Transitioning game states when using a stack of states

Steve Hatcher · 2016-09-08T07:09:31

I am trying to implement a game state system in my engine. I have read around a bit and think I am able to tackle a stack of gamestates. In order to prototype I am aiming to have first a splash screen, then a main menu, and then the "playing" state. I am wondering the best way to transition from one state to another? Right now, I have a GameState class, class GameState { public: GameState(); ~GameState(); virtual void update(const float deltaTime) = 0; }; and my Game class (of which my actual game inherits from), with a vector of states std::vector<std::shared_ptr<GameState>> m_states; So right now, I can add the first state (the SplashScreenState, Inherited from GameState) using game.pushState(std::make_shared<SplashScreenState>()); and in my game update loop I call for (std::vector<std::shared_ptr<GameState>>::reverse_iterator i = m_states.rbegin(); i != m_states.rend(); ++i) { (*i)->update(frameTime); } to update each State. So right now my SplashScreenState is getting updated, and a timer transitions it. Once the timer runs out I want the MainMenuState to activate. The question is, given my current design, how do I best go about this? Should I have something inside SplashScreenState::update() that lets me push on the next state directly? Should My GameState class handle all transitions internally? Where do I go about actually explicitly stating which state I want to go from where and to (Splash Screen to Main Menu, Main Menu to Playing, Playing to Paused...). Thanks for any insight.

For Beginners

Started by SteveHatcher September 06, 2016 10:02 AM

9 comments, last by L. Spiro 7 years, 7 months ago

L. Spiro

25,818

September 08, 2016 07:09 AM

As Kylotan says though It is a fine line and I am having trouble deciding what constitutes as a "GameState" and "ScreenState".

Not in this case.
There is a fine line when 2 states have very similar sets of rules, gameplay, or functionality.
Here, you have a single set of rules and gameplay (the GameState) and while keeping it persistent you want to add layers of menus on top of it.

Nothing tricky about this case. You want a single state and a menu/UI system on top of it. The UI system implicitly will allow layers and allow you to block input to the game, easily achieving the desired effect. I would also shy away from calling it a “screen”. That’s just another layer of ambiguity.

Don’t overcomplexificationatize things.

L. Spiro

I restore Nintendo 64 video-game OST’s into HD! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCtX_wedtZ5BoyQBXEhnVZw/playlists?view=1&sort=lad&flow=grid

Transitioning game states when using a stack of states

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