(NEW RELEASE)Pie Chart Style HUDS==>PCS HUDv2

[Ganelon]

I think the project is very cool, and may lead to some really innovative HUDs and "cockpits" that are still very readable and functional.

[ClymAngus]

Code diving we shall go code diving we shall go, eee,iii,aaaadddyyyoo code diving we shall go!
Nifty biscuits. May I congratulate you heartily on a job well done!

[CommonSenseOTB]

Thankyou all so much for your gracious encouragement and enthusiasm. Patience however is a virtue. The 2 HUDS in version 2 WILL show the way to use this type of guage and also the best way(s) to use this type of energy guage(looks/works best in a particular way). Hopefully, these will provide enough example to let all the eager HUD creators loose like the cookie monster at a bake sale!

Keep the comments coming! All points of view are welcome and encouraged.

CommonSense(OutsideTheBox)

[CommonSenseOTB]

I was just starting on the layout of the version 2 HUDS when a realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It IS POSSIBLE to make polar opposites of ALL the guages I've illustrated.

Simply reverse the arrays. Doh! I can't believe I missed that one.

This means that all sides(left,right,top,bottom) are possible even though the motion of the guage must remain either right to left or top to bottom going from full to empty. That's still more than half of all the possibilities and I guess I can do just about everything I could really want to without any new kind of hard coded draw tools.....SWEET!

And Gnudoll/Commander McLane thankyou very much as it was your suggestion of top/bottom guages and circles that put me onto this. And FULL COMPLETE CIRCLES are possible for 2 guages split between(the dividing line would have to be at a 45degree offset but I can live with that). I can also put 4 guages in 1 circle. No round the clock guage is possible however.

The energy guage is more interesting than I thought before but there are 2 types and they display the data slightly different.Both types MUST be split. 1 is horizontal/the other vertical. Now they can be on the left and right sides. This is gonna be good!

The only guages that don't really translate well into triangles or pies are the temp guages as they are mostly empty and would be better as bar guages so they can have a proper surround(that is a matter of taste however and a good dash graphic might just make a pie temp guage acceptable). And forget about the rpy guages. The ones so far are the best ones.

Well, now for the hard work. Making arrays is no picnic and I have to make the polar opposites if I intend to use them. For demonstration purposes it would seem 4 HUDS are needed simply to illustrate the 2 types of energy guage combined with full circles/squares(split and half). Give or take about a week or 2 will see 4 HUDS in version 2 and then I will hand the concept off to you. Looks like my other stuff will be delayed at least that long.

It now appears that a good solid foundation is possible for the developer of triangle(square) and pie(circle)HUDS.

Please continue to post your comments and suggestions. I am very busy now and will check on this thread every few days until version 2 release.Later...

CommonSenseOTB(eyes opened/work to do)

[CommonSenseOTB]

Something to wet your appetite.
Check out these pics of the new Triangle HUD for version 2.


Triangle HUD test 1 by CommonSenseOTB, on Flickr


Triangle HUD test 2 by CommonSenseOTB, on Flickr


Triangle HUD test 3 by CommonSenseOTB, on Flickr

I'm going back into my cave now!

CommonSenseOTB

[Commander McLane]

Wrong embedding tags. The board uses , not <a href></a>; and [img][/img ] (drop the SPACE, it's just for making the tag visible), not <img src>. In short, choose BBtag, not html.

[Commander McLane]

And after I c&p'd the URLs into another browser window: looking much better! I like putting it into two dials.

One question: what happens with other numbers of energy banks? Are there simply more (or less) dark lines drawn in that quadrant?

[CommonSenseOTB]

Commander McLane, hello.

The vertical energy guage will display a division line for each energy bank, similar to the linear guages. More banks = more lines. It is important that one not use a PIE(circular) vertical energy guage as the curve causes a curved distortion in these division lines. Also energy guages are strictly limited(by design) to Quarter or Split guages. The reason being the different effects of horizontal/vertical do not combine well.

All will be clear when I release version 2. As for the square guage clusters in the triangle HUD, it makes it easy to house split guages and draw a surround. Also it will be incredibly easy for anyone to customize which guages display what simply by renaming(not moving) each guages' drawguage tools. I want to make it easy for first time pie/triangle hud developers/users as this can be a sort of template for developers.

I go back to the cave now.

[Killer Wolf]

damn, that's radical. looks pretty cool too! shame the same type code can't just rotate a spike/needle type thing or we could have some cool steampunk type gauges.

[CommonSenseOTB]

Thanx for your comments KW. I have to agree. The concept I'm pursuing currently is the easy(relatively) and practical way to make circular guages. To make speedometer needle type guages would require(as far as I CURRENTLY know) the use of hud switching and actual pictures of the the guage and needle in question.To get accuracy would require a lot of seperate huds and multiply that by itself for each guage you add, for a needle perhaps 16 to 24 HUDS/guage. After a few weeks you could probably have finished such a HUD with a maximum of 2 guages with hud files totalling 8 to 10 Megs. For painted Pie guages with half circles and not as much accuracy it would be 10 to 12 Megs for 3 guages.

For practical purposes it would seem we are limited to 1 fancy type painted guage where the sky is the limit for it's appearance and function. I would bet the farm that the real use of it would be for equipment addons. In fact I WILL be making such HUD addons for equipment in the future. Add the new triangle and circular pie arrays of draw tools with matching painted masks and surrounds and a crazy/cool new type of HUD will emerge.

It's all up to the developer's imaginations' now.

Back to the lab now and more version 2 development. The next HUD will illustrate the totally cool new horizontal energy guage as well as circle guage clusters.

CommonSenseOTB

[Zireael]

I love the triangles HUD. Brilliant idea.

[CommonSenseOTB]

Thanx Zireael. When inspiration strikes you just go with it. Wait till you see the next one.

[Thargoid]

Alien HUD time, with red & green octagons?

[CommonSenseOTB]

Thargoid! Now your talking my language my friend. All the arrays can be created or customized to triangular shapes of almost all types. Add in the right painted masks/surrounds and an alien/thargoid HUD should be no problem. Cool idea!

(After thinking a moment)Why, are we going to be able to buy one at the local station soon? Or perhaps a ship derived from thargoid tech, or a hybrid? Possible future oxp? Nice...

[Gnudoll]

OTB, that hud is looking great! Much better than the open, stacked gauges! It just keeps getting better and better!!