Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

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skinkairewalker
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Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skinkairewalker »

Hello everyone, how u doing ?

I’ve been thinking about starting to develop my own UI system in PureBasic, using sprites as the foundation. The idea sounds exciting, but I’m also a bit hesitant.
My concern is: what if future versions of PureBasic eventually introduce a new, native UI framework? In that case, all the time and effort I put into building a custom system might end up being redundant or even obsolete.

Creating a full UI system from scratch is a big investment of time, and maintaining it long-term could be tricky if an official solution arrives later. At the same time, I don’t want to hold back progress on my projects just because of “what ifs.”

So I’d like to hear your opinions:
[*]Do you think it’s worth starting such a project now?
[*]Or would it be wiser to wait and see if a new UI system comes to PureBasic in the future?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Fred
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by Fred »

pf shadoko has already a working UI using PB sprite, it just need to be packaged. May be he can upload a lib for you to test.
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pf shadoko
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by pf shadoko »

I can provide the library for Win64 or Win32
(but keyboard input does not work in library form, and I do not wish to give away the source code).
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skinkairewalker
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skinkairewalker »

Fred wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 8:23 am pf shadoko has already a working UI using PB sprite, it just need to be packaged. May be he can upload a lib for you to test.
awesooome :D
pf shadoko wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 10:42 am I can provide the library for Win64 or Win32
(but keyboard input does not work in library form, and I do not wish to give away the source code).
I would love to try it if possible!
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by Rinzwind »

A UI without keyboard input? Hmm

Do I understand it correctly that we get some fresh UI goodies soon packaged in PureBasic?
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by miso »

I would be happy with a keyboardinkey() that triggers with push, not with release...
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pf shadoko
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by pf shadoko »

The keyboard issue has been resolved.
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skinkairewalker
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skinkairewalker »

will it be a purebasic lib?
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skywalk »

Will this UI lib have antialiasing and the dreaded dpi awareness?
The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from. ~ Andrew Tanenbaum
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by Fred »

It's based on the PB vector library so it should be easy to do these kind of things
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skywalk »

Whoa! Encouraging.
Running hoops with javascript callbacks to a webviewer is not my favorite approach to realize a modern native gui.
What type of baseline "gadgets" are available? listbox, editable grid, popup menus?
The nice thing about standards is there are so many to choose from. ~ Andrew Tanenbaum
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by STARGÅTE »

Dear skinkairewalker,
skinkairewalker wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 2:12 am [*]Do you think it’s worth starting such a project now?
My answer is a clear, yes!
skinkairewalker wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 2:12 am My concern is: what if future versions of PureBasic eventually introduce a new, native UI framework? In that case, all the time and effort I put into building a custom system might end up being redundant or even obsolete.
Creating own libraries is never a waste of time. You always learn from it and increase your experience with PureBasic.
And your UI can be designed as you wish.
Aside from that, I would claim that PureBasic never would include a native sprite-based UI.
skinkairewalker wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 2:12 am Creating a full UI system from scratch is a big investment of time, and maintaining it long-term could be tricky if an official solution arrives later.
Yes, that's true. I did it myself three times until I reached a state, where I can fully control/design my UI system via a XML document, where I can define graphics, sounds, events, and effects.

As a starting point, I would recommend some of my codes:
Typeface - Sprite-based font include/module
DisplayBoxedSprite() - Zoom sprites with fixed border and stretched center.
PB 6.01 ― Win 10, 21H2 ― Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB ― NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ― Vivaldi 6.0 ― www.unionbytes.de
Lizard - Script language for symbolic calculations and moreTypeface - Sprite-based font include/module
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by marc_256 »

Hi skinkairewalker,

I wrote my own GUI in screen mode for my CAD/CAM program.
It was a lot of work, yes a lot of work.
but ...
I'm happy I did it, the result is stunning.
and I learned a lot of programming in PB, sprites and OGRE.

Greetings,
marco
- every professional was once an amateur - greetings from Pajottenland - Belgium -
PS: sorry for my english I speak flemish ...
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by skinkairewalker »

STARGÅTE wrote: Thu Sep 25, 2025 7:40 pm As a starting point, I would recommend some of my codes:
Typeface - Sprite-based font include/module
DisplayBoxedSprite() - Zoom sprites with fixed border and stretched center.
Thats awesome, I will definitely study your examples.
STARGÅTE wrote: Thu Sep 25, 2025 7:40 pm My answer is a clear, yes!
marc_256 wrote: Thu Sep 25, 2025 9:56 pm I wrote my own GUI in screen mode for my CAD/CAM program.
It was a lot of work, yes a lot of work.
but ...
I'm happy I did it, the result is stunning.
and I learned a lot of programming in PB, sprites and OGRE.
I thank you both for the encouragement!!
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Re: Should I build my own sprite-based UI system or wait?

Post by Fred »

skywalk wrote: Thu Sep 25, 2025 5:48 pm Whoa! Encouraging.
Running hoops with javascript callbacks to a webviewer is not my favorite approach to realize a modern native gui.
What type of baseline "gadgets" are available? listbox, editable grid, popup menus?
It's for games as it leverage sprite, opengl etc., not designed to be a replacement for WebView IMHO
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