Matt Bennett: CAD & Code

Hi,

Which gui's do you own?

Yes I own ifsoGUI and for anything more than a really simple in-game editor it would be my choice. You could process ifsoGUI's message queue during your "Update" function (not tested to date, but it will be made to work if it doesn't already!). The framework and maxGUI are not intertwined, but I use maxGUI for my registration windows and start-up screens - these just run their own message loops until the window is done with, before the framework even begins and more importantly, before it goes fullscreen where maxGUI no longer works.

Do you really need your editor to be part of the game excutable? I made quite a good stand-alone editor quite quickly with maxGUI. It was able to share some code with the game and it could launch the executable to test the current level immediately (no splash screens or main menu in the game, straight to playing the level).

Trying to use the framework UI could be messy and painful. It could be done but that's not really its intended purpose. The biggest obstacle would be the lack of list boxes and file dialogs.

My personal plan of attack would be a stand-alone maxGUI app first. Once you have nailed its functionality either tidy it up for public use or make it part of the game by rewriting it; with either ifsoGUI or with creative use of the framework ui (for example not having a file dialog and just making it work with fixed filename(s). I've seen some really nifty in-game editors that the framework ui could easily emulate (and I can envisage how it would successfully handle what you've described above).

It depends on your users expectations too.. if they want everything to look and/or behave like a windows app then the framework UI won't really be suitable.

Cheers

Pros
ifsoGUI: Can be used as a fullscreen UI. Things like the multi-column list box would be just perfect for multiplayer game server lists. Marcus has done a great job with it and it's very much alive.
MaxGUI: native look and feel to windowed apps on every platform. Really easy to use for little apps. There's this for form editing. It's more $$ and I don't make apps complicated enough to warrant it. I did use the demo version to learn maxGUI by studying the source code it generates.
wxMax: Free, native look, and there's wxFormBuilder (also free).

Cons
ifsoGUI: I personally wouldn't use it for windowed apps because it just feels wrong to me but that's a personal choice that's hard to describe. With no window resizing in BMax it's also no good for making editors that you would normally have the choice to maximise or adjust the window size to get the best out of it. Personally I think it's the perfect middle ground between a native UI and a flash game UI. I could have extended it to add the animation features my framework UI has, but that would mean forcing my users to purchase another mod.
MaxGUI: Not really OOP– more Win32 than MFC.
wxMax: Complex and huge. Unless you are a serious cross-platform applications developer it's too much to learn (and to learn well) IMO.

When I start this test app, I had every intention of trying it in BMax with ifsoGUI or wxMax. I spent a lot of time evaluating the options and ultimately, and for lots of reasons, I simply went back to MFC!

ifsoGUI doesn't really need a canvas since you have the whole screen to draw on But I know what you mean. Don't let that put you off; ask Taskmaster and I'm sure he'd add one!
maxGUI does handle window resizing. The window has to be made with a WM_RESIZABLE flag or something. But you'd have to write the code to manage the resize (like adjusting the control sizes and positions).