How to PROPERLY Change Your HUD Panel Colors (Colours) in Windows for All Versions of the Game

WR3ND

WR3ND
I'm starting this thread because there is a lot of erroneous and outdated information out there regarding this, which people are still to this day having issues with, so instead of repeatedly repeating myself, I can just link people here, or maybe they'll be fortunate enough to happen upon this thread first themselves. Thanks for your understanding. :)

Depending on what versions of the game you have installed, there are potentially a few different files in different file locations that you can edit to change your HUD colors. However, there is only one file and file location that is the same throughout, that doesn't need to be reedited after the game is updated or different versions of the game are installed.

Make sure you have your Windows Explorer Folder Options View settings set to show hidden files and folders.

Navigate to this folder and file location. → C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml

This file might not yet exist for you, in which case you will need to make it using a basic text editor such as Notepad. If the file does already exists, open it in a program such as Notepad to be able to edit it. Just make sure to save it in the location mentioned above with the same name and to correctly save it as an xml file type.

Here is an example of the contents of this file that I am currently using, which changes the HUD panel colors to light blue, white, and yellow. ↓

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<GraphicsConfig>
<GUIColour>
<Default>
<LocalisationName>Standard</LocalisationName>
<MatrixRed> 0, 0.25, 1 </MatrixRed>
<MatrixGreen> 0, 0.5, 0 </MatrixGreen>
<MatrixBlue> 0.25, 0, 0 </MatrixBlue>
</Default>
</GUIColour>
</GraphicsConfig>
Click to expand...

You can use this web app to preview what affect changes made to these values will have on the colors of your HUD Panel. → http://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

Note that some people have reported having issues in Elite Dangerous: Horizons using negative values where they had previously worked in Elite: Dangerous. I have not tested that myself.
 
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WR3ND

WR3ND
th03bgt said:
Have some rep for explaining this so clearly...
Click to expand...

Thanks. I hope it helps some people out there.

Excluding any unforeseen impediments (knock on wood), I'll keep this thread updated with appropriate information over the coming years as well.

Cheers.
 

Garagiste

Garagiste
Nice! Will give this a whirl.
I had mine a nice electric blue* to match my backlit KB way back but updates were constant so I stopped bothering.
*Now I'm going to have "Sound and Vision" stuck in my head all day!
 

EAGLE 5

EAGLE 5
A bit of advice for those looking to experiment with hud colors.

Use the Elite Ranks on the right menu as your guide for color changes. Make sure that when you start altering the different hues that you have distinctively different colors for all of them otherwise you'll run the risk of confusing friends and foes on the scanner which is something you definitely don't want.
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Roqinn said:
Here is a link that will show you the colors your HUD will look like and give you the numbers you need to make them so in-game.

http://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

Another link that shows some color schemes. This is the post I used a long time ago.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=73419
Click to expand...

Thanks, though I already had a link to that site in the first post, but I guess I made it a bit of a long read if you already know what you're doing. ;)

Have some rep all the same. :)
 
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Andy Whapham

A
Hey all,

I tried this as per the instructions but couldn't get it to work?? I tried just changing the figures and also copying and pasting

Any ideas?

Cheers

Andy
 

Kristov

K
Excellent post, thank you, I stopped editing my HUD a few updates back due to it always getting reset to default, now...back to my smuggler's blues!
 

Borgkube

Borgkube
WR3ND said:
I'm starting this thread because there is a lot of erroneous and outdated information out there regarding this, which people are still to this day having issues with, so instead of repeatedly repeating myself, I can just link people here, or maybe they'll be fortunate enough to happen upon this thread first themselves. Thanks for your understanding. :)

Depending on what versions of the game you have installed, there are potentially a few different files in different file locations that you can edit to change your HUD colors. However, there is only one file and file location that is the same throughout, that doesn't need to be reedited after the game is updated or different versions of the game are installed.

Make sure you have your Windows Explorer Folder Options View settings set to show hidden files and folders.

Navigate to this folder and file location. → C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml

This file might not yet exist for you, in which case you will need to make it using a basic text editor such as Notepad. Just make sure to save it in the location mentioned above with the same name and to correctly save it as an xml file type.

Here is an example of the contents of this file that I am currently using, which changes the HUD panel colors to light blue, white, and yellow. ↓



You can use this web app to preview what effect changes made to these values will have on the colors of your HUD Panel. → http://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

Note that some people have reported having issues in Elite Dangerous: Horizons using negative values where they had previously worked in Elite: Dangerous. I have not tested that myself.
Click to expand...

Just to note, you can also use AppConfigLocal.XML to make alterations to the AppConfig.xml without having to actually mess with that file.
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Andy DragonReaper said:
Hey all,

I tried this as per the instructions but couldn't get it to work?? I tried just changing the figures and also copying and pasting

Any ideas?

Cheers

Andy
Click to expand...

Hi, Andy.

Did you exit out of and reload the game after saving the file to the correct location and file name?
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
Andy DragonReaper said:
Yeah. I only started the game after I had made the changes. Although I had the launcher open if that makes a difference?
Click to expand...

No, I just tested that and it shouldn't matter. You also don't want to use the Frontier_Developments folder accidentally either, and obviously the [Your User Name] bit is whatever Windows account you're logged into and running the game from.

I'd just triple check that you have the path, file name and saved as type, and file text all correct.

I haven't tested this in Windows 10, though I would imagine they use the same folder structures as 8.1 and 7 in this circumstance.

Let us know if you're still having issues or are able to get this working. I might have you try posting some screenshots to have a look at as well.
 
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Nauht

N
I don't know why FD hasn't made this option official so that it can be done in game and keeps your radar contacts the same colour.
 

the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
I tried this, hut gave up after spending more time than the age of the universe trying to find a blue HUD that also showed hostiles,friendlies and neutrals as different colours.

Any hints?
 

Kazacy

Kazacy
the100thmonkey said:
I tried this, hut gave up after spending more time than the age of the universe trying to find a blue HUD that also showed hostiles,friendlies and neutrals as different colours.

Any hints?
Click to expand...
Same problem here; in my opinion it's the fact we cannot change the colors individual for every element of HUD, like for example set all indicators with green, the shields with blue, enemies with red, friends with blue and neutrals with amber.
All we can is to change globally all the colors, and because of this we cannot (yet) have a proper HUD, except the official one.
Maybe in the future with support from FD............
 

WR3ND

WR3ND
I think part of the issue is that in the base HUD colors the red and orange are so similar when changed to other colors that it makes it more difficult for us to distinguish them. I've just grown use to it and compensate for it in ways, perhaps more in positional awareness or the like.

I agree that it would be nice if Frontier was able to implement HUD color change options in the game where we could select specific elements and change them to our liking.

In the site I linked to, try maxing out only one of the rows in each column while using a different row for each column. From what I remember, this tends to yield a wider variety.
 
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Night Hawk

Night Hawk
the100thmonkey said:
I tried this, hut gave up after spending more time than the age of the universe trying to find a blue HUD that also showed hostiles,friendlies and neutrals as different colours.

Any hints?
Click to expand...

Hi - have you tried this color scheme?

<MatrixRed> 0.2, 0.05, 2 </MatrixRed>
<MatrixGreen> -0.15, 2, -0.5 </MatrixGreen>
<MatrixBlue> 1.75, -1, -0.3 </MatrixBlue>

It keeps friendlies green, including friendly stations.

Sceenshot:

Screenshot_0094.jpg
 
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