| Game Interface Design / Main Menu Design
| The components of the Main Menu include a title screen image and five buttons. When designing the Main Menu it is necessary to specify the appearance and location of its buttons, and to choose a set of background colors. A loading message can also be designed to appear near the progress bar as the game starts up.
Adding the Title Screen | After creating the title screen in an image editing application, it should be moved into the Title Screen image well. (For more information on image wells, see Common Production Tasks.)
Adding Button Images | Button images are added by moving pictures to the five button image wells: Begin Button, Continue Saved Game Button, Quit Button, Options Button, and Credits Button. A button image only appears when the mouse is pressed down over a button; normally the button's appearance is determined by the title screen image.
Editing Button Placement | The placement of the buttons on the title screen determines where the player must click in order to activate each button. To change the placement of the title screen buttons, click Edit Button Placement at the top left of the Interface window. The Title Screen Button Placement window will appear, allowing each button to be individually selected and dragged into position. Precise button position adjustments can be made by using the arrow keys to move selected buttons one pixel at a time.
Specifying Background Colors | The Color Behind Main Menu color swatch contains the color that is visible around the border of the title screen image if the main menu is not large enough to fill the entire screen. The Color Behind Progress Bar color swatch contains the color that appears around the progress bar and loading image as the game starts up. To change either of these colors, click on a color swatch and select a new color from the color picker.
Adding the Loading Image | The loading image appears next to the progress bar as the game starts up. To add the loading image, move a picture into the Loading Image image well.