2D foreground in hardware rendering mode

[paulscode]

Here's another question that's probably been asked a hundred times:

Is there a way to get a Graphics context to draw on when using hardware rendering mode?  I can't use getGraphics() since, as the Javadoc states, "when using OpenGL support, this value is rather meaningless".

I suppose I could draw my layer onto an Image, and use that to create a Texture to use in the blit() method.  I'd have to rethink how I handle images that change dynamically (since I wouldn't want to create a new texture every frame).  Also, is a texture's alpha information taken into account by blit()?  If not, is there another way to draw simi-transparent 2D stuff on top of the rendered scene?

--EDIT-- I see that one of the blit() methods has the ability to set an additional color.  I'll play around with this to see if I can get the results I'm looking for.

[EgonOlsen]

Using a graphics context doesn't work, blitting is the way to go. Either that or use the Overlay from the util-package, which is similar to blitting but not exactly the same.

[paulscode]

Thanks!  I hadn't noticed the Overlay class ( I should really spend more time reading the Javadoc  )  That will definitely be useful for my 2D images that are more or less permanant, like borders or the outline for a life-meter, etc, and the blit() method looks best for dynamicaly changing foreground stuff like menus and highlighting.

Do both of these take a Texture's alpha information into account when drawing on top of the scene?

[EgonOlsen]

Yes, both support alpha when using the hardware renderer. When using the software renderer, only the overlay will.

[paulscode]

Cool.  I'll probably stick with the Overlay class then.  I noticed it has a setVisibility() method, so as long as I break my dynamically changing images down into small enough components, this class should be able to handle everything, without having to constantly dispose() and create new Overlay instances.  That way I won't have to write different code between software or hardware renderers.

Thanks for the info!