HUD replacement mods on Linux

[haloterm]

Hi I'm a long-time Evochron player, but was not able to play for quite a while. I've now managed to install and run the game on Linux (with Wine; Proton in Steam does not work for me). The game itself works perfectly.

However, I've got problems with using HUD replacer mods.

In particular, I want to use NoFun's very beautiful MOD: https://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14213

MOST of it works fine. But it seems the game does not recognize all the replacement graphics, for example several of the shadow graphics don't work, which looks then very weird. (The game displays the graphic from the mod, but behind it the shadow from the default game).


I _suspect_ it may be an issue of case sensitivity on Linux. The HUD's files are all in lower-case file names. As far as I understand, the game extracts all its game files into a temporary folder (and I even found it) and if the HUD mod's file name differs from the default game's file name for a particular graphic file, it would not replace it, but instead be a duplicate, and the game would still use the default file.

Has anybody (Vice?) some information on this? If it's a case-sensitivity thing, I would just need to know the exact file names (if the letters of the files are lower-case or upper-case) and could then rename the mod's files accordingly.

[Vice]

Interesting that the game was not able to work for you through Steam and Proton. Haven't heard of that before since the more recent updates. I now run two test Linux systems myself, one for an OpenGL era GPU and one for Vulkan. I have generally been working with Proton 9 for testing and things have worked correctly. Most others I've heard from report success as well, albeit with some who run particular Proton versions just needing to close a dialogue prompt or two about SteamVR/OpenVR being unable to initialize. Once the dialogue prompts are clicked, the game launches and runs fine and does not prompt again on future launches. I'd be curious as to your system configuration and exact Linux environment.

I tested dropping the files in place and installing through Steam workshop, both seemed to work correctly for that mod. Yes, in Linux filenames are case sensitive, so that could be one cause. The only other causes that come to mind would be a filename spelling mismatch or file misplacement. If you post or send me screenshots ( starwraith.com > contact ) showing the shadows, I can narrow down which specific files are involved. The list of all available filenames is also available here: https://starwraith.com/evochronlegacy/c ... me.htm#301

[haloterm]

Thank you for your reply!

I have taken a few screenshots of the problem. I think it's really just 1 or 2 shadow graphics not loading.

I can't insert them directly in this post, but I can share links to them:

1. This shows another ship. The round shadow seems to be a default:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... k?e=79dN1i


2. This shows a targeted ship. The green parts inside the mod's graphic seem default:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... c?e=1lduSI


3. Here again the round shadow seems to be default, whereas the actual graphic is from the mod:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... U?e=61Ockx


4. This seems to be the same as 2. and 3. but this time in a battle situation:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... o?e=QzmQik


I checked the mod's file namings with the customization kit's list, they seem to fit.


For the Proton issue, depending on Proton version I either get just a black screen for a second which then vanishes and the game stops, or I get the SteamVR message box, followed by a message box that the compositor could not be initialized (I tried both with Wayland and without Wayland).

[Vice]

Ok, here are the filenames. This mod appears to just be old enough to lack such textures. You can either import blanks under these filenames or apply shadows yourself:

1 - targetshadow2-2.png
2 - targetshadow-2.png
3 - targetshadow2-4.png
4 - targetshadow2-3.png and targetshadow-3.png

The total list of shadow images for that set are:
targetshadow-2.png
targetshadow2-2.png
targetshadow2-3.png
targetshadow2-3.png
targetshadow2-4.png
targetshadow-3.png

If I can set some time aside, I can create them myself and apply them to the Steam workshop item.

[Vice]

Ok, I've updated the workshop item to include the needed files following the same pattern NoZoner had set up with the other shadow indexes. Attached is a ZIP of the same files you can apply manually. For Steam workshop, locate the item on the in-game list, then uncheck the subscribe box, then right click on it, then left click on it again to reinstall with the new files.

As for Proton, it could simply be a matter of drivers and/or hardware. A lot of things may have to line up for the game to work in such an environment. Seems to work for most players, but there may be subtle variations and inconsistencies that surface which create incompatibilities. Hence, what may not work for one person works fine for most. Such things may be resolved through other modes or emulation systems as you discovered. What is the motherboard, CPU, video card, display driver, and distro of Linux you are using?

[haloterm]

Thank you, this helped. So it is no Linux issue at all; it's just that the mod is a bit outdated for current Evochron Legacy SE. I have for now created blanks to solve the issue.

He was also missing targetshadow-2.png, targetshadow-3.png and targetshadow-4.png.


Do you know which textures these green/yellowish indicators _inside_ the yellow and red target indicators are?

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... c?e=1lduSI
https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... A?e=fFQBSH

And finally, there is some shadow inside these big circle indicators:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... g?e=vlSupd
https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... s?e=hgE4xm

I browsed the texture list and the files in the customization kit, but the files are all grey scale so I really have a hard time to identify which ones are the ones I see in the game.

Thanks!


Edit: Ah cool thanks for the zip file! I can replace some of the blanks I made with these. Much appreciated. For the Proton question, I use elementary OS 8.1 (Ubuntu-based). CPU is an old i5, GPU is Nvidia GTX 3080. But I actually prefer to use Wine without the Steam overhead, if possible. So I'm happy that Evochron Legacy simply runs perfectly without the need for Steam.

[Vice]

Ah yes, targetshadow-4.png is another that needed to be included, workshop item and ZIP updated.

For the green/yellow/red bars inside the target indicator, those are the shield status bars:

- target-shield#.png where # is the number from 1 to 3 for each level of shield damage for each array direction.

Any shadows would simply need to conform to the base image index for each targe indicator shadow.

The other shadow is for the gunsight rim, b2gunshadow.png and b2gunshadow2.png depending on HUD mode. Looks like he applied a standard circle shadow for mode 2 and then applied unique imagery for shield status with the b2shield#.png images.

Ok, the display/CTD issue might relate to the graphics driver being used with the 3080, a different one might produce different results. But if you prefer to run it as you are, certainly no need to change.

[haloterm]

For the green/yellow/red bars inside the target indicator, those are the shield status bars:

- target-shield#.png where # is the number from 1 to 3 for each level of shield damage for each array direction.

Any shadows would simply need to conform to the base image index for each targe indicator shadow.

Ah, the target-shield... pngs are not part of his mod at all. I'll see if I can create them in his style. Or use blanks again (because the target's shield status is visible on the right display as well anyway).

The other shadow is for the gunsight rim, b2gunshadow.png and b2gunshadow2.png depending on HUD mode. Looks like he applied a standard circle shadow for mode 2 and then applied unique imagery for shield status with the b2shield#.png images.

Ah ok, I see now. Then this seems to work as intended.

[haloterm]

Okay, I've done it and it looks okay, I think:

https://1drv.ms/i/c/0630226df2f6a081/IQ ... A?e=7esOxO

I deliberately chose to reduce the visible shield strength from inner to outer side (whereas the default graphics reduce it from outer to inner side). I think it looks better this way.

If you want, you can use these textures.

[Vice]

This report on Github for ElementaryOS suggests that problems like the one you ran into might actually relate to missing dependencies that the Steam/Proton framework doesn't provide/install by default (perhaps with certain variants?):

https://github.com/orgs/elementary/discussions/866

Namely these two:
sudo apt install steam-devices
sudo apt install steam-libs

You could try those steps and see if the problem goes away. I suspect most Linux users haven't run into such an issue because they may have the display side of things working as required as well as needed prerequisites being available or installed by default. Those running distros like Bazzite, Pop!_OS, and Zorin seem to report fewer problems and solid compatibility 'out of the box'. I think I've also heard from a few LinuxMint users with positive results.

[haloterm]

Thanks for the advice, Vice. Tried it, but still a black screen. I may switch to Pop!_OS eventually on my gaming PC, esp. since it even has a Nvidia-optimized version. I'm just reluctant for now because switching would require to re-download hundreds of GB of games again. But again, as my non-Steam version works fine now, that issue is solved for now. I'm just happy that I can play Evochron again (Arvoch Alliance SE works fine as well, and even the beta of Starwraith Command). Evochron Legacy SE is one of my 3 "must have" space games (the others are X4 Foundations and Starfield).


Did you see my post above where I shared my take on the target-shield pngs for the HUD mod? If you want to update that mod's workshop download with these, feel free.

[Vice]

Ok, that's a good step to verify as it likely means the problem might simply rest with the display configuration, possibly the display driver itself. It should be possible to sort out and fix. Do you recall which specific display driver you are using with the 3080? Have you tried any other versions?

Yes I did see the shield bars and the improved visibility does help. May try to work those in soon.

Edit: Workshop item updated with revised shield bars.

[haloterm]

Well ... I decided to replace elementary OS with Pop!_OS today on my gaming PC. And - it works. I still get the 2 error messages at the game start, but then the game runs as it should. Very weird. But I noticed improvements with other games as well during my short tests, so I guess elementary is very good for office work, but not so much for gaming.

Thanks for pointing me in this direction. The change improved my experience in general.

[Vice]

Ok, good to know. Thanks for the follow up. Proton 9 should not display the error messages or if it does, only on a first start and not again on successive starts. There seems to be some kind of folder expectation or something that isn't delivered/provided in a Linux/Proton environment. The prompts are mostly just informative though and don't ultimately impact game operation.

If the prompts continue, you can open the 'VRMode.txt' file in the game's install folder and change the 1 in the first line to 0 and that may change the behavior.