using javascript for menus?

[Originway]

is it possible to start using javascript to make new menus and other elements on the display?
we can't figure out how to make this happen for a custom map-mod to use a new menu screen

[Originway]

also we want to change the title music in our map-mod depending on what menu option these select, is that possible?

[Per]

We would really want a new javascript-based GUI. However, this is a lot of work.

[aubergine]

What if initially a JS env is created for menus and some basic functions are exposed to it - then modders could start hacking away at it? I imagine it would quickly turn in to a larger project with dozens of new functions/globals being asked for, most if not all of which would be very specific to menus. Maybe a 3.2+ project?

[Per]

You do not understand. The current GUI code does not operate like a retained "scene graph", like most modern GUI toolkits. Everything in the GUI is composed anew every graphical frame. Exposing this broken architecture to javascript would do nobody any good.

[aubergine]

OMG, no wonder the GUI doesn't get updated much! I took a look at some of the GUI code and realised it was somewhat evil, but I had no idea it was redrawing everything every frame. That explains my laptop temperature increase even while looking at the menus...

[Duha]

We would really want a new javascript-based GUI. However, this is a lot of work.

You can add browoser inside and make html widgets.

Code: Select all

var widget = getWidget(path_to_template, position, [size])

template:
<div width='2%' height='3%'>
   <input type='button' style='wz_buttons' value='Write to console', onclick='console('hello')'>
<div>
widget.show()

[aubergine]

@Duha is that using QT? If so, which version?

[Lord Apocalypse]

This sounds like the EVE or WoW gui systems only using JS rather than Python or LUA.

Rebuilding the GUI even in a more modern game is a difficult challenge at best. By the sound of it for WZ it would be a nightmare at best and impossible at worst. May end up having to build a new GUI from scratch.

[Originway]

We would really want a new javascript-based GUI. However, this is a lot of work.

You can add browoser inside and make html widgets.

Code: Select all

var widget = getWidget(path_to_template, position, [size])

template:
<div width='2%' height='3%'>
   <input type='button' style='wz_buttons' value='Write to console', onclick='console('hello')'>
<div>
widget.show()

where do you add this code?

[vexed]

The problem with WZ's GUI code is not that it is drawn on every frame, that is fine & normal.
The issue is, everything is hardcoded at compile time.
It doesn't (yet) have the ability to handle external events, so all the glue code hasn't even been written.

This could all be under script control at some point in the future, but, as with everything else, we just need someone to write it first.

[Duha]

The problem with WZ's GUI code is not that it is drawn on every frame, that is fine & normal.
The issue is, everything is hardcoded at compile time.
It doesn't (yet) have the ability to handle external events, so all the glue code hasn't even been written.

This could all be under script control at some point in the future, but, as with everything else, we just need someone to write it first.

Is it possible add new graphic layer above standart GUI?

js function that calls browser frame that can have access to game js enviroment

[Per]

Adding a new GUI as an additional graphics layer, which replaces the old GUI piece by piece, is probably the only sane way to do it.

[aubergine]

I've been through the front-end UI to try and work out what JS API features would be needed (in addition to some sort of browser environment within WZ) to replace current menus & game set-up with HTML/CSS/JS...

https://warzone.atlassian.net/wiki/disp ... R/Menus+UI

Things get particularly complex around map previews and mp game host/join. But a lot of the rest of the stuff looks relatively straightforward from a JS perspective.