Citra: Make a control panel widget

[wwylele]

This is an idea I came up with when thinking about #2634, #2637 and other stuff. I think citra-qt frontend should have a control panel containing miscellaneous inputs/outputs, which are not very important but useful in some cases, such as the volume slider, the 3D slider, the network switch, battery/AC state emulation, headphone state emulation, and notification LEDs. These stuff deserve their own widget because they don't belong to emulation configuration, but are parts of real 3DS interface which should be emulated.

[RedTrainer97]

In my opinion, things like volume slider, 3D slider and network switch should stay in Configuration; LEDs, emulated battery state and other "feedbacks" instead may be putted in the Status bar.

EDIT: if you want to use the Configuration window only for set the emulation variables, you can create the Control panel for volume slider, 3D slider and network switch. But at this point I have a question: in your opinion, the System tab would stay in Configuration or in Control panel?

[JayFoxRox]

@RedTrainer97 the system configuration panel is an emulation of the 3DS OS / software settings dialogs.

The proposed widget / panel / status bar changes by wwylele reflect actual hardware present on the 3DS which is visible / can be interacted with at all times.

I think we should move these hardware features into something like a list of trayicons in the Citra status bar, similar to how it's done in VirtualBox or other virtualizers (See http://10629-presscdn-0-58.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/06/01_menu_bar_and_status_bar_in_virtualbox.png statusbar). (And the ability to map these features to hotkeys in the settings for fullscreen users)

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Some more explanation from Discord:

As these options are available at all times they should be seperate from the config window.

The config window is for configuring the emulation setttings [audio backend / video backend - things which do not exist on a real 3DS]. The 3DS system settings in the config are those options which can be changed in the system menu of a real 3DS instead of a 3DS games - not while a 3DS game is running.

The proposed sliders etc. would be a perfect fit for being on the display at all times - so the statusbar makes sense. Basically: volume, 3D, battery state / AC, step-counter, LEDs and wifi switch should be in the status bar. Each with their icon only, but once you'd click them you could just modify them nicely (we could probabl expose the volume and 3D slider at all times, but it's really not necessary I guess)

As @B3n30 put it:

So seperate the "real time settings" from the other ones with the status bar...

[RedTrainer97]

I think this layout will be useful for sliders and other inputs.

And the statusbar will show LEDs.

[B3n30]

Sorry, but I don't like it. These are all functions you normally won't use EVER. Placing them so prominently makes no sense at all.

[jroweboy]

@B3n30 i thought that is for a configuration dialog. its still awkward for a config dialog, but it would at least make more sense to me.

[LittleWhite-tb]

If you want to place these like this, I think the sliders should retract/disappear automatically. To make these appear again, just move the mouse cursor on the left/right of the window.

[RedTrainer97]

Of course they are not permanent, this is just an example of how to position them in order to make them similar of 3DS positions.

[RedTrainer97]

I've added the controls in the main window (you see them only in play mode and if you check the option).

I've renamed my PR (https://github.com/citra-emu/citra/pull/2637) for this new feature.

[yuriks]

Agree with @wwylele's original idea, this is an approach I've seen used in a bunch of other emulators too. (For example, MAME has a hotkey that brings up the dip-switches menu, which is used for service configuration of the arcade machine.)

Putting sliders and controls on the emulation screen is just absurd, they're niche features (on an emulator) and you will not use them often. Putting them in such a prominent position will just clutter the UI.

Status bar icons like VirtualBox has would be something to consider, but a lot of them are really quite superfluous on a 3DS emulator. You're pretty much never going to care about the state of the power LED... Wifi and 3D icons would be sensible though, I think. Clicking them could toggle wifi or pop up a slider to adjust the 3D depth.

[B3n30]

from discord:

For the tilt control, I wonder if we can just provide some icons for all 0°,45°,90°,... angles and just show that icon in the status bar if the angle is changed to that range
So no fancy animation but the user can still see how the 3ds is oriented to the screen or ground
Not sure if that would be helpful, though...
we could also add a tooltip to that icon explaining how to tilt