Each one is used for different purposes and to launch events at certain times when certain conditions are true.

Each event trigger is codependent on its additional Event Sheet Conditions. If none are set, then the event triggers as soon as the player enters the map.

In this article, I’ll go through the functionality of each one and how they’re used and will continue exploring them in future parts.

Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly)

This is a "true" parallel event in the sense that, as it states, it automatically starts on the map and runs continuously in the background, checking the state of its conditions.

One notable use is to check if the player has a certain item and, if so, then trigger something like a message or another event. For reference, I did something like this in Tutorial #5: Working with Conditions (Part 2).

Another use is to check and update variable values, such as modulo operations or player coordinates.

As a general rule, the Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly) doesn’t usually have conditions to trigger it, so as soon as the player enters a new map, it auto-starts and runs in the background until its conditions become false, depending on what it’s used for.

This can be activated with conditions, such as turning a Switch ON, but I’ll cover that in the next part.

Triggered Automatically (1 Time Only)

As self-explanatory as it sounds, this triggers an event on the map once only. If it has no Event Sheet Conditions, then it won’t trigger again while you’re on that map, but will recur the next time you visit the map.

One possible use is to trigger a once-only event to display a message giving details on surroundings, personal thoughts or furthering the story line.

If you want the event to trigger just once, without it repeating on subsequent visits to the map, you can toggle it with either a normal Switch or a Local Switch. On a second sheet, its Event Sheet Conditions would have the switch turned ON and with the contents blank.

I’d recommend always using the Local Switch for this, however, as each event can have its own independent Local Switch that doesn’t affect other events. And this way, you can keep normal Switches free for other things.

Triggered Automatically (Repeated)

With the Triggered Automatically (Repeated) Start Event, the event runs repeatedly in the background, essentially overriding all other triggers until its conditions become false.

This is because it operates as a loop, where you’d need to add conditions to disable it. While it’s activated, the auto-repeat trigger will halt other events, including player movement.

One notable use for it is to display information, such as the map name or more of the story line, and then use a Switch (normal or local) to disable it after a set amount of time and re-enable other events and player control.

In Part Two

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll expand on the Automatically Start (Synchronize and Run Repeatedly) trigger and go into more detail on how to use it effectively.

And in subsequent parts, I’ll similarly go more in-depth with the other Start Event triggers and their uses.