The next step in my Design for Simulation, was to create a menu system for my Planet Simulator.
This needed to be simple and fit in with the overall feel of the simulation.
I decided to go for the approach that the menu would be similar to that of old NASA computers and have them superimposed over an image of screen.
The menu allows the player to quickly load all of the different levels.
To create this, I used the canvas element within Unity3D and applied a simple C# Script that called the Application.LoadLevel function. I could then apply this to all my UI elements, and give the individual buttons the ability to load the different scenes/planets upon click.
I also added a quit button in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, that appears when while in game, that allows the player to quickly return to the menu so they can select another level. Again I could apply the C# script to the cnvas elements and have it return you to the scene the menu is built in.