[MOD] jc hud v1.1 for x3tc and x3ap (updated 29th march 2013)

[bolgimo]

updated 29th march 2013 to version 1.2 for x3ap. works with both x3ap and x3tc

this is my HUD/GUI mod that I finally decided to release to the world. originally i started making it just to get rid of all the bits in the X3TC interface that annoyed me, but ended up changing most of the elements and decided to upload it in case anyone else finds the stock X3TC GUI cluttered and excessive in some areas.

here are some gigantic screenshots
screenshot 1
screenshot 2
screenshot 3
screenshot 4
screenshot 5
screenshot 6
screenshot 7


features:
- crosshairs are a less intrusive and reduced to a single pixel line across the centre of the screen
- auto-aim target assist reticle is a lot more visible and useful, see pics
- off-screen targeting arrows are big and chunky
- brackets are thinner and not sprinkled everywhere on the screen now
- targeted brackets much more visible than stock
- brackets removed from stations and replaced with a single station icon in the top left, this lets stations still be easily identified and clicked without having to figure out which of the 31503 brackets in front of you relates to the station you're trying to target
- mouse follow mode crosshair is now accurate
- sidebar removed for the most part
- ui is slightly darker and now a lot less "busy", less doohickeys and doodads and strange bright gradients through the middle of white text on dialog and information windows and menus
- asteroid icons are brown
- civilian icons are grey
- missile and container icons are yellow because that's just so much more helpful




new in version 1.2:
- fixed the missing x3ap icons and stuff (thanks sorkvild)
- a few minor colour tweaks
- buttons made to not look like crap
- got rid of icondata
- finally worked out how to change sector map target reticles and now they look hot

new in version 1.1:
- gravidar now looks awesome
- gravidar is also accurate at fov 90°, you can actually perceive where stuff is from looking at the gravidar
- muted some annoying ui sounds for mouseovers and other boring things
- text on buttons is now readable
- big mission icons are now small mission icons to reduce blindspots all over your screen
- ship icons are cleaner and brighter and less pixel dirt everywhere

todo:
- made unique icons for recon drones, frieght drones, goner rangers and TPs, not yet activated in icondata though




uses some station icons and container icons from Military HUD and Y's Gui, sorry if these are copyright; let me know and i'll remove them



download here




i give permission for the original artwork in this mod is free to be reused for non-commercial purposes.

feedback welcome!

[vega]

no1 replied so far oO

then i go first -

already planned to to this myself, after coming back to x3tc (and lost my own minified gui file) - *thumbs up*

[Thrandisher]

Looks pretty nice actually.

[ni0s]

This is a great HUD. There are two things I would change.
The color scheme for the buttons on the top left (Player, Ship, etc.) should match the buttons (Eject, Quit, etc.) below it; preferably the system button colors as it matches the rest of the theme. The top buttons look bluer and brighter.
I would also change the radar. I much prefer the three dimensional-like diamond found on X-Universe Gold UI. Just not gold.

[Sorkvild]

This is a great HUD

I second that.

Very nicely detailed gui, Icons are precisely drawn and subtle making this interface very readable too.

I tried all GUI replacements fro TC, but this one is the best.

Recommended

[i64man]

Nicely done. Do you know if it compatible with other major mods like the X3 rebalance mod and the improve race?

[Sorkvild]

Yes I use it with the XRM mod and works really nice.

Improved races should work too because this script doesn't change the interface.

[bolgimo]

works with xrm and xtc as a fake patch with a higher patch number; it doesn't modify many graphics. currently i'm playing with making a lot of the ui click sounds silent, and i saw Gold-UIs gravidar and decided to make something similar






on this last one I actually calibrated the top quadrant to 90° fov; the second sector boundary represents the gravidar range reasonably accurately

[bolgimo]

i'm very happy with this design, what does everyone else think about it

[X2-Eliah]

Not bad, the upper quadrant seems to have some smoothing/aliasing issues though - might be blurry.. Also, how about tweaking the colour to match more to your bracket styles? Also - the outer border of the ring is pretty sharp.. how about fading it more to match the tone of the grid-lines themselves? That'd also make it feel more like stretching out into distance /dissolving instead of being strictly limited by a sharp edge.

Btw, wanted to say that imo this is a really neat gui design, and at least from the pics seems to look pretty cool

Edit: another thing, can you consider tweaking the ship icons shown on the gravidar? In the pic with the kha'ak clusters, looks like they really clutter up (though of course that's a problem with stock game as well, so it's ofc not your fault) - maybe making them smaller in some way would solve that.. Then again, I don't recall exactly if ship icons used the same ones for gravidar and the maps, or different ones

[Sorkvild]

@bolgimo

New gravidar design looks really good.

My suggestions:
You could enlarge gravidar size a bit. To make it more readable.
smooth up the upper quadrant of gravidar or use different color for this part.

@X2-Eliah

Btw, wanted to say that imo this is a really neat gui design, and at least from the pics seems to look pretty coo

You should see this gui in action, looks way better than at the pictures.

[bolgimo]

thanks for the quick feedback!

@bolgimo

New gravidar design looks really good.

My suggestions:
You could enlarge gravidar size a bit. To make it more readable.
smooth up the upper quadrant of gravidar or use different color for this part.

i'll see what i can do about the aliasing on it. unfortunately max size of the gravidar background is 196x172 and the game only utilises a 128x128 area in the centre

Edit: another thing, can you consider tweaking the ship icons shown on the gravidar? In the pic with the kha'ak clusters, looks like they really clutter up (though of course that's a problem with stock game as well, so it's ofc not your fault) - maybe making them smaller in some way would solve that.. Then again, I don't recall exactly if ship icons used the same ones for gravidar and the maps, or different ones

as far as i can work out the radar icons are the same icons used in space and on sector maps, so not much can be done with the ship icons themselves. i've made the lines and crosses that pop out of the gravidar slimmer and much more translucent though which should minimise the clutter in the gravidar without killing it's usefulness

[evilc]

Thankyou!
I tried many similar things, but this is the mod i settled on for now - exactly what I wanted.

Can anyone confirm that I will not see any problems using this with AP?
just wanted to check as this mod predates AP.

[bolgimo]

i've updated it to version 1.1 and confirm it works pretty well with x3ap. install it as a fake patch in the addon folder to activate it for x3ap, and enjoy!

thanks for all the great feedback, i hope this enhances your x3 experience as much as it does for me

[Ocede]

Very minimalistic and clean compared to the default clutter from ego.