Aspects of HUDs [Heads-up Displays] -- HUD Updates

[Fluttershy]

So I've been a junior at customizing heads-up displays for about 2 years now, and I feel like I've improved quite well over the course of time, through implementation and calculation. However, some aspects and codes centered around HUD modification still baffle me, such as the behavior at which "bars" deplete or regenerate, or if a "bar" may be used for determing the progress of a team-based or competitive gamemode, such as Deathmatches, Capture the Flag, or Domination.

One of my most recent HUD modifications requires that the ammunitions "bars" be depleted or restored in the opposite orientation that they default to. [Right-to-left] I was curious as if there was a parameter that could be implemented to allow this behavior to work.

As for the "bars" in multiplayer, I would take a guess that ACS is required (or recommended?) for such a procedure?

Here's what it looks like currently:

[spoiler="Alternate" ammunition in use. (1920 x 1200)][/spoiler]

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Thank you in advance for any replies.

[Nati46]

I think that all of the blackened out parts in the top and bottom of the hud can only hinder the player by blocking some of their vertical FOV...
I do have to admit that it looks really neat though.

[Fluttershy]

I'm thinking about making the "blackened-out" areas, albeit the helmet, either somewhat translucent, or lessen the area that it renders out, so it won't hamper with the FOV in terms of engagement and visibility.

Thank you for the comment, though.

[DevilHunter]

If anything, ACS is a big no-no in huds for online. You will not be able to join with servers that set sv_pure true. However, Have a look at This. Atm, Zandro is far behind zdoom. There has been alot of changes in Sbarinfo, far as I know. I myself have run into a rut, but am slowly coming up with what I want to do with my HUD.

I do like your Custom Hud though. I just wish I was that good in sbarinfo heh.

EDIT: if you need any testing with your HUD, send me a copy. I like to test stuff.

[Fluttershy]

Yeah, I've heard of ACS being a real restriction when it comes to online servers, since like you said, without "sv_true" being false and disabled... no one can make use of it. ACS itself will allow more features to be placed onto the HUD's design and layout, such as unique HUD colorizations for the player's personal color, for instance. Unless the HUD is manually incorporated into the WAD files that are selected to run with the server, then it can't be used, unfortunately, as a server will flag it as "tampering" or something is "incorrect" within the logfiles in the console. This occurred to me once when I was testing out my All Out War II HUD modification for the 'Mechs, primarily the VTOL Gunship to start it off. It immediately rejected my entry into the game due to the HUD using a form of ACS.

When I get a stable version going, I'll be glad to release it for testing purposes. HUD_SCALE is a pain to tinker with at times, due to how I design my HUDs solely in GIMP, and the HUD itself is currently restricted to my monitor's native resolution, which is 1920 x 1200. Over the course of time, I'll likely improve upon it to fix this.

[Cruduxy]

A lot of sbarinfo commands accept reverse as a flag to draw from right to left instead of left to right -bottom to top for vertical bars as well- http://zdoom.org/wiki/DrawBar P.S. Am not even sure if they are ported because I remember them causing me troubles like 3 months ago.

If you really want to make an ACS hud be viable for various wads then you 100% have to release the source code and other stuff in the wad and all you can do is tell wad authors about what they have to modify and hope they somewhat understand it and somehow remember to credit you :P..

Did you try to see how it'll look if you replaced the black areas with translucent cyan?

[Kara Kurt]

Hey I like the hud but I wonder if you can make a ctf/duel-compatible version? It may include "spread, team score, flags icon, frags etc".

[DevilHunter]

Hey I like the hud but I wonder if you can make a ctf/duel-compatible version? It may include "spread, team score, flags icon, frags etc".

I'm sure you can. In my HUD, so far.. it only shows CTF Scores, but to get scores in other gamemodes.. I think the only way is to have ACS. For Frags, that's easy, and reminds me, I need to move those in my HUD.

As for the spread and Flags icon.. I dunno about that. That's mostly in Skulltag Hud/Hard Coded. I once asked Torr about it at one time, no clue about if now they could be separate.

Probley would have to get those imported into Zdoom as they control the sbarinfo stuff. heh

[Espio]

Noice, looks well done.

Btw, I approve of your avatar and title.

[Kara Kurt]

Would like to know when this will be released, if it's planned for soon...

[Kara Kurt]

^Bump

[Fluttershy]

I apologize for the bump. I've been busy with college work and other stuff I get derailed from this thread. However, I come posting with an update:

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A viewing of the monsters alive, monsters slain, items picked up, total item count, secrets discovered, and secrets still left to hunt down, is now visible on the HUD on the top-right portion of it.

The helmet was also removed, and replaced with darkened corners, very vaguely similar to those that appear in Call of Duty: Ghosts. In fact, some aspects of this HUD are very much inspired from the game. (This does not mean I'm a fan of the game, but the HUDS are nice pieces of work.)

If anyone would like to give this a test run, and keep in mind this is NOT the final version you will be given, give me a note on this thread and I'll post a link. It's native to a 1920 x 1200 resolution so far, so keep that in mind until I can sort out some scaling issues. The images are also not shaded fully to give it an "eyecandy" appeal, or 3-dimensional look, and therefore they are flat colors. This is most noticable with the information module in the top right corner.

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Thank you in advance for any replies and feedback, once more.

[Ænima]

Might use this as a replacement for SST's old-ass HUD when you're finished with it (and get it to scale correctly even at lower resolutions). :p

[Fluttershy]

Might use this as a replacement for SST's old-ass HUD when you're finished with it (and get it to scale correctly even at lower resolutions). :p

By all means, when this is finished, knock yourself out.

In other news, I've added in multiplayer support for it now, ideally for CTF gamemodes so far. In deathmatch gamemodes, a nifty frag icon down towards the bottom will help keep you atuned to the slaying of your enemies.

For those who wish to give this a run, go ahead. If you would like some tweaked messages for deaths and such, you can use this with it, or use it for generic use.

The few things left to tweak now are the locations of keycards and skullkeys, multiplayer score bars, and generic tweaking in general. I will also see about moving the location of where the allies' statuses are placed, as well as general in-game messages, such as "Blue team scores!" I might even make a module for it and implement the "Kills -- Items -- Secrets (?!?)" corner to use this feature in competitive gamemodes.