GameHost.Screen overview (SadConsole Systems)

The GameHost.Screen property is one of the most important properties in SadConsole. The Screen determines what's visible on the screen and what's processed by the keyboard and mouse.

Tip

The host is accessed through the SadConsole.GameHost.Instance property.

What does the Screen represent?

The GameHost.Screen object represents the consoles and surfaces that are displayed to the user. It's a single root object that all other objects are a child of. Because the GameHost.Screen represents what's on the screen, you can use it to transition from one part of your game to the other. For example, when your game starts you can show a title screen with all its logic, and then based on the user's selection, swap the GameHost.Screen to an instance of a screen that represents the settings menu or a screen that starts the game.

There's no limit to the children an object can have, nor is there a limit to how deep the parent-child relationship can be.

Designating the startup screen

The startup screen is set by the game configuration object. To learn about the configuration object, see Game startup.

Use the. For more information, see Game startup - startup screen.

The GameHost.Screen is set by the startup code. The easiest way to setup the start screen is to create a new object that inherits from IScreenObject, and configure it with all of your consoles, surfaces, and input handling code. Then, use the SetStartingScreen<TRootObject>(Builder) configuration method, providing the type.

Starting screen type

class RootScreen : ScreenObject
{
    public RootScreen()
    {
        // Code here to create consoles, objects, and arrange them. 
        // Each object should be added to the Children collection.
    }
}

Configuration setting

using SadConsole.Configuration;

Game.Configuration gameStartup = new Game.Configuration()
    .SetScreenSize(120, 38)
    .SetStartingScreen<RootScreen>() // Startup object type is here
    ;

Game.Create(gameStartup);
Game.Instance.Run();
Game.Instance.Dispose();