Build navigation

Most game apps don't just start the game, they open to a main Menu. In this section, you learn how to navigate from one page to another. The MainWindow will point to the Menu page where the user can select from different options. When the user select to start the game, the page changes to the GamePage, where we have the core gameplay at. Since the new Menu page has minimum functionality, instead of using the MVVM you'll use code behind for a different developer experience.

View

1. In the Solution Explorer, right click on the Pages Folder > Add > New Item....

2. In the Add New Item dialog, select WinUI in the template list on the left-side of the window

3. Select the Blank Page (WinUI 3) template

4. Name the file MenuPage.xaml

5. Click Add

6. In the Page element, remove:

   Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
   

7. Replace the Grid element with the following code:

   <Page.Background>
       <LinearGradientBrush StartPoint="0,0" EndPoint="1,1">
           <GradientStop Offset="0.0" Color="{StaticResource GradientStop1}" />
           <GradientStop Offset="0.5" Color="{StaticResource GradientStop2}" />
           <GradientStop Offset="1.0" Color="{StaticResource GradientStop3}" />
       </LinearGradientBrush>
   </Page.Background>
   
   <Grid>
   
       <!-- Title -->
       <TextBlock Text="SnowPal" Style="{StaticResource TitleTextStyle}" />
   
       <!-- Menu Buttons -->
       <StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Spacing="20">
           <Button Content="New Game" Style="{StaticResource MenuButton}" Click="NewGame_Click"/>
           <Button Content="Leaderboard" Style="{StaticResource MenuButton}" Click="Leaderboard_Click"/>
           <Button Content="Options" Style="{StaticResource MenuButton}" Click="Options_Click"/>
           <Button Content="Credits" Style="{StaticResource MenuButton}" Click="Credits_Click"/>
           <Button Content="Exit" Style="{StaticResource MenuButton}" Click="Exit_Click"/>
       </StackPanel>
   </Grid>
   

   The Page.Background creates a gradient background with white, light blue, and light green. The Grid contains 5 buttons that use Click events to the code behind (MenuPage.xaml.cs)

8. In the Solution Explorer, open MenuPage.xaml.cs

   Note

   If you don't see MenuPage.xaml.cs, click on the drop-down arrow next to MenuPage.xaml to display MenuPage.xaml.cs

9. Under the MenuPage() constructor, add the following methods:

   private void NewGame_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   {
       // Navigate to the GamePage
       Frame.Navigate(typeof(GamePage));
   }
   
   private void Leaderboard_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   {
       // TODO: Navigate to the Leaderboard page
   }
   
   private void Options_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   {
       // TODO: Navigate to the Options page
   }
   
   private void Credits_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   {
       // TODO: Navigate to the Credits page
   }
   
   private void Exit_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
   {
       Application.Current.Exit();
   }
   

   These methods are the code behind event handlers. Currently the NewGame_Click uses Frame.Navigate() to navigate to the GamePage, which is where the game itself is played, the Exit_Click closes the application and the other 3 don't currently do anything.

10. In the Solution Explorer, open MainWindow.xaml.cs

11. In the MainWindow constructor, replace the MenuPage with GamePage

    MainFrame.Navigate(typeof(MenuPage));
    

12. On the title bar, click on Debug, click on Start Debugging OR on your keyboard press F5 key

You should see something like this:

In this section, you successfully created a main menu page (MenuPage.xaml) with a visually appealing gradient background and added navigation buttons. You also implemented event handlers in the code behind (MenuPage.xaml.cs) to navigate to the game page (GamePage) and exit the application.