HUD color change option in 2.3?

dreampage

dreampage
In the latest issue of the Elite Dangerous newsletter is this picture:

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It clearly shows a grey colored HUD with red rings for shield indicator. It seems the picture was taken with the 2.3 camera suite as the background is nicely blurred, and it looks like the other parts of the photo are not re-colored, so it's clearly the HUD itself which is different than the default orange.

Now, it genuinely got me excited - does this mean we will finally get the option to change HUD colors in 2.3? Remember, on Xbox One there's no unofficial way to change it, only on PC with some tinkering. But I wonder why Frontier would bother insert such a picture in their newsletter if it wasn't a real option in the upcoming patch. The photo itself is at the part of the newsletter where it details the update so it would be logical that it teases this new feature.

I have to say that besides the commander creator, HUD color change option is the feature I'm most looking forward to in this game. Can it be that we finally get it? I certainly hope so!
 

xzanfr

xzanfr
They mentioned in the newsletter that all the pics were taken by players in beta, so I'm assuming that its from a player with the usual hud modification rather than a new option.
 

Thetele

T
Well at least there is nothing in the beta (not in options menu or in outfitting menu were other visual customization can be done). Frontier has said nothing about it and the beta already has menus/slots for the new customization options coming in 2.3 just no items we can places on them. That picture look really familiar, i think they have used it on newsletter before.
 

dreampage

dreampage
xzanfr said:
They mentioned in the newsletter that all the pics were taken by players in beta, so I'm assuming that its from a player with the usual hud modification rather than a new option.
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Thank you. Then I still don't understand the devs' stance on this topic. Not only do they endorse such modifications but even use materials like this in their official newsletter yet it's not a real in-game option. Changing HUD colors is such a common habit with PC players (just look at ObsidianAnt's videos for example) that Frontier should really realize there's a demand for it. They even show it off. Why don't they do it officially then? This is really unfair towards console players and everyone on PC who don't want to tinker with their files. Or do the developers think that with the current method it's fine and done?
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Noctover said:
Im amazed actually HUD colour change hasn't already been implemented.
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There is an inherent design problem with it.
As you probably noticed the whole HUD has one single RGB matrix. That means that, for example, you can't change the colour your shields will be displayed in, or enemies on the radar, separately.
You always change the whole scale and if you've ever tried, you know that to come up with something that is actually/B] usable and readable is really hard. (imho impossible. I always return to stock orange, after a while)

And that also means that FD can't (or better won't) give us optional HUD colours, because they would never be optimal in all situations.
 
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Noctover

Noctover
Chris Simon said:
There is an inherent design problem with it.
As you probably noticed the whole HUD has one single RGB matrix. That means that, for example, you can't change the colour your shields will be displayed in, or enemies on the radar, separately.
You always change the whole scale and if you've ever tried, you know that to come up with something that is actually/B] usable and readable is really hard. (imho impossible. I always return to stock orange, after a while)

And that also means that FD can't (or better won't) give us optional HUD colours, because they would never be optimal in all situations.
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Thats very true sir
 

Thetele

T
Noctover said:
Im amazed actually HUD colour change hasn't already been implemented.
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They have made the hud/UI in really stupid way (how its implemented in game/coding). The way they have done it doesn't allow them to add any other customization options (moving around, color changes, size changes) than we have now without re working the hole implementation of UI. Design decision they made long before the first alpha even started. When designing the game they should have thought about things like this, but they didn't and now they are stuck with it if they don't want use money/time/resources to re do it.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
Thetele said:
They have made the hud/UI in really stupid way (how its implemented in game/coding). The way they have done it doesn't allow them to add any other customization options (moving around, color changes, size changes) than we have now without re working the hole implementation of UI. Design decision they made long before the first alpha even started. When designing the game they should have thought about things like this, but they didn't and now they are stuck with it if they don't want use money/time/resources to re do it.
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I know people will call me a white knight, but still... Please remember that EDs HUD is more complex than your average glued on 2D texture that is used in 99% of all other games. In terms of "I want to change HUD colour", yes, it's stupid. In terms of "I want to create a great HUD", well it's the best I've seen so far.
 

dreampage

dreampage
I think we all perfectly understand that it's not a function easily implemented. But honestly, it's the developers' responsibility to design a game in a way so that it can be improved over time. Having a feature and saying "it can't be modified, sorry" is not really a valid explanation in modern game development. And Elite is not a small game by an means - what Frontier has done with it is remarkable. They can generate a whole galaxy with 400 billion star systems. They can implement huge features, modify the Stellar Forge, rearrange planets, moons, stars, surface colors and implement new gameplay features and options across the board. They can change the color of weapons, ships, even thrusters now. No one can tell me the only thing impossible (or too hard to be worth it) to modify is the one thing that's in your face 99% of the time and everyone constantly sees. I'm sure we all understand it involves work and it's not a switch that Frontier can activate. But it's also not easy to accept such an explanation that there are too many HUD elements to bother with them. This is literally the "face" of the game, it should have been the first thing to be made changeable. It's clear so many people would like it, so many who can modify it on PC do so. At least I'd love some official explanation from the devs about what they think about this and if they plan to implement such a feature, and if not then why. If it's so natural to use modified pictures in a newsletter, sharing such videos on Facebook then they should at least explain what's up with this. Honestly, customizing the HUD color should be such a no-brainer with such a game like this I don't even know why we have to discuss it years after release. And you can bet that when the game is finally released on PS4, many players will come here with this same question.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
dreampage said:
I think we all perfectly understand that it's not a function easily implemented. But honestly, it's the developers' responsibility to design a game in a way so that it can be improved over time. Having a feature and saying "it can't be modified, sorry" is not really a valid explanation in modern game development. And Elite is not a small game by an means - what Frontier has done with it is remarkable. They can generate a whole galaxy with 400 billion star systems. They can implement huge features, modify the Stellar Forge, rearrange planets, moons, stars, surface colors and implement new gameplay features and options across the board. They can change the color of weapons, ships, even thrusters now. No one can tell me the only thing impossible (or too hard to be worth it) to modify is the one thing that's in your face 99% of the time and everyone constantly sees. I'm sure we all understand it involves work and it's not a switch that Frontier can activate. But it's also not easy to accept such an explanation that there are too many HUD elements to bother with them. This is literally the "face" of the game, it should have been the first thing to be made changeable. It's clear so many people would like it, so many who can modify it on PC do so. At least I'd love some official explanation from the devs about what they think about this and if they plan to implement such a feature, and if not then why. If it's so natural to use modified pictures in a newsletter, sharing such videos on Facebook then they should at least explain what's up with this. Honestly, customizing the HUD color should be such a no-brainer with such a game like this I don't even know why we have to discuss it years after release. And you can bet that when the game is finally released on PS4, many players will come here with this same question.
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Nobody said they can't do it, just that it would take some time. Also they are changing the HUD all the time, so I don't really get what you are on about.

PS
Also they already did explain it in several posts during the last years.
 
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Chris Simon

Chris Simon
dreampage said:
I think we all perfectly understand that it's not a function easily implemented. But honestly, it's the developers' responsibility to design a game in a way so that it can be improved over time. Having a feature and saying "it can't be modified, sorry" is not really a valid explanation in modern game development. And Elite is not a small game by an means - what Frontier has done with it is remarkable. They can generate a whole galaxy with 400 billion star systems. They can implement huge features, modify the Stellar Forge, rearrange planets, moons, stars, surface colors and implement new gameplay features and options across the board. They can change the color of weapons, ships, even thrusters now. No one can tell me the only thing impossible (or too hard to be worth it) to modify is the one thing that's in your face 99% of the time and everyone constantly sees. I'm sure we all understand it involves work and it's not a switch that Frontier can activate. But it's also not easy to accept such an explanation that there are too many HUD elements to bother with them. This is literally the "face" of the game, it should have been the first thing to be made changeable. It's clear so many people would like it, so many who can modify it on PC do so. At least I'd love some official explanation from the devs about what they think about this and if they plan to implement such a feature, and if not then why. If it's so natural to use modified pictures in a newsletter, sharing such videos on Facebook then they should at least explain what's up with this. Honestly, customizing the HUD color should be such a no-brainer with such a game like this I don't even know why we have to discuss it years after release. And you can bet that when the game is finally released on PS4, many players will come here with this same question.
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I agree with all of this, except one thing - Elite is, in all regards, an indie game. It shows like an AAA title, it looks like an AAA title, it plays like an AAA title and is SELLS like an AAA title, all because Frontier is awesome. But it is NOT an AAA title.
 
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dreampage

dreampage
Chris Simon said:
I agree with all of this, except one thing - Elite is, in all regards, an indie game. It shows like an AAA title, it looks like an AAA title, it plays like an AAA title and is SELLS like an AAA title, all because Frontier is awesome. But it is NOT an AAA title.
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I know Frontier is an independent studio and their resources are limited. But this is not about, say, migrating the whole game to Unreal Engine or something like that. It's about color change. I'm not an expert with the PC version but it doesn't seem to be too hard to do it there. And all those players seem to be flying around with modified colors just fine. I know it's not perfect but then again it's perfectly usable and I'm sure the developers themselves could make it even a bit better / more usable. I know, NPC pictures etc. But still. It doesn't look to be rocket science to me.
 

Gully Foyle

Gully Foyle
Thetele said:
They have made the hud/UI in really stupid way (how its implemented in game/coding). The way they have done it doesn't allow them to add any other customization options (moving around, color changes, size changes) than we have now without re working the hole implementation of UI. Design decision they made long before the first alpha even started. When designing the game they should have thought about things like this, but they didn't and now they are stuck with it if they don't want use money/time/resources to re do it.
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Nice story. Based on zero facts known too!

There are more important things being worked on, introduced and fixed.
 

h347h

h347h
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.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
dreampage said:
I know Frontier is an independent studio and their resources are limited. But this is not about, say, migrating the whole game to Unreal Engine or something like that. It's about color change. I'm not an expert with the PC version but it doesn't seem to be too hard to do it there. And all those players seem to be flying around with modified colors just fine. I know it's not perfect but then again it's perfectly usable and I'm sure the developers themselves could make it even a bit better / more usable. I know, NPC pictures etc. But still. It doesn't look to be rocket science to me.
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No, it's not. Players fly with modified colours but stuff like radar no longer works. They can't deliberately add a broken feature to their game. Only way is a complete overhaul of the HUD, and if you look at all the small animations that are involved you'll get an idea why it's more complicated than changing a RGB value.
 
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