Field

Clicking the “Text / Graphic Field” button and choosing a square on your current Interface will bring up the Field window.

RPG – Menus/HUD (Part 4/5)

In this fourth tutorial, we’ll be adding new resources, creating a start menu and changing how the player’s health is represented on the HUD.


General

Display Name – is used to identify the Field on the Interface.

Scripting ID – is used to identify the Field through scripting.

Position – sets the X/Y/Z coordinates of the Field on the Interface.

Width / Height – sets the X and Y size of the Field in pixels or inches, depending on your choice in the dropdown menu to the right.

Orientation – specifies if a Field is displayed horizontally or vertically. This only applies to “Units” and “Graph” Fields.

Alignment – sets the X and Y alignment of the Field. Click and drag your cursor in the box to change how the Field will align in the Interface. The preview will update in real time.

Display Shadow – when ticked, a shadow will be drawn under the Field.

Initially Existent – when ticked, the Field will appear from the beginning. If a Field is non-existent, it will not be visible and cannot be selected (even if “Selectable” is ticked).

Selectable – when ticked, the Field can be selected by the player.

Disabled – when ticked, the Field is disabled. Disabled Fields cannot be selected (even if “Selectable” is ticked).

Invisible – when ticked, the Field is invisible. Invisible Fields can still be selected if the “Selectable” option is ticked.

Update Real-time – when ticked, changes to the Field will be apparent to the player instantly. If not ticked, the Interface will need to be closed and re-opened to see changes. For example: if a Field uses a Variable which is changed while the Interface is open and it does not update in real-time, the updated value will not be visible until the Interface is closed and re-opened.

Per-Pixel Cursor – when ticked, the Field will be sensitive to per-pixel clicking.

Allow Text Input – when ticked, the Field will accept raw text input by the player.

Word-Wrap – when ticked, the Field will allow text sliding for inputted text.

Ignore Cursor – when ticked, the Field will ignore cursor clicking so that Fields beneath it can be clicked, even when the overlaying Field is visible.

Initial Text – the text that is displayed by default on the Field. This only applies to “Text / Graphic” Fields.

Initial Value / Maximum – the value that is displayed by default and the maximum value the Field will show. This only applies to “Units”, “Graph” and “Transition Single Sprite” Fields.

Sprite – is used to select a Sprite to change the Field’s appearance on the Interface. This doesn’t apply to “Text / Graphic” and “Camera View” Fields.


Multi-Lined Fields

You can use the Pilcrow sign character (¶) or ALT+0182 wherever you want a line break to appear. 001 Game Creator will automatically recognise the character and replace ¶ with a line break respectively.


Double Quotation Marks

To add a double quotation mark (“) use Text.Char(34) instead of using two single quotation marks.


Field Text Delay

To learn how to delay the display part of text, please see our Message Box Markup page.


Visual

Visual Setting Color – this allows you to select pre-defined visual options for different types of Fields.

  • Custom – set colors of your choosing.
  • Background – applies “Background Color” Visual Setting.
  • Border – applies “Border Color” Visual Setting.
  • Text – applies “Text Color”, “Disabled Text Color”, “Unselected Text Color” and “Selected Text Color” Visual Settings.
  • Selector – applies “Disabled Selector Color”, “Unselected Selector Color” and “Selected Selector Color” Visual Settings.
  • Static – set “Normal” color only.

Visual – this section allows you to set the color, opacity, shadow color and shadow opacity of a Field depending on the Field’s settings.

  • Normal – applies to Fields that aren’t selectable.
  • Unselected – applies to selectable Fields that currently aren’t selected.
  • Selected – applies to selectable Fields that are currently selected.
  • Disabled – applies to Fields that have been disabled.

Color Coding

To learn how to apply color only to specific parts of text, please see our Message Box Markup page.


Maintain Distance From Edge

This section is used for customizing whether a Field should maintain a certain amount of pixels from the edge of the screen. This means you can anchor a Field to areas of the Interface so that it will stay in that position, regardless of the game’s screen resolution. The Interface will move with its screen alignment, meaning it will not become offset if the resolution is changed.

If lines of the cross are black (white if Dark UI Theme is enabled), the Field will be aligned to these edges of the screen. Having all four lines in black (white if Dark UI Theme is enabled) will align the Field to the centre of the screen.

Consider Size – when ticked, the distance from the edge is determined by the edge of the Field graphic to the edge of the screen. If the Field doesn’t consider its size, then it will refer to its position instead.

Proportional – when ticked, the distance from the edge is determined by a percentage of the screen size rather than a fixed pixel offset.

Keep Aspect Ratio – when ticked, the width and height of the Field are maintained. For example: if edging is enabled for both sides of the Field and the Field is forced to resize, it will take the aspect ratio into account, rather than stretching it to fit.

Multiples – when ticked, the Field will be scaled in divisions/multiplications of the Field size.


Behavior

Field Type – this drop down menu contains all of the Field types you can create. Each Field type has its own settings that can be customized, as well as some options that apply to all types of Fields.


Text / Graphic

These Fields are primarily used to display text/information to the player.

Text Font – sets the Font face of the Field text.

Display Style – sets the style in which the text will appear when the Interface is shown.

Line Spacing – sets the size of the spacing in between multi-lined Fields.

Text Height – sets the Font size of the Field text in pixels or inches.


Units

These Fields are commonly used to show the player’s health. For example: if you set the Sprite property to a heart graphic and then set the Initial Value / Maximum property to 1 and 4 respectively, 4 hearts will display but only 1 of them will be lit up.

Fractions and Empties – “Ignore” won’t show the in-between units between the value and the maximum value. “Through Effect Frames” will create a transition between the units. For example: if you had hearts to represent the player’s health, you could set up the Field to show the heart in different states instead of just being full (maximum value) or empty (value). So if you had 5.5 you could show the heart in a half state and if you had 5.25 you could show the heart in a quarter state, etc.

Unit Worth – is how many units are shown. For example: if you have a maximum value of 14 and you select a Sprite it will display 14 of that Sprite but if you change the unit worth to 2 then only 7 will display instead.


Graph

These Fields are commonly used to show player progression. For example: you could create a bar graph to display the total number of Experience Points a player has earned.

Shape – sets which type of graph will be displayed. “Pie”, “Bar” or “Rotating Dial”.

Start and End Angles – sets the Field start and end angles.

Game Recipe #6 – Stamina HUD

In this recipe, we will add a stamina display to an interface for use with the sprint system previously implemented in Recipe #5 – Sprint with Stamina (Using Statistics).


Interfaces

In this fourth tutorial, we’ll be adding new resources, creating a start menu and changing how the player’s health is represented on the HUD.


Transition Single Sprite

These fields are used for transitioning through Sprites as the value progresses to its maximum.


Window

These Fields are similar to “Static Sprite” Fields (see below), with the exception that they’re able to do special scaling and tiling in order to produce a window-like effect. For example: if you had a 96×96 pixel square Sprite and attempt to re-size it as a “Static Sprite”, it will stretch and distort the Sprite to fit your custom dimensions but if you used the exact same Sprite in a window Field, 001 Game Creator will automatically scale and tile the Sprite to fit your custom dimensions without stretching or distorting the original graphic.

Interfaces

In this fourth tutorial, we’ll be adding new resources, creating a start menu and changing how the player’s health is represented on the HUD.


Static Sprite

These Fields are primarily used to display buttons, banners, etc. on your Interface.

Rotation – sets the angle orientation of the Sprite. Field Sprites may become blurry if rotated at non-90 degree angles.

Interfaces

In this fourth tutorial, we’ll be adding new resources, creating a start menu and changing how the player’s health is represented on the HUD.


Camera View

These Fields are commonly used for picture-in-picture effects as well as setting up slit-screen for local multiplayer games.

Player – sets which player the camera view is focussed on.

Focus Offset – sets the X/Y/Z camera focus offset.

Rotate Focus with Actor Direction – when ticked, the camera focus offset will rotate with an Actor (useful for first/third-person perspectives).


General

Associate with Field – is used to associate the Field with another on the Interface.

Scroll Area Field – is used to specify a Field to scroll a selector Field if there are Fields that span larger than the Interface. This feature is useful in shops that show lots of Items. You can have them displayed in a list on the one side of the Interface, and if there are more Items than the screen is capable of showing, the selector will scroll when you go down to the bottom of the list.

Simulate Control – is used to simulate the action of the selected control when the Field is activated.


Use Values

This section allows your Field to retrieve specific data such as text/values, visibility, size, color, etc. and apply them to itself. For example: you could use the “Retrieve Text/Value” box to show data that is stored inside a Global Variable.


Retrieve Collection

Spawn Collection – is used to select a Collection in order to generate Fields from its contents.

Offset / Spacing – is used to change the way generated Fields are positioned. “Offset” will use pre-determined X / Y values (specified below), whilst “Spacing” will allow Fields to be positioned based on their contents.

X / Y – is used to offset the horizontal/vertical position of the generated Fields so that they aren’t all placed at the same position.

Columns – is used to specify the amount of columns you want the generated Fields to appear in. If you want them all to appear in a list then you can leave this at 1.


Triggers

See the “Referencing Objects” section on the Script Editor page to learn about the global terms “relate”, “this”, “main” and “party” and how they can be used.

  • Activated – runs the script when the Field is activated.
  • Disabled Activated – runs the script when the Field is activated whilst being disabled.
  • Before Highlight – runs the script before the Field is selected.
  • Got Highlight – runs the script when the Field is selected.
  • Lost Highlight – runs the script when the Field is deselected.
  • Text Inputted – runs the script when the Field receives text input.
  • Mouse Down – runs the script when the mouse is pressed on the Field.
  • Mouse Enter – runs the script when the mouse enters the Field.
  • Mouse Move – runs the script when the mouse moves within the Field.
  • Mouse Leave – runs the script when the mouse leaves the Field.
  • Mouse Up – runs the script when the mouse is released on the Field.
  • Complete Gesture – runs the script when the user has completed a specified mouse gesture.

Edit On Activation Interfaces

This section allows you hide/show and activate Interfaces when the Field is activated. Ticking the box “After Triggers” means it will wait until its own triggers have been executed first.