To start with, as shown above, the main menu is now complete! This involved work on a number of elements:
I continued reworking the backdrop to the main menu, resulting in the image that you see above. I'm rather happier with this layout, I do believe: I feel that it flows better, is a little better balanced, and better conveys the impression that I had in mind.
I believe that I mentioned last week was that I was struggling to come up with a design for the main menu buttons that I was happy with. In the week just past I found such a design!
The mist effect also saw some changes: it now spreads out a little, and has a slight downward tendency. The implementation isn't perfect--there's at least one "magic number" present, and I'm not sure of quite why it works--but overall I'm happy with the effect, I believe!
As you may see above, this mist effect is used behind the title, too. I had originally planned on using a static image for the title--indeed, the one that I've been using for a while as a header or image-link for the game, perhaps with some touch-ups. However, I decided to try the dynamic mist effect instead, with in-engine text for the title itself, and quite liked the effect. I was a little worried that it would be too distracting, but I think that it works.
Finally, the cutscene "glimmer" shader has been applied to the backdrop--it's somewhat subtle, but if you look carefully at the protagonist and terrain on the left, and the distant light on the right, you should see the light wax and wane a little. It's my hope that this leaves them feeling a little less static than they might otherwise have done.
With the main menu done, I moved on to other matters.
Sticking with menus, I made a change to the options menu: there is now a box to the right of the menu, which displays a brief description of a given option when the mouse-cursor passes over that option's in-menu control. The intention is to give the player a little additional information on each option, perhaps aiding them, if called for, in better choosing the settings that suit them. (This was prompted, as I recall, by critique of other games that had or lacked this feature (by TotalBiscuit specifically, I think it was).)
I'll confess that I found it difficult in some cases to succinctly and clearly describe the options; I think that I've managed in most cases, at least (although some changes may yet be made).
I also continued to work on getting the engine up and running again--and indeed, I believe that I've made progress there. It's not yet done, but at the least I found one source for a problem that I've been having with one particular object. (At time of writing I'm awaiting feedback on that and another issue via the Panda3D forum, I believe.)
And once again, there were changes made that don't seem worth mentioning in this post.
Finally, as mentioned above, a static screenshot of the main menu:
That's all for this week, then--stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^