Fading GUI

#1 No I don't believe this is supported atm.

I have personal experience adding an alphaFade value to the base GuiControl which allows you to do this, but this is a C++ change, and was a fairly big pain in the ass. And unfortunately I also can't provide it as a resource "as is" because it is in an unreleased version of the engine that has completely different draw-calls.

That being said, it is possible to add that feature with C++ changes. Another possibility might be to use sceneObjects and utilize blend-mode for gui elements you want that effect on.

#2 I've come up with a way to fade in and out windows that requires minimal code changes.

In dg/dgl.h add the following above dglSetBitmapModulation()

void dglSetFixedAlpha( F32 v );

In dgl/dgl.cc add the following inside the anonymous namespace below "RectI sgCurerntClipRect;"

F32 sgFixedAlpha = 1;

and this above dglSetBitmapModulation()

void dglSetFixedAlpha( F32 v )
{
  sgFixedAlpha = v;
}

and in dglSetBitmapModulation(), add this below "c.clamp();"

c.alpha = sgFixedAlpha;

and in dglClearBitmapModulation(), replace the code with

sg_bitmapModulation.set( 255, 255, 255, sgFixedAlpha * 255 );

and, finally, in dglSetTextAnchorColor(), add this below "c.clamp();"

c.alpha = sgFixedAlpha;

In gui/containers/guiWindowCtrl.h, add the following member variables below "S32 mTabIndex"

bool mProcessFade;
S32 mFadeInMillis;
S32 mStartTime;

In gui/containers/guiWindowCtrl.cc, add the following initialization in the constructor "GuiWindowCtrl::GuiWindowCtrl()" below "mProcessMinimize = false;"

mFadeInMillis = 0;
mStartTime = 0;
mProcessFade = false;

and at the end of ::initPersistFields()

addField("fadeInMillis",      TypeS32,          Offset(mFadeInMillis, GuiWindowCtrl));

and at the end of ::onWake(), before the "return true;"

if( mFadeInMillis > 0 )
{
  mProcessFade = true;
  mStartTime = Platform::getRealMilliseconds();
}

and at the end of ::onSleep()

mProcessFade = false;

and at the top of ::onRender(), just after the "if( !mProfile..." statement

// Fix the alpha
   if( mProcessFade == true )
   {
     F32 alpha = (F32)(Platform::getRealMilliseconds() - mStartTime) / (F32)mFadeInMillis;
     if( alpha < 0 ) 
       alpha = 0;
     else if( alpha > 1 )
     {
       alpha = 1.0;
       mProcessFade = false;
     }
     dglSetFixedAlpha( alpha );
   }

and, finally, at the very end of the same function

if( mProcessFade == true )
  dglSetFixedAlpha( 1.0 );

NOW WHAT?
Simply add a "fadeInMillis = 250;" inside the GuiWindowCtrl() when you build it. In the example I just game, the window fades in full at one-quarter of a second.

I think this could be adapted to a new class (GuiFadeInControl?) that you could wrap any GUI with (much like a GuiWindowCtrl is often wrapped by a GuiControl now).

I hope this helps! If you have any questions or problems (I think I've got it all here, but who really knows), feel free to ask for help.

#3 A quick change. The above will force alpha to 1.0, even if it is set below that. A simple fix, though:

In dglSetBitmapModulation()

{
  ColorF c = in_rColor;
  c.clamp();
  if( c.alpha > sgFixedAlpha ) // This is the change
    c.alpha = sgFixedAlpha;
  sg_bitmapModulation = c;
  sg_textAnchorColor = sg_bitmapModulation;
}

and the same in dglSetTextAnchorColor()

{
  ColorF c = in_rColor;
  c.clamp();
  if( c.alpha > sgFixedAlpha ) // Same thing
    c.alpha = sgFixedAlpha;
  sg_textAnchorColor = c;
}

#4 Cheers! This is a really nice addition.

#5 Nice! The bitmap won't fade. The toolbar and stuff will, but why doesn't the bitmap?

#6 Go through and double check that you applied all of the changes. I'd first look at dglClearBitmapModulation() to make sure it executes the new code "sg_bitmapModulation.set( 255, 255, 255, sgFixedAlpha * 255 );" since that's what the GuiBitmapCtrl calls first.

#7 No luck...

//dgl.h:

void dglClearBitmapModulation();


//dgl.cc:

void dglClearBitmapModulation()
{
sg_bitmapModulation.set( 255, 255, 255, sgFixedAlpha * 255 );
}

That sound right? Do you want any of my DGL files?