Multi-Overlay Preview Builds

[elvissteinjr]

...are now available below!

As work on the multi-overlay branch of Desktop+ will likely take quite some time, I've decided to provide preview builds as soon as the bare minimum functionality is present. This is meant for those who really need multiple overlays as soon as possible and don't want/are unable to build for themselves, or the curious. I didn't want to clutter the releases section or tags with something that might update a few days in a row, so they'll be downloadable from here only.

You can subscribe to this issue to get notified of new builds. Note that these will be barely tested so do expect them to break.

Note: If you do have input or bugs to report for the multi-overlay branch, please do so in a separate issue. Thank you.

[elvissteinjr]

So here we have Multi-Overlay Preview Build 1. It's somewhat functional, but still quite away from being the version you want to usually run.

What's new with this build:

• Multi-Overlay support, surprisingly. No limit set by Desktop+, but OpenVR has the max count at 128 overlays total.
• Crude "Current Overlay" selector, which is obviously just a placeholder, but does the job for selecting the current overlay (overlay the settings page applies to)
• "Overlay Enabled" setting to be able to make an overlay disappear entirely without changing any other setting
• Overlay type selection has been removed. Instead, the first overlay always exists and is the dashboard overlay while every other overlay is floating

What should be working:

• All overlay settings apply to individual overlays*
• Any overlay (except dashboard) can be dragged from the position change popup (but the popup can't be accessed from the dashboard overlay settings)
• Overlay profiles load and save for individual overlays

What is not working:

• Overlay settings aside from the dashboard overlay are not saved. This also means restarting Desktop+ or the Desktop+UI will get both processes out of sync
• *3D Over-Under modes apply, but are not implemented yet
• Keyboard doesn't keep track which overlay it was shown for, so it closes when any is being hidden
• SteamVR Input shortcuts aside from the Action bindings will not behave as expected
• Probably a lot of other things I can't think of or haven't found out about yet

As said above, this a work-in-progress build. Expect bugs and keep in mind a lot of stuff is subject to change.

You can either build it yourself or just download it from here: DesktopPlus-Multi-Overlay-Preview-1.zip

Also, I've unlocked this issue as locking it also blocks reactions, which I actually encourage as a metric of interest in this. However, I'd still like you to keep any other kind of input in a separate issue. Thank you.

[elvissteinjr]

I've clearly overestimated the frequency of these preview builds, but here we are. Preview Build 2 is now available. This version is still not quite release-ready, but it is functional enough for daily use if you're willing to put up with its interface and shortcomings.

What's new with this build:

• Small UI when pointing at floating overlays (referred to as the Floating UI), allowing quick access to the action bar, changing the overlay's position or disabling it directly
• All overlays now save and restore their settings
• Multi-Overlay profiles, which can also be added to the current set of overlays instead of just replacing it
• Warning if the overlay creation failed, which typically happens when exceeding the overlay limit in OpenVR
• The placeholder overlay selector now shows the total overlay count to make it a little bit less painful to use in the meantime

Other fixes and minor changes:

• From the master branch: Updated to Dear ImGui 1.77, make using the scroll wheel drag be controller-oriented instead of overlay oriented
• Dashboard overlay now keeps being usable as normal when drag-mode is active
• Current overlay selection is now actually being written to config as it was intended before
• Desktop+ UI now uses a single shared overlay texture on the SteamVR side, similar to what the desktop overlays do. This reduces the amount of cross-process texture transfers a bit.

Major things still not working:

• 3D Over-Under modes
• Keyboard doesn't keep track which overlay it was shown for, so it closes when any is being hidden
• SteamVR Input shortcuts aside from the Action bindings will not behave as expected

Things seem to be more less broken as time goes on, making this a kind of usable build. Nevertheless it's still work-in-progress and far from done. The overlay settings UI in particular will still see a revamp. New settings are just thrown in at the end for now, but things will move around soon for sure.

To get the new build, either compile it yourself or download it from here: DesktopPlus-Multi-Overlay-Preview-2.zip

[elvissteinjr]

Preview Build 3 is now available. This version isn't release-ready per say, but is complete in terms of making all existing features compatible with the new multi-overlay system. It's pretty much the recommend build to use now.

What's new in this build:

• Restored Over-Under 3D support
• Keyboard now behaves properly with multiple overlays
• "Enable Floating Overlay Interaction" input binding now works with all overlays
• Added "Toggle Overlay Enabled State" custom action function, replacing the old "Set Overlay Floating State" binding in order to support specifying the target overlay

Other fixes and minor changes:

• Fixed keyboard extension changing modifier state while hidden
• Fixed floating UI target not updating when UI was idling
• Keyboards spawned for overlays with dashboard origin are now shown as dashboard keyboards

Major things still not working:

• None, at least nothing I'm aware of

Things are shaping up nicely. What's up next are the previously mentioned UI updates. The placeholder overlay selector in particular has to go, but the overlay settings page will change a bit as well. Some settings will also be extended to have overlay-specific overrides. This might be the last preview build, depending on how well things go. There's a lot I still want to do with this, but most of it can wait until after the next stable release.

As always, to get the new build, either compile it yourself or just download it from here: DesktopPlus-Multi-Overlay-Preview-3.zip

[elvissteinjr]

Desktop+ 2.2 is now available in the release section, closing this.