Solved Updating the Interface Textures

[Baste]

I'm not sure I prefer the new layout, especially since the ship's name is no longer centred properly in its frame.

Yes, it is:

Did you add the shiphold.c file to PROGRAM\INTERFACE? Here are the relevant files again. In case there might be any differences in the December update I'm mentioning that these files are still based on the November update.
Attachment removed. See my next post.

As for the ship berthing, it seems I missed some things. Could you please upload a save file with ships available to be berthed back and forth, so I can test more easily?

 

[Grey Roger]

Did you add the shiphold.c file to PROGRAM\INTERFACE? Here are the relevant files again. In case there might be any differences in the December update I'm mentioning that these files are still based on the November update.

No, I didn't have that file. I downloaded "interface fixes 2.zip" from post #225, which doesn't include it. Indeed, with that file in place, the ship's name is properly centred, and now I like the new cargo hold because it groups the ship icons together more closely, though it would be even better if the darker blue rectangle around the ship icons and name were the same size as before, not larger as it is now:


For similar reasons (icons grouped closer together, smaller background rectangle), I still prefer the original ship, ship berthing, and passenger interfaces, e.g.:


However, I'm willing to include the whole lot if other players prefer the new interfaces. (On the other hand, I'm equally willing to leave out the cargo hold and tradebook updates if other players prefer the old interfaces...)

As for the ship berthing, it seems I missed some things. Could you please upload a save file with ships available to be berthed back and forth, so I can test more easily?

I don't have a savegame readily to hand. Try editing "InternalSettings.h" to enable cheatmode. Start a new game as a Spanish character, not a special type such as smuggler or agent, so that you begin in San Juan. Hire an officer or two in the tavern. Then go to the shipyard, use numeric pad 6 to give yourself some free money, and buy a ship. Then berth them.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

You wound me not knowing about my flag rework

Please forgive me. Indeed that managed to completely slip by me.
I've not been paying proper attention here for quite some time, I'm afraid.
And summer/autumn last year were... not healthy times for me.

Should be working.

Ah; I recognize it on one of @DavyJack's screenshots.
Guess the code behind works completely differently now though; doesn't it?

For similar reasons (icons grouped closer together, smaller background rectangle), I still prefer the original ship, ship berthing, and passenger interfaces, e.g.:

Both second screenshots look subtly better to me.
Squares line up more with the interface elements around them.

 

[Baste]

No, I didn't have that file. I downloaded "interface fixes 2.zip" from post #225, which doesn't include it.

Ah. For my edits to take effect properly "interface fixes.zip" must be installed first and then "interface fixes 2.zip" afterwards as some things in the second package supersede some things in the first package. If you haven't already done so and for simplicity, here are all my edits in one package, and the previous files will be removed. The ship berthing interface is not included as I'm going to redo that. Same locations as before, such as the brown TradeBook.ini in the animation folder.
Attachment removed. See later posts.

though it would be even better if the darker blue rectangle around the ship icons and name were the same size as before, not larger as it is now

Really? The main point of my edits is that everything should fit inside the borders, not be on top of them if it can be avoided.

 

[Grey Roger]

Ah. For my edits to take effect properly "interface fixes.zip" must be installed first and then "interface fixes 2.zip" afterwards as some things in the second package supersede some things in the first package. If you haven't already done so and for simplicity, here are all my edits in one package, and the previous files will be removed. The ship berthing interface is not included as I'm going to redo that. Same locations as before, such as the brown TradeBook.ini in the animation folder.

If I've done it correctly, this should be all your files correctly positioned into the proper folders.

Really? The main point of my edits is that everything should fit inside the borders, not be on top of them if it can be avoided.

There's a solid blue rectangle; the various components don't fit inside that in the original but do fit in your version, and that's fine. There's also a darker textured border which is larger in your new version and doesn't need to be, because everything is inside that in the original version. That's the part I'd prefer to be shrunk back to its original size.

 

[Baste]

If I've done it correctly, this should be all your files correctly positioned into the proper folders.

That seems to be correct.

There's a solid blue rectangle; the various components don't fit inside that in the original but do fit in your version, and that's fine. There's also a darker textured border which is larger in your new version and doesn't need to be, because everything is inside that in the original version. That's the part I'd prefer to be shrunk back to its original size.

But...it doesn't fit inside the border in the original version. Looking at a closeup of one of your screenshots, it can be seen that the icon goes a bit over the border:

I can mention that the rectangle and border can be changed independently and even removed entirely, for example such as this:

Removing in this case the border would be inconsistent with the other screens, but it could of course be removed from them as well, but maybe having no border would look worse.

 

[Grey Roger]

What you're calling the rectangle is what I'm calling the border, and vice versa. So:

But...it doesn't fit inside the border in the original version. Looking at a closeup of one of your screenshots, it can be seen that the icon goes a bit over the border:

It goes over the solid blue rectangle but does not go over the textured dark rectangle.

I can mention that the rectangle and border can be changed independently and even removed entirely

Would you be able to make a version with the inner, solid rectangle enlarged to fit the ship icons and name; and with the outer, textured rectangle the same as in the original version?

 

[Baste]

I think of it like a box: the solid inner rectangle is the inside of the box, the textured outer rectangle is the walls of the box, and the icons and so on are the contents of the box. By "going into" the border it's like if contents of a box would cut into the walls of the box, not really fitting inside without pressing and cutting into the sides of the box.

Would you be able to make a version with the inner, solid rectangle enlarged to fit the ship icons and name; and with the outer, textured rectangle the same as in the original version?

Meaning the textured outer border would be thinner? I have tried to do that but it doesn't seem to work. There is a "lineSize" but nothing seems to change no matter what I set the values to.

 

[Grey Roger]

@Baste: could you upload screenshots of the interfaces which you have changed? If possible, also upload screenshots of them as they were before, or I can do that once I know which screens to look for. I'd like to see if anyone else has any comments on the changes.

 

[Baste]

I haven't forgotten about this or the ship berthing interface, but haven't been able to get to it yet.

As for pictures, I can upload some and it could be useful to show so others can know what's changed. I just hope it actually will be useful.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

What you're calling the rectangle is what I'm calling the border, and vice versa.

How easy can miscommunication occur!

 

[Baste]

Apparently it is only possible to upload 12 files. Could a staff member increase that limit? I've got 44 files to upload. Thinking that splitting it into several posts should be avoided.

 

[Grey Roger]

Perhaps zip them into one big file? Or use something like Photoshop or Gimp to combine four pictures into one, then you have 11 files to post.

Otherwise, splitting it into several posts is a good thing because it will be easier to find all the pictures.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Thinking that splitting it into several posts should be avoided.

Otherwise, splitting it into several posts is a good thing because it will be easier to find all the pictures.

Indeed I see no harm in making several posts.
Especially if some of the pictures are to be grouped together anyway.

 

[Baste]

Putting them in a ZIP file might be the most feasible in this case. Might at least save on bandwidth.

https://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Baste/interfaces%20before%20and%20after.zip

So, here are before and after pictures of all the interfaces that I've changed. They are placed in folders for each interface and generally follow the order of "old blue - new blue - old brown - new brown". The ship transfer and ship berthing interfaces are included, as well as improvements that I missed before for previous interfaces. I'm uploading everything in a new package. As mentioned before things have generally been changed to fit inside borders and centered, and there are also adjustments like text not cutting into anything else and buttons and boxes being matching sizes. I looked for issues as I was changing so hopefully I didn't miss anything.

As I was taking these pictures I noticed that the "empty face" picture for the brown interface wasn't centered, so I centered it. A picture is included of that as well.

Separately from the above, I found in the Russian patch that there is another level up icon in the "MessageIcons.tga.tx" file. The old one has "1 UP" and the new one has "+1". I think the new one is more clear so I would like to suggest that maybe it should be included in the Build Mod. The Build Mod uses the original file and all that is needed is to simply replace the texture file. It goes in RESOURCE\Textures\BATTLE_INTERFACE.

Also in the Russian patch there are actually pictures for the Musket Volley ability. Maybe they should be included in the Build Mod? The Build Mod now has "64Forbidden" pictures so I made one for the Musket Volley ability in the same style as the others. They go in the respective folders in RESOURCE\Textures\INTERFACES\PERKS.

Pictures of the level up icon and Musket Volley ability are included among the other before and after pictures.

 

[Grey Roger]

Separately from the above, I found in the Russian patch that there is another level up icon in the "MessageIcons.tga.tx" file. The old one has "1 UP" and the new one has "+1". I think the new one is more clear so I would like to suggest that maybe it should be included in the Build Mod. The Build Mod uses the original file and all that is needed is to simply replace the texture file. It goes in RESOURCE\Textures\BATTLE_INTERFACE.

Also in the Russian patch there are actually pictures for the Musket Volley ability. Maybe they should be included in the Build Mod? The Build Mod now has "64Forbidden" pictures so I made one for the Musket Volley ability in the same style as the others. They go in the respective folders in RESOURCE\Textures\INTERFACES\PERKS.

Here are the original and new icons for levelling up:


And here are the original and new "Musket Volley":


Any comments? Which versions do people prefer?

 

[Hammie]

Any comments? Which versions do people prefer?

The new levelling icon does not need translation, so that is a nice benefit.

For the musket volley, it is a bit strange that the muskets are overlapping the border. Either icon works for me but perhaps the new icon, that does not feature redcoats, is more universal.

 

[Grey Roger]

The new levelling icon does not need translation, so that is a nice benefit.

For the musket volley, it is a bit strange that the muskets are overlapping the border. Either icon works for me but perhaps the new icon, that does not feature redcoats, is more universal.

That's a good point on the levelling icon, @Hammie!

Maybe it's another case of "is that a yellow dress or a blue dress", but I see the existing "Musket Volley" icons as having orange coats, not red. I've no idea which nation, if any, used orange uniforms. (Perhaps change them to brown, which is Personal?) In any case, the same soldiers also appear in the "Landing Party" icons. As for the suggested replacement, my objection would be on two counts. One is, why throw away work already done by one of our modders in order to copy a different mod? The other is, the replacement shows muskets pointing up, which makes no sense - they'd either be pointing horizontally from one deck to another (like our current icon) or pointing down if the musketeers are up in the crows' nests firing down on decks.

Next comparison: old vs. new "Options" screens:


And in brown:


Again, has anyone else any preferences?

 

[Baste]

Doesn't seem to be many opinions about the changes.

Musket Volley was unfinished and disabled in the stock game and didn't have a picture. A modder made it functional and enabled it and made a picture for it. If the modder had known that it was finished and had a picture in the Russian patch I think it is likely that the modder would have included that picture.
I think the intention is mostly to convey that muskets are being fired, which it arguably does better than the current picture.
Not a big deal for me personally but those would be my reasons for why it could be included.

I noticed that the skill values still weren't fully centered so here is a small update to adjust that again. This should be as good as it can be.
Pictures moved to later post.

 

[Grey Roger]

The modder who fixed "Musket Volley" might very well have used the picture from the Russian patch if it had been available for no reason other than to save some work - there are plenty of other examples of how modders simply copied something, e.g. dialogs for blacksmiths who are all as grumpy as the one in San Juan. However, since we do have our own picture, I stand by what I said - I don't want to throw away that modder's work, and the muskets in the Russian picture are pointing the wrong way. (And also, as @Hammie pointed out, the muskets themselves extend onto the boundary frame, which makes me wonder why you like it. )

As for the rest of the interface changes, I've put the whole lot into the update, at least for now. There are some which I definitely like and which will stay there unless people complain about them. And there are some I don't like which will probably be removed from a future update unless people comment favourably on them. To avoid biasing any discussion, I won't say which ones are which, though you can probably guess some of them from previous posts in this thread. But the modified "Colonies" interface is definitely staying in regardless of any comments because I used it as the basis for some other work to help translators. Russian and Spanish have different sized words for "Store" and "Smuggler", so the components of the line which shows the prices for contraband sold at stores or to smugglers can now be moved sideways depending on language.