Adding a theme to the dialogue box

In this video, we improve the look of our dialogue box by giving it a Theme resource and using Theme Overrides.

Theme Overrides allow you to style individual Control nodes.

As the name suggests, you can use them to replace styles applied by a Theme resource.

But in the absence of a Theme resource, you can still use Theme Overrides to change your interface’s look.

Your questions

When should I use a theme instead of overrides?

In a large project, you should favor using a Theme resource and use overrides only when you need to replace a style from the theme on a specific node.

Now, Theme resources and the theme editor are complex. Theme Overrides are a quick way to style simple user interfaces without bothering with that complexity.

They work well in games with few user interface widgets. We can also recommend them when doing game jams* or prototyping games.

* Game jam: an event where game developers create games with tight time constraints or a theme. Some are done in teams, like the Global Game Jam, and others are solo contests, like the Ludum Dare’s “compo” event.