What are leaks?

[KiwiClint]

Okay, yeah, it may be a "noob" question or something, but...I really don't know what people are talking about when they mention leaks. I've been looking around the site a while, asking questions, and I've noticed a lot about preventing leaks, fixing leaks, leakproof triggers...What are you guys talking about? Are they really harmful to a game's quality? Do the original, blizzard-made WC3 maps have leaks, or did Blizzards editor not have to worry about them? I'm just curious, and, yes, I'm sorry if it's a silly question, but help is always appreciated.

 

[Sickle]

Blizzard maps leak, yes. Do melee maps leak? Possibly. Campaign maps definitely do.

A leak is (usually) an object lost in memory that can never be removed, so that memory can never be reused. A build-up of memory leaks can slow down a map. Campaign maps really do not suffer because they are not designed to be played for long periods of time. A roleplay map is an example of a map designed to be played for a long period of time and is thus susceptible to lag caused by memory leaks.

We have a wiki article on memory leaks, too.

 

[Avaleirra]

Leaks are a tiny losses of memory that eventually create huge lag later on in your game.

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=27219&highlight=leaks

Here is a tutuorial and more info, also teaches you how to remove.


EDIT: P.S. Leaks are evil. Purge them from your triggers.

 

[avalya]

EDIT: P.S. Leaks are evil. Purge them from your triggers.

Yeah, they're really evil. No, seriously.

And yeah, leaks are created when things in triggers are not removed or destroyed, such as a special effect, create a special effect and it will leak (if you don't destroy it), but if you remove the special effect by using 'Destroy Last Created Special Effect' then you remove the leak.

 

[Finestdeath]

To make it simple. Leaks are like your "faeces" and "poo" and "sh*t". Basically, your garbage. When you do something, theres tend to be garbage around. So its same in the world editor, when you trigger something, chances are, there will be leaks.

 

[nardretor]

This tutorial also helps. It's also similar to Avaleirra's link.

http://world-editor-tutorials.thehelper.net/cat_usersubmit.php?view=27242

This one checks leaks in your map. But i aint using it. Gonna try it later.
http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=34380

 

[nardretor]

EDIT: I forgot that i already posted somethin. Sorry for double post.

 

[KiwiClint]

Thank you, thank you...All very helpful. I am a little lazy though, and I have to ask...If I am making a single player campaign do I really have to make sure it is leak-proof? I understand if I'm, for example, making a multiplayer TD or RPG or something, but for a lot of short levels with only one player? Do I really need to worry about them? I understand I might be criticized for leaving the little leaks in, but...like I said, I am lazy.

 

[Finestdeath]

You don't have to. Unless your campaign involves spells that can be spammed (which will then cause leaks, and then lags). Its up to you though. For me, I would practice the habit of clearing all the leaks, so that in the future if i'm making something bigger, I won't have much trouble identifying leaks and clearing them.

 

[nardretor]

Woah! Leak Check is nice! Try it to check leaks. The Readme txt file shows what to do.