| Main Window |
Scrolling Game Development Kit 2 is a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) application, meaning that all activity takes place in windows embedded in one top-level window. Any number of child windows may be running simultaneously within the main window. This application is also referred to as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) because many various tasks for designing and developing a game are combined in this single interface. The term IDE is sometimes used in this documentation to distinguish the design environment from the run-time environment (windows that are part of the actual game produced by this program).
The details of using individual features of the program are documented separately, each on its own help page. The help for any particular window is generally available simply by pressing the F1 key when that window is active. A few of the features of the program are universal and do not apply to the individual windows/objects that can be edited within the main window. These are documented here.
Project TreeOn the left side of the main window is a project tree that provides an overview of the entire project. Creating new objects, editing existing objects, and deleting objects depends on this tree view. To create a new object, select the folder associated with the type of object you want to create, and then select "New Object" from the file menu, or right-click on the folder and select "New" from the pop-up menu. To edit an existing object, there are a number of options:
- Double click on the item in the tree view that you want to edit.
- Select the item you want to edit and press the F4 key.
- Select the item you want to edit and select "Properties" from the view menu.
- Right-click in the item you want to edit and select "Edit" from the pop-up menu.
To delete an item, select it, and then select "Delete Object" from the file menu, or right-click on it and select "Delete" from the pop-up menu. Notice that the pop-up menu and file menu also provide an "Import From..." command. Similar to the new command, you can also create new objects by importing them from external .SGDK2 files (make sure to choose the import command from the correct folder). The "Import From..." command can be used to import Sprite Definitions, Source Code, Graphic Sheets, Tilesets and Framesets.
When creating a new sprite, the "New Object" menu will contain a pop-up list of all the sprite templates on which a sprite may be based, in case you want to use a template as a starting point for the new sprite. This list is generated from the files in the Library\Sprites folder. (You can add new templates that will appear in this list by exporting sprites into new files in that folder.) The first item in the list in "<blank>" and will create a new sprite definition without using a template.
MenusBeyond the menu items designed for use with the project tree, there are a number of other menu commands available universally.
File| Menu Item | Description |
|---|---|
| New Project | Clear any existing project from memory and create a new project. This menu cannot be selected directly, you must select a "template" from the pop-up menu. The first item in the pop-up menu is the "<blank>" template which creates a new project based on the source code stored internally in the IDE (in case all your templates have been deleted). The "Default" template is the template that is automatically loaded when the IDE starts up. If you want to customize the default project that is loaded when the IDE starts up you can overwrite Default.sgdk2 in the Library\Projects folder. The only differences between creating a new project from a project template and loading the project using the "Open" project command are that the "New" command treats the project as an un-saved project and prompts for a filename for the new project before it is compiled or saved, and that the "New" command will load all source code objects from the IDE's internal copy if they don't exist in the template project. The format of a template and a project is identical. |
| Open Project | Open an existing SGDK2 project for editing. Normally, all data relating to the project is contained in a single file, so you do not need to be concerned about where the project is opened from. An SGDK2 file is mostly independent of any other files and can be freely moved. The main exception is external DLL references such as FMODEX.dll, but many of these will be picked up from the directory where the IDE is running or from the system path and don't need to be kept with the SGDK2 file. |
| Save Project | Save the currently loaded project to a file. If the project was already saved or loaded from an existing file, it is saved to the same file, but if it is a new project that hasn't been saved, you will be prompted for a new file name. When specifying the location for the project, keep in mind that when the project is compiled, the compiled files will be generated in a folder whose name is the same as the project name without the .sgdk2 extension. |
| Save As... | This performs the same function as Save, but will always prompt for a location. If the project was already saved or loaded, the original copy is left as is and any modifications that have been made are saved only to the new file. Since SGDK2 files are all-encompasing containers for game data, all data associated with the original project is effectively copied into the newly specified file. |
| Run Project | Compile and run the currently loaded project. For details on the process of compiling, see "Generate Project" below. This performs the same action as Generate Project, and then proceeds to run the game. The game cannot be compiled again while it is still running because the executable file will be locked by the operating system. |
| Run Project in Debug Mode | This performs the same acton as "Run Project", but turns on a debug switch in the code that affects a few things. First of all, any validations that are performed only in debug mode will display messages if the validation fails. The most common example of this is trying to perform some action with an inactive sprite. Messages about this problem will only appear in debug mode. Another effect is an FPS (frames per second) will be displayed in the top left corner of the display while the game is running. Furthermore any debug messages that are output by the LogDebugLabel and LogDebugValue functions only operate in debug mode. You can also add your own debug code that only executes when the debug switch is on by using the #if DEBUG" precompiler statement and/or the [System.Diagnostics.Conditional("DEBUG")] attribute, both of which are demonstrated in GameForm.cs in the Source Code folder of the default project. |
| Reset Source Code | Resets all the built-in code in the Source Code folder (code that has an internally stored version in the IDE -- see Source Code Editor for details). Each built-in code object in the Source Code folder will be overwritten with the IDE's copy (or re-created if it does not exist). This is useful for ensuring that the built-in source code objects in the current project are in sync with what the IDE is expecting. The build-in code can be changed to a certain extent, but there are certain expectations that the code generator has, and if these are not met, then the project will not compile. Using this command is the easiest way to restore at least the built-in code to a functional state. One way that the built-in code can diverge is by manual editing. If you edit the code badly and can't restore it to a functional state, you may want to reset it. Another way is if a new version of SGDK2 is released that has different built-in code that is not compatible with older built-in code. Resetting the older project to use the newer built-in code may be the easiest way to upgrade the project, but it would also lose any customizations that were made to the built-in code. |
| Generate Project | This uses all the data contained in the project to create an actual runnable game. There are two main steps to this process. First all the code is generated based on the contents of the Source Code folder and the objects defined in the project. Then the C# compiler provided with the .NET framework compiles the project. All this takes place in a folder whose name is that of the SGDK2 file without the SGDK2 extension. Note that during the process, a ".csproj" file is also created so that, if you have Visual Studio, you can load the project into a more featureful debug environment if you want to see how the project works or what may be going wrong with it. |
| Delete Intermediate Output Files | Deletes all the source code and similar files that were generated by the Generate Project command. This essentially deletes all the files from the output folder that do not need to be delivered when distributing your game. |
| Delete All Output Files | Deletes all files created by the Generate Project command. If the folder is empty, the output folder will also be deleted. This might be handy if you have extra/custom files in the folder and want to sort out all the generated files from the extra files. |
| Export to HTML 5 Code | New with SGDK version 2.2, this option builds on the new features available in HTML 5 to generate SGDK2 games to HTML & Javascript code, allowing games to be played on the web, and thus on a wider variety of platforms. See HTML 5 Export for details. |
| Export HTML 5 and Run | Once the project has been exported to HTML 5 once, this command is a convenient way to quickly test the HTML version of the project with the same settings that were used before. If it hasn't been exported to HTML 5 yet, this command will trigger the Export to HTML 5 Code command first. |
| (Recent File List) | The 5 most recently loaded projects are displayed near the bottom of the file menu for easy access (if you want to re-load a project you were recently working on). |
| Exit | Quit the program. This does not close any games that may be running, just the IDE itself. |
ViewThe Unsaved Changes command in this menu is sort of a diagnostic/debug feature which may be of limited use to actual users. It will show information about which data has changed since the project was last saved/loaded. The format is not very user friendly, but should be comprehensible with a little effort and understanding. The contents of the window basically show a list of each "row" of data in the project that has changed. Since every piece of data in a project is stored in a .NET dataset, it exists in a "row" somewhere, and this window shows the identity of rows that have some content that has changed, but doesn't go into a lot of detail about the specific changes.
ToolsReset Optional Messages will re-enable (turn on) any messages that have been disabled with the "Don't display this message again" checkbox. (This command may not be available if the currently active child window is overriding the tools menu.)
Download Updates is only for installations that were installed via click-once install. The click-once install feature is mostly implemented, but not yet (as of this writing) fully supported because there is a bug in the .NET framework that prevents this from working correctly. However, if you do happen to be running on an installation installed by click-once, then you can use this command to check for and install updates.
The remainder of the menus in the main window are self-explanatory as they follow conventions common to all Windows applications.