HUD color change option in 2.3?

[Cosmo]

Most games don't have HUD customization options, but the point is Elite Dangerous has a really big HUD with only one color that dominates the screen. The default color is orange and many people don't like orange. After staring at the default ED HUD for hundreds of hours people who already didn't like the big orange HUD will be more turned off by it.

Modern immersive games have minimal HUDs so the player is better immersed in the game's environment. Look at for example Mass Effect 3 and Elder Scrolls Skyrim. The HUD is more minimalist and much is hidden except when needed.
The big dominating HUD in Elite Dangerous reduces immersion and is distracting. This is why many people want HUD customization options for Elite Dangerous.

So please add in-game HUD colors and minimalist HUD options. Additional customization would be awesome.

Skyrim Minimalist HUD

Mass Effect 3 Minimalist HUD

Elite Dangerous Big Orange HUD

^up^
FD please rewrite RGB matrix and give us proper tool or HUD colors

I think that in a functional sense the color choice was good. But there's too much of it. When I think of Elite the first thing comes to my mind is that neon orange color and I hate that. Especially that most planets are similar to that, everything is brown and orange and beige. Even some of the new station interiors are orange. Since we all look at the HUD 99% of the play time I think it would be fortunate if we could choose the color of it. Orange works well in most cases and maybe some hues of red, blue or green would not be as functional. But it would still represent a choice and thus shape the whole perception of the game. Frontier often talks about "quality of life" improvements - well I think HUD color is one of the most important and exposed elements of that quality of in-game life. As a standalone color, orange is a good choice. But it's too much. Even more so that this is not a game we play 1-2 hours.

Seconded

 

[Wildthing]

Would love to beable to change my HUD color on Xbox [up]

 

[IamMe]

Orange hud is the ugliest i've ever saw and there should be option to disable message panel or limit it to dissapear after few seconds when initial message was sent.
Not to old message follows you across systems and obstructing view.
I like elite but HUD is disgusting and annoying.
It is way limited in some simple things like HUD and headtracking.

 

[Enderby]

As said above, there's a lot of the orange as well.

 

[Qohen Leth]

Modern immersive games have minimal HUDs so the player is better immersed in the game's environment.

But unlike your examples, Elite is a game with spaceships, and spaceships tend to have a lot of technical stuff on HUDs. I disagree with you and repeat that the Elite HUD lacks a lot of information to be optimal. That being said, it is bold, sometimes awkward and wastes a lot of space indeed. I don't think it should have less, but instead more *and* thinner.

 

[dreampage]

Yes, the HUD is an integral part of every aircraft / spaceship, both in reality and in games. So in Elite it is a very important part of the whole experience. It's a dominant part of the screen at all times, too, so it would be logical to have the ability to change its color.

 

[ShimEnki]

Imagine: Patch 2.4: The HUD Colors.

Well I'd take that 1000X over "The Engineers" P

 

[NW3]

It's unfortunate that an early UI decision is so problematic.

As a UI programmer, I can understand how an original implementation can tie one's hands later. It's obvious that it is difficult for FD to change, otherwise they'd surely have fixed it by now. Extending the HUD RGB matrix hack isn't really a viable solution. It messes up image bitmaps and isn't a complete solution (notice that there's still some orange UI in the 'Synth Blue' screenshot above).

I can understand why FD chose orange: It doesn't affect your night vision and is considered a soothing color. (Yes, really.) Back in the days of monochrome computer CRT monitors, you paid extra for an amber (orange) phosphor monitor, as compared to the standard green ones. Orange is also a color-blind-friendly hue.

Hopefully, FD will implement custom UI colors properly, eventually. It doesn't affect me much, I'll probably continue to use the orange color.

 

[dreampage]

We still don't know anything directly from Frontier, though. Have they ever disclosed in detail what their stance is on this topic? Have they gone into detail why it's so hard or not possible to change the colors? Because if not then we all just making guesses here. I would really like to hear from them openly discussing what the situation is with the HUD and what we can expect in the future.

 

[FX2K]

We still don't know anything directly from Frontier, though. Have they ever disclosed in detail what their stance is on this topic? Have they gone into detail why it's so hard or not possible to change the colors? Because if not then we all just making guesses here. I would really like to hear from them openly discussing what the situation is with the HUD and what we can expect in the future.

To be fair, this has been discussed quite a lot, a few years ago now and keeps popping up.
One post here links to a quote by MB: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...lour-*tweak*?p=1243061&viewfull=1#post1243061
and although lacking in detail, I do recall reading in one of these threads a bit more detail as to why its not so simple to implement, etc etc.

Theres another 52 page thread, here:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...mp-customisation-discussion-thread-HUD-UI-etc

Me.. I want this ....

Don't just ask for colour channge, ask for the whole package. It's high time our ships stop driving like '60s Cadillacs.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/332221-Advanced-navigation-and-exploration-HUD

http://i.imgur.com/2c4OYeN.png

 

[Cosmo]

But unlike your examples, Elite is a game with spaceships, and spaceships tend to have a lot of technical stuff on HUDs. I disagree with you and repeat that the Elite HUD lacks a lot of information to be optimal. That being said, it is bold, sometimes awkward and wastes a lot of space indeed. I don't think it should have less, but instead more *and* thinner.

Star Citizen's HUD is more minimalist. The Hornet (2016 PTU 2.4), I don't like the cockpit, but the HUD has thin lines and uses less screen space. The greenish color is not distracting compared to the default orange HUD of ED. ED's HUD has unnecessary thick lines that could be hidden. Such as the thick lined bars in the top of the HUD. Add an option for HUD information to fade out when it's not used.

People have different tastes, but the fact remains that a lot of people want a minimalist HUD and color customization in-game.

 

[Qohen Leth]

Star Citizen's HUD is more minimalist. The Hornet (2016 PTU 2.4), I don't like the cockpit, but the HUD has thin lines and uses less screen space. The greenish color is not distracting compared to the default orange HUD of ED. ED's HUD has unnecessary thick lines that could be hidden. Such as the thick lined bars in the top of the HUD. Add an option for HUD information to fade out when it's not used.

People have different tastes, but the fact remains that a lot of people want a minimalist HUD and color customization in-game.

http://i.imgur.com/029GFic.jpg

That's what I just said.

 

[IamMe]

Star Citizen's HUD is more minimalist. The Hornet (2016 PTU 2.4), I don't like the cockpit, but the HUD has thin lines and uses less screen space. The greenish color is not distracting compared to the default orange HUD of ED. ED's HUD has unnecessary thick lines that could be hidden. Such as the thick lined bars in the top of the HUD. Add an option for HUD information to fade out when it's not used.

People have different tastes, but the fact remains that a lot of people want a minimalist HUD and color customization in-game.

http://i.imgur.com/029GFic.jpg

SC has nice HUD but still those upper panels obstruct view.
For a start ability to disable message/conversation poping up would be great.
I'm ok in global with ed hud except color and message panel

 

[rajziel]

Doubt they will go back and rework it. The stock colors are fine and functional and work very well in VR. On top of that it takes like 2 minutes to change the colors yourself so them investing in changing how it works probably isn't going to happen.

someone didnt read the thread

 

[GreenKingC]

hud color change possibility

I've read alot of posts about changing the color of the hud in the ships and I think because I'm on Xbox, that it should totally happen, but why over haul the whole thing when all you have to do is add in a lighting system??.. Think black light and a white shirt total color change and it blows, so why not add in a light lay over that targets just the orange on the displays not the map dots?? If that works then u get bulbs for different colors[yesnod]

 

[thirstyfish]

I play on PC and have changed by HUD colors away from orange. I almost have too. I am orange-brown color blind, so orange on everything is a horrible choice for me. Its not that I can't see orange and brown, its just that I see different shades, and some shades are indistinguishable to me. I am better off just changing my HUD. I have a mostly blue HUD now.

 

[NW3]

I've read alot of posts about changing the color of the hud in the ships and I think because I'm on Xbox, that it should totally happen, but why over haul the whole thing when all you have to do is add in a lighting system??.. Think black light and a white shirt total color change and it blows, so why not add in a light lay over that targets just the orange on the displays not the map dots?? If that works then u get bulbs for different colors[yesnod]

As a programmer, I don't think this will work (unfortunately). My best guess as to FD's reluctance to fix this is that the orange UI colors are "baked in" to the artwork. That makes it hard for them to fix, since all the UI bitmaps and associated rendering code would need to change (for a naïve implementation). I posted a possible solution in the Suggestions forum a while back...

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ion-of-custom-UI-colors?p=5243025#post5243025

 

[IndigoWyrd]

It might have been an hour, perhaps two into the game that I started looking for a way to change from that godsforsaken orange.
Whoever thought it was a good color.. c'mere and bring me your tea, I need to run both of you thought the GC/MS.

Yet another reason gaming on PC > gaming on console.

 

[Soothsayer]

Does anyone actually know what that newsletter picture's HUD config is? I can't seem to get it right in an ED HUD editor. Also, how do portraits look with the white and red color scheme?

I'd love to have it on my 'Vette.

 

[thirstyfish]

Does anyone actually know what that newsletter picture's HUD config is? I can't seem to get it right in an ED HUD editor. Also, how do portraits look with the white and red color scheme?

I'd love to have it on my 'Vette.

Check out the No to orange thread. It can show you some configs that work well with the portraits.