Quick start
The demo
Section titled “The demo”The fastest way to see it working: in Package Manager, select DarkEffekt Terminal and import the Demo sample. Open its Terminal Demo scene and press Play. It shows one session two ways: on a monitor on a desk, and in a flat view that fills the window. The legend along the bottom lists the keys.
| Key | At the desk | In the flat view |
|---|---|---|
| F8 | Switch to the flat view | Switch to the desk |
| F5 | Next look: a color theme with a screen effect | The same |
| F9, F10 | Fewer or more columns; the rows fill the glass | Smaller or larger cells |
| F6, F7 | Lower or higher screen resolution | Cycle a simulated DPI; return to the display’s own |
| F4 | Lock the mouse to the view, to look around and point with its center; F4 or Esc frees it |
The terminal runs a small demo shell with command-line editing and history.
| Command | What it shows |
|---|---|
help |
The command list |
colors |
The palette: 16 colors, 256 colors, and truecolor |
ui |
Every interface element on one scrolling page; Tab moves focus, and Esc returns |
demo |
A menu of showcase interfaces; demo radar opens one by name |
figlet and some text |
Large letters |
screen |
The screen as a prop: screen power switches it off and back on, screen damage cracks it, screen repair mends it |
signal |
What the screen receives: signal noise 0.3 for five seconds of a noisy picture, signal glitch for a burst |
screen reset, or F3 |
Clears every screen effect |
telnet and a hostname |
A real host |
exit |
Ends the shell |
The monitor is the Terminal Monitor prefab, in the sample’s Monitor folder. Drag it into any scene for a working terminal with its own session. Drag its frame sideways to turn it.
To try a real host, type telnet and a hostname, for example
telnet telehack.com. A port goes after the host: telnet aardmud.org 4000.
Ctrl-] disconnects and returns to the shell.
Your own scene
Section titled “Your own scene”Two components put a terminal in a scene:
- Add an empty GameObject and a Terminal Session to it. The session owns one emulator, one connection, and one renderer. Turn on Start Demo Shell to see it working before you connect it to anything.
- Add a screen and point it at the session:
- Terminal Screen (3D) on a mesh (a quad works) shows the terminal in the scene. The camera’s mouse ray, or a ray you supply, points at cells. For glass, a housing, or a surface the scene lights, press Create Screen Material in its Inspector; see A screen material of your own.
- Terminal Screen (UI) on a RawImage in a canvas shows the flat view.
Both are under GameObject, Terminal. Click a screen in Play mode to give its session keyboard focus.
Connecting it to something
Section titled “Connecting it to something”To drive a session from a network host or your own program, set a connection from a script:
using DarkEffekt.Terminal;using DarkEffekt.Terminal.Unity;
var session = GetComponent<TerminalSession>();session.SetConnection(new TelnetConnection("your.host", 23));See Connections for telnet, raw TCP, and hosting your own program in the same process.
Styling it
Section titled “Styling it”Two assets set the look. A Terminal Theme on the session holds the font, colors, and cursor. A Terminal Screen Type on each screen holds the filtering and the display effect, so a desk CRT and a flat HUD can show one session two ways. Create either under Assets, Create, Terminal, or start from a preset under Theme Presets (Clean LCD, Green Phosphor, Amber Phosphor) and Screen Type Presets (Flat, Green CRT, Amber CRT, Color CRT). See Themes and screen types.