Problems changing HUDs

[CmdrLUke]

Hi,
I'm an oolite newbie, but long term Elite addict. In college in the early 1980s I played elite on a C64 and kept playing until I was able to fire at space stations and totally smoke the clouds of vipers that emerged. In the 1990s after graduating and getting a job I specifically purchased a C64 gamiing set just so I could play elite. Now in the 2000's I felt a need for an elite fix and thankfully found my way to oolite. It's awesome! It seems that oolite even without the extensions is quite a bit harder than classic. For one thing, I'm finding it *much* harder to hit enemy ships with lasers, especially at long range. So when I found out about loadable HUDS with better fighting crosshairs, I wanted to get them right away.

But I install the HUDS .ocx folder into the Addons folder like I did other OCXs (all of which work for me), and nothing changes. I've scoured the forums and the wiki and don't see special instructions for changing HUDs, so I'm stuck.

I'm running oolite-pc 1.71.2 on windows XP, I have the following OCXs already installed:

Fuel Tank v2.1
localhero_1_05
Ore_processor
RandomHits
Rock_Hermit_Locator1.2.2

and I tried installing

MilHUD from various different sources, but my Cobra MK III hud doesn't change.

Do I have to do something special or hack some files to get the default Cobra's HUD to work with MiliHUD?

thanks!

edit: I tried FighterHUD and it worked! It's an improvement (especially because it shows the currently targetted ship! That's a big improvement) but it has no crosshair enhancements (I want lines drawn across the aiming spot or the "hot spot" of Milihud.).

Any advice for getting MiliHUD to work to the default Cobra?

[another_commander]

The MilHUD uses a file called milhud.plist. There are two options:
1. Change the name of this file from milhud.plist to hud.plist. This will change the HUD for all ships that use the default one.
2. Go to oolite.app/Resources/Config/shipdata.plist. Make a backup of this file in case things go not-so-well. Edit the file with a text editor and find the entry

Code: Select all

"cobra3-player" =
	{
		aft_eject_position = "0.0 15.5 -33.0";
		energy_recharge_rate = 4;
		exhaust = ("-19 0.0 -32.5 15.0 7.5 12.5", "19 0.0 -32.5 15.0 7.5 12.5");
		forward_weapon_type = "WEAPON_PULSE_LASER";
		hud = "hud.plist";
		laser_color = "redColor";
.
.
.[rest of file]

Replace the line that reads hud = "hud.plist"; with hud = "milhud.plist";. This will change the HUD for the Cobra MkIII only. Do the same for all ships for which you want the hud replaced.

Once done, start Oolite while holding down the Shift key and keep holding it down until you see the rotating Cobra. You should now also be seeing the new HUD.

[CmdrLUke]

Thanks a bunch now I have KleptoHUD and MilHUD both working. Man what a difference it makes, I can take on vipers again and beat them! And targetting at a long distance is much easier now.

[CmdrLUke]

I moved to a new computer since the other one I normally use crashed, and now I'm having problems with MilHUD again. This time, regardless of full-screen, windowed, regardless of the resolution (1024x768 or 1600x1200), the targetting reticle appears not in the middle of the screen, but in the middle of the IFF, just above the bottom of the screen.

Help!

thanks

edit: BTW, kleptoHUD works fine, But I'd like to get MilHUD working, too.

[CmdrLUke]

Well, I fixed this problem, not sure how it got in there, but the problem was in the y coordinates of the crosshairs, I change it to 0 and the reticle/crosshairs went back to the right place.

[teabag]

I am also having problems changing HUD's like CmdrLuke above. I'm running Oolite V1.71.2 and flying a Merlin.
I can get the MilHud / Medusa Hud etc. to show on the "splash screen" but as soon as I select my Commander profile, it defaults back to the standard Merlin HUD (even pressing "shift" when loading).

I've tried ammending the plist's as described above, but still to no avail. There doesn't appear to be a "Merlin" entry in the oolite.app/Resources/Config/shipdata.plist that I can find... ?
...any help appreciated.

[Thargoid]

The Merlin is supplied by it's own OXP (Merlin.oxp unsurprisingly) but is also included in Realistic Shipyards v3.02, which is probably where you are getting it from in your game (as I guess you'd know if you installed Merlin.oxp specifically).

A quick look in those shows the author of the ship also included a specific HUD for it, which is probably the root cause of why you can't get your choice of HUD to work (the Merlin one is over-ruling your desire to use MilHUD/Medusa HUD when the game selects the ship as your craft when it loads your save game file).

If you look in the shipdata.plist for Realistic Shipyards, just before mid-way is "Merlin-player". Within that entry you'll see the lines:

Code: Select all

                <key>hud</key>
                <string>merlinhud.plist</string>

Make a backup of the file, then snip or comment those out of the file and save it, then you should be able to get MilHUD or Medusa HUD to work as you wish separately. Alternatively you can change merlinhud.plist to the plist file of the HUD of your choice, but it's probably simpler to just do it separately.

Once you've made your changes restart Oolite, holding down shift until the game begins (the spinning Cobra3 appears). Then you should be away and sorted.

[teabag]

Thanks Thargoid!
...I've got it to work!
...I found it easiest to search & change the name of the Merlin Hud in the Realistic Shipyards OXP to the MedusaHud & all has worked well!

...may your Trumbles stay forever warm!

[kermit]

Don't know what I'm doing wrong - I'm trying to use FighterHUD MkII

At first I had the problem with it being in the middle of the screen - but that fixed, however I've now got another weird problem

I Downgraded my Cobra MkIII to a Cobra Mk I (To get more money quickly) - & the HUD changed to the standard Oolite version

I quit the game & restarted - Up pops the FighterHUD - Load in My Commander (Which I saved just after purchasing the MkI) - Up pops the Oolite HUD

I don't know if it due to the fact I'm running Oolite from a USB Flash Drive or not

I'm using the latest Stable version of Oolite 1.65

Any Advice please

[LittleBear]

The cheapo Cobra Mk I comes with a standard Oolite hud rather than the nice fighter hud. If you change the entry the the cobra Mk I to the fighterhud, then it'll use the fighter hud instead. This is a feature to allow different ships to have different huds, so you'd need to set the ship you are flying to a different hud to its standard one.

[kermit]

Thanks for the info - got a reply from similar post I done on another thread

See it here @
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?p=59626#59626