[MENUDEF] Switchable menue graphic depending on selection?

[Tormentor667]

According to this thread, would it be possible to add a switchable menue image that displays a graphic depending on the currently selected option? I thought about swapping through episode- or skill choices and for each type displaying a different background or graphic next to the whole block.

[Matt]

I was just thinking about this a few days ago... or, rather, I was thinking about this with respect to text, like you could have a little display that shows a description of the selected option or something.

Could be really useful for skills, playerclasses, episodes and custom cvars.

[Hellser]

Shouldn't be too hard to add in, right? I'd be all for this. Those Wolf3D remakes for ZDoom can now have switchable faces whilst selecting skills.

[Tormentor667]

This is exactly what I had in mind

[Hindsight2020]

I'd like to add to this, if I may. It's not quite along the same lines, but it is a MENUDEF suggestion. I feel like if the devs consider this suggestion, maybe my thought could be included too...

I'd like to see an option to define an alternate menu setup that is summoned during gameplay vs game startup / title screen. It would be nice (and I believe, very useful to many modders) to be able to define how a menu is displayed to a player upon starting up the game and how the menu is displayed while playing the game... for instance, I would make my "startup" menu flow nicely with my title animation/picture. I would also omit the "Save Game" graphic because you can't save a game when you aren't playing... so why should it be there at all? Then, once a game is started, pressing ESC brings up an IN GAME menu...maybe one that is small and placed in a corner...or has a different Main graphic at the top...whatever. Use your imagination. This is something that you see in all modern games. The startup menu is never the same as the in-game menu.

Now I've been warned that this idea might get nixed due to security concerns and I completely understand that thought process, but I think there would be a way to accomplish this while still remaining very "standardized"... Don't allow the modder to affect any settings that aren't already protected...just allow the defining of a second set of PatchItems and Positions. ZDoom would only need to recognize when the player is in-game and when they are not, then display the defined menu settings accordingly.

I mod almost entirely for GZDoom and I know we're not supposed to make feature suggestions for that port...but I'm hoping if it makes it into ZDoom, it will make it into GZDoom in short order.

Thanks for letting me butt in here.

[Major Cooke]

Unfortunately, I have no experience when it comes to working with menudef so I can't really help you. I tried working with it once but it was too difficult for me to grasp.

[Hindsight2020]

Not really too difficult once you realize you pretty much can't change the hard coded stuff like the options menu. You can add new options, but can't really take anything away. Menudef is useful for replacing and positioning graphics and text and adding a few key binding options. That's really about it. (At least from what I can tell.)

Was thinking tho, maybe an easy (relatively) addition to accomplish my suggestion would be to add a new "if" command... There's already "IfGame" and "IfOption"...maybe add an "IfTitle" or "IfPlaying"...

Code: Select all

IfTitle
   {
     This is how my
     Menu will be
     Organized
   }
Else
   {
     This is how my
     Menu will be
     Organized
   }

Or something like that.
Of course I'm no programmer and I have no idea if this would be possible, or just too much work.

[Kinsie]

I suggested something like this in the past, it was promptly ignored.

[Nash]

Now possible with menu scriptification.

[Tormentor667]

But how?

[Hindsight2020]

Yay! Got me excited about this topic again! Lol