[UPDATE RELEASE] Combat HUD_v4.0 OXZ

[mossfoot]

For those who do like the targeting style, does anyone else think it needs to be slightly more translucent? Thinner?

[Smivs]

Some people are never happy!
The transparency is already very low, but you can adjust it if you want to. You'll need to open the hud.plist (in the Config folder) with a text editor (but not Notepad!) and go to the part dealing with the image - around line 504 where you will see this code

Code: Select all

                {
                    alert_conditions = 8;
 	                image = "HUDoverlay.png";
 	                x		     = 0;
                    x_origin    = 0;
 	                y	     	= 0;
 	                y_origin	 = 0;
 	                height		= 200;
 	                width		 = 200;
 	                alpha 		= 0.25;
                 }

The alpha (last line) is the transparency so try reducing the number to gain more transparency.
The image itself can't easily be changed (made thinner) as the dials would be too big for it. Yes, both image and dials could be tweaked, but that would involve a lot of time adjusting things to make it all work.

FWIW I did spend a lot of time testing this to optimise the settings allowing for empty space, stations and various ships both large and small behind' the dials. Of course everybody has different sight, and screen settings vary a lot as well from computer to computer.

[mossfoot]

Some people are never happy! .

Hee Well, the only reason I suggest it is that it does seem the eye gets heavily drawn to the blue circle rather than the threat, especially when at long distance. I might try tweaking with it

edit: strange. my hud.plist in the config file has only 383 lines of code (running in gedit) and nothing in it starting with "alert" for me to use the search function to find?

[demon59]

@demon59
I'm sorry you don't like the feature . Is it the whole 'dials by the crosshairs' aspect you don't like, or just the new graphical update? I ask because it would be easy to produce a new HUD based on CombatHUD but where the dials just stay where they are (as in the original version) for anyone who likes the standard HUD but doesn't want the Red Alert feature at all. If there is a demand I would be happy to do this.

Yeah, the whole "dials by the cross-hairs" concept is one of those that (for me, at least) sounds good in theory, but in practice highlights my pitifully short attention span. I always seem to find myself focused on the gauges when my target decides to jink. If they are at the bottom of the screen, the fact that they are analog means I can glean sufficient info from them peripherally without the need to actually focus on them (also the reason I don't like numeric readouts, I have to actually "read" them).

I do like the original "flight gauges left, combat gauges right" design, though. If you get enough demand for a "Retro" version, that's cool. But don't break your creative stride, so to speak, just for me. After all, the only constant is change, eh?

Keep creating, Commander!

[Neelix]

@demon59
I'm sorry you don't like the feature . Is it the whole 'dials by the crosshairs' aspect you don't like, or just the new graphical update? I ask because it would be easy to produce a new HUD based on CombatHUD but where the dials just stay where they are (as in the original version) for anyone who likes the standard HUD but doesn't want the Red Alert feature at all. If there is a demand I would be happy to do this.

Yeah, the whole "dials by the cross-hairs" concept is one of those that (for me, at least) sounds good in theory, but in practice highlights my pitifully short attention span. I always seem to find myself focused on the gauges when my target decides to jink. If they are at the bottom of the screen, the fact that they are analog means I can glean sufficient info from them peripherally without the need to actually focus on them (also the reason I don't like numeric readouts, I have to actually "read" them).

I do like the original "flight gauges left, combat gauges right" design, though. If you get enough demand for a "Retro" version, that's cool. But don't break your creative stride, so to speak, just for me. After all, the only constant is change, eh?

Keep creating, Commander!

Perhaps it could be made possible to turn that feature off via the OXPConfig OXP? (mind you, I have no idea how that actually works, so I don't know how much work would be involved)

- Neelix

[Smivs]

NEWS ALERT

Later today I hope to be releasing Smart HUD OXZ.
(After countless minutes of toil and effort, I have removed all the Red Alert aspects of CombatHUD, and Smart HUD was born. )