Mainscreen

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-09

Overview

MainScreen is the primary frontend screen that renders the main menu of Don't Starve Together. It defines UI layout (backgrounds, title, logo images), input handling (mouse/keyboard and controller), authentication flow integration, and session initialization logic (host, join, offline play). It inherits from Screen and manages widgets such as buttons, images, and online status indicators. The screen orchestrates transitions to other screens (e.g., MultiplayerMainScreen, EmailSignupScreen, PopupDialogScreen) based on user actions and network state.

Usage example

-- Typically instantiated by TheFrontEnd when displaying the main menu.
-- Example of low-level instantiation:
local profile = ThePlayer or CreatePlayerProfile()
local mainscreen = MainScreen(profile)
TheFrontEnd:PushScreen(mainscreen)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: None added, removed, or checked directly on self.inst.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
profile	table	nil	User profile data, passed to constructor.
log	boolean	true	Logging flag (unused in current implementation).
targetversion	number	-1	Target version indicator (unused in current implementation).
fixed_root	Widget	nil	Root widget for fixed-position UI elements.
left_col	Widget	nil	Container widget for left-column elements.
title, presents_image, legalese_image	Image	nil	Title logo and legal images.
play_button	ImageButton	nil	Play/Host button widget.
exit_button	ImageButton	nil	Quit button widget.
updatename	Text	nil	Build string display.
onlinestatus	OnlineStatus	nil	Online status indicator widget.
music_playing	boolean	false	Tracks whether FE music has started.
auto_login_started	boolean	nil	Flag indicating if auto-login task has begun.

Main functions

DoInit()

• Description: Initializes UI layout, buttons, images, and focus management for the main screen. Creates the foreground, title logos, play/quit buttons, and debug buttons (if DEBUG_MODE is true). Sets up online status display and resolves platform-specific quirks (e.g., WIN32_RAIL scaling).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnLoginButton(push_mp_main_screen)

• Description: Handles the login/auth flow triggered by the Play button. Orchestrates offline mode detection, account ban/upgrade checks, auth token validity, and presents dialogs for offline mode or data collection consent. On success, transitions to MultiplayerMainScreen.
• Parameters:
  • push_mp_main_screen (boolean) — If true, pushes the MultiplayerMainScreen; otherwise, fades back to current screen.
• Returns: Nothing.

EmailSignup()

• Description: Pushes the EmailSignupScreen for newsletter subscription.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

Quit()

• Description: Pushes a confirmation dialog ("Are you sure you want to quit?") and calls RequestShutdown() on confirmation.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnHostButton()

• Description: Initializes and starts a local server in offline mode. Deletes the current save slot if Shift or Ctrl is held (optionally preserving world gen options), or loads the slot as-is.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnJoinButton()

• Description: Attempts to join a default LAN server (DEFAULT_JOIN_IP). Calls ShowLoading() after initialization.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnJoinPlayTestButton()

• Description: Attempts to join a playtest server using the local setting misc/play_test_ip.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

MakeDebugButtons()

• Description: Conditionally (if DEBUG_MODE is true) creates Host and Join debug buttons in the upper-left column, and optionally a Join PlayTest button if a playtest IP is configured.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnBecomeActive()

• Description: Called when this screen becomes the active screen. Re-enables buttons, sets focus to play_button, initializes FriendsManager, and starts auto-login logic if enabled (via DoPeriodicTask). Ensures FE music playback begins in OnUpdate.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnUpdate(dt)

• Description: Plays the frontend music (FE_MUSIC) on first invocation. Includes commented-out portal animation logic.
• Parameters:
  • dt (number) — Delta time since last frame.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnControl(control, down)

• Description: Overrides base screen input handling. In debug mode, maps gamepad MENU_START to host and MENU_BACK to join for rapid iteration.
• Parameters:
  • control (number) — Input control constant (e.g., CONTROL_MENU_START).
  • down (boolean) — Whether the control was pressed (true) or released (false).
• Returns: true if the control was handled; otherwise false.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None identified
• Pushes: None identified