How do you deactivate an object?

Answer 1

Instance DeactivationDeactivating objects is a very useful feature in Game Maker. It is an easy way to reduce delay, freeze-ups and speed up the overall number of frames per second. Deactivating objects is easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind: Deactivated objects are unaccessible and invisible, or in other words they are treated like they don't exist until you reactivate them. Here are the functions for deactivating and reactivating objects:

instance_deactivate_object(object_name);

instance_activate_object(object_name);

A handy trick for making 2 objects not interact with each other goes as follows: (This is especially useful when you want an object to ignore the other when using the move_contact_all()function)

instance_deactivate_object(the_other_object's_name);

//STEP EVENT

instance_activate_object(the_other_object's_name);

Note: This won't affect the objects in any way apart from them both not interacting. Put that code in both objects' step events and you're good to go.