Submit My Question - Recent Questions - Recent Answer

Msdn Tech >> Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc. >> Game Technologies: General

DX GUI library

Is there any developed GUI libraries, based on ManagedDirectX version, is it reasonable to do own one, and possibly to sell it, I mean UI that will be used inside D3D applications

[180 byte] By [freeze] at [2008-3-5]

«« Simple search engine (newbie)
»» Navigate Backwards and Forwards button missing

# 1

Have you looked at the Sample framework that ships with the SDK, there is a simple GUI System included there.

Have a look at the samples and the CustomUI Example.

Mykre at 2007-9-9 >

top of Msdn Tech,Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc.,Game Technologies: General...

# 2

yes I saw it, but it's very basic, I'm finishing one lib + screens editors, skins editos , events model (script like), but on DirectDraw windows, now want to do more poverfull based on this lib extention + SDK GUI examples

freeze at 2007-9-9 >

# 3

I'm sure several people would be delighted if you wrote such a library Smile

DavidWeller at 2007-9-9 >

# 4

At one point the Axiom guys had ported Crazy Eddie's GUI library into managed code.

http://www.cegui.org.uk/modules/news/

However the Axiom site (http://www.axiom3d.org/) is not updated since ownership has been transferred to RealmForge (http://www.realmforge.com/) and I can't find any reference (at least not with a few quick searches - if you are interested I'm sure you can dig stuff up)

TheZMan at 2007-9-9 >

# 5

ok, thanks, but I would like to do my one from stratch, maybe looking at their one

freeze at 2007-9-9 >

# 6

I found a link to the forums http://forums.realmforge.com/viewforum.php?f=15&sid=e0e78d9872b5f607764400271271e5b2 things seem a little confused since the change in ownership, but something is happening. Here's the original sourceforge for the port too http://sourceforge.net/projects/ceguisharp

and good luck on creating your own, the more the merrier.

TheZMan at 2007-9-9 >

# 7

I wonder if someone ever tried to write a gdi to directx wrapper. Something like rendering a gdi window into an offscreen bitmap and converting that into a directx texture that can be rendered on your directx surface. That way, one could use all those controls we are used to together with visual studio's integrated form designer.

Salac at 2007-9-9 >

# 8

Hi there,
for my game (I'm developing a 3D Master of Orion-like game), since I'll need several controls I'm coding a GUI Library for managed DirectX in C#.

It currently handles just two controls (a generic "Panel" and a button) but I'm adding them as they are needed. I just finished coding the MouseEnter/Hover/Leave and am about to begin coding the MouseDown/Click/Up series of events.

I'm designing it, so that programming with these controls is just like Windows.Forms programming. You addeventHandlers by doing:

button.Click += new ...

There is a HUD control which holds all the other controls (sort of a "Form" equivalent). When you have finished adding controls, their various shapes are rendered in a single vertexbuffer. When some control needs to be updated, just that part of the vb is updated. It is beginning to look good: there is a screenshot (don't mind the colors) here. The first button shows the effect of the mouseHover event associated to a Button Control inside a Panel one (I wanted to see what color was Color.Wheat Big Smile ).

If someone is interested and wants to take a look, then let me know.. The only thing is that to make it work you would need to make so that your input routines send the correct parameters (an object which derives the EventArgs class) to the UserInterface class so that it is able to manage them and respond accordingly.

AvengerDr at 2007-9-9 >

# 9

Is the CustomUI Direct3D sample designed to be a fully-functional set of GUI classes for use in a game, or is it designed merely to be an example of how you might create your own? I noticed that the classes are defined in the Microsoft.Samples.* namespace, which seems a bit unconventional for code that I'd use in a retail game.

MikeVargas at 2007-9-9 >

# 10

Its a sample - do with it as you wish. Use it, expland it, change the namespace. I think pretty much the only thing you are not allowed to do with it is sell it on as a framework.

Though its functional its generally not really pretty enough to use in a commercial game and though you could tweak the textures there is more to do if you want to change sizes etc. Its great for knocking together quick tools and a vast improvement on making your own from scratch.

TheZMan at 2007-9-9 >

# 11

The one I'm coding is based on a TransformedColored array, whereas the one in the DX framework is based off textures. The obvious pro is that you can have each control of the size you want.. the cons is that since it is based on a vertexbuffer (all controls are "assembled" in a single vb) when you have to deal with interactive controls, like a trackbar for example, you have to update the vb several times in a second. Still, I don't think it's a big performance hit.. But it allows me much more freedom.

AvengerDr at 2007-9-9 >

# 12

Hey, just saw this thread and I thought I'd let share a little bit about the MDX GUI library I'm developing for my own projects. Since the source for MFC comes with VS.NET, I figured I'd check that out as one of my first informational stops. Turns out its a great resource if you're interested in rolling your own GUI framework of any kind. And of course, I checked out the MDX sample framework. Because I'm not using .NET's event capabilities directly for the rest of my application framework (I'm using a state machine with delegates), I'm basing the event system for my framework around that. For now I'm just using textured quads for the GUI elements, seems to work just fine. But yeah, just wanted to let you know that the MFC source is a great help.

Exellon at 2007-9-9 >

# 13

Greetings!

I'm in the middle of building a level editor type app (multi windows, tab controls, tree views, etc...) in C# and ManagedDX. I want the ease of programming WinForm apps with the 3d rendering of MDX. I'm currently using a picture box as my rendering window.. .but have a lot of problems with repaints and responsiveness with Keyboard and Mouse events.

My question is: Do I need to write all my controls in MDX .... and handle all of the user input events using the Keyboard Checker/Mouse Checker DX callback functions?

Or is it possible (reasonable) to build a robust app using standard winForm controls and redering to multiple windows?

Thanks!!

blueboss at 2007-9-9 >

# 14

cehck on DirectSDK CustionUI exmple, I think they did the best to handle user\s input there + mixed it with navigation in 3d world, thanks

freeze at 2007-9-9 >

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc. Hot Topic

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc. New Topic

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc.

Java / MSDN / Linux Tech / PHP Tech / MSDN DotNet / MSDN TECH / Health Library / Programmers Tech / visual basic Tech / Developer Tech / Ipod faqs / Msdn China Tech

it's Archive about 'DX GUI library...'

DX GUI library

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc. Hot Topic

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc. New Topic

Game Technologies: DirectX, XNA, XACT, etc.

Site Classified