Another request regarding the current downloads box when joining servers

[VaasKahnGrim]

So I recently noticed that people were talking about the new update now showing download size aswell as how many addons are being downloaded. I kinda like that update alot, however I noticed that the current loading box is still the same one that has been used for many years.

I'd think that having something that could better fit with any loading screen would be a nice addition aswell. Like say having the loading bar stretch the entire bottom edge of the screen with a blue meter that fills up, the background of the meter having a blackish metal texture behind it and the above that have the same current text that shows the current status/downloads/size/file/addon name/ect that it does now.

I feel this would both look better even with the default gmod loading screen aswell would be generic enough to fit well with just about any current loading screen, alot better than the current one infact.

Because right now a sever could have a great loading screen setup thats actually really nicely built but then there is this one odd box off to the bottom right that doesn't match the rest of the screen well, or they could have a really crappy meme loading screen for some ear rape video on youtube and it would still be out of place seeing the grey and white box in the corner.

But a loading bar like I described above would honestly just fit better with anything just by beaing along the bottom portion of the screen instead of a single corner

[viral32111]

I sort of support this idea. However in my opinion, I quite like the default loading bar and I'm sure many others do as it retains that "source engine vibe". So instead of having the loading bar style changed to how you've proposed. Why not just make it optional to show?

Loading screens are able to make their own loading bars & fetch the same information that the normal loading bar provides using these javascript functions. With the default loading bar being optional, loading screens with custom loading bars will now be able to only show theirs.

I don't know how this could be implemented, my first thought was just check if sv_loadingurl is actually set, but the issue with that is it would mean that every custom loading screen wouldn't show the default loading bar.

[neico]

There's also the obvious issue that the dialog doesn't only contain the progress bar,
but also a cancel button, which under all circumstances needs to stay on top.
Theoretically there could be a ❌ in one of the top corners that overlays the custom loading screen to solve that.

[viral32111]

but also a cancel button, which under all circumstances needs to stay on top.

The escape button also works to cancel loading, though if the original dialog was hidden then there would be no indiation that escape cancels loading (but then again, there isn't one anyway).

Maybe instead of fully hiding the loading bar, it just becomes "minimised" instead? (so it still shows the cancel button)

[VaasKahnGrim]

well personally I like the option to not show it but people might get mad about that so it have to be clientside only optional. Probably best to not hide it and simply focuse on some that looks better first.

As for the cancel button, what about instead of having a button for cancel if you click over the loading bar then a text box above it saying "disconnect early?" made a quick rough sketch of it in paint.net to sorta give an idea of what I'm picturing in my head. Ofcourse it can be rounded a bit so its not straight up rectangles tho. This could allow for a sort of confirmation aswell before actually disconnecting. Could also prevent accidental disconnects too

[viral32111]

Probably best to not hide it and simply focuse on some that looks better first.

If this happens it's just going to remove the dialog consistency across Garry's Mod. You may aswell also change the disconnect dialog (bad challenge, connection failed after x retries, etc) dialog. (sorry if that sounded passive-agressive, but I'm kinda against removing the default source-engine-vibe loading bar all together.)

if you click over the loading bar then a text box above it saying "disconnect early?"

While this could work the majority of the time, the issue is the game temporarily freezes for some people when mounting downloaded workshop files and if that happens then the popup wouldn't show whenever the user hovers over the loading bar. Like you noted in the concept, it's going to be better to have it shown at all times.

This could allow for a sort of confirmation aswell before actually disconnecting. Could also prevent accidental disconnects too

This is pretty good, I'd support having a disconnect confirmation dialog popup added to the default loading bar's cancel button anyway (but it still faces the issue mentioned above, generally having interactivity on something that's prone to freezing isn't very good.)

I believe the best option would be to have a clientside convar (e.g. cl_always_show_progressbar 0/1, default to 0) then somehow allow loading screens to hide or minimise the built in loading bar. This way, clients who always want to see the loading bar just need to set cl_always_show_progressbar 1 & those who don't mind it being hidden can leave it at 0. With this method, it still will allow for the custom loading screens to implement their own loading bars (like most already do). As for the whole cancel-button issue, I'm not too sure aside from adding another button or using that minimised concept I showed in my previous comment.

[VaasKahnGrim]

Well even now if it freezes the cancel button isn't usable, theres not really any way to get around that. As for the UI for disconnects the loading bar can still sort of match the design of it without being in the bottom right corner of the screen. Even if the loading bar were to use the dark and light grey loading meter, it would still look alot better and fit in with loading screens better as spaning the bottom of the screen. like as is its just really out of place and almost impossible to make it fit well with a loading screen.

[viral32111]

Well even now if it freezes the cancel button isn't usable, theres not really any way to get around that.

Apologies, somehow that totally skipped my mind :/

like as is its just really out of place and almost impossible to make it fit well with a loading screen.

Well yes, I have to agree with this. It isn't easy to do and most of the time I see loading screens either ignoring it because there's not much they can do about it.

[DarthTealc]

I posted a request #2451 that might achieve some of the goals of this one.

It wouldn't give you the ability to remove the loading box and replace it, but it would let you choose the colours to fit your design better, while still being in a familiar standard format for users.