Why not support HUD-Color modifications?

[Gibilix15]

There may already be a reason for this (why frontier doesn’t directly support HUD-color modifications) but I have yet to hear why. There are already cockpit-interior modifications to install, and paint jobs supported directly by frontier. Sure, there are already ways to change the HUD-color for PC/MAC, but what about Xbox or PlayStation? If not frontier, perhaps their could be another way to change the HUD-color via some other third-party source. But if so, why doesn’t it exist yet?!

P.S.: If frontier were to (directly) support HUD-color modifications, say for Xbox/PlayStation, I think they should be free to install, since it would be unfair to make console players pay for a different HUD color whilst PC players attain it for free.

Please do inform me if there are already reasons in place for this.

 

[metatheurgist]

Yeah, FD says the colour palettes are tied into other stuff and would need to be separated. A hack claims that's false. The truth maybe lies some where in the middle.

 

[lenna]

You can alter the HUD colours by modifying the colour transform matrix defined a user specific AppData based file.

On Windows 10 this file can be found/created in the following location:C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml

The file contents look something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GraphicsConfig>
  <GUIColour>
    <Default>
      <LocalisationName>Standard</LocalisationName>
      <MatrixRed>1, 0.25, 0.5</MatrixRed>
      <MatrixGreen>0.25, 1, 0.25</MatrixGreen>
      <MatrixBlue>0.5, 0.25, 1</MatrixBlue>
    </Default>
  </GUIColour>
</GraphicsConfig>

There is already a website that helps with previewing the end-results too: https://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

On the Xbox? I would expect a similar file to be in a similar location. On the PS4? not sure.

 

[Misty_Dark]

Yeah, FD says the colour palettes are tied into other stuff and would need to be separated. A hack claims that's false. The truth maybe lies some where in the middle.

Well we do know that when they added pictures of all the faction representatives in missions, etc, that players who customized their colours, also encountered issues with the colours of these faces, so FDev had to make changes to avoid this from happening, and we also know that all the colours on the hud are changed if mess around, and thus the radar screen will with certain colours not show you who is friendly/hostile etc.


Then how much work there would be to fix all of these issues we cannot know, we also do not know if FDev are working on this behind the scenes or not. We it looks like when they change things, like when they added pictures of faction representatives, that they removed the dependncy, and we also know that HoloMe is not messed up, so that is not linked to this default colour settings. So it is plausible that they are changing this one dependency at a time...

 

[Gibilix15]

You can alter the HUD colours by modifying the colour transform matrix defined a user specific AppData based file.

On Windows 10 this file can be found/created in the following location:C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Graphics\GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml

The file contents look something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GraphicsConfig>
  <GUIColour>
    <Default>
      <LocalisationName>Standard</LocalisationName>
      <MatrixRed>1, 0.25, 0.5</MatrixRed>
      <MatrixGreen>0.25, 1, 0.25</MatrixGreen>
      <MatrixBlue>0.5, 0.25, 1</MatrixBlue>
    </Default>
  </GUIColour>
</GraphicsConfig>

There is already a website that helps with previewing the end-results too: https://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

On the Xbox? I would expect a similar file to be in a similar location. On the PS4? not sure.

Thank you for telling me this, but I play on Xbox. So I tryed to look for a file in settings that would give me some sort of option menu for elite dangerous after you posted this, but to no avail. Though I didn’t look for very long, I doubt I’ll find anything soon. It would be easier if I knew were to look. So do you or does anyone know were on the Xbox I may find a file such as that? If one even exists?

 

[Shadowed]

Console users are kinda shorted here, but yes, changing the HUD on PC is definitely worth it.

FDEV removed the colour changing thread that had all sorts of great combinations.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76533&p=1253173#post1253173

^ link still posted on the arkku's site.

Now its all gone I think. I had to find my color code buried in one of my posts. I always used that link for that stuff and it is gone.

The console version has the graphicsconfiguration.xml file. You just cannot access it.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

DEV removed the colour changing thread that had all sorts of great combinations.

Still have this one:

NO2O! The Definitive List of 1.7/2.2-Compatible HUD Colour/Color Configs (please add yours!)

The NO2O (No To Orange) Initiative "Teal;DR" Summary: Let's build a collection of custom HUD colour configs that work nicely with the 1.7/2.2 NPC pictures! Please share yours! It will be added to The List (below) and you will be credited for it...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Shadowed]

Still have this one:

NO2O! The Definitive List of 1.7/2.2-Compatible HUD Colour/Color Configs (please add yours!)

The NO2O (No To Orange) Initiative "Teal;DR" Summary: Let's build a collection of custom HUD colour configs that work nicely with the 1.7/2.2 NPC pictures! Please share yours! It will be added to The List (below) and you will be credited for it...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Thanks for the link. I just feel sad knowing there were 50+ pages of custom colors and now we had to rebuild it all.

 

[RolloTreadway]

This has been suggested many times before, but I think it bears repeating so that FD are clear about its importance. Hopefully they are already, and are (finally) sorting it out. Fingers crossed and all, but I shan't be holding my breath.

Cockpit colour scheme changes are not just cosmetic, but an accessibility issue. This is not new. Software with customisable colour palettes to improve accessibility have been around for decades (I can remember early versions of Windows having that, and I very much doubt they were the first, given Microsoft's propensity back then for just borrowing everyone else's good ideas). There are players on the colourblind spectrum and players with heightened sensitivity to certain colour combinations for whom the orange palette is a major obstacle in playing. I know that the hours I've put into this game would probably have stalled at a hundred or so, rather than being thousands, had I not learnt about the adjustments others have posted above.

But even then, it really shouldn't be an awkward workaround (I have a lovely purple and green cockpit now, but it means that there's not a lot of difference between different things on the radar and it takes a lot of practice to tell them apart). It would've been nice if FD had recognised the importance of this from day one. The orange palette might be the most clearly visible for the average player, but we are not all average players with average eyes and average brains and whatnot. And even if it's taken all these years, I would still like to think that, one day, we'll be able to pick out colours that allow the game to be its most accessible and usable for us, as individual unique and highly committed players. Not just be told that it's too challenging because of how the colour system was built in the early years of the decade.

One day, hopefully.

Spoiler

My colour palette:

<MatrixRed> 0.47, 0, 0.72 </MatrixRed><MatrixGreen> 0.67, 1, 0 </MatrixGreen><MatrixBlue> 0.1, 1, 0 </MatrixBlue>, in case anyone fancies using it.

 

[Gibilix15]

Well you know what they say if you can’t beat em,

Join them...