RPGDX > Forums > Graphics > Help making a HUD (ideas)

Gardon · Scholar Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 157

I'm a programmer at heart, and usually just use free sprites and images off the internet to plug into my game to test my programming.

But I want to make something of my own, and I need (for one part anyway) to make a HUD. I've never done this before, so I was hoping someone could give me ideas on how HUD's are implemented in games.

Are they drawn in photoshop and then just blitted on the screen during the game? Or do you have some sort of GUI that you use through a program?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-Gardon

RampantCoyote · Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 6:55 pm Post subject:

Well, your game engine (whether homebrew or a third-party engine you are using) probably has some hud / GUI controls that help manage everything. But ultimately, it comes down to text and pictures, and that's generally done as you said - built in Photoshop (or my package of choice, the Gimp - which is free and still very powerful) and blitted onto the screen in a GUI rendering pass.
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Gardon · Scholar Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 157

Yes, thanks. I've always had some sort of GUI that can draw buttons, blit pictures, etc., but I didn't know if this was commonplace or if people completely integrate the buttons into a static image and put that on the screen.

Problem solved, thank you.

-Gardon

Jon Alma · Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:52 am Post subject:

I make it more complicated for myself. For the basic elements in the user interface (buttons, window frames, etc) I create a 3D model and render this in Bryce. This gives a nice solid look to the user interface with hints of lighting, etc.

Then I use paintshop pro (my 2D graphics application of choice) to build the overall user interface.

Main reason for doing this (other than I think it looks good) is that I'm rubbish at 2D art...

Jon.

P.S. While probably not applicable to the HUD, for the rest of the user interface my advice is to create generic button and window classes so you can reconfigure the user interface or build new interfaces as required and quickly.
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