I’m having a bit of a frustrating time with my Unity game’s UI, and I’m hoping someone can shed some light on what’s going wrong. I designed my game primarily for mobile screens and have tailored the graphics to work with distinct aspect ratios like 16:9, 16:10, 4:3, 3:2, and 19.5:9. Now that I’m working on a PC version for Steam, I’ve noticed a pretty significant issue when users resize the game window.
When I first started testing it on larger monitors, everything seemed to be fine. The buttons held their positions as expected when the window was resized—at least until I hit a certain threshold. Once I start making the window smaller, it initially works great, switching through the aspect ratios without a hitch. But then, as I reduce the window size past a specific point, it seems to default to a 4:3 aspect ratio with lots of unwanted letterboxing.
Here’s where things get weird: once the window hits that size, the UI buttons begin drifting. I thought the whole point of using anchoring was to ensure that UI elements stay locked in their intended sprite locations, even when the dimensions change and there’s letterboxing involved. But that’s not happening, and it’s really throwing me off!
I’ve attached images of the parent UI image in the inspector, a child button, and the overall canvas it’s under. I’m trying to figure out why my button positions are failing to maintain their lineup on the sprite when resizing past that threshold. Is it something I could be overlooking? Could it be related to how I’m handling the canvas scaling or the anchoring settings? Any thoughts or experiences anyone can share would be super helpful to get this sorted out!
UI Issues When Resizing on PC
It sounds frustrating dealing with the UI issues when resizing your game window! From what you’re describing, it seems like the UI layout is a bit tricky to manage.
When you set up your UI, using an anchored system should help keep elements in place, but if they drift, it might have to do with the Canvas Scaler settings. Make sure your canvas is set to use Scale With Screen Size so it can adapt properly to different resolutions.
Another thing to check is your anchors and pivot points on the buttons. If they’re not set properly, when the window size changes significantly, it can lead to unexpected drifts. Also, double-check that you haven’t put any absolute positioning or offsets that might interfere when the size changes.
You might want to consider adding some conditional code that adjusts the anchors dynamically as the window size changes. This could help prevent that 4:3 default situation causing the letterboxing and drifting. I’ve seen that done in some projects, and it really helped maintain UI integrity on different screen sizes.
Lastly, if you haven’t already, try playing around with the Aspect Ratio Fitter in Unity. It can help maintain design integrity across various screen sizes, but setting that up can be a bit confusing at first.
Hope this helps point you in the right direction! Keep experimenting and adjusting, and you’ll get it sorted out!
The issue you’re experiencing with the UI in your Unity game likely relates to how the Canvas Scaler settings and Rect Transform anchoring are configured for your UI elements. When using the Canvas Scaler, ensure that it’s set up to scale with the screen size; using the ‘Scale With Screen Size’ option is typically recommended for mobile games transitioning to PC. This setting helps maintain aspect ratio and ensure that UI elements scale and position correctly as the window size changes. Additionally, review the reference resolution you’ve set. It should correspond with an aspect ratio that makes sense for your target devices, and you might want to test with a few variations to see how they impact your UI layout.
For the drifting issue you’re encountering, it’s crucial to review the pivot and anchor settings of your buttons and their parent containers. With the Rect Transform components, ensure that the anchors are correctly set up relative to their parent container. Misconfigured anchors can lead to unexpected positions as the window resizes, especially if your design was initially optimized for smaller screens. It might also help to visualize the anchor points and how they relate to the parent container in the Scene view while adjusting the window size. Additionally, consider implementing responsive design patterns using layout groups or custom scripts to handle edge cases that fit within your game’s structure. Testing these configurations across various resolutions will help you identify the best setup for maintaining UI integrity under different screen sizes.