Hoak Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 (edited) Hoak's Light Weight HUD For Ghost Recon ___________________________________ File and screenshots hosted courtesy of ghostaholic (Very cool site go there!)... Download the LW HUD Mod Mk II from ghostaholic right HERE (48.6 KB). Up front let me make it clear that I'm no 2D Artist and I know it. This mod is in fact the first time I've ever touched Photo Shop and is a really more of a concept design in hopes that someone with more Photo Shop skill and experience will like the ideas represented and take them to the next step -- though I do find it serviceable and less annoying then the eyesore that shipped with the game. What Is It? I was fed up with the clunky, obtrusive and overly 'artsy' Ghost Recon HUD. For realism gaming I prefer minimalistic HUD designs that strip off all excess artistic foo-foo and that convey information with the least obstruction of screen real-estate -- in as clear yet unobtrusive a manner as possible. HUD Scaling On (clicky for big size) HUD Scaling Off (clicky for the fun of it) My design goals were as follows: · small as functionally possible (I turn off scaling) · no more 'baby pastel blue' · no frilly borders or non-essential/non-functional art · high contrast easy on the eyes colors · low color volume reticules Some of these I was obviously able to meet, while others, well, see 'Known Issues... Installation Unzip the CAB file (had to add CAB compression to fit the file size host requirements of ghostaholic), extract the CAB and move the 'HUD' directory to your Ghost Recon 'Mods' subdirectory and activate the 'Light Weight HUD Mk II' mod option in-game. If you really like any of the HUD assets in the mod you can dump them in your /Data/Shel/Art subdirectory replacing the defaults and you should be able to use them on any server. Be warned: the smaller and less visible HUD assets may put you at a slight disadvantage... The mod's reticules will look best if you set your default reticule color to 256, 256, 256... Known Issues Summery known issues include but are not limited to (see text): · HUD asset color limitations · no alpha transparency applied to some HUD elements · HUD very dark on night maps and/or with NVG · poor anti-alias of 'Threat Indicator' It appears that the 'baby pastel blue' HUD element color is hard coded in the game (or hidden and undocumented as an overlay swatch in one of the RSB files) so any new color has will be mixed with this ugly, low contrast, absolutely vomitesque color and will yield other typically uglier and equally low contrast colors... I'm sure someone must know how setup some kind of color mixer to test and get more attractive colors but I could fine no means to more predictable results. Ideally I wanted to use high contrast Military MFD orange with a fair amount of alpha transparency -- but all attempts to mix orange lead to 'baby diarrhea brown'. The color I settled often seen in NeXT and SOLARIS operation systems and is the only thing I could managed that offered enough contrast that wasn't uglier then the default; unfortunately it doesn't have the color balance and contrast of MFD orange to work well with alpha transparency, and is not very visible on night maps. The modified 'Threat Indicator' while less ungainly is still something of an eyesore; ideally I wanted to compress it's size, remove borders, alpha blend and anti-alias all the indicator colors -- but I just don't have the Photo Shop skill or patience to make it look as good as it could. I have several original ideas on how to map this asset that would make for a much more attractive design, with more informative and compact display that would work within the limitations of the Ghost Recon if anyone with the skill is interested... Reticule Mods The reticules are intended to be used with a default colors set to 256, 256, 256 so they are less obtrusive, contrast on more colors in game, and look more like the ghost rings of a real iron sight. The vection accuracy reticules are offered in contrasting colors with finer points to make them more visible, offer finer aim for more accurate weapons, and to be somewhat more consistent with the Rainbow Six games reticule design. The Future I would love it if someone with real Photo Ship skill were to pick this up and spruce it up to make it look and work as good as it could. Feel free to use the assets I've edited here -- but you'll probably get better results starting from scratch... © 2004 Hoak Edited June 6, 2004 by Hoak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalker_Zero Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Awesome stuff! No one has been been able to mod that to the degree that you have hoak. You broke new ground. How come no one has done this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 (edited) Wow didn't anticipate any complements... I really wish I knew why more people haven't taken on the HUD -- it's soooo freak'n ugly, and is easy enough that a lunk like me can make a simple mod like I have -- and because it uses these TGA like layered RSB files you could do some really cool and elaborate things if you had the skillzorz... Hint Hint -- Hope Hope... . Edited June 9, 2004 by Hoak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Gee Wiz, has anyone else even TRIED it out? It's a tiny download and totally non-invasive mod that changes nothing on your Ghost Recon install -- so it's 100% risk free... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver_Sword3 Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 (edited) I'll just dl'ed it, I'll come back and edit this reply when I've tried it out. Looks really cool, I always wished someone would mod the hud, its really annoying in its original state. EDIT: Ok I'm back, I love it. It really adds to the NV. Its alot easier to use then the original. But I don't know if you knew or not, but it changes the kit icons in the selection screen to blue. I really don't care what they are just wanted to point that out. Edited June 11, 2004 by Silver_Sword3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko-Gar Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 DLed it, and have already replaced my Org Hud with it...Good job!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gulf01 Posted June 12, 2004 Share Posted June 12, 2004 i second that,great work.this is smooth, i really like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey Guys thanks for trying it out! Does definitively KNOW for a fact that the blue HUD overlay color is 'hard coded' or if it's extracted from a color swatch in one of the many RSBs? Or... Does anybody know an Red Strom contact that could give us a definitive answer? While it seems it might be hard coded, there is nothing that conclusively demonstrates this and if in fact the color is just an extracted RSB layer somewhere it would make creating really cool HUD mods possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver_Sword3 Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 where could it be that no ones found it by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 Because I am the only person that has attempted a radical HUD mod that does more the changes color mix, there are hundreds of RSB files to look through, and if there is some color-swatch overlay method employed it only needs a one pixel color cooridanate... Summarily finding the answer is like looking for a needle in a haystack and it would appear no one but me has even looked. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I like the blue color j/k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Slink Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I like it but the TI looks the same.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 TI? What's that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kafee Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 (edited) I like the idea of chancing the reticle colors, reminds me of rainbow six. Maybe the colors should still be more alike with different classes if you want to show the classee this way. Green - red is all the way from one to the other end. Also I found the weapon icon colors a bit too dark. The new Threat Indicator is very nice. I'd like to see this idea brought forward with more simple palette. Also it would be nice if someone made a reticle more simple and without the moving parts. The way that the extact center point wouldn't bee too easy to spot. I always liked playing RvS without reticle. Edited June 16, 2004 by Kafee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Slink Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Maybe the background needs to be changed? The menus are a mite tricky to see.... But it's still good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yam_yuen_online Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 This is great. Threat Indicator in HX5 (Red Sun) is appeared now. But I don't know how to change the size of this. Any Advice. THX ~~~~~~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2_Bloodline Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 (edited) This is a very interesting mod! I like the idea of chancing the reticle colors, reminds me of rainbow six. Maybe the colors should still be more alike with different classes if you want to show the classee this way. Green - red is all the way from one to the other end. Also I found the weapon icon colors a bit too dark. The new Threat Indicator is very nice. I'd like to see this idea brought forward with more simple palette. Also it would be nice if someone made a reticle more simple and without the moving parts. The way that the extact center point wouldn't bee too easy to spot. I always liked playing RvS without reticle. i agree with kafee. the HUD's dark blue is a little bit too dark. i suggest all the reticles be reduced to a tiny (as small as possible) dot, and yes, without the moving part. i like 256 256 256. is there any way you could hide the "bullet count" but still display "magazine count"? Edited June 17, 2004 by V2_Bloodline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berzerker Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 How Do I change the reticule colers please Great mod I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2_Bloodline Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 (edited) what i know is either you edit the rsb files, or you could simply edit a part from options.xml which goes: ... <ReticuleColorR>255</ReticuleColorR> <ReticuleColorG>214</ReticuleColorG> <ReticuleColorB>17</ReticuleColorB> <ReticuleIFFColorR>160</ReticuleIFFColorR> <ReticuleIFFColorG>200</ReticuleIFFColorG> <ReticuleIFFColorB>255</ReticuleIFFColorB> ... the first 3 lines is for normal reticle colour, which, if you want to have the same colour as of the screenshot, you have to change the values to 256, 256, and 256. the following 3 is the values that determine your reticle colour when you point at a friendly target. (if i made a mistake please correct me) Edited June 19, 2004 by V2_Bloodline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Slink Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 You need the dots for the ret though. Otherwise you don't know if your shot is accurate.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V2_Bloodline Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 You need the dots for the ret though. Otherwise you don't know if your shot is accurate.... hmm.. 3 options: middle dot only moving rets and middle dot (like the pistol's reticle) moving rets only so the first one is out. we don't really need the middle dot, do we? the only things we really need to know is how accurate our shot is, and where we are aiming at (obviously at the centre, which is why we can forget about the middle dot). i think the third one is quite OK, though i'm not confident about this. thoughts, anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Slink Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 I think the 2nd is the best choice. If you have a more inaccurate gun (standing sniper) then it *can* hit anywhere between the dots but often if you wait, the centre is where it hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoak Posted June 22, 2004 Author Share Posted June 22, 2004 (edited) Hi guys, thanks for all the nice posts... The reticules are very easy to mod especially if you just want a very generic effect -- in fact you could get reticules virtually identical to any of the R6 games, including Raven Shield if you wanted that. My rets were meant to be a hybrid to sort of offer something for everyone. The HUD colors are another matter -- as a state in the original post the blue color appears to be either hard coded or be take from undocumented swatch coordinates in some RSB file I have not been able to find. The net result is your have to sub-mix colors with the default blue and it's not simple RGB additive color but more like pigment mixing, i.e. very messed up. If someone answers my original posts imploring for some definitive reference material or someone at RSE that would know and would actually respond we could know once and for all if the blue color is hard coded or not. If not a lot is possible with the HUD, if it is hard coded decent color mixes are very hard to come by as you either get attractive colors that are hard to see, ugly colors that are easy to see in day but not night, or some messed up combination. If RSE had just done the HUD colors like the reticules this would be so easy... If anyone KNOWS for a fact, or knows an RSE contact that would and would respond regarding this please don't hesitate to PM me through these forums -- the results could be some very sexy HUD alternatives for Ghost Recon. . Edited June 22, 2004 by Hoak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Slink Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 Yeah. Hope you solve it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZJJ Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 If anyone KNOWS for a fact, or knows an RSE contact that would and would respond regarding this please don't hesitate to PM me through these forums Let me check with my contact to see if he can answer this question. Be back soon (a day or two). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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