A Trigger Button Concept Needed for VAM

bqbq · Thursday at 5:02 AM

I believe the old-fashioned button trigger system should have been retired a long time ago.
We need a UI that is space-efficient and casual.
When I first started using VAM, I always thought it would be great if something like this existed.
Of course, I don’t have any programming knowledge, so I couldn’t build it myself—I only managed to put something together using simple logic bricks.
I really hope someone creates it someday.

Leaving a good first impression on new VAM users is important.
An intuitive and familiar UI doesn’t just make VAM feel like a toolkit—it can actually make it feel like a real game.

atani · Thursday at 6:24 AM

VAM 1.x is not going to be updated and certainly not going to remove parts. It's full of legacy functionalities to keep it compatible with older content and that's not going to change.

bqbq · Thursday at 2:40 PM

atani said:
VAM 1.x is not going to be updated and certainly not going to remove parts. It's full of legacy functionalities to keep it compatible with older content and that's not going to change.

Sorry. I unintentionally wrote something that may have caused misunderstanding.
Since I don’t know English well, I rely on a translator.

I wasn’t suggesting changing VAM’s entire system UI, but rather talking about a UI button plugin that can be used within scenes.

When people first start using VAM, they usually begin by using pre-made scenes.

However, the default buttons often feel a bit empty or lacking.

Creating each button manually takes too much time and can be quite tedious.

That’s why I was hoping for a plugin that could manage these more efficiently.

I’d like to see more use of familiar icons and a cleaner arrangement of buttons that clutter the view, so that we can enjoy the scene with a wider, more open field of vision.

Above all, I believe that a game's UI design represents its identity.
Just as the current trigger buttons immediately remind us of VAM, the UI within a scene can also reflect the creator behind it.
However, right now that framework feels too limited. In the end, most people just make slight variations on the default trigger buttons.

MacGruber · Thursday at 4:32 PM

bqbq said:
Creating each button manually takes too much time and can be quite tedious.

That’s why I was hoping for a plugin that could manage these more efficiently.

I’d like to see more use of familiar icons and a cleaner arrangement of buttons that clutter the view, so that we can enjoy the scene with a wider, more open field of vision.

You can use AcidBubbles Keybindings plugin to setup a hotkey to duplicate atoms, that includes button atoms.
Then you can use my own PowerHandles (part of "Essentials") to quickly snap a moved atom to the grid, e.g. snap to 10cm alignment. With those two plugins, creating say a grid of 5x5 buttons is just a couple of seconds.

Sure, setting up triggers can be tedious, but note that duplicating an atom does also duplicate the triggers that are setup for it. If you really have a LOT of buttons you can open the scene JSON and adjust the triggers there by hand or by search&replace.
(Critical: Always make a backup before editing JSON by hand! It's quite easy to break things if you don't know what you are doing.)

Edit: IF you know what you are doing, you can also duplicate entire UI arrangements in JSON. Duplicate in a Texteditor, give everything a new name and load in VaM, there move it to where you need it. That's how the LogicBricks example scenes where made.

bqbq · Thursday at 5:52 PM

MacGruber said:
You can use AcidBubbles Keybindings plugin to setup a hotkey to duplicate atoms, that includes button atoms.
Then you can use my own PowerHandles (part of "Essentials") to quickly snap a moved atom to the grid, e.g. snap to 10cm alignment. With those two plugins, creating say a grid of 5x5 buttons is just a couple of seconds.

Sure, setting up triggers can be tedious, but note that duplicating an atom does also duplicate the triggers that are setup for it. If you really have a LOT of buttons you can open the scene JSON and adjust the triggers there by hand or by search&replace.
(Critical: Always make a backup before editing JSON by hand! It's quite easy to break things if you don't know what you are doing.)

Edit: IF you know what you are doing, you can also duplicate entire UI arrangements in JSON. Duplicate in a Texteditor, give everything a new name and load in VaM, there move it to where you need it. That's how the LogicBricks example scenes where made.

Thank you for your response. Of course, I plan to save and use it as a sub-scan.
It's amazing— even the settings from the Logic Brick plugin are copied and everything works well.

atani · Thursday at 6:01 PM

Plugin-based UIs also exist, like vamstory actions, DockUI, etc.

bqbq · Thursday at 6:15 PM

atani said:
Plugin-based UIs also exist, like vamstory actions, DockUI, etc.

VAMStory Actions is still an excellent plugin that I use frequently. Its only downside is that you can't insert custom images into the UI or freely arrange the buttons the way you want. DockUI is the plugin I’m most excited about. It recently reignited my interest in buttons. I even used DockUI as a reference when making buttons that change color when clicked. I've been closely following its development.

As I was writing this, I suddenly realized something strange—there’s a creator out there making exactly the kind of plugin I’ve been wanting. It's still in development, but who knows? One day, 3D buttons might become stable, and maybe we’ll even be able to nest buttons like a matryoshka doll. In the end, I suppose I’ve just ended up rambling.

atani · Thursday at 6:34 PM

What's the point of a 3D button?

bqbq · Thursday at 7:06 PM

It's not a HUD button, but rather a button that can be moved along the X and Y axes—just like the traditional button triggers.
DockUI does implement this functionality, but in the scene I'm working on, it causes problems. After saving and reloading, the button positions appear incorrect.

I did report the issue, and as the plugin developer suggested, I tested it in a new scene where it worked properly.
So I believe the problem might be caused by a conflict with one of the many plugins used in my current scene.
Unfortunately, because of this, I can't use DockUI for now. I suppose it’ll take some time before it works smoothly in my setup.

atani said:
What's the point of a 3D button?

atani · Thursday at 7:28 PM

I don't understand your answer. All buttons in VAM can be moved in 3 dimensions, but they're still 2 dimensional planes.

bqbq · Thursday at 8:15 PM

atani said:
I don't understand your answer. All buttons in VAM can be moved in 3 dimensions, but they're still 2 dimensional planes.

I realize my earlier comment might have been misleading. When I said '3D buttons', I didn't mean buttons with a 3D appearance. I meant buttons that can be positioned and rotated freely in 3D space—like standard atom triggers.

What I’m really hoping for is something like what’s shown in the video: being able to apply UI images to the buttons, having clicked buttons visually change color, and showing nested buttons (like a matryoshka doll) when one is pressed—while hiding them again when another parent button is clicked.

Anyway, I guess I’m just someone who wishes for too much.
I realize it’s a bit selfish of me.
I also feel sorry for possibly wasting your time.
Maybe it’s just the flu messing with my head.

MacGruber · 2025-05-09T01:35:57-0400

bqbq said:
Anyway, I guess I’m just someone who wishes for too much.

All of the mentioned stuff is possible. It's just a bit of setup work. You can use LogicBricks for example to implement the logic needed.

And there is a plugin for nicer looking buttons, if you want that:

VAMCUI - Plugins + Scripts -

ℹ INFORMATION: VAMCUI will not be supported (or updated) anymore. I recommend looking at VAMStory that allows you to make really quickly "buttons panels" with more features and content than VAMCUI. ⚠ PLEASE: If you like this plugin, consider...

hub.virtamate.com

For complex UI it can make sense to do the layout in Unity and import it as CUA. For example the Benchmark plugin does this. But then you need coding + Unity skills.

bqbq said:
Maybe it’s just the flu messing with my head.

Get well soon!

atani · 2025-05-09T04:07:30-0400

What you made and showed in the video can be turned into a resource for others to use if you intend it. Add some instructions on how to use, change or how was made, and you'll have something quite useful to share.
For example, this resource of mine is a very simple, easy to do thing, a subscene with capsule atoms side-by-side to prevent hair from going through surfaces.

Hair surface subscene - Toolkits + Templates -

Hair surface subscene This is a subscene with 9 capsule atoms to use as a surface for hair collision. It's a very simple subscene, easy to make, but sometimes these small things are neglected and likely there's many around that would find it...

hub.virtamate.com

Takes a few minutes for anyone to make from scratch, very basic, but still lots of people found it very useful to use on their own scenes, my most reviewed resource so far.
If you tidy up that example menu you made and make it easy to reuse and shareable, I'm sure many will use it or at least learn from it, which is probably the best gift.

bqbq · 2025-05-09T16:57:37-0400

atani said:
What you made and showed in the video can be turned into a resource for others to use if you intend it. Add some instructions on how to use, change or how was made, and you'll have something quite useful to share.
For example, this resource of mine is a very simple, easy to do thing, a subscene with capsule atoms side-by-side to prevent hair from going through surfaces.

Hair surface subscene - Toolkits + Templates -

Hair surface subscene This is a subscene with 9 capsule atoms to use as a surface for hair collision. It's a very simple subscene, easy to make, but sometimes these small things are neglected and likely there's many around that would find it...

hub.virtamate.com

Takes a few minutes for anyone to make from scratch, very basic, but still lots of people found it very useful to use on their own scenes, my most reviewed resource so far.
If you tidy up that example menu you made and make it easy to reuse and shareable, I'm sure many will use it or at least learn from it, which is probably the best gift.

I'm also making good use of the Hair Surface subscene.
I thought about sharing the custom buttons I made as a subscene as well, but they're still too rough.
The button names aren't organized either.
It's not really ready for practical use.
When I click on a button's atom, other buttons in the same spot get selected instead.
It's a hassle to keep trying until the atom of the button I want is finally selected.
I think the only real solution to this issue is using a plugin.

A Trigger Button Concept Needed for VAM

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VAMCUI - Plugins + Scripts -

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