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Difference between revisions of "Adding an Options Menu"

Adding an Options Menu (edit)

Revision as of 00:08, 25 December 2008

2,457 bytes added ,  00:08, 25 December 2008
Further categorised variables into global/specific, added "Utilising Your Variables" section, proofed and edited
imported>Cipscis
m (Proofed and edited, added paragraph about variable names)
imported>Cipscis
(Further categorised variables into global/specific, added "Utilising Your Variables" section, proofed and edited)
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<p>I'm assuming that anybody reading this is familiar enough with the GECK that I can ignore things like how to make a new quest, and can instead concentrate on the scripting side of things.</p>
<p>I'm assuming that anybody reading this is familiar enough with the GECK that I can ignore things like how to make a new quest, and can instead concentrate on the scripting side of things.</p>


<h1>Adding an Options Menu</h1>
<h1>Setting Up Your Plugin To Use An Options Menu</h1>


<h2>Introduction</h2>
<h2>Introduction</h2>


<p>Creating an Options Menu for is a good way to keep your plugin Modular without having to make multiple plugin files available.  It allows the user to change two types of settings in game:</p>
<p>Creating an Options Menu is a good way to keep your plugin modular without having to make multiple plugin files available.  It allows the user to change settings in-game.</p>
 
<p>Settings can be categorised in two ways - Analogue/Digital and Global/Specific.</p>
 
<ul>
<ul>
<li>
<li>
Analogue settings - Settings with many possible values
Analogue/Digital
<ul>
<li>
Analogue - Settings that can take on many values
</li>
<li>
Digital - Settings that can take on two values - 1 and 0 (corresponding with on and off)
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</li>
<li>
<li>
Digital settings - Settings with two possible values - on or off
Global/Specific
<ul>
<li>
Global - Settings that affect the game in general
</li>
<li>
Specific - Settings that are specific to a certain object
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>


<p>Each of these settings utilises a slightly different menu structure, although they can both be incorporated into the same Options Menu.</p>
<p>Each of these categories can utilise a slightly different menu structure, although they can all be incorporated into the same Options Menu.</p>


<h2>Declaring Our Variables</h2>
<h2>Declaring Your Variables</h2>


<p>The first step in making these settings editable is to define them in a "Variable Reservoir Quest Script" or "VR script".  A VR script is a script that contains no Begin/End blocks, but consists entirely of variable declarations.  This example VR script, which is attached to the "Start Game Enabled" quest "ExampleVariableReservoirQuest", will be used in this tutorial:</p>
<p>The first step in making these settings editable is to define them in a "Variable Reservoir", or "VR" Quest Script.  A VR script is a script that contains no Begin/End blocks, but consists entirely of variable declarations.  This example VR script, which is attached to the "Start Game Enabled" quest "ExampleVariableReservoirQuest", will be used in this tutorial:</p>


<pre>ScriptName ExampleVariableReservoirSCRIPT
<pre>ScriptName ExampleVariableReservoirSCRIPT


; ===============================================
; ==============================================
; Digital Settings
; Global Settings
short sDigitalSetting1 ; Default 1 - On
 
short sDigitalSetting2 ; Default 0 - Off
short sGlobalDigitalSetting ; Default 1 - On
; ===============================================
short sGlobalAnalogueSetting1 ; Default 3
ref rGlobalAnalogueSetting2 ; Default ExampleRef
; ==============================================
 
; ==============================================
; Specific Settings


; ===============================================
; Item1
; Analogue Settings
short sItem1DigitalSetting ; Default 0 - Off
short sAnalogueSetting1 ; Default 3
short sItem1AnalogueSetting ; Default 5
short sAnalogueSetting2 ; Default 5
 
; ===============================================
; ==============================================
</pre>
</pre>


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<p>Keep in mind that your variables should be named according to their function.  The variable names I have used here were chosen to illustrate the type of setting they are used for, and are not practical.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your variables should be named according to their function.  The variable names I have used here were chosen to illustrate the type of setting they are used for, and are not practical.</p>


<h2>Initialising Our Variables</h2>
<p>You should name your variables according to the setting that they affect, and the object that they are associated to (for Specific Variables).</p>
 
<h2>Initialising Your Variables</h2>


<p>To initialise these variables, we are going to add a result script to Stage 1 of our VR quest.  A result script is different from regular scripts in that it can't declare any variables of its own, and it doesn't contain any Begin/End blocks.  Instead, a quest result script will run once when its quest reaches the stage that it is attached to, provided that the conditions assigned to it evaluate to true.</p>
<p>To initialise these variables, we are going to add a result script to Stage 1 of our VR quest.  A result script is different from regular scripts in that it can't declare any variables of its own, and it doesn't contain any Begin/End blocks.  Instead, a quest result script will run once when its quest reaches the stage that it is attached to, provided that the conditions assigned to it evaluate to true.</p>
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<p>This is the result script that would used to initialise the variables in ExampleVariableReservoirSCRIPT:</p>
<p>This is the result script that would used to initialise the variables in ExampleVariableReservoirSCRIPT:</p>


<pre>set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sDigitalSetting1 to 1
<pre>set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sGlobalDigitalSetting to 1 ; On
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sDigitalSetting2 to 0
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sGlobalAnalogueSetting1 to 3
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.rGlobalAnalogueSetting2 to ExampleRef


set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sAnalogueSetting1 to 3
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sItem1DigitalSetting to 0 ; Off
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sAnalogueSetting2 to 5</pre>
set ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sItem1AnalogueSetting to 5
</pre>


<p>Note that, even though variables initialise to 0, we have set sDigitalSetting2 to 0 in this result script.  This ensures that a "Set to Defaults" option can be included in the Options Menu that can set or reset all settings to their default values with a simple "SetStage ExampleVariableReservoirQuest 1" command.</p>
<p>Note that, even though variables initialise to 0, we have set sDigitalSetting2 to 0 in this result script.  This ensures that a "Set to Defaults" option can be included in the Options Menu that can set or reset all settings to their default values with a simple "SetStage ExampleVariableReservoirQuest 1" command.</p>
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<p>As you can see, it will run only once - using "SetStage ExampleVariableReservoirQuest 1" to initialise our settings to their default values.</p>
<p>As you can see, it will run only once - using "SetStage ExampleVariableReservoirQuest 1" to initialise our settings to their default values.</p>
<h2>Utilising Your Variables</h2>
<p>At the moment, all our variables are doing is sitting in our VR quest.  If we make any changes to their values they won't affect the plugin in any way.</p>
<p>Tying these variables to settings will always depend on just how the setting works, and is generally done differently depending on whether the setting is an Analogue setting or a Digital setting.</p>
<h3>Analogue Settings</h3>
<p>Associating the value of analogue settings with features depends entirely on the type of feature.  For example, it might consist of several "if"/"elseif" statements like so:</p>
<pre>if sGlobalAnalogueSetting1 == 0
; Do it this way
elseif sGlobalAnalogueSetting1 == 1
; Do it that way
else
; Do it another way
endif
</pre>
<p>Analogue settings might also be used as parameters for functions like [[KillActor]], or they may point to persistent references in order to change the object that a certain feature affects:</p>
<pre>ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.rGlobalAnalogueSetting2.KillActor ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.rGlobalAnalogueSetting2 ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sGlobalAnalogueSetting1
</pre>
<h3>Digital Settings</h3>
<p>Associating the value of a digital setting with a certain feature is usually done by placing an "if" statement around the code that denotes the feature:</p>
<pre>if ExampleVariableReservoirQuest.sGlobalDigitalSetting
; Code that affects the associated feature goes here
endif</pre>
<p>Obviously, this "if" statement should enclose all code segments that affect the relevant feature</p>
<p>Keep in mind that this is not the only way in which the value of a digital setting can be tied to a feature.  For example, digital settings can also be used as parameters for certain functions to change a small part of the function.</p>


<h2>Still to Come</h2>
<h2>Still to Come</h2>


<ul>
<ul>
<li>
Utilising Our Variables
</li>
<li>
<li>
Navigating The Options Menu
Navigating The Options Menu
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