UI Skin: Cosmos

[FeralKittie]

I like the blue.

If you could make the outlines of the hotbars invisible, I'd love this.

Made an addon for ya

Just extract the files into your Cosmos folder and replace the images. Hope it's what you were looking for.

[dunklezhan]

I have never liked a single reskin that I've seen to date.

But I just loaded this up, and it is SO beautiful and so soothing compared to the new red one, that I'm officially converting right now, unless I find any bugs that break in (in which case I'll post and let you know).

+1 good sir/madam.

[Backley]

Very nice over all. A few notes:
1. trade_ready_green_overlay.tga is the wrong size, re-do from the version in Update7_UISkinArtPack.zip

2. The extra spaces around the MyDDO, DDO Store, and Help buttons leave gaps when you have a completely blank hud_menu_bkg_*. I suggest using some with filled backgrounds only as large as the buttons, to fill these gaps. Maybe use the ones from Info Blue but shave a pixel off left/right/top/bottom.

3. gui2_button_examine_map_sm_round_* uses the old "magnifying glass +" style. You may consider using the newer "compass rose" version, as in Update7_UISkinArtPack.zip

Also, mind if I use a lot of the buttons from Cosmos in the next version of Info Blue?

[FeralKittie]

Very nice over all. A few notes:
1. trade_ready_green_overlay.tga is the wrong size, re-do from the version in Update7_UISkinArtPack.zip

2. The extra spaces around the MyDDO, DDO Store, and Help buttons leave gaps when you have a completely blank hud_menu_bkg_*. I suggest using some with filled backgrounds only as large as the buttons, to fill these gaps. Maybe use the ones from Info Blue but shave a pixel off left/right/top/bottom.

3. gui2_button_examine_map_sm_round_* uses the old "magnifying glass +" style. You may consider using the newer "compass rose" version, as in Update7_UISkinArtPack.zip

Great notes, thanks Backley! Some new eyes really help, afraid I get a little blind to details I haven't worked on in awhile.

Also, mind if I use a lot of the buttons from Cosmos in the next version of Info Blue?

Permission granted, gladly

[Draccus]

I've been using this skin for a couple of weeks now and it's fantastic.

I do have one request though. Can the main map (not the minimap, the one you get when you click the + on the minimap) be made more opaque? It's hard to read the map if you're not looking at a dark wall.

[FeralKittie]

I've been using this skin for a couple of weeks now and it's fantastic.

I do have one request though. Can the main map (not the minimap, the one you get when you click the + on the minimap) be made more opaque? It's hard to read the map if you're not looking at a dark wall.

Thanks

Glad to get some feedback on the map, it was one of the things I wasn't quite sure about. Unfortunately it's kind of a balancing act because the image backing the map and controlling that transparency is one of the main images repeating elsewhere. I'll definitely work on it for the next version, I think I can tweak it so the map is more readable.

[JDCrowell]

This is the only and probably best place to post this, but I have a question. Although I may be in way over my head, how would I go about learning to write my own ui skin for DDO?

I have minimal programming knowledge, but I pick up on things really easy. Is there anything out on the web or in here that I can read and learn from? I'm highly interested in this but can't find anything on the web through all of my searches.

[Backley]

This is the only and probably best place to post this, but I have a question. Although I may be in way over my head, how would I go about learning to write my own ui skin for DDO?

I have minimal programming knowledge, but I pick up on things really easy. Is there anything out on the web or in here that I can read and learn from? I'm highly interested in this but can't find anything on the web through all of my searches.

You download the UISkinArtPack.zip from http://www.lotrointerface.com/downlo...inArtPack.html and play with editing the image files.

The SkinDefinition.xml defines which files are included in your mod, so you can remove lines from that if you don't want to include all of the images that you aren't editing. You also name your skin in that file.

That's pretty much it. There isn't a good documentation of which image file is used where, so you have to just try it.

Post on this forum if you have questions.

[Draccus]

Thanks

Glad to get some feedback on the map, it was one of the things I wasn't quite sure about. Unfortunately it's kind of a balancing act because the image backing the map and controlling that transparency is one of the main images repeating elsewhere. I'll definitely work on it for the next version, I think I can tweak it so the map is more readable.

Thanks for the reply. It's definitely not a huge deal but would be a nice improvement. It may be just me who has trouble viewing it. And it's really not a bid deal to point the camera at a solid surface when I need to look closely at the map.

More rep to you when I can!

[Backley]

I'm comparing my health bar percent lines with yours and see some are different by 1 to 3 pixels (like my bar is at 89.86% and yours is at 90.54%). Some are probably just a rounding decision. You may want to re-check them.

For instance, in healthbar_brass_background.tga your 50% line is at pixel 89 in the bar, out of a maximum of 174 pixels, so your marker will be visible when the HP is below 51.15%. 50% is actually 2 pixels over at pixel 87. Etc.

Your healthbar_fellowship_background.tga seems odd. I think you couldn't tell how far to the left the bars actually start, so you made the lines too bunched to the right. The bars here are counted at a maximum length of 109 pixels by my count. So, your heavy 10% line is actually at 13.76%, etc.

While checking this, I noticed that many of the UIArtPack's original images are sized wrong for the area they actually get displayed in. And, your focus_Orb_small_cropped.tga is even larger than the original, so the right-most 3 pixels are chopped off when actually displayed.

Testing with a large red image shows the actual display area of some of the images:
focus_orb_small_cropped.tga is 178x69
focus_orb_06.tga is 244x243
healthbar_brass_background/foreground is 227x51, so your current one loses a few pixels at the bottom.
healthbar_3Bar_brass_background/foreground is actually 222x59
healthbar_fellowship_background.tga is actually 146x32
healthbar_fellowship_foreground.tga is actually 140x32
healthbar_fellowship_singleMeter_foreground.tga is actually 140x32
healthbar_fellowship_foreground_highlight.tga is not used
healthbar_fellowship_singleMeter_foreground_highli ght.tga is not used

[Arysta]

I have to say I love this skin.. I use it on all my characters. The blue is soothing, it's sparkly (hey sparkles/stars are cool), and very unobtrusive (my cleric has, so far 7 hotbars.. this has made it so much easier to play her).

[FeralKittie]

Backley, you rock. I really appreciate your observations. Have you thought about writing up a guide for beginning skin authors? I'd love to see more people putting original skins out there, with new takes on what direction the ui can be taken in.

JDCrowell, looks like Backley got you started. From the perspective of someone who dove in with zero programming knowledge and only a fair knowledge of my photo program, I can tell you a couple of things I wish I'd done from the start. Keeping better notes on things like where images are used in the ui, what my pixel measurements were, what changes I wanted to make on images later, etc., would have been nice. And I really wish I'd kept a copy of the images that took more work in a layered format. That way, when I figured out a new way to do something with my photo program or changed my mind on how I wanted an image to look, I wouldn't have had to work from a merged image or start over.

Also just wanted to give a big thanks for all the encouragment and suggestions from people!

[badbob117]

This one is really really nice.

Thanks man. Amazing colors and eye candy. This is my fav one now. Cannot even imagine going back to default setting. 3 minutes using this skin was enough to convert me.

Thank you and keep up the good work.

[FeralKittie]

Just wanted to let people know that an update to this skin is in the works with all the great suggestions I've received, it'll just be later than I intended. Real life's been a bit rough on me lately and, to top it off, I've had computer problems. Once my technical issues are resolved, I'll have the next skin update out, about mid-January.

Having a broken computer is kind of like having a broken non-dominant hand. Sure, it's only a matter of time before it's back to full functionality and there's people who'll help out in the meantime, but, man, I had no idea how much I really used the thing until I couldn't.

[Bahi]

Thats great news, i really love the way your skin looks, could be a tad bit deeper blue perhaps but i love it so far

Can't wait to see what the update will look like!


Btw, did you concider NESW on the MiniMap? And i have trouble seeing equipped vs nonequipped items on my hotbar with certain items, the arrows are somewhat to subtle.

But apart from these small picked nittings i love it ty!

[Rodasch]

I have to say this is the only UI skin I've seen that I like, and I will be using it exclusively. I love it! You've done great work here. I do have one request though, if you find time to do it. Could you make a purple version too? How hard is it to do? I might do it myself if it's not too difficult to modify it's base colors.

[lazylaz]

I've avoided custom UI skins in every mmo I've played but I had to try this out after seeing the screenies in this thread. Good work! I love it.

I might try something like this sometime.

[FeralKittie]

Update Cosmos v2.1 is now available. Thanks for all the great suggestions I've received, keep it coming!

This update includes efforts to make the map more readable. My intention is that a player should be able to have the map open and expanded and, in a variety of lighting (dungeon versus outside), read the map AND not get surprised by combat or perilous features of the landscape. This gets additionally tough to do when the image controlling the map transparency is used in other parts of the ui (for example, the background of the character sheet). I think I've struck a pretty good balance here, but I'd love to hear what other people think.

Enjoy!

v2.1 Changes:
trade_ready_green_overlay now fits better into the size of the trade window

gui2_button_examine_map_sm_round* has been updated to the newer compass rose

hud_menu_bkg* altered to close gaps between buttons

box_centerTexture_darkLeather adjusted to make map more readable

All of the healthbars have been adjusted for better accuracy

Rollover buttons on the hud menu have been given a touch of accent color

[FeralKittie]

Btw, did you concider NESW on the MiniMap? And i have trouble seeing equipped vs nonequipped items on my hotbar with certain items, the arrows are somewhat to subtle.

But apart from these small picked nittings i love it ty!

I'll have to play around with adding NESW marks in a way that I like the look of. Do you think just adding N would do? And I'll definitely work on distinguishing equipped from unequipped items. Thanks for the feedback!

[FeralKittie]

I have to say this is the only UI skin I've seen that I like, and I will be using it exclusively. I love it! You've done great work here. I do have one request though, if you find time to do it. Could you make a purple version too? How hard is it to do? I might do it myself if it's not too difficult to modify it's base colors.

Thanks! I went with blue because I wanted to make sure my boyfriend would use it too, lol! If I'd just kept my own taste in mind, the whole thing would have been deep purple with forest green accents!


I'd love to make a purple version, but I really can't be sure when I'd be able to get to it so, if you want to give it a whirl, here's what I do.

Disclaimer: I use Corel PaintShop Photo, so I'm not sure specifically about other programs. Also, I'm no expert so there's probably easier ways to do these things.

In paintshop photo, with images I want to color completely, I go to effects>effect browser>adjust>hue and saturation>colorize. This keeps all of the original texture. If none of the premade options appeal, click once on any of them, then click modify. Then play with the hue and saturation bars until you get what you want.

On images where I only want to colorize a portion, it gets a little more complicated. I create a new raster layer in the layers palette and, on this layer, color in the different sections of the image in bright contrasting colors. It's a good idea to save once that's done in a format that supports layers (.psp in my case) so you have a working image should you want to make changes later; I make a special folder for this to keep it organized. Then, using the magic wand selection tool, I can select one of my colored-in sections, turn this layer invisible, select the main image layer in the layers palette and any changes or effects I want to do will only apply to the selected portion of the image. When saving, double check that any layers you don't want in the final image are invisible or have been deleted and save in .tga format (or whatever the skin definition file calls for, but usually it's .tga) in the same folder as your skin definition file.

If you want to upload your work for other people to use, and I highly encourage you do, you'll need to change the name of the skin. From the skin folder, open the skin definition file. Right click the body of the skin definition window and go to view source. This opens up a text document. Where it says skin name, inside the quotation marks, type whatever name you want and save.

I should also note that you won't see any changes you've made in game while you're signed in to DDO. You have to sign out and sign back in for changes to take effect.


Oh, and if you want to work off of my skin as your starting point, or if anyone wants to use any part of it in their own work and then upload it, please feel free! Just give my work a mention when you do, and I'll be happy. I want to see more DDO skins out there!