[REL] OLC GUI v1.2.7

[onelifecrisis]

I've been going through the entire GUI bringing everything in line with the new "dark" standard. The crew management screen, weapon loading screen, radio messages screen and mission orders screen have all been darkened by the same amount as the rest of the GUI. In conjunction with the maps which were already done (see previous update) this means there are now no "bright" screens to fubar your eyes. I've fixed small things I missed last time, like the "fired torpedo" icons (which were still bright) and even the mouse cursor is now darker! In testing I'm finding this all makes the dark version much more agreeable at any time of day - everything is a constant level of brightness so your pupils won't pulsate while you play

A nice touch (IMO) which I hope you'll like is the green glowing lines at night. They were always a bit too bright but in the dark GUI they looked even worse, so I fixed 'em, like so:

[snwcrsh]

Hm, in this case I like the brighter version better. At least for the bearing numbers, they seem to be harder to read in the darker version. But I guess the numbers and the horiz/vert rulers have to be the same color.

Only minor, it would not stop me from getting the new version.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by snwcrsh

Hm, in this case I like the brighter version better. At least for the bearing numbers, they seem to be harder to read in the darker version. But I guess the numbers and the horiz/vert rulers have to be the same color.

Only minor, it would not stop me from getting the new version.

You need to bear two things in mind.

1) you are not viewing the screenshot full-screen.
2) it's been JPEGGED to death.

I can read it very easily in-game.

[snwcrsh]

well, it's at least full resolution... I think you can also save as PNG, should be displayed in the forum. no compression loss and same size.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by snwcrsh

well, it's at least full resolution... I think you can also save as PNG, should be displayed in the forum. no compression loss and same size.

PNG? Thanks for the tip. It won't help me with the above screeny (I just saved it as JPG, there's no "original" to go back to) but I'll try it next time I want to post a pic.

[snwcrsh]

Would look like this:

[onelifecrisis]

Uh... yeah, but that's 10 times the size of the JPG I just posted.

[snwcrsh]

Hrm, looks like you compress them even more. Well, doesn't matter. Usually jpg is fine enough. Might be worth once in a while when you want to show something where sharpness is important. At least it's much better than BMP (and btw, also supports transparency)

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

You need to bear two things in mind.

1) you are not viewing the screenshot full-screen.
2) it's been JPEGGED to death.

I can read it very easily in-game.

I copied it over to a graphic editor via clipboard to look at it fullscreen. But I too am not too sure about those dimmed scope lines. They needed to be toned down, because they really looked like glowing radium at critical mass or whatever (ehm, ofcourse I never did actually fried my brain with radium rays , or I wouldn't be able to write this i'm sure.) But maybe a middle way of the two intensities you showed. I can hardly see the 0, let alone the marks above it. [Edit: I checked the green intensity level of those pixels. The dark section seems 50% of the bright section. 54 vs. 111]

But before we get you to reach critical mass aswell because of our never ending spectrum of opinions, what's involved in changing the level or color of those lines. Bitmap editing, or just a color code in some ini-file. If we want to change the overall darkness of the Gui we could allways mess around with our videocard/ monitor settings. But individual elements are tricky that way. Probably not every one can adjust the RGB channels seperately, like I could to fix this to my liking.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

PNG? Thanks for the tip. It won't help me with the above screeny (I just saved it as JPG, there's no "original" to go back to) but I'll try it next time I want to post a pic.

PNG format is suitable for screenshots (and graphics in general) containing LARGE areas filled with 1 colour, as then PNG files are MUCH smaller than corresponding JPG, GIF etc. files. So it would be suitable possibly for flags, charts, comics, but not for SH3 screenshots, that contain many colours. PNG also tends to make colours look "false" compared to low-compression JPG or GIF files.

[Knipper]

Just want to add my thanks and a tip o' the hat to OLC for the gui. It's AWSOME

[Turm]

I think the new toned down lines will be great. I'll bet most people have their desktop resolution higher than 1024x768, making those lines narrower on their screen than they will be once in the game, assuming most still play at 1024x768. To properly test the lines you have to view the image full screen and at the correct resolution. I'm sure OLC's judgement is more than reasonable so let's all have a little faith

If it's going to be a contentious issue, perhaps it's worth releasing a small file with the menu.ini file (and whatever else might be necessary to adjust the colours) just for people to solely test that aspect. I don't think it's necessary but always an option

[snwcrsh]

Originally Posted by Abd_von_Mumit

PNG also tends to make colours look "false" compared to low-compression JPG or GIF files.

That is true for photographic images but not for screenshots from computer games. colors are usually very limited so that the format does not matter (unless you try GIF)...

[onelifecrisis]

Actually, turm, with the recent spate of differing opinions on everything, I've been seriously considering modularising the mod. It'd be a pain to keep it up to date, but I really feel like it's just about finished. All the little things I wanted to do but never got around to are coming together now, and I think it's approaching a truly FINISHED state... in which case, no need to keep it updated... and therefore no real drawback to making it modular, apart from the extra work involved. :hmm:

Still thinking about it. Will keep people posted.

[Pisces]

Just for the record, I did base my opinion on a viewing resolution of 1024x768. My crt monitor doesn't like a higher one. :p