Dock

The Dock is the primary navigation element inside the Main Menu. It contains three dock items, each corresponding to one of the main menu pages:

• Armory Dock Item

• Stages Dock Item (Journey)

• Upgrades Dock Item

If you need to modify any existing class in the project, it’s strongly recommended to inherit from the existing class instead of editing the original file directly. This approach makes updating the template to a new version much easier. Original classes are designed for extensibility and make extensive use of protected virtual methods while rarely using private ones.

Dock Overview

Dock Inspector

The Dock Inspector contains the following fields:

• Dock Items - A list of all dock items.

• Left Gamepad Indicator - Displayed only when the active input type is set to Gamepad and any item other than the leftmost one is selected.

• Right Gamepad Indicator - Displayed only when the active input type is set to Gamepad and any item other than the rightmost one is selected.

Dock Behavior Script

The MainMenuDockBehavior script manages the dock’s functionality and interaction logic. It defines two properties, one event, and eight methods.

Properties

• // Indicates which dock item (and by extension, which page) is currently selected.
  public MainMenuPageType SelectedPage { get; protected set; }

• // When set to false, the dock will not respond to gamepad input.
  // This is used to prevent page switching when popups (like Settings) are open.
  public bool IsDockEnabled { get; set; } = true;

Event:

• // Invoked when a dock item (that was not currently selected) is clicked.
  public event UnityAction<MainMenuPageType> onPageSelected;

Methods:

• // Subscribes to input events. 
  // Not done in Awake to ensure Input Manager is initialized.
  protected virtual void Start();

• // Sorts dock items by their X anchor position,
  // selects the dock item with the specified Page Type,
  // and initializes gamepad indicators.
  // Called by MainMenuScreenBehavior in its Start method.
  public virtual void Init(MainMenuPageType firstPageType);

• // Returns the index of a dock item by its page type.
  public virtual int GetDockItemIndex(MainMenuPageType pageType);

• // Called when a dock item is selected.
  // Deselects all other dock items, invokes onPageSelected, 
  // and manages gamepad indicators.
  protected virtual void OnPageSelected(MainMenuPageType pageType);

• // Updates visibility of left and right gamepad indicators 
  // based on active input type and current dock item position.
  protected virtual void CheckGamepadIndicators();

• // Subscribed to GameController.InputManager.onInputChanged event.
  // Updates gamepad indicators when input type changes.
  protected virtual void OnInputChanged(Input.InputType prevInput, Input.InputType newInput);

• // Subscribed to GameController.InputManager.InputAsset.UI.Triggers.performed event.
  // Allows controlling the dock using gamepad trigger buttons.
  protected virtual void OnTriggersPerformed(UnityEngine.InputSystem.InputAction.CallbackContext ctx)

• // Unsubscribes from input events when destroyed.
  protected virtual void OnDestroy()

Dock Item Overview

Each Dock Item represents one button in the Dock and is linked to a specific Main Menu Page.

Dock Item Behavior inspector.

The Dock Item Inspector has the following fields:

• Page Type - Enum linking this dock item to a specific main menu page.

• Button Reference to the Button component. When pressed, it selects this dock item and opens the corresponding page. The onClick event is assigned via code.

• Page Name Text - Reference to the TMP_Text component displaying the page name. It is only visible when the item is selected.

• Icon Image - Reference to the Image component that is animated on selection and deselection.

• Selected Icon Size - Icon size when selected. Should be slightly larger than when unselected.

• Unselected Icon Size - Icon size when not selected.

• Selected Icon Position - Anchored position of the icon when selected (usually slightly higher).

• Unselected Icon Position - Anchored position of the icon when not selected.

You can freely adjust these sizes and positions to better fit your desired UI style.

Dock Item Behavior script

The MainMenuDockItemBehavior script controls the visuals and interactions of a single dock item. It defines two properties, one event, and four methods.

Properties:

• // Links the Dock Item to a Main Menu Page.
  public MainMenuPageType PageType => pageType; 

• // Indicates whether this dock item is currently selected.
  public bool IsSelected { get; protected set; } = false;

Event:

• // Invoked when the dock item is clicked and becomes selected.
  public event UnityAction<MainMenuPageType> onSelected;

Methods:

• // Subscribes OnButtonClicked to the button's onClick event.
  protected virtual void Awake()

• // Plays the deselection animation (makes icon smaller and lower, hides text).
  public virtual void Select()

• // Plays deselect animation. Makes icon smaller, lower, and hides text
  public virtual void Deselect()

• // Called when the dock item is clicked.
  // Calls Select(), invokes onSelected event, and plays button click sound.
  protected virtual void OnButtonClicked()