It wasn't prediction, just a combination of things that look perfectly normal but don't flow how you might expect them to.
There were 2 separate misunderstandings, plus one possible cumulative problem.
And because occasionally people search the forums looking for similar threads, I'll explain at least one (since it's the easiest to explain)...
Python:
label my_screen_start:
scene my_image1 with dissolve
label my_screen_repeat:
call screen my_screen
jump my_screen_repeat
label dont_go_that_way:
"Don't go that way"
return
screen my_screen():
imagebutton:
idle "button1_idle"
hover "button1_hover"
action {do-something}
imagebutton:
idle "button2_idle"
hover "button2_hover"
action Call("dont_go_that_way")
Firstly, I'll point out the way
call screen /
action ... usually works is to exit the screen and THEN execute the
action when the game triggers an action. As with anything, there are exceptions (
action NullAction() and
action Notify() being two that come to mind).
action Call() is even more severe, in so much as you can't chain it together with other actions. But things are easier to follow, if you think of it as "exit THEN action", not "action then exit".
Back to original post...
The issue, as I saw it, was that the background image
my_image1 was appearing and THEN half a second later, the buttons
button1 and
button2 were appearing. It gave a stuttering effect.
The delay appeared to be the
screen loading slowly, as the background was already clearly visible.
In reality, it was the background image being shown with the
scene ... with dissolve that was introducing the perceived delay and the
screen was appearing immediately after the
dissolve had finished. But that's not how the brain saw it.
The second misunderstanding was a variation on this theme and there's nothing to be gained by explaining that one too.
Then there was the possible cumulative problem. It could easily have been introducing an even bigger and more noticeable delay than I saw. And it went away when the OP executed "I.T. solution #1"... "
Switch it off and on again". There was no clear cause for this, beyond spending too many hours trying to fix a problem that wouldn't go away. It's not even clear it was a RenPy or game thing.
I mention it only to highlight that sometimes just stepping away from the computer (maybe even getting a bit of sleep) can solve the most stubborn of problems and that "switch it off and on again" works surprisingly often.
