"Pinning" dialog box & other elements to the bottom of the screen

[sonictoad]

I'd like to keep my dialog box and a few other GUI elements-- main menu button, and phone icon for the smartphone GUI-- displayed on the in-game screen at all times, but searched the manual and can't see how to do this.

[Somniarre]

For the dialogue box, you can look into `window show` -- I'd put this at the start of your script so it remains on-screen. If you have your own GUI elements, you'll likely need to define a screen for them and then at the beginning of your script write `show myscreen` and it should remain on-screen during your game unless you explicitly hide it.

[sonictoad]

Thanks!! Found the section of the manual that deals with this, though I'm trying to find out how to toggle visibility for load/save in addition to the smartphone GUI.

[zankizuna]

you mean the quick_menu?
quick menu is a screen in screens.rpy that has Save, Load, etc buttons
and a
```
if quick_menu:
```

if you set quick_menu to False, it will hide.
the code to toggle would be

$ quick_menu= not quickmenu

[sonictoad]

you mean the quick_menu?
quick menu is a screen in screens.rpy that has Save, Load, etc buttons
and a
```
if quick_menu:
```

if you set quick_menu to False, it will hide.
the code to toggle is would be

$ quick_menu= not quickmenu

ah, if I toggle that, it'll just make the Save/Load buttons visible? because I also want to get rid of that little row of commands for "official" builds!
I got the dialog box to stick, just need to figure out this part along with a bespoke asset for a smartphone GUI I'm still working on.

[Imperf3kt]

Can you put up a screenshot of which part you're talking about, preferably circled. I would have said the quick menu as well, but after your latest reply I'm not sure.

[sonictoad]

Can you put up a screenshot of which part you're talking about, preferably circled. I would have said the quick menu as well, but after your latest reply I'm not sure.

Here's a Canva illustration I made where I color-coded what needs to be fixed. Pardon the messy placeholders (except Kate, who's finished, vectored, and looking fabulous.)

the red box on the bottom is that little row of commands (load/save/back/history/etc) which is hard to see on the placeholder BG.

the pink outlines are where I'd want the load and save buttons to go, along with possibly a third button containing some other info.

Green phone is where the access to the phone GUI would go, and I'd want it to change from its default icon to one with a red alert dot in the corner when Kate's got a message and it's not a simple scripted event done through the dialog box.

[Imperf3kt]

Okay so you are talking about the quick menu.
As suggested above, you can remove it by adding

Code: Select all

$ quick_menu = False

somewhere in your script, likely as the very first thing after label start:
Alternatively, you can set the following config to False

Code: Select all

default quick_menu = True

Or you can find the screen entitled "quick_menu" and delete it / its contents entirely. (note that deleting the screen entirely will trigger an error, as Ren'Py won't be able to find a screen it expects)

If you want the quick menu only at certain times, you can either toggle it via the above python method (set it True / False when needed) or add an additional condition to the if/else in the screen itself:

Code: Select all

    if quick_menu:
        stuff currently in the menu
    
    else:
        Stuff you want to show at other times.

Note that the quick menu has a "mobile variant", which is defined elsewhere in screens.rpy and will make your menu appear different on a mobile compared to a PC.


Lastly, you could just delete the lines

Code: Select all

init python:
    config.overlay_screens.append("quick_menu")

Regarding the pink outlined areas, you can just place some buttons in a screen and show that screen (the quick_menu is a handy screen for this, or you could make your own)
If you require help creating such a screen, I could help further.

[sonictoad]

Okay so you are talking about the quick menu.
As suggested above, you can remove it by adding

Code: Select all

$ quick_menu = False

somewhere in your script, likely as the very first thing after label start:
Alternatively, you can set the following config to False

Code: Select all

default quick_menu = True

Or you can find the screen entitled "quick_menu" and delete it / its contents entirely. (note that deleting the screen entirely will trigger an error, as Ren'Py won't be able to find a screen it expects)

If you want the quick menu only at certain times, you can either toggle it via the above python method (set it True / False when needed) or add an additional condition to the if/else in the screen itself:

Code: Select all

    if quick_menu:
        stuff currently in the menu
    
    else:
        Stuff you want to show at other times.

Note that the quick menu has a "mobile variant", which is defined elsewhere in screens.rpy and will make your menu appear different on a mobile compared to a PC.


Lastly, you could just delete the lines

Code: Select all

init python:
    config.overlay_screens.append("quick_menu")

Regarding the pink outlined areas, you can just place some buttons in a screen and show that screen (the quick_menu is a handy screen for this, or you could make your own)
If you require help creating such a screen, I could help further.

thanks so much! I'll give this a shot. and actually, if you can help with other UI stuff, can you contact me through my website? (Head to sonictoad.com, I got a contact box.)