Settings Menu

The SettingsMenu is a Control node that provides a settings interface with a sidebar navigation system. It allows users to access different settings categories (Controls, Key Bindings, Graphics, Audio, and optionally Cheat in debug mode) and displays the corresponding settings panel in the main content area.

Properties

Node References

Type	Name	Description
Label	settings_label	Displays the current settings category in the header
Control	content	Container for the active settings panel
Button	controls	Button for Controls settings
Button	key_bindings	Button for Key Bindings settings
Button	graphics	Button for Graphics settings
Button	audio	Button for Audio settings
Button	cheat	Button for Cheat settings (only in debug builds)
VBoxContainer	sidebar_container	Container for the sidebar navigation items

Preloaded Scenes

Type	Name	Description
PackedScene	controls_menu	Scene for Controls settings panel
PackedScene	keybinds_menu	Scene for Key Bindings settings panel
PackedScene	graphics_menu	Scene for Graphics settings panel
PackedScene	audio_menu	Scene for Audio settings panel
PackedScene	cheat_menu	Scene for Cheat settings panel

Implementation

ready() connects the focus_entered signal of the sidebar buttons to the _on_sidebar_focus_entered function, which initializes the settings based on the focused sidebar item. It also removes the cheat menu if the game is not run in debug mode and sets the initial focus to the Controls button in the sidebar.

func _ready() -> void:
  for item: SiderBarItem in sidebar_container.get_children():
    item.focus_entered.connect(_on_sidebar_focus_entered.bind(item))

  # Remove cheat menu if not in debug
  if not OS.has_feature("debug"):
    cheat.queue_free()

  controls.grab_focus()

_input() handles input events, specifically checking for the pause action or cancel action. If either is pressed and the previous UI was the pause menu, it calls _on_close_button_pressed() to close the settings menu and restore focus to the pause menu.

func _input(_event: InputEvent) -> void:
  # Remove settings menu, and make pause focusable again, if conditions are true
  if (Input.is_action_just_pressed("pause") \
  or Input.is_action_just_pressed("ui_cancel") ) \
  and UIManager.previous_ui == UIManager.ui_list.get(UIEnums.UI.PAUSE_MENU):
    _on_close_button_pressed()

The _on_sidebar_focus_entered() function is called when a sidebar item is focused. It sets the active state of the sidebar items and updates the content area with the corresponding settings panel.

func _on_sidebar_focus_entered(sidebar_item: SiderBarItem) -> void:
  for item: SiderBarItem in sidebar_container.get_children():
    item.active = item == sidebar_item

  _update_content(sidebar_item)

on_close_button_pressed() is called when the close button is pressed. It removes the settings menu from the UI stack and restores focus to the pause menu if in pause menu.

func _on_close_button_pressed() -> void:
  UIManager.remove_ui(self)
  UIManager.handle_pause() # Close
  UIManager.handle_pause() # Open, so resume button focuses again.
  UIManager.get_viewport().set_input_as_handled()

The _update_content() function is responsible for updating the content area with the appropriate settings panel based on the selected sidebar item. It removes any existing children from the content area and instantiates the corresponding settings panel.

func _update_content(sidebar_item: SiderBarItem) -> void:
  for child in content.get_children():
    content.remove_child(child)

  match sidebar_item:
    controls:
      content.add_child(controls_menu.instantiate())
    key_bindings:
      content.add_child(keybinds_menu.instantiate())
    graphics:
      content.add_child(graphics_menu.instantiate())
    audio:
      content.add_child(audio_menu.instantiate())
    cheat:
      content.add_child(cheat_menu.instantiate())

  settings_label.text = "Settings / " + _format_text(sidebar_item.name)

_format_text() is a helper function that formats the sidebar item name to improve readability. It adds spaces before capital letters that are not at the start or after an existing space.`

# Add space before capital letters that aren't at start or after existing space
func _format_text(text: String) -> String:
  var result: String = ""

  for i in range(text.length()):
    var character = text[i]

    if character == character.to_upper() and i > 0 and text[i-1] != " ":
      result += " "

    result += character

  return result

Formats the text by adding spaces before capital letters that are not at the start or after an existing space. This is used to improve the readability of the settings category names.

Example Scene Structure

├── sidebar_container (VBoxContainer)
│   ├── controls (SiderBarItem)
│   ├── key_bindings (SiderBarItem)
│   ├── graphics (SiderBarItem)
│   ├── audio (SiderBarItem)
│   └── cheat (SiderBarItem)
└── content (Control)

This structure represents the sidebar navigation and the content area where the settings panels will be displayed. Each SiderBarItem corresponds to a specific settings category, and the content area will dynamically load the appropriate panel based on user selection.

Dependencies

• UIManager: The SettingsMenu relies on the UIManager to handle the opening and closing of the menu, as well as managing the UI stack.
• SidebarItem: Each sidebar item is an instance of the SidebarItem class, which handles the visual representation and interaction logic for the sidebar navigation.

Usage

To use the SettingsMenu, you need to add it to your scene using the UIManager. The sidebar items should be set up as SiderBarItem nodes, and the corresponding settings panels should be preloaded as PackedScene resources. The menu can be opened from the pause menu or any other UI element that requires access to the game settings.

Conclusion

The SettingsMenu provides a user-friendly interface for configuring game settings. With its sidebar navigation and dynamic content loading, players can easily access and modify their preferences. The implementation is designed to be flexible and extensible, allowing for future additions or modifications to the settings categories.