Last updated: 09/29/98 19:36
All of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) files in Total Annihilation are found in the guis subdirectory, and are some of the more mysterious files in the game. Fortunately, for about 99.44% of us, we really don't care about what's in any of these files.
In a nutshell, the GUI files are used by the game developers to place "things" (usually referred to as "gadgets") on the screen in certain places. These gadgets, for the most part, include all of those push-buttons on the left-hand side of the screen while you're playing the game, such as the "orders" and "build" buttons, and the "next-menu" and "previous-menu" arrow buttons just below your build menus.
The contents of all the GUI files can be quite primitive and most likely will not need to be touched by anybody outside of CaveDog, but here is an excerpt from the ARMAP1.GUI file, which defines the GUI information for the ARM Aircraft Plant's first screen of information:
[GADGET5]
{
[COMMON]
{
id=1;
assoc=1;
name=ARMATTACK;
xpos=5;
ypos=317;
width=55;
height=31;
attribs=64;
colorf=15;
colorb=0;
texturenumber=0;
fontnumber=0;
active=1;
commonattribs=0;
}
status=0;
text=;
quickkey=65; // ASCII value for the "a" key
}
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The information in the example above describes the position, size, colors, etc. for the "Attack" button that is shown on the left-hand side of the screen for the ARM Aircraft Plant.