Release Elite Dangerous HUD Mod (EDHM)

[GeorjCostanza]

Hi CMDRs,

As you know, Elite has a default orange HUD. Over the years, CMDRs found a way to alter their HUD via an XML modification.
However, the XML method has widespread unintended effects on many other important elements, such as the colour of friends/foes on the radar, and pilot portraits.

Elite Dangerous HUD Mod (EDHM) enables precise colour changes to almost any element on the HUD without the annoying side-effects of the XML method. It also functions to change the cabin lighting to any colour, or even bi-colour if you prefer. We've also dimmed some of the dashboard lights that shine directly in your face, to reduce eye fatigue.

The mod is an application of the shader modding software 3Dmigoto, and is therefore only available on PC (sorry consoles, I wish there was a way..).

EDHM Download link

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April 2023 Update

Dear CMDRs,

Georj has retired from activate duty, which means I'm no longer able to work on EDHM. It's been a wonderful learning experience, and has inspired me to change careers into programming. I came into EDHM not knowing anything about coding, but with a lot of research and help from the EDHM team I'm pretty happy with how it progressed over the last 3 years.

I've passed the entire EDHM source code onto my buddies on the EDHM Discord, and hopefully they will keep it going. However, I just need to add that as of 25-Apr-2023 I'm no longer responsible for any of the mod updates or future content. I've modded Elite in an ethical manner and strictly adhered to FDev's rules, and I'm confident the team will continue to mod with integrity.

I won't be hanging out on these forums anymore, so best to ask any questions about the mod on the EDHM Discord. Seek out Blue Mystic for any issues with the UI, and new chief modder @Fred89210 for mod updates (CMDR Fred89210 on the EDHM Discord).

Link to my official retirement post.

Thank you to everyone for all your support and suggestions, and I wish you success and happiness in the future.

o7


Photo of Georj when he worked for Farseer Inc. as a test pilot

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Odyssey Update

Firstly, thank you to the Devs for allowing EDHM to continue into Odyssey, it's greatly appreciated

I'm very pleased to announce EDHM for Odyssey is now available. Unlike the Horizons version of EDHM, you can set custom RGB colours for every element on the HUD, and ship / station / carrier panels.

Thanks to CMDR Mystler, customisation for the Suit HUD (on-foot) is now available!

Due to the complexity of the Odyssey version, I recommend you use EDHM UI (developed by Blue Mystic) to install and configure the mod.

Please note: EDHM UI will install both the mod and the UI, you don't need to download anything else. You can also install the Horizons version from EDHM UI

As EDHM for Odyssey is still in development, I recommend you join us on the EDHM Discord where you can find the latest updates, new player-created themes, and general support

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Horizons

EDHM for Horizons has undergone several major revisions based on CMDR feedback.

Version 1.4 features:

• 19 Cabin/cockpit lighting colours
• 19 Distributor styles
• 20 CHUD colours (combat HUDs) plus a new bird-of-prey CHUD style
• 15 Radar colours
• 10 Targeting reticles
• 15 Shield colours
• 15 OwnShip hologram colours plus a new Tron hologram
• 15 Panel line colours

Included is a Panel Opacity booster hotkey for times when the sun/starlight is shining on the panels

Version 1.51 features:

• Add XML colours to your panels
• Apply the XML colour matrix to elements on the HUD (that you choose)
• OwnCarrier Highlight on the Nav panel (to make it easier to find your carrier in busy systems)
• Explorer Mode dims all internal lights in exploration vessels (Phantom, Anaconda, AspX, DBX, also KMII, Cutter)
• Change colours or turn off supercruise speed lines and snow/dust
• Clean the canopy windows
• Night vision colour options
• Can reload any changes you make to .ini files with F11 (Dev mode no longer required)

There are 5 pre-set profiles you can access with CTRL 5, CTRL 6, CTRL 7, CTRL 8, CTRL 9 (keybinds can be changed), please see the Horizons Manual for more information.

More profiles will be added to the Profile Library in the next post below, and there are lots of submissions in the EDHM Discord

NEW (02 April 2021): Anti space-fog shader (black space, preserve nebulae)
NEW (20 April 2021): Nate's Witchspace Lighting Effect (HUD and cabin lights off during a jump)

EDHM is best demonstrated by the following videos:

EDHM-UI (User Interface for Elite Dangerous HUD Mod)
by CMDR Blue Mystic

EDHM-UI enables the installation and configuration of both EDHM for Horizons and Odyssey via a beautiful UI. You can download the UI from Blue Mystic's GitHub, or the EDHM Discord.

If you have any questions about the UI please contact Blue Mystic on the EDHM Discord



Frequently Asked Questions:

• Can I configure all the colours myself?

In Horizons, you can choose an XML (any colour) and apply that colour to the elements of your choosing. You can mix XML colours with the set of EDHM colours.

In Odyssey, you can set the RGB values for every element on the HUD and panels.

• Does it work in VR?

Yes!

• Is FDev ok with this? Will I get banned for using the mod?

I'm very grateful to CMDR Exigeous who contacted FDev on our behalf. FDev are fine with the mod so long as it doesn't provide an advantage over other players, or mod their ARX-related assets.


• The mod isn't working for me, all my colours are messed up

This means you have probably changed your HUD XML in GraphicsConfiguration.xml (or the override file in Appdata). The XML colour matrix in GraphicsConfiguration.xml (or the override version) needs to be reset back to default, please see the Horizons Manual.

It's also important your HDRnode, HDRnode_reference section and PrototypeLightingBalancesEnabled settings (in GraphicsConfiguration.xml) are all set to default as well, or you might run into some graphical glitches. In fact, it's best to run a 'Validate Game Files' in the ED Launcher Options menu before installing the mod (which will reset the game files to default, but doesn't erase keybinds)


• Does the mod impact FPS?

All modding reduces FPS, so expect a 10% decrease (approximately). You can restore your usual FPS by turning down shadows or ambient occlusion quality by one level.

Any FPS drops much larger than 10% indicate a conflict with the modding software, please see the troubleshooting guide in the Horizons Manual. The Horizons version has been thoroughly tested by a group of beta testers and is stable; the Odyssey version is still in development and will be optimised at a later date (but the impact is still around 10% of FPS)


• How do I load the mod on linux?

CMDR breach_candy has kindly shared these instructions:

Linux users may need to add overrides for the dlls in winecfg.

1. Run wine64 winecfg
2. Select the Elite executable 'EliteDangerous64.exe' by clicking 'Add Application' and pointing it towards the directory where the executable is located.
3. Click on 'Libraries'
4. In the 'New override for library:' section, type in d3d11, then click 'Add'. Do this for d3dcompiler_46 as well.
5. Select d3d11 and click 'Edit...'. Select 'native, builtin'.
6. Select d3dcompiler_46 and click 'Edit...'. Select native.
7. Click apply, then ok. Launch the game.

If you're using Steam to run the game on Linux, then please see these detailed instructions by CMDR Lunar_Eclipse


• How did EDHM happen?

Back in January 2020 I noticed Old Duck's Immersion mod and started to play around with shaders in 3Dmigoto. When the virus lockdown started in April 2020 I began work on the Wild Goose Chase project with CMDR Drspod.

Once that project was complete, me and my buddy CMDR Xiba2k4 decided to learn shader theory from scratch, with the intention of modding the HUD. Unfortunately Xiba left Elite before the first version of the mod was created, so I've been working on it solo for the past year.

I'm deeply grateful to CMDR DarkStarSword (creator of 3Dmigoto), as none of this would be possible without him.

Also a huge thank you to CMDR Blue Mystic for creating EDHM UI.


• More info

If you're interested, here's some older videos of the mod in action
EDHM V1.0
EDHM introduction
DTEA video

Reddit posts:
v1.5
v1.4
v1.31
v1.0

And if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback then please leave a comment below.

I hope you enjoy the mod!

o7

 

[GeorjCostanza]

[EDHM Theme Library]

The EDHM Theme Library is now contained within EDHM UI, which can be downloaded from Blue Mystic's GitHub or the EDHM Discord.


[EDHM Discord]

If you're interested in the development of EDHM and the EDHM UI, then you're welcome to join our Discord. It's a good place to make suggestions, and beta test the latest versions

https://discord.gg/MtBszksjMr

o7

 

[alterNERDtive]

A few CMDRs have informed me of large FPS drops in particular situations, such as flying through stations or in combat.

In my experience that’s just … well … Elite.

 

[Ashnak]

That video really looks nice - well, except for the choice of colours .

How serious are you about those 10%, though? I play in VR, and my current GPU is usually fully loaded to give me reasonable FPS.

 

[Old Duck]

3Dmigoto is an amazing tool, I absolutely love it. I wish it worked on Microsoft Flight Simulator, as I was going to make my own autumn color shaders while waiting on Asobo, but unfortunately it crashes that program.

The performance hits you are seeing - is this from 3DMigoto itself, or is it overhead introduced by your custom shaders? I've never noticed any performance issues for how I use it, but I'm not doing anything computationally intense (if anything, it should be faster the way I use it, since I turn a ton of stuff off).

 

[nepomuk]

Very nice tool.
Unfortunately I don't like the basic colors (violet and blue), sorry.
How can I adjust the basic colors for myself ? I know, this is not as easy as with the other two HUD mods.
Maybe it's easier to publish a step by step guide to customize the shaders here.

greetings nepomuk

these colors e.g. here i would like to change to beige / light yellow or similar

... in this direction but with the gradations as in the picture above ...

 

[GeorjCostanza]

@Ashnak & @Old Duck

It's good you guys mentioned the FPS issue as I hadn't done a shader-by-shader stress test on the latest version. Here's the results:

------------------------------
In a 4K res (4096x2160) stress test, parked 2.2km directly in front of Jam Mem mailslot (blocking all traffic but in solo) - this location causes my unmodded FPS to drop significantly, so it's good for a consistent stress, rotating station and lots of ships passing.

Average FPS measured by Riva Stats Server (2 minute average)

3dmigoto not installed FPS
Deep Space (139)
Jam Mem Mailslot (100)

3dmigoto installed FPS
EDHM ini, no shaders (96) [[4% impact]]
PITA shader (94.5) [[1.5% impact]]
Lighting shader (86) [[10% impact]]
All shaders (84) [[16% impact]]

FPS is still 84fps at 4K res on a gtx1070, so it's very smooth on a 4K 60hz monitor (what I use)

But for VR, if you're having problems keeping your FPS above the threshold then either:

• reduce your supersampling / shadows / ambient occlusion to raise FPS, or
• disable the lighting shader by deleting 8330ab10a104d1b1-ps.txt from the ShaderFixes folder, or disable it by renaming to --8330ab10a104d1b1-ps.txt

In the next update I'll try to find a way to optimise that shader to reduce the FPS impact. It's annoying though, as it's my favourite shader

o7

EDIT: I think it's fixed now. I've configured the lighting shader to have negligible impact on FPS, just need to test it for a bit (if anyone wants to test let me know).

I was being too pedantic about limiting the lighting distance on a ship-by-ship basis. The GPU was having to pass through 37 filters (ships + SRV) to find the correct lighting parameters, so I'll just use the T9 limits and hopefully the light won't bleed into the station lights .. let me know if it does. Though I'll probably have to add a different limit for the SRV .. or maybe the SRV doesn't need special lighting?

To get the FPS down I also had to remove the blinking red light suppression from that shader, so I'll add that as an optional extra in the next update rather than include it as default, as I think the miners prefer the red lights off

 

[GeorjCostanza]

@nepomuk

Hi CMDR, check out the post above, [EDHM-UI development], it has all the info you're asking about

But for a TL;DR, I'm currently standardising all the colour channels across shaders (as it varies for every element due to the shade of the base orange), and putting together a colour calibration chart. So you'll be able to look up a colour and type the RGB values into the correct spot on the shader.

Blue Mystical is currently working on a GUI for that process but it will take some time. I can't code myself so if any software devs want to help with the GUI then we'd be very grateful. For example, linking a pic of the HUD to the user's colour choices so they can experiment in the GUI.

But keep an eye on this post and I'll certainly let you know when you can choose your own colours

 

[NorthernDevo]

Er...
I don't want to sound like a dumdum, but I went to the 'EDHM Download Link' and it took me to a Pastebin page. I can see and download the Readme, but the zip file is nowhere to be found. I feel dumb, but where is it?
EDIT:
Naturally, I found it exactly three seconds after asking. Ignore my last!

 

[nepomuk]

Er...
I don't want to sound like a dumdum, but I went to the 'EDHM Download Link' and it took me to a Pastebin page. I can see and download the Readme, but the zip file is nowhere to be found. I feel dumb, but where is it?
EDIT:
Naturally, I found it exactly three seconds after asking. Ignore my last!

Please look in the text. In line 28 you find the download link.

EDHM-v1.31b.zip

drive.google.com

Sorry, I did not read your last line

 

[EliotXII]

that kind of thing is a beautiful blow to the frontier's face. a nacara slap, things that they should have been implementing for years and keep rolling, even after I gave the idea in a post a few years ago.

PS: https://pastebin.com is not working for me to download.

thank you nepomuk

 

[CMDR bronney]

Thank you and BlueMystical for the work, CMDRs. I tested it today and it's nice. Didn't feel any fps hit. I ran it 1440p ultra with reshade on 4 filters minus the MXAO. On a 3570K with GTX 1070 still get 90+ fps consistently up to 120. I guess we're all waiting for the RGB editable version and subsequently the GUI but this looks promising.

A question on the "dimming" though. Is it an "opacity" across the board filter or? I notice it changes the hue of the color, i.e. full bright is more white, 2 dims more purple. Wonder if that's an inherent properties or would that make the custom setup incoming much more difficult to adjust ourselves? I've also noticed that the tool changes the default text color of the main menu, is that unavoidable? So far I love it, but the concerns above rekts my cruise speed marker for example. Hope it'll be sick when launched. o/

 

[GeorjCostanza]

that kind of thing is a beautiful blow to the frontier's face. a nacara slap, things that they should have been implementing for years and keep rolling, even after I gave the idea in a post a few years ago.

PS: https://pastebin.com is not working for me to download.

Once the customisation app is ready I'm hoping it goes a little viral in the community, and then FDev might notice and decide it's worthwhile to give everyone the option. I think they would have to rewrite all their HUD code however .. I'm just tweaking the orange, and all my colours are relative to the shade of orange underneath. But even so, it would be worth the effort and a good source of potential revenue

 

[GeorjCostanza]

A question on the "dimming" though. Is it an "opacity" across the board filter or? I notice it changes the hue of the color, i.e. full bright is more white, 2 dims more purple. Wonder if that's an inherent properties or would that make the custom setup incoming much more difficult to adjust ourselves? I've also noticed that the tool changes the default text color of the main menu, is that unavoidable? So far I love it, but the concerns above rekts my cruise speed marker for example. Hope it'll be sick when launched. o/

Ahh you're the first person to mention that! For some reason I can't change the alpha channel on the HUD components without decreasing the RGB values at the same time. I mean, I can decrease the alpha value independently but it doesn't do anything. It was driving me crazy for days and days, and in the end I just went with what works best. I'm using a new method of colouring for the upcoming release of the colour calibrated shaders so I'll check if it's now possible to reduce the alpha without the RGB.

> So far I love it, but the concerns above rekts my cruise speed marker for example.

I wonder do you have a screenshot so I can see what you mean?

Re: the text colour on the main menu. Yeah I can turn it off, do you like it better with the default orange?

Where I can't turn it off is the intermediary menu when you press ESC in-game .. well, I can turn it off by setting a condition (if menu appears, turn text mod off), but then I can't turn it back on when a CMDR closes that menu. This is because all the HUD elements are still being drawn in the background behind the menu, and I need a HUD element to turn on and trigger the new condition (menu is off). The absence of an element can't trigger a condition, as far as I know.

@Old Duck, if you're reading, do you know if it's possible for the absence / disappearance of an element to trigger a condition?

 

[Old Duck]

@Old Duck, if you're reading, do you know if it's possible for the absence / disappearance of an element to trigger a condition?

It's possible to have conditions set on the presence or absence of specific shaders. I use this to allow certain HUD shaders to be turned off for decluttering, but I switch to FSS, it detects the absence of the radar (or some other cockpit-specific shader) and renables the HUD shaders needed for the FSS.

 

[Kenjiro]

@GeorjCostanza

Congratulations for this nice project.

I have been testing EDHM since yesterday and I am enjoying it. However, I noticed every time I close the game and start it again, the HUD is back to EDHM defaults. So I have to set it back to the way it was before I closed the game. Is there any way to make my preferences permanent? (at least until I decide to change it)

 

[Old Duck]

I may be slightly wrong with my last statement, as the code I use is based on the existence of a certain shader rather than the absence. I use something like this:

[PresetHUD]
x = 1

[PresetFSS]
x = 0

[ShaderOverrideHUD]
hash = 123
Preset = HUD

[ShaderOverrideFSS]
hash = 456
Preset = FSS

I can't promise that this is the most elegant way of customizing shaders based on what other shaders are currently being used (3DMigoto lacks good documentation), but it works for me. In the example above, x is a variable passed to the shaders, but you can do anything in that Preset block.

 

[GeorjCostanza]

I may be slightly wrong with my last statement, as the code I use is based on the existence of a certain shader rather than the absence. I use something like this:

I can't promise that this is the most elegant way of customizing shaders based on what other shaders are currently being used (3DMigoto lacks good documentation), but it works for me. In the example above, x is a variable passed to the shaders, but you can do anything in that Preset block.

Yeah that's the same method I've been using. When a CMDR presses ESC to that intermediary menu (where you can set options, then resume back to the game) I can set a condition based on the appearance of the ED logo to turn things off .. but I can't turn elements back on when the CMDR returns to the cockpit view, because the HUD has always been present behind that menu screen. I hope that makes sense! Maybe there's something that turns back on that I've missed

 

[GeorjCostanza]

@GeorjCostanza

Congratulations for this nice project.

I have been testing EDHM since yesterday and I am enjoying it. However, I noticed every time I close the game and start it again, the HUD is back to EDHM defaults. So I have to set it back to the way it was before I closed the game. Is there any way to make my preferences permanent? (at least until I decide to change it)

Hi CMDR, yeah definitely you can set your own preference to load at start-up.

If you open the d3dx.ini in a text editor (notepad++ is good for this sort of thing) then head down to the [constants] section.

In that section you'll see code like

;------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Start-up Values (set these parameters to your preferences)
;------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

;  ** HUD Dimmer **
; There are 6 levels of brightness
; 5 is maximum brightness, and 0 removes the HUD altogether
; Each press of F5 reduces the dimming level by 1
; Set w7 to 5,4,3, etc if you want to start the game with dimmer lighting
; Set w7 to 0, then press F5 in-game to mimic a start-up sequence
w7 = 5

; ** Lighting Dimmer **
; Each press of F6 reduces the Brightness by 0.2 (20%)
; Set w2 to 0.8, 0.6 etc if you want to start the game with dimmer lighting
; Set w2 to 0, then press F6 in-game to mimic a start-up sequence
w2 = 1

;  ** Ambient Cabin Lights **
; Cycle through lighting colours with F7
; Set w4 value (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc) for your favourite lighting colour
; 1 = EDHM Blue
; 2 = Tie Fighter Red
; 3 = Feldgrau
; 4 = Federation Green
; 5 = Apple Green
; 6 = Islamic Green
; 7 = Steel blue
; 8 = Steel blue (flood)
; 9 = Pacific Blue
; 10 = Dark Violet
; 11 = Dark Purple
; 12 = Tyrian Purple
; 13 = Tyrian Purple (flood)
; 14 = Standard Elite orange
; 15 = Bi-colour Blue,Pink
w4 = 1

So say you want the cabin lighting to be Tie Fighter Red each time you load the game. You just alter the w4 value to 2 (w4 = 2) and it will load the red lighting when you start the game. You can do the same for the dimming levels, shield, distributor, and reticle.

I hope that's pretty clear but please let me know if you need any further help

 

[CMDR bronney]

The absence of an element can't trigger a condition, as far as I know.

You know how you made F1 triggers? Can you make ESC trigger also but before the trigger check a var to see if it's "triggered", if not, trigger, if it's 1, don't trigger? I don't know shaders but hopefully it can. Used to be a graphic designer so colours mattered that's why I noticed that subtle hair-pullingness of the alpha lol. I can imagine how much it bothered you haha. But now that you explained, I understand. If everything is worked off of the orange, it's crazy limited. It's like white balancing a jpg that's yellow. Without the raw, it's unpossible.