Solved Interface Texture Changes

[Armada]

Shortly after a brief discussion that started in another thread, I decided to have a go at improving the look of some of the buttons in Build 14's brown interface.
Before long, I had sharpened up the texture and it looked fairly good, but then I compared it to the original blue interface...
If there's one thing I prefer about the blue interface, it's how much more sleek it looks because of the way the buttons are designed. The text is easier to read because the buttons have simple backgrounds and leave decoration to the side edges. The blue animated glow that appears when a button is highlighted is also a nice touch.

So, what I've done is changed the brown interface's buttons to a design similar to the blue one, which still blends in well with the rest of the brown interface. Here are some screens showing the results:

Spoiler

The button's background is slightly translucent, so the blue glow shows through as a kind of pale lilac, but I think it goes quite well with the rest of the interface. The borders are copied from the blue 'skull' button and recoloured to a similar shade of gold to the other elements. The skull decorations have been replaced with a part I 'borrowed' from a scroll bar texture.

So, what do you think of the design? I can still tweak it further if needed, and it might be a nice addition to the next update.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Different. And not bad either.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Anything that makes them sharper and clearer is a win. I never liked those skulls, so that is a win too.

 

[Armada]

Different. And not bad either.

Is "different" good or bad? You sound unimpressed.

Anything that makes them sharper and clearer is a win. I never liked those skulls, so that is a win too.

Win-win sounds good to me!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Is "different" good or bad? You sound unimpressed.

Well, I did "Like" your post, didn't I?
I've looked at the old ones for so long that anything different takes some getting used to. But I'm with Hylie on this one.

 

[Talisman]

That looks good

 

[Armada]

OK then, I've uploaded the texture so anyone can try it out in their game: New_Interface_Buttons.7z

 

[Rico]

A semi-related question: would it be possible to have a separate set of interface images for when the game is running in widescreen for example? I've recently discovered how beautiful the game looks in full HD, but the stretched UI kinda bugs me.

So would a simple "if-widescreen-res-detected-swap-ui" switch work? I'm no coder as any of you who remember me might know, but if someone can point me in the right direction I'd like take a look.

Apologies if this has been asked & answered before - I did a search but came up empty-handed.

Pieter: I know I promised to redo the loading screens a year or so ago, unfortunately I haven't had the time to get round to that. I still have the stuff you sent me (logo & scroll with "loading" text) though, I assume those are still the newest graphics?


EDIT: Would I be correct in assuming that "\RESOURCE\INI\NEW_INTERFACES" holds the key to this issue, and all UI elements would have to be individually repositioned within those files? Another thing that crossed my mind: what if only the UI element images themselves (IIRC the font used is also an image) were resized to compensate for the distortion on wider screens, would that save the trouble of having to individually reposition everything?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Hey Rico! Long time, no see! How have you been?

No worries on the loading screens; that project has been completed ages ago, even if I ended up doing most of it myself.

I've got no clue how to make the code read out if the game is running in widescreen or not. A manual toggle would be possible though.
Personally I've run the game in widescreen for a good long time though and never saw any truly horrible effects.
Some things are a little bit dodgy at times, but nothing too bad that I've seen.

 

[Rico]

Long time no see indeed! Although to be fair I've been lurking for a few weeks already trying to get my finger back on the pulse.

I've been well, thank you very much, the days of scratching my belly in the sun and playing video games without end are over but progress is never a bad thing I guess.
How have you been? I see your job with the Holland America Line is working out for you!

Yes, I saw that all loading screens are now labeled correctly - however the image quality is still far from perfect IMO, which is the reason I'd like to revisit the idea (and if they can be made HD too along with the UI then that's a bonus).

To be honest the stretched UI isn't a great issue for me either, but if it's a fairly straightforward thing to do then I'm willing to take a crack at it. Were any of my assumptions outlined in the previous post even close to correct?

Off topic: I see that I have the Storm Modder badge - how come?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

How have you been? I see your job with the Holland America Line is working out for you!

Actually, I won't be able to do my job for another half a year or something. Fell down some stairs, broke some stuff near my hip and can't use my left leg now for the next three months.
So... not much of a success right now...

Yes, I saw that all loading screens are now labeled correctly - however the image quality is still far from perfect IMO, which is the reason I'd like to revisit the idea (and if they can be made HD too along with the UI then that's a bonus).

I had to balance quality with filesize; I may still have slightly better TGA files stored on my external HD somewhere. But I don't have that here with me.
The quality IS better than the stock game though; we went from 512x512 to 1024x512 for all loading screens. Still, that's hardly much when viewed on an HD widescreen resolution.

Off topic: I see that I have the Storm Modder badge - how come?

Because I distinctly remember you as an active member here many years ago.

 

[Rico]

Actually, I won't be able to do my job for another half a year or something. Fell down some stairs, broke some stuff near my hip and can't use my left leg now for the next three months.
So... not much of a success right now...

Yes, so I read - sorry to hear that! I had my first ever bone breakage last year - right 5th metacarpal, a real bitch as a first especially as I'm a rightie (and had to travel to the UK and back) -, although that healed within 5 weeks and was entirely my fault (a difference of opinion with a dressing cabinet), but still! Never a good thing. Here's to your speedy recovery!

I had to balance quality with filesize; I may still have slightly better TGA files stored on my external HD somewhere. But I don't have that here with me.
The quality IS better than the stock game though; we went from 512x512 to 1024x512 for all loading screens. Still, that's hardly much when viewed on an HD widescreen resolution.

Indeed, when viewed in widescreen HD it's hard to tell 512x512 from 1024x512. And yes, filesize is getting ever more important I see - my install is 8.5 gigs! I wonder how big a separate full HD UI & loading screen pack would be...

Because I distinctly remember you as an active member here many years ago.

Well cheers for that! Although my post count is nowhere near yours (it'd only be nearing 2500-3000 if my 3 accounts were merged), I do remember hanging around a lot over the years.

BTW I'll have some more time in the coming months so I may yet try to live up to the title!

 

[Armada]

Ahoy Rico, nice to meet you!

Would I be correct in assuming that "\RESOURCE\INI\NEW_INTERFACES" holds the key to this issue, and all UI elements would have to be individually repositioned within those files? Another thing that crossed my mind: what if only the UI element images themselves (IIRC the font used is also an image) were resized to compensate for the distortion on wider screens, would that save the trouble of having to individually reposition everything?

Yes, that folder contains all the files that position the various elements in the interface screens.

I think the best solution lies with the code, rather than the images.
Some images consist of various icons that are read by coordinates in the code, so if the image is reshaped, the coordinates would need to be changed, and it could get quite messy.

As a quick experiment, I just opened RESOURCE/INI/INTERFACES/Interfaces.ini (note this isn't in the "NEW" folder), and noticed this section under [PC_SCREEN]:

wScreenWidth    = 720
wScreenHeight    = 540

I changed the width value to 960, to make it a 16:9 ratio, and this is what the UI now looks like (tested in 1600 x 900):

Spoiler

As you can see, the text and background are now misaligned relative to the buttons, but notice there is no distortion on the images and icons.
All one would need to do is edit the position coordinates for the text and background, and widen the buttons to fit the screen width, and the interface would be truly widescreen-friendly.
That said, changing all those coordinates for every interface screen would be a lot of work.

EDIT: I just managed to realign the text and background by changing one more line in this section of the same file:

wScreenLeft    = 40
wScreenTop    = 30
wScreenRight    = 680
wScreenDown    = 510

Changing wScreenRight to 920 gives this result:

Spoiler

Effectively this is the interface displayed in its native 4:3 ratio, but with the background repeating to fill out the extra screen width. From this, one would still need to tweak the coordinates of each element to fill the screen.
The question is, how would we deal with a toggle? Would we need to make a new folder (e.g. WIDE_INTERFACES) containing all the modified code, and change the necessary files to read from that folder?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The question is, how would we deal with a toggle? Would we need to make a new folder (e.g. WIDE_INTERFACES) containing all the modified code, and change the necessary files to read from that folder?

Probably. TWO new folders, actually: One for blue and one for brown. Possible to do, but indeed a lot of work.
ARE all widescreen screens 16:9 ratio or are there ratios inbetween too?

Well cheers for that! Although my post count is nowhere near yours (it'd only be nearing 2500-3000 if my 3 accounts were merged), I do remember hanging around a lot over the years.

Post counts do not make a Modder. Useful contributions do. Doesn't even need to be much. We're happy here with anything people are willing to contribute.

 

[Armada]

Probably. TWO new folders, actually: One for blue and one for brown. Possible to do, but indeed a lot of work.
ARE all widescreen screens 16:9 ratio or are there ratios inbetween too?

Good point about making two folders. Slightly annoying that it has to work that way, though.

I think anything wider than 4:3 is considered "widescreen", but 16:9 is by far the most common ratio you'll see on PCs nowadays.
There's no point in us catering to old in-between ratios because of the sheer amount of work involved.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I think anything wider than 4:3 is considered "widescreen", but 16:9 is by far the most common ratio you'll see on PCs nowadays.
There's no point in us catering to old in-between ratios because of the sheer amount of work involved.

Thanks for confirming that.

 

[Rico]

Ahoy Rico, nice to meet you!

Ahoy Armada, likewise!

Thanks to both of you for clearing things up and pointing me in the right direction. First things first I'll probably try to come up with a formula to use when calculating the new positions, hopefully I can save the time of having to do it all individually.

For the first version I'll probably try to just make the overlay UI (land/sea) appear in the correct place with the correct aspect ratio and the menu UIs centered (black bars either side would be my preference as that would look the cleanest, but I suspect that for that one would need to create a new element so background looping may well be the easier way).

Regarding the two folders: Are the layouts different too or just the textures? If only the textures then it could just be a case of a big "batch-find-and-replace" to effect the positioning changes in the other folder as well. (At work right now so can't verify that myself at this moment)

Post counts do not make a Modder. Useful contributions do. Doesn't even need to be much. We're happy here with anything people are willing to contribute.

I meant that based on my on & off activity since '04 I could hardly be categorized as a really active member. But I lent a hand where I could when I was here. Although I feel that my greatest claim to fame here wasn't modding but making signatures.

Taking requests by the way if anyone is in need of a sig!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Regarding the two folders: Are the layouts different too or just the textures? If only the textures then it could just be a case of a big "batch-find-and-replace" to effect the positioning changes in the other folder as well. (At work right now so can't verify that myself at this moment)

Just the textures.

I meant that based on my on & off activity since '04 I could hardly be categorized as a really active member. But I lent a hand where I could when I was here. Although I feel that my greatest claim to fame here wasn't modding but making signatures.

Contribution is contribution. Even serious testers who did no actual modding whatsoever can be considered Modders in my book.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Lab rats are always needed.

 

[Armada]

For the first version I'll probably try to just make the overlay UI (land/sea) appear in the correct place with the correct aspect ratio and the menu UIs centered (black bars either side would be my preference as that would look the cleanest, but I suspect that for that one would need to create a new element so background looping may well be the easier way).

I think the overlay UI (Battle Interface) is handled differently to the menu UIs. My changes to Interfaces.ini had no effect on it.
I did try to find files that control the Battle Interface layout, but I've had no luck so far.
Also note that its textures are in RESOURCE\Textures\BATTLE_INTERFACE, rather than \INTERFACES.

About the menu backgrounds: they can be stretched to fill the screen, rather than loop, which is probably the best solution.
I tested this with the main menu, by changing this section in Mainmenu.ini:

[BACKGROUND]
bAbsoluteRectangle    = 15
position    = 0,0,640,480

Changing 640 to 960 stretches the image across the whole screen.