[?][SUG][PL] Non-Windows-dialog alternatives to the level select etc screens

[namida]

To be clear, I don't have any need for this feature myself. I'm bringing it up on behalf of discussions I've seen elsewhere online.

From what I've seen on a few Reddit etc posts, the Windows dialogs used for level select, options, replay editor, popup messages, etc don't play nicely with the Steam Deck when in game mode (rather than desktop mode), so it may be worthwhile looking into non-Windows-dialog replacements, even if they don't offer the full functionality.

Potential issue: How does a user who can't use these menus, activate this mode for the first time? (Perhaps try to autodetect Steam Deck, and enable the option by default? It isn't the end of the world if it gets disabled again by mistake - the user can always switch to desktop mode to change back.)

It is likely this could be tested using a handheld device running Bazzite (or something that has the same limitations as a handheld, ie: has a controller and touchscreen, but no keyboard or mouse), as that's very similar to Steam OS.

[WillLem]

I've been considering this for quite a while anyway. I've made some mockups of a possible Level Select screen which would be essentially another menu screen (like preview, postview, etc) and even begun implementing it, but it's nowhere near being usable yet (like, might not even get done this year).

Options would be much easier to do this way, as would hotkey config. Replay Editor would have to simply remain unavailable, as there's not really a sensible way to do this without adding more rendering layers, which I'd honestly rather not do. With that said, if anyone else wants to have a go at doing this and send a PR, I'd be happy to try it out and possibly merge it if it doesn't affect framerate too much.

As for incidental popups, I guess a text screen (again, based on the menu screen) would work whilst the game isn't actually being played, but in-game presents a similar issue to Replay Editor.

Ideas and suggestions welcome.


(Admin: A suggestions sub-board for CE would be nice. Happy to use the NL one if that's preferred.)