Hi *,
I was wondering… why are you jME developers putting
so much effort into the 2D GUI system?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest the time into things
that are more game-relevant, like an animation system,
physics, cartoon shader or similar?
Kind regards,
/Gus.
"gus" wrote:
I was wondering... why are you jME developers putting
so much effort into the 2D GUI system?
so much effort into the 2D GUI system?
Making a GUI system is not a hard task, but it can be very long. So an integrated GUI can reduce users efforts.
Wouldn't it make more sense to invest the time into things
that are more game-relevant, like an animation system,
physics, cartoon shader or similar?
GUI system IS game-revelant. You use a GUI to make in-game menu and the user interface. But if you want, you can use your custom GUI system :)
About game-revelant features, animation has been included in MD2/MD3 and (maybe) 3ds loader. About physic, only collisions are handled, but you can bind ODE (someone in the Physic forum started to design an Odejava binding for jME). And cartoon shader can be implemented using vertex program ! Take a look at the demos page ;)
Chman
"Chman" wrote:
GUI system IS game-revelant.
EVERY game has a gui… even if it’s just for the options screen and main menu. From there, I really can’t think of one that doesn’t use it all the time. Neverwinter Nights, Elder Scrolls, Half-Life, C&C… all of them use in-game gui controls.
BTW… I’m almost done working on a new gui system… based more on internal base jME frameworks than separate widget systems.
"guurk" wrote:
BTW.. I'm almost done working on a new gui system... based more on internal base jME frameworks than separate widget systems.
If you replace JME’s GUI I would like to request that you can still use the right click of the mouse like RenParticleEditor.
Just like pretty much anything within the jME input interfaces you’ll be able to assign behavior as needed.
"guurk" wrote:
BTW.. I'm almost done working on a new gui system... based more on internal base jME frameworks than separate widget systems.
Glad to hear you're doing that - since I started doing my own a few days ago
Any estimations when yours is finished? Will you make it publicly available?
MD3 ?
great! 
yet though I prefer a bone-weighted format like md5 or x, but in the meantime is good to have md3, even md2.
snaga, you might have posted in the wrong thread
This is talking about GUI, not models.
If we could get the current Widget stuff to work with normal InputHandlers, then there will be no need to use others, unless ofcourse, they are alot better.
My 2 pence, DP
"guurk" wrote:
EVERY game has a gui...
Why not simply bridge to Swing? It has pluggable look & feel so it would be suitable for games.
"guurk" wrote:
I'm almost done working on a new gui system...
There are already so many different GUI APIs in the Java world (AWT, Swing, SWT, MIDP, LookingGlass...), I really don't want to have to learn yet *another* one...
Yes I agree - the key requirements for a game gui lib should be simplicity, and customizability.
However, as far as I can tell, these were not the design goals of the current jME gui. Its looks to me a bit bloated, and not flexible enough (lack of PLAF etc).
Or am I mistaken?
id love to see some screenies of your GUI guruk, got any?
I’ve been meaning to put these into the showcase, but just haven’t had time to give something good…
Here are some movies of what I’m doing… Not much to see yet. But to start I have a nice fade effect, and you can see the main menu which is using my gui widgets.
Lowest Quality (2.5MB) : http://hicom.resonus.net/ftproot/HC2_d1_high.WMV
Higher Quality (3.6MB) : http://hicom.resonus.net/ftproot/HC2_d1_vhigh.WMV
Ultra Quality (14MB) : http://hicom.resonus.net/ftproot/HC2_d1_ultra.WMV
Here’s a screenie of the main menu. It’s just 5 buttons, each having 3 states for up, hover and down. The title and background are also my gui widgets. The base one that doesn’t have mouse interaction. Once I’m done with my options screen (which will have sliders, combos, checkboxes and radios) and my save/load game screen (which will have textbox) I’ll make text apps for jme.
Looking great Guurk. You guys need to get all your games into the showcase area. There are some very cool games out there already. Let’s see them!
But to start I have a nice fade effect...
Would you perhaps been using the Transient Effect? and if not, can you please tell me any improvements to the system. I am doing some right know, but need ideas.
Thx, DP
PS, your game looks awsome!
I didn’t end up using the Transient Effect. Two reasons.
- I couldn’t get it working :(… it just blinked the box that was to surround the stuff red once, never faded one way or another. I’m sure I just missed something.
- Didn’t really need to. With the fades I’m using there’s only one mesh on the screen that needed to fade so I just change the solid color over time :), that was really easy.
Again! I’d like to point out that I’m still a newbie when it comes to this 3D stuff. I’ll get there eventually, but in the mean time I like to try and figure out A way of doing things, even if it’s not the Best way.
Im thinking of a complete rewrite at the moment, im researching into options, il keep you posted.
DP