[FEATURE REQUEST] Faction specific map colours

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Mightywonder
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat, 8. Dec 18, 12:44

[FEATURE REQUEST] Faction specific map colours

Post by Mightywonder »

Hi Egosoft,

Thanks for a great game!

It always struck me as strange that instead of the Factions being displayed with their own specific colours they were displayed as allied/enemy/neutral.

For me it would be a much more immersive experience if each of the faction's had their own colours, which were displayed both on the map and as the outlines

People know who they are at war and allied with. I feel like it would be much more immersive and you would gain a lot more information if you could discern factions on the fly.

Someone has attempted to mod this into the game however they came to a barrier in the coding (see below)

I would be eternally grateful if you would implement this as a feature, or unlock the code that will allow modders to edit that into the game.


Enhanced Holomap 3 - Faction Specific Object and Sector Colours
https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations ... posts&BH=0
(there is also another mod which does the same thing.)


The below if from the Nexus post at the mod link above.
"Mightywonder
Hey!
Absolutely fantastic mod, I've been waiting for something like this.
I was wondering if it would be possible to extend the colour changes to all icons, so all ships, stations, objects on the map are coloured by their faction rather than neutral/owned/enemy? Also if it would be possible to extend these colours the the square border icons too so I can see when flying around which factions are nearby without clicking on anything?

XTC0r
I would also like to see this feature and have the colors also on the map for ships / stations / icons etc.

Unclejack
Hello Mightywonder and XTC0R,

The original intend for making the Enhanced HoloMap was to change the 3D map colours to faction specific colours, so you can identify the different factions based on their icon colour. However, when I started messing around with the lua scripts and the colours properties, I realized it is currently not possible to alter the 3D holomap in easy/specific ways. The main functions to render and load the icons on the 3D plane are hidden in ffi.C functions and Anark studio files, which are not accessible to us for modding and are integrated into the X4.exe. You are also right that currently the Holomap colours are only distinct in a few things: enemy, player, friendly, visitor or neutral (jumpgates and stuff). It is possible to change the colour of all icons simultaneously by adjusting the XML file providing the RGB values for each of the friendly, visitor, neutral sections (which I did in this mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/230). However, to make them faction specific would require additional coding in the ffi.C and Anark studio files, which is not possible for us at the moment (afaik). The sector borders however are adjustable, but these follow a different path than the icons. So we have to wait and see if Egosoft will release these functions or move them to the lua or XML files (which are moddable).

Changing the colour of the icons on the edges of the main cockpit is interesting! I might try to look into that.

Mightywonder
Thanks for replying. Here's to hoping Egosoft release the code! It always struck me as odd that they decided to go with this design in the first place. Surely you know who your enemies and allies are (and the pirates which start off as enemies can always be done in shades of red).
When you play Sid Meir's Pirates, for example, you don't need all your enemies to show up in red, you know the French are p***ed off with you.
Surely it's more immersive to show intuitively which factions own what at a glance.
Anyway, enough with the rant, thanks again for the great mod :)."
exogenesis
Posts: 2718
Joined: Sun, 9. Sep 07, 15:39
x4

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Faction specific map colours

Post by exogenesis »

Very much yes please !

It's so difficult to see whose ships are where & who is fighting with who on the map, with all the ships the same colour.

This would be a great enhancement...
User avatar
mr.WHO
Posts: 9157
Joined: Thu, 12. Oct 06, 17:19
x4

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Faction specific map colours

Post by mr.WHO »

Or even better make this map filter option whre you can choose between current default and faction colored.

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