As I was blogging about earlier, I am trying to work on systems, not games. That means I have to find a way to code something that can be reusable in every new project, hopefully in a customized way.

So I’m starting with a Menu system. Why? Because every game (and app) needs a start menu, options menu, pause menu, etc. at some point. My goal is to only code what I am using, and not run around adding features I might not need. It will be on a need-to-use basis.

So, what do I need so far?

For the Start Menu, I need:

• a New Game button,
• an Option button, that will not do anything for now, but will change the scene later to an Options Menu,
• a Quit button.

I will implement a save/load system at a later date, and will only then add the corresponding buttons wherever need be.

What else do I need, that is not a priority but that I would enjoy?

• a splash screen, different from the Godot one
• pixel art for Geddonverse Games
• some music for the Start Menu

This is the first part. Later on, I want to create a Test Project where I can test everything. I would have to be able to import that Menu System, and pass different variables in order to make modifications (colors, music, background, etc.):

• pass the name of the New Game scene (or implement a standard for my own games, where the name of the New Game scene is always the same from game to game),
• pass the background music file I want it to play
• pass the background image to replace the background color
• pass the game title or an image to replace the Game Title label

So far, only the Quit button is implemented. I also added some feedback that prints a message when the buttons are pressed in the output panel.

Yes, the menu is very simplistic and doesn’t look like much, but my goal is to have something that works first, and then I’ll see to make it nicer. Options and Pause Menus will be implemented later on.

All of it is scary, because I can only rely on my small experience in PHP/MySQL twenty years ago to figure out how it could work, and zhuzh it up as I go.

This is the state of the Start Menu right now.

Till next time!