Xenon HUD

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Revision as of 00:00, 30 July 2015 by Phkb (talk | contribs)
XenonHUD Sample.png

Overview

Xenon Industries is proud to announce the release of their new product: The Xenon HUD. This HUD aims to simplify the layout and maximise the amount of screen available for viewing the action. It does this in the following ways:

  • Grouping all important gauges around the HUD.
  • Removing unnecessary labels.
  • Reducing the alpha level of the HUD elements, and giving them a uniform colour (except in alert conditions), to enhance visibility of space objects.
  • Moving other HUD elements (missile loadout, space compass) to the edges of the display.
  • Keeping MFDs to the top half of the display and keeping their size down as much as possible.
  • Improved polymer overlays provide a permanent 40% glare reduction on all views. (Note: Compatible with Glare Clarifier OXP and Glare Filter OXP - see below).
  • Automatically hides the HUD when an external view is selected, then unhides it again when a standard view is selected.
  • Corrects the issue with the witchspace destination component on the HUD. This now shows the next witchspace destination, not the final destination.
  • Compatible with HUDSelector.
  • Compatible with 16:10 and 16:9 format displays.
  • Primable equipment allows HUD to be switched to "hi-contrast" mode, which is useful when sun-skimming (see below).

This OXP requires Oolite version 1.82.

HUD Elements

In the following graphic, each component of the HUD has been highlighted. Labelling of the components around the crosshairs was deemed to be unnecessary as it only added distractions in a part of the screen the pilot needs clarity in.

XenonHUD Layout.png

It's worth pointing out that all energy-related gauges are grouped on the right side of the HUD, while speed, fuel, altitude and temp gauges are on the left. Also, the forward shields reduce downwards toward the centre line, while the aft shields reduce upwards toward the centre line.

Red Alert Condition

During red alert conditions, the crosshair surround will go red, and the energy, forward and aft shields, and laser temp gauges alpha level will increase slightly to give them prominence.

Docked and Inflight Variations

When docked, the HUD is minimised to only show fuel, missile status, witchspace destination and the clock:

XenonHUD Docked.png

During flight, when a GUI screen is selected, the HUD will reconfigure itself to put all gauges in the bottom left half of the screen:

XenonHUD InflightGUI.png

Hi-Contrast Mode

The Xenon HUD comes with two operation modes: normal and hi-contrast. The hi-contrast mode can be useful when sun-skimming, when glare from the sun can otherwise obscure instrumentation. To switch between the modes, first prime the "Xenon HUD Mode Selector" by pressing "Shift-N" until it appears as the primed equipment. Then, press the "N" key to activate first the hi-contrast mode, then again to revert back to normal mode.

XenonHUD NormalMode.png


XenonHUD HiContrastMode.png

Hi-contrast mode will automatically be turned off when you dock.

Crosshair Modes

The crosshairs can also be configured to operate in different conditions. With the "Xenon HUD Mode Selector" primed, press the "B" key to cycle through these options:

  • "Crosshairs on in all conditions" (this is the default mode)
  • "Crosshairs on in condition red only"
  • "Crosshairs on in condition yellow and red only"

When the crosshairs are off, all gauges around the crosshairs will also be turned off, giving the pilot an completely unobstructed view of space.

The mode selected for the crosshairs will be stored and will remain in place after docking and launching, and will be saved in mission variables.

A special mode exists for when the player has requested docking clearance at a station. All gauges will be turned off, leaving only a simple crosshair image and the speed gauge to provide a clear view and aid in the docking process.

MFD Layout

There are seven MFD's available in this HUD by default, in the following configuration:

XenonHUD MFDs.png

Two of the MFD's have been given a slightly larger size, with the idea being that the two most important MFD's would be set there, with the less important ones fitting into other slots.

Compatibility with other OXP's

Glare Filter Compatibility

If the Glare Filter OXP is installed it will be set to it's maximum setting ("High") whenever it is turned on. Attempting to set a low or medium level will be overridden, as both of these levels are at or below the default filter level provided by this OXP.

Glare Clarifier Compatibility

This OXP will detect when the Glare Glarifier OXP is installed, and will allow it to do it's work of providing 100% glare filtering.

3rd Party Laser Crosshairs

Other laser OXP's can configure the Xenon HUD to use a particular image file for their crossairs. The image file can be one of the ones supplied with the Xenon HUD, or included in their own OXP. To configure a crosshair image file for a particular laser you will need to do the following: 

 var xh = worldScripts.XenonHUD;
 xh.$customCrosshairs({laser:"EQ_WEAPON_MYLASER", filename:"crosshairs.png"});

Example: You have the Laser Cannons.oxz installed, and you want to use the military laser crosshairs for the "Lance & Ferman Military Cannon". You would need to do this: 

 var xh = worldScripts.XenonHUD;
 xh.$customCrosshairs({laser:"EQ_WEAPON_CANNON_4", filename:"xenon_crosshairs_military.png"});

The crosshairs for the built-in lasers are set up using this same mechanism, so you can also override the crosshair file for those lasers by doing the following: 

 var xh = worldScripts.XenonHUD;
 xh.$customCrosshairs({laser:"EQ_WEAPON_BEAM_LASER", filename:"xenon_crosshairs_alt3.png"});

The crosshair PNG files included in the OXP are:

  • xenon_crosshairs_none.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_pulse.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_beam.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_mining.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_military.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_other.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_alt1.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_alt2.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_alt3.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_alt4.png
  • xenon_crosshairs_alt5.png

See the graphic below for examples of each crosshair type. The alternate crosshairs (those with "alt" in the filename) are provided purely for 3rd party OXP developers to make use of, if they feel that image suits the type of weapon they are creating.

You don't have to use the supplied images. If the laser OXP has its own crosshair PNG file, it can use that instead. Note that the image will be scaled to fit into a 50x50 window - smaller images will be scaled up (potentially making them look pixelated), and larger images will be scaled down (potentially losing fine detail).

Crosshairs

There are different crosshairs for each of the different weapon types. The following image lists each crosshair type, the weapon it is associated with, and the filename of the image.

XenonHUD Crosshairs.png


The alternate crosshairs can be used by other OXP's to give their laser a particular look.

Licence

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Crosshair image files based on work by Kay Pisarowitz. Released under GNU General Public License, version 2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html).

Version History

Version 1.2.1

  • Fixed issue where docking crosshairs would remain visible if the alert condition changed while attempting to dock.

Version 1.2.0

  • Added a special HUD mode for docking, where most gauges are hidden, leaving only a simple crosshair and the speed gauge to aid in the docking process.
  • Fixed issue where pausing and the resuming the game would not select the correct crosshair mode.
  • Removed debug message.
  • Removed redundant code from plist files.
  • Made more compatible with HUD Vanisher.
  • Added additional crosshair type (alt5).

Version 1.1.1

  • Fixed issue with Javascript error when in interstellar space.

Version 1.1.0

  • Fixed issue where HUD elements were shown on the paused/F2 screen.
  • Converted crosshair-drawn guidelines into an image so it can be turned on/off with the rest of the HUD elements when paused.
  • Added ability to turn off crosshair gauges in different conditions.

Version 1.0.0

  • Initial release

Installation

Place the 'XenonHUD.oxz' into your 'AddOns' folder and when you start the game, hold down 'Shift' until you see the spinning Cobra.
Alternatively, you can download the expansion using the expansion pack manager in the game itself.

Download

Download XenonHUD v1.2.1 XenonHUD.oxz (downloaded 3880 times).

Quick Facts

Version Released License Features Category Author(s) Feedback
1.2.1 2015-07-30 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 HUDs Crosshairs HUDs OXPs phkb Oolite BB

Gameplay and Balance indicator

Tag-colour-green.png

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