Currently, if I wanted to make a line in a gui, I’d have to use a Frame for every major angle, and I’d have to segment my line into multiple pieces. This is not a problem for straight lines with single segments, but for multi-segment lines:
- Each new angle would require another frame.
- If the line needs to be changed in any way, every frame needs to be updated.
- Curving lines can be very difficult for developers to create (almost impossible for non-scripters).
Roblox developers already use lines for numerous use-cases. This would just add more options and make it a lot easier:
- A node editor; to visually, build scripts, integrate game mechanics, and link dependencies.
- A border around frames.
- A customizable compass arrow.
- Easy geometry.
- In-game puzzles.
- Decorative arrows for dance games, wall ornaments, and tutorials.
- Roblox’s Dialog Editor: https://devforum.roblox.com/t/official-roblox-dialogue-system-and-dialogue-editor-beta/47865
Proposed solution
Why not create a Line gui object? A line is fairly basic and should allow for a lot of flexibility.
- The line would need to have a start and end property (preferably UDim2).
- Having a rotation property for the start and end would allow for curving lines.
- Having end and start head properties (Image, Size, Color, ZIndex) would make it a lot easier to create arrows.
- And being able to specify how the arrow should be charted (Bezier control point specification, minimum angle, or maybe an enum: straight, 90° turns or smooth) would allow for more stylistic choices.
Alternative suggestions
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A Path object
Similar to a line object, except that instead of having a start and end goal, it would be up to the user to specify way-points that make up the line. This is already a fairly common feature for vector editing software and drawing APIs. As long as the preview of the path in Studio is accurate, this would fulfill my requirements. Whoever for the average use case, this would be overkill. -
A NodeFrame object
What inspired this request was wanting to create a node based editor. Such as [Roblox’s Dialog Editor], Blender’s Shader Editor, or Natron’s Node Graph. Having a Frame similar to aScrollingFramewould work to solve the original problem, whoever it does not solve the root cause.
If Roblox is able to address this feature request, it would make development of UI that uses (curved) lines between 2 points much more convenient, faster, and also more performant (because no excess of frames/images would need to be used/loaded to accomplish the task, if it was a built-in engine feature).