[WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
I've gone through several Halomaps threads, sent Halomaps PMs and attempted to add two fellow modders on Windows Live Messenger, and still no full solutions. So I'm here to try another method, actually showing some progress. I didn't want to reveal this so soon, so as not to disapoint anyone if I give up (which is very possible), but I see no other way of getting further with the project.
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8817/uiwip.jpg
What you see here is the campaign menu screen, the only other screen I have worked on (and the only one near completion) is the main menu itself (no pics sorry, this is the only pic I have on this computer). Anyway, down to the questions.
As you can see on the right hand side of the picture the level select list is visible on this screen, however I would like to make those invisible and the buttons un-clickable(and un-enter-key-able) unless you hit the "Mission:" button.
I have been thinking long and hard about this and decided the best way would probablly to make each list item (button) do a "replace self with widget" to a dummy button (that is invisible and does nothing) but I can't figure out how to make more than one of them switch (I tried one or two things, I think maybe managed to switch two of them once, but anything I expect to switch all of them either does nothing (the widgets don't even switch) or causes an EXCEPTION.
UI buttons can run scripts, so if there is a script command that can tell widgets to do their "replace self with widget" that should solve the problem, but I can't find such a script command.
An alternative would be to make the widget containing all of the level buttons (the "solo_level_select_list.ui_widget_definition" widget) switch itself instead, but everytime I try to make it do that, EXCEPTION.
Ok, so that's the first question out of the way, but there's more.
Does anyone know how to take the colour select list (the vertical list of buttons in the middle of the screen that you click to change your colour) and make it into a spinner list (like on the vehicles screen of edit gametypes (where it says "NONE, 1, 2, 3" or "4" and you press the arrow to toggle between them). I've tried, and failed, several times.
How does the game tell which multiplayer map is which? (it isn't the map name, because all custom maps are treated the same way and battlecreak is beavercreak.map (or was it the other way round) yet the game still knows which name and picture to assign to each map.
Finally (I think) I'm planning on adding support for multipule campaigns, I hear it is possible to get the game to recognise campaign maps other than a10-d40 (see This Halomaps Topic). Any idea how this would be done? For this I would also need to check if the maps are present, and grey out buttons if they aren't (can the game read an external text file (which I would try and write a program to make) to find things like that out?) Also I've noticed sp maps showing up in the mp menu, and starting them from the mp screen crashes the game. Is them showing up on the mp map list screen avoidable?
See This Halomaps Topic for some discusion on these questions which may help explain the problems a little better.
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Update (23rd/June/2009): - Update: I found a workable compromise a while back for that solo level select list, which was to close
all the level name list icons when you select one, to start with they closed all right, but the level you selected wasn't selected, if you see what I mean. Now though, the level will select but sometimes I get an exception, at the momment I'm planning to do a public beta/alpha test in the future in the hope somebody can find a solution. Until then, here's an animted gif to keep you informed, and to explain something else I need help with:
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/6571/sapphireui1.gif
Sorry for the very bad quality, imageshack won't take files bigger than 1.5MB I think. I can try uploading my first, less compressed, attempt (at 5.85MB) to filefront if anyone wants to see that in better quality. Now, onto needing help, as you can see I have achived the effect I was aiming for. However there is more than just the random exceptions, seeing the results I have decided this still isn't good enough, when I hover over each level name I'm wanting the left-hand coloumn to update, any ideas how I can make it do that?
PS: The HALO bsp is placeholder, I plan to get or make something else in the future. The still on the campaign menu background might be swapped out too. The quit screen (apart from the background bitmaps) is still very much a WIP, and more work might be done on the other screens too. Other menu screens are all unchanged from their default HALO style at the moment, apart from a new gradient background bitmap on the load saved game screen and a failed attempt at a player colour spinner list on the player colour selection screen. EDIT: Something I forgot to say: Also as you can see in the .gif I've decided my attempt at a cursor bitmap was disapointing so I took the Delta Halo UI's cursor off one of their screenshots, so credit for that goes to whoever made it, not me. You can see from the static image above what my cursor was like, it was a bitmap from HALO 2 that I edited (there's other (most of which are tweaked) HALO 2 bitmaps in there too, (eg. the quit screen backgroud) so I can't take credit for everything.)
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Time for a little reveal. I had been aiming to release this today (Bungie Day 09 (we're now about 1 hour into July the 7th here in the UK)), however I've been far too slow, so you get the afore-mentioned, exception hunt (alpha test) instead. Hope you like it, AND READ THE README! Project Sapphire UI
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
Umm, those links aren't working, how would I make them work?
There's an "Insert Link" option.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8972/insertlink.jpg
You also can insert a link like this.
<URL="http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=insertlink.jpg">like this</URL>
(replace the angle brackets with square brackets).
Unfortunately, I don't know anything about UIs. It looks good, though.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
That is a really fucking sweet UI. It'd be sweet if it had a few epic halo pictures that faded out and in like some kind of perturbed slide show.
Don't know shit about UIs though, so can't help you, or know if what I suggested is possible :p
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Looks nice, dont like the purply-blue background though.
And graphics could do with being higher res.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
What you could do is just set up one widget that handles the left menu but and has just text down the right hand side, and when you click the mission select button it opens up a widget holding that select list, but doesn't allow you to use the right hand buttons (if you want). Never really investigated that kind of stuff with widgets so I can't help you out too much there.
I tried to get the colour select list to be a spinner list as well, but I couldn't get it to work either.
Having multiple SP campaigns isn't too hard - just set up a widget that holds buttons that run scripts for the maps. Not sure how accessing saved games would work though.
Sorry if this seems a bit vague - writing pretty early in the morning -_-;. Looks really nice though, you've obviously put a lot of effort and thought into it.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hunter
Looks nice, dont like the purply-blue background though.
And graphics could do with being higher res.
The UI works by just upscaling everything from a 640x480 res into whatever your screen is displaying. So unless he's running at 640x480, it doesn't look that great D: Sucks, I know.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Cool concept but needs a lot of work. Don't do a static background image also.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Work on the text, it's really bad.
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Glad most of you liked it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Arteen
I saw that, but it didn't look like it would let me have the links the way I wanted them (the way you then showed, thanks, also to anyone else he put the tag as </url> when it should have been [/url] (I think)).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Selentic
That is a really fucking sweet UI. It'd be sweet if it had a few epic halo pictures that faded out and in like some kind of perturbed slide show.
Don't know shit about UIs though, so can't help you, or know if what I suggested is possible :p
If it is possible to make .bitmap tags animate (like animated gifs) I might make a video background, but I don't think you can do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Timo
What you could do is just set up one widget that handles the left menu but and has just text down the right hand side, and when you click the mission select button it opens up a widget holding that select list, but doesn't allow you to use the right hand buttons (if you want). Never really investigated that kind of stuff with widgets so I can't help you out too much there.
Doesn't the "Open Widget" command open it as a new screen? If I can actually open a widget as a child of this widget it could be a great help, is it do-able?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Timo
Having multiple SP campaigns isn't too hard - just set up a widget that holds buttons that run scripts for the maps. Not sure how accessing saved games would work though.
Yeah, the way they were talking at Halomaps it sounded like you could actually make the game recongnise the map to make saves work, and unlock the buttons as the previous misson is completed. I know you can make a button that has a map_name command script attached to it but can you make it greyed out until certain maps have been game_won()? (Attached to this, is controling which map to go to automaticlly when game_won() is called.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Inferno
Cool concept but needs a lot of work. Don't do a static background image also.
I haven't decided what to do with the background yet, as this is HALO: Custom Edition I'm thinking of enabling the wireframe script for the background on the main menu, that still image is only used on the campaign menu and I might get a different one (that one is the "Halo invaids the PC" wallpaper with said text clone-tooled out). Also I once had the bsp of the control room exterior bsp from campaign on the other menus but it went over the cashe-file size limit when I put the background music in, I am still undecided on what bsp to use (maybe Coagulation with wireframe mode on or my poor Halo 3 Anouncement bsp (if I can have animated scenery and dust working), if they don't go over the cashe-file size limit).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SnaFuBAR
Work on the text, it's really bad.
Which text? If you mean the map description ("Search for the map room that will lead you to the secrets of Halo") one of my friends has already complained about that, and I think it could look better too. I think it's because Halo puts shadow effects on text, which in this case looks bad, anyone know how to fix it?
Re: [WIP](Help Required) Project Sapphire UI
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
Glad most of you liked it.
If it is possible to make .bitmap tags animate (like animated gifs) I might make a video background, but I don't think you can do that.
A slide show could theoretically be done, by having widgets with the flash background bitmap checkbox ticked, and the background bitmap being the slide. Then have the widget autoclose after one fade in out cycle, and open another widget with a different bitmap when it closes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
Doesn't the "Open Widget" command open it as a new screen? If I can actually open a widget as a child of this widget it could be a great help, is it do-able?
Yeah the open widget screen opens a whole new widget. But instead of trying to have everything handled by one overall widget, why not have two, where each has the same buttons, but one widget has the left menu activated, and another the right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
Yeah, the way they were talking at Halomaps it sounded like you could actually make the game recongnise the map to make saves work, and unlock the buttons as the previous misson is completed. I know you can make a button that has a map_name command script attached to it but can you make it greyed out until certain maps have been game_won()? (Attached to this, is controling which map to go to automaticlly when game_won() is called.)
I'm not too sure about this. Remembering back to some of the older custom SP maps, when you ran the map_name <name> command it brought you back to the last save point. I don't think you could get the UI to recognize the saves from custom maps. Unless of course you were able to script save points to be saved as a certian name, and have the UI call on each name via scripts. The UI could then be made to have ten or so buttons corresponding to save points within a campaign. When the widget is opened have the child button widgets calls a script. If the script is successful (the specific gamesave exists) the button would be created. If the script fails you can have a conditional widget open that's just an image of a greyed out button.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
I haven't decided what to do with the background yet, as this is HALO: Custom Edition I'm thinking of enabling the wireframe script for the background on the main menu, that still image is only used on the campaign menu and I might get a different one (that one is the "Halo invaids the PC" wallpaper with said text clone-tooled out). Also I once had the bsp of the control room exterior bsp from campaign on the other menus but it went over the cashe-file size limit when I put the background music in, I am still undecided on what bsp to use (maybe Coagulation with wireframe mode on or my poor Halo 3 Anouncement bsp (if I can have animated scenery and dust working), if they don't go over the cashe-file size limit).
You can bypass this limit (The delta UI is up to ~80mb at the moment) by using Kornman's Tool_pro. I think it's on halomaps. If not, give me a buzz and i'll upload it for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rhydgaled
Which text? If you mean the map description ("Search for the map room that will lead you to the secrets of Halo") one of my friends has already complained about that, and I think it could look better too. I think it's because Halo puts shadow effects on text, which in this case looks bad, anyone know how to fix it?
Piss around with the values of the .font tags in guerilla, that's how I got the text I used to look nice.
