Author Topic: Help with implementing a loading screen (Read 6680 times)

rojan_neo · « **on:** August 16, 2011, 01:36:05 pm »

I noticed that when I run my game ( if can call it one right now) there is a delay of 4-5 seconds where only blank white screen is displayed.. I figured that my resources are being loaded (my level is quite large)... I would like to show a loading screen during this time (or show anything on screen except the blank screen) but I have no idea how I would implement one....

Can any one can help me get an idea how a loading screen is implemented??

Nexus · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2011, 01:48:51 pm »

A loading screen must be continuously updated with the loading progress. Everytime a resource is loaded, your resource loader calls a function with the new progress as argument, this function draws the updated screen.

An alternative would be multithreading, but I think here it brings more complexity without real advantages. You cannot update the loading progress while a SFML resource loading function is being executed anyway (except if you estimate the progress).

rojan_neo · « **Reply #2 on:** August 16, 2011, 02:48:16 pm »

ok... then how can i draw a static image ( no loading bar) saying that the game is loading.. instead of the white screen that is shown

Nexus · « **Reply #3 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:03:50 pm »

Create a window, draw the image, and begin to load your other resources afterwards.

Your window does not respond during the loading, but you could update it by calling Display() from the resource-loading routine, or even use a separate thread, if user interaction is important.

rojan_neo · « **Reply #4 on:** August 16, 2011, 03:06:47 pm »

Thank you, that will do for now