Silicum V1 HUD & Interface mod released

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:16 pm

Hi guys,

I've been wanting to do a completely new HUD and game interface for a long time now, but never got around to it. Especially when the new Perch cockpit was published -which truly is a really nice piece of work- I couldn't wait to get something done. Today I finally got some time for it and started 'graphicating' away.

This HUD / interface called 'Silicum V1' is going to be a very straight forward, clean, glassy style one with hopefully a high-tech feel to it. There's a lot of transparency in it and almost no color but mostly black & white with a few glows here and there. No fancy borders or nifty edges, but simple straight lines for a super-clean look that's nice and calm on the eyes.

Today I got most of the HUD done and tested. The final goal is to redesign every single graphic element on the HUD, and also a complete new game interface. That means that there's going to be completely new menus, menu content (the bars surrounding the text, scroll bars, etc), new buttons for the menus, the text is going to get new colors (probably not as saturated as default), and everything in the same style as the HUD. Not everyone will like the style, but this is what I wanted to do.

Edit:
The mod has been released, please refer to >> this post << to see the final result and to download the mod.

[Edited on 12-6-2012 by Viper]

JayStar · Post by **JayStar** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:13 am

really love this viper great work i cant wait to try it.. looks very slick

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 10:29 pm

Very Coooool Viper!......

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:23 am

Ya, Vipester, ye've did it again! Still! Love the low-pro look, sans strutage. Einst glassig! Can wait for the D/L...jist barley....

:P:P:P:P

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:45 pm

I had a bit of a delay, but the mod is ready for release. I even made a simple logo, man I must be bored!
(click on the logo to download the mod, or simply click >>HERE<<):

[align=center]

[/align]

The goal of the Silicum V1 HUD & Interface mod is not to improve on the default HUD and game interface, but to offer a completely different style.

As described in an earlier post, the Silicum V1 mod features:

A completely new HUD, redesigned from scratch.
The HUD has been designed to fit the Perch cockpit in particular, but will work without problems on every cockpit.
The Perch cockpit mod by ijon can be found >>HERE<<.
A game interface overhaul.
This means that menu windows, menu buttons, text bars, slider bars, the chat box window, all the chat window buttons, and pretty much every other modable element of the interface has been redesigned.
A slightly altered texture for the Perch v4 cockpit mod.
The Perch cockpit is an awesome design in itself (great work ijon!), so I only changed several colors and the metallic texture to fit the colors of the rest of the Silicum V1 mod.

I have tried my best to design all the elements in the same style, which could be described as glassy, clean, highly transparent and with a low color profile.
Most of the colored interactive HUD elements have been given a sleek rounded style.

A few of the original graphical elements could not be modded:

The menu buttons in the game main menu.
There is a glitch with these files which makes them un-modable.
The Pilot Manager window and content.
This was never meant to be modable from the get-go.
The ship-like mouse pointer.
This file also seems to have a glitch of sorts.

To download, click on the Silicum V1 logo on top of this post, or the link provided above.
There will be an updated version after the expansion is released.

If anyone encounters any design flaws or other problems when using this mod, please let me know so I can correct them.

Below are some screenshots (I'm sorry for the screeny-overkill; I wish we had a collapse button on the forum):

Enjoy the mod!

~ Viper.

[Edited on 11-2-2012 by Viper]

Kikoni · Post by **Kikoni** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:47 pm

This is quite good, Viper. Very nicely textured. If I wasn't already so used to flying with one of KingArthur's Perch Texture & Hud mods, I'd give yours a go.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Fri Nov 02, 2012 8:28 pm

Thanks for the compliment Kikoni, and not a problem of course. If you ever feel like trying it out, you know where to find it.
It's been some time, but I've done quite some modeling and texturing in the past and to be honest I really miss the creative aspect of it all, and would love to do it more often. Time permitting, I hope to roll out some more mods in the future, probably including a ship or two. There's always stuff to improve and new ideas to try!

~ Viper.

[Edited on 11-2-2012 by Viper]

JayStar · Post by **JayStar** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:25 am

hi viper

great work cant wait to try this but... the download is a rar file.. im ust to zipped mods with folders. how do i get this mod to work

sorry for the silly question im such a computer noob!

hope i can get it working

[FF] JayStar

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:48 am

Hi JayStar,

.Rar files are just another type of compressed (ie. zipped) files. Whereas you are probably using Winzip or 7Zip to unzip .zip or .7z files, the program 'WinRar' can be used to unzip .rar files. Have a look at >>this page<<, depending on whether you're using 32 or 64 bits Windows, you will need one of the first two links listed there. However, I think you can also use 7zip to unzip a .rar file if that's the one you're using.
WinRar is a free program and is used quite a lot.

If you'd like me to upload the mod in another type of compressed package, just let me know and I'll do just that.

Once unzipped, it will present two folders: the 'hud' and the 'loading' folder. Simply copy the files inside those folders to the 'hud' and 'loading' folders in your game files (the ones in Program Files), overwriting the old ones if Windows asks you for it. Or you could just copy the two folders as a whole and put them inside the Program Files/sw3dg/EvochronMercenary folder and again overwrite any old files if Windows asks you to.

Please note that if you do not already have a mod installed that includes the 'hud' or 'loading' folders, these folders will not be there. In this case you can simply move the folders from the downloaded mod to the game files in Program Files.

Restart the game (prior to that, rebooting the computer is always good to keep things clean) and your mod should work fine.

Still any questions, please let me know.
Good luck and enjoy.

~ Viper.

[Edited on 11-4-2012 by Viper]

JayStar · Post by **JayStar** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:48 pm

hi viper..

again i took your advice and it worked.. im such a computer noob and neally gave up but i finally did it via your WinRAR link so im happy cause i have another tiny program to use hehe..

cockpit and mod look great and im useing your cockpit now in game

thanks alot viper

:)

[FF] Jaystar

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:52 pm

You're welcome mate, enjoy the mod.

~ Viper.

JayStar · Post by **JayStar** » Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:16 pm

im gonna try build a cockpit from nothing, i have Metasegle and blender, i hope there rite.. i just have no idea where to start or have any idea on sizes. positions, scale of whats im allowed to do and add to game..

But i will carry on no less.. all i wanna build is a copy of the defualt cockpit with a few of my own things added..

thanks again viper

[FF] JayStar

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:37 pm

do you have a finished version of this mod for the standard 2.088 cockpit?

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:46 pm

I was just in the process of sorting out the last details and testing it. I'll release it as soon as I'm confident it's bug-free, which will probably be some time today.

There will be a version for the normal cockpit, and one for the Perch cockpit.

[Edited on 12-6-2012 by Viper]

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:35 pm

I tried your beta version and I have one issue. The circle around my target and the information below aren't visible when looking at a bright background, like atmosphere.
I suggest making the target circle of the ship I'm targeting more visible, while keeping the other circles the same. I like it for non targeted ships because it makes the game look less like a christmas tree.
I really like the hud though, it's very smooth.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:52 pm

Cool, glad you like it.

Yup, I was aware of this issue and it has been fixed for the final release. It's because there was no shadow texture for that particular texture.
The final version will have quite a lot of improvements over the one you're using now (the beta one). I'm contemplating putting it up once more on the beta forum for final testing and tweaking before release, if that's alright with Vice. If I do, would you mind having a test run with it?

8rennus · Post by **8rennus** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:54 pm

"File not found."

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:07 pm

From post: 150512, Topic: tid=9914, author=8rennus wrote:"File not found."

Yup, this version of the mod was designed for EM v1.x (before the expansion), using it with v2.x (expansion) will create issues. I have disabled the download so as not to create problems for people now that the expansion has been released.
I'll also update the thread title to clarify.

When I release version 2 of the mod hopefully later today, I'll post it in a new thread.

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:13 pm

I'll surely test it, and in the future I'll probably use it as my standard hud.

8rennus · Post by **8rennus** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:27 pm

DOH! I mis-read the thread title to read " ... (compatible with EM v2.x / expansion)".

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:50 pm

Not your fault, I just updated that.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:51 pm

If there's any beta testers who would like to help out: I've put the new Silicum files up in the beta forum. You can download from there.

nitoo · Post by **nitoo** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:39 pm

[Edited on 7/12/2012 by nitoo]