Setting Up

Importing EzMenu into your project

Via Marketplace:
Import the project from the library screen, items in the demo folders are optional

Other:
Drag the .YYMP file onto the workspace area of your project. Items in the demo folders are optional

Basic Usage

At the beginning of you game, run this code

menu_create("main_menu");

menu_add_label("Hello EzMenu", -1); //-1 uses the gamemaker default font!

open_menu("main_menu");

Now run your game, you should see a menu appear.

Adding Items to your Menu

EzMenu comes with many scripts to easily add stuff to your menu.
See the scripts under Scripts->EzMenu->Menu
Simply call these menu_add_* scripts to add elements to your menu.

menu_create("main_menu");

menu_add_image(sDemoGameTitle, 1);

menu_add_gap(15);

menu_add_button_text_script(0, "Start Game", fnUiLarge, start_game, []);

Configuring EzMenu

EzMenu offers a decent amount of customization right out of the box, the configuration script is located at Scripts->EzMenu->EzMenuConfig

You may also wish to create your own component draw scripts or modify the existing ones located at Scripts->EzMenu->Component->draw This will help EzMenu fit your game's aesthetic.

Custom Components

Creating a Custom Component

You can add your own components. See the menu_add_* scripts under Scripts->EzMenu->Menu to see some examples.

Let’s create an image button that will link to another menu. Let’s create an empty script called "menu_add_button_image_link"

Since EzMenu already contains a text button (Scripts->EzMenu->menu->menu_add_button_text_link) have a look at the code for that to get an idea of what we’ll be creating.

We need 3 things for our image button.

An index
Component Info
A height/size

The index is used for gamepads to know which element to go to next as well as some internal logic for selecting menu elements.

If a component has an index of -1, it can not be selected. Since out image button will need to be clicked, we need to give each one a unique index. Like the text button, we will make this the first parameter for our script

var index = argument0;

Our image button will need a sprite, let’s make that the second parameter and then the scale as the third

var index = argument0;

var sprite = argument1;

var scale = argument2;

With this info, we can work out the size for the component on the menu

var index = argument0;

var sprite = argument1;

var scale = argument2;

var size = sprite_height(sprite) * scale;

The next thing we’ll need is the menu to link to. This will be our next parameter.

var index = argument0;

var sprite = argument1;

var scale = argument2;

var menu = argument3;

var size = sprite_get_height(sprite) * scale;

Now onto the most important part, creating our component.

A component is made up of an array with specific information

Draw Script
Activate Script
Draw Script parameters array
Activate Script parameters array

EzMenu comes with a script to draw a sprite as a menu element, it’s under Scripts->EzMenu->component->draw and it’s called "draw_component_sprite"

We can simply use that in our component array.

var comp = [draw_component_sprite];

Next we need our activate script, once again, EzMenu comes with one of these that will open another menu. Scripts->EzMenu-component->activate. It’s called "activate_component_link"

var comp = [draw_component_sprite, activate_component_link];

Now we’re just missing one thing, our script inputs. Opening up draw_component_sprite, we see that it needs two inputs, the sprite & scale. We’ll add theseas an array to our component array like so:

var comp = [draw_component_sprite, activate_component_link, [sprite, scale]];

Next, the inputs for activate_component_link, opening that script shows it simple needs a menu name to open. Let’s add it

var comp = [draw_component_sprite, activate_component_link, [sprite, scale], [menu]];

Now we have our component completed, we can add it to our menu.

menu_add(index, comp, size);

All together, it should look something like this:

var index = argument0;

var sprite = argument1;

var scale = argument2;

var menu = argument3;

var size = sprite_get_height(sprite) * scale;

var comp = [draw_component_sprite, activate_component_link, [sprite, scale], [menu]];

menu_add(index, comp, size);

Now to test our component.
Go to your menu initialization point and test it out! Here’s an example:

menu_create("menu_main");

menu_add_button_image_link(0, sMyCoolButton, 2, "test_menu");

menu_create("test_menu");

menu_add_button_image_link(0, sMyCoolButton, 3, "menu_main");

open_menu("menu_main");

If all is well, you should have two different menus with image buttons on them!
You can create your own draw_ or activate_ scripts as well, look at the default EzMenu scripts for inspiration and explanation.

Component Draw Scripts

Components ALL have a draw script attached to them, this is what draws them onto the menu. You can use the built-in scripts or create you own.
The built-in draw scripts are located at EzMenu->Component->Draw, look at or modify these to learn more about how they work.
Every component is passed the following parameters at draw time:

X Position - The X draw position of the component
Y Position - The Y draw position of the component
Size - The height of the component
Selected - Whether or not the component is selected
Inputs - Generally an array of inputs specific to this draw script

Component Activate Scripts

Every component has an "activate" script that is fired when an input is pressed while a component is selected.
There are 5 types of input, defined via the eInputType enum.

Press - When the input activate key/button is first pressed
Hold - While the input activate key/button is held
Left - GAMEPAD ONLY, when the left input is held
Right - GAMEPAD ONLY, when the right input is held

Components are passed the following parameters when one of these inputs is pressed

Input Type - eInputType enum, which type of input is pressed. Make sure to check this.
X Position - The X position of the component
Y Position - The Y position of the component
Mouse X - The X position of the mouse
Mouse Y - The Y position of the mouse
Input - An array of inputs specific to this activate script

See the scripts contained at Scripts->EzMenu->Component->activate for examples

EzMenu Documentation

Setting Up

Importing EzMenu into your project

Basic Usage

Adding Items to your Menu

Configuring EzMenu

Custom Components

Creating a Custom Component

Component Draw Scripts

Component Activate Scripts

Transition Animations

Component Data Storage

Input Management