Alternate HUDs
Contents
0. About
Alternate HUDs
is a "modular HUD replacement system" for UT2004, in the form of a mutator. It aims to allow the user to mix and match
different elements of the HUD, such as personal info (health, shield, adrenaline), weapon info (ammo, charging bar), score info,
etc.
Scroll down to Configuring to see a
list of the HUD elements complete so far.
1. Installation
Copy these files to your
UT2004\System directory:
psAltHUD.u
psAltHUD.int
psAltHUD.ucl
psUT2003HUD.u
psUT2003HUD.int
Note: If you do
not have the Classic UT-style HUD elements, but they still appear in the list
in-game, you should either download it (go here
for a download link) or remove references to it from the Alternate HUDs INI file. To do
this, open psAltHUD.ini and look for and delete the following lines:
WeaponInfoNames=psClassicHUD.psClassicWeaponInfo;Classic
UT-style
PersonalInfoNames=psClassicHUD.psClassicPersonalInfo;Classic
UT-style
This step isn’t necessary, but would prevent them from showing up
in the configuration menu.
1.1. HUD Element Installation
As of beta 1.4, HUD elements can be declared in .int files (see psUT2003HUD.int for an example). If an object declaration in an .int file is present for a HUD element, it is not necessary to add it to the psAltHUD.ini file for installation.
2. Usage
Add the "Alternate
HUDs" mutator to the list
when starting a server or a game of Instant Action. If you are going to run a
server with Alternate HUDs on, remember to put "psAltHUD" in the ServerPackages
list. It is not necessary to put
“psUT2003HUD” (which contains the UT2003-style HUD elements) in the
ServerPackages list.
Make sure to configure
which HUD elements you want to use by clicking "Configure Mutators" when starting a server or game of Instant
Action. These settings are client-side, so you will have to configure them
before joining a server with Alternate HUDs enabled,
but each player can have different HUD settings.
New feature (beta
1.1+): Alternate HUDs can now be configured mid-game. See below for
more information.
After clicking "Configure Mutators" (when starting a server or a game of Instant Action), use the drop-down lists under the "Alternate HUDs" heading to choose which styles of HUD elements you want to use. Alternatively, you can edit the psAltHUD.ini file to directly enter the full class name of the HUD element. The types of HUD elements and their available styles are:
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style health, shield and adrenaline displays |
|
UT2003-style w/ bars |
Same as above, except the backgrounds for the health and adrenaline counters act as health/adrenaline meters |
|
Score Info: displays score and other game-relevant info, such as objective indicators, maps (Onslaught) and radars (Invasion) |
|
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
none |
Hide all score displays, objective indicators (excl. AS), etc. |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style
score display – see Compatibility for a
list of supported game-types |
|
UT2003-style
w/ bars) |
UT2003-style
score display with scalable bars representing score versus score limit (your
score/lives in DM/LMS, each team’s score in team games) |
|
Timer: displays the time remaining, if applicable |
|
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
none |
Hide the timer |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style
time display |
|
UT2003-style
w/ bars |
UT2003-style
time display with a background that acts as a meter showing how far through
the match is (if there is a time limit) |
|
UDamage: displays remaining Double Damage time |
|
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
none |
Remove the Double Damage display |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style Double Damage meter (recommended with UT2003-style Personal Info) |
|
Weapon Bar: displays weapon icons for the weapons you own |
|
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style weapon bar |
|
UT2003-style (minimal) |
UT2003-style
weapon bar which does not show icons for weapons you do not have. This HUD element has been removed. See below. |
|
UT2003-style (auto-hide) |
UT2003-style
weapon bar which auto-hides. See the
psAltHUD.ini file for configuring it (under [psUT2003HUD. psUT2003WeaponBarHide]). |
|
UC-style (new) |
Weapon
bar which is loosely based on the
weapon bar from Unreal Championship, but using textures from the UT2003
HUD. This HUD element has a number of options. |
|
Weapon Info: displays your weapon’s current ammo and charge (if applicable) |
|
|
default |
Let the (UT2004) HUD control this element |
|
UT2003-style |
UT2003-style ammo counter and charge bar |
|
UT2003-style w/ bars |
Same as above, except the background for the ammo counter acts as an ammo meter |
If you have
a key set to “Open Mid-Game Config”
(under “Alternate HUDs” in the controls
configuration window), you can configure Alternate HUDs
mid-game. This key (or the “Mutate
ConfigAltHUD” console command) will only work
if the Alternate HUDs mutator
is in the game.
To allow
this menu to be opened without the
Alternate HUDs mutator
in-game, look for the following line (under [XInterface.ExtendedConsole])
in your game ini file:
WaitingGameClassName=
...and
change it to:
WaitingGameClassName=psAltHUD.AltHUDConfigMenu
This will
allow you to open the Alternate HUDs config (to enable, configure or disable Alternate HUDs mid-game), by using the
“PlayWaitingGame” console command. This works in Single Player, Instant Action,
and online, excluding servers with AntiTCC.
New feature (beta 1.2+):
Some
individual HUD elements can now be configured.
For a HUD element’s options to show up in the configuration
window, the mid-game configuration window must have been opened at least once while
the HUD element is active.
In beta
1.2, the available options are:
|
UT2003-style Weapon
Bar |
|
|
Show Missing Weapons |
Whether to show the icons for weapons you do not currently
have. (Replaces the “UT2003-style (minimal)” weapon bar from
Alternate HUDs beta 1.1 and below). |
|
UT2003-style
(auto-hide) Weapon Bar |
|
|
Show Missing Weapons |
As
above |
|
Auto-hide
Time |
How
long (in seconds) to take to slide down out of sight. |
|
Auto-hide
Delay |
How
many seconds to wait after the player switches weapons before auto-hiding. |
|
Pop-up
Time |
How
long (in seconds) to take to slide up into sight when the player switches
weapons. |
|
UT2003-style Score
Info |
|
|
Show Personal Score |
Whether to show the personal score display (frags, rank, spread) in (some)
team games. |
|
Repeat Icons |
Whether
or not to loop the icons around. This
option as been removed. Use ShrinkHUD and GrowHUD to hide or show repeated icons. |
|
Number of Weapons |
How many weapons to show simultaneously. |
|
Cursor Move Rate |
The rate at which the cursor moves when you change weapons
(weapons to slide past per second). |
|
Fade Delay |
How many seconds to wait after fading in before fading out.
(Put 0 to disable fading out) |
|
Fade-out Rate |
How long (in seconds) to take to fade out. |
|
Fade-in Rate |
How long (in seconds) to take to fade in. |
|
Vertical Orientation |
Display the weapons in a column (vertically) instead of in
a row (horizontally). |
|
X Position |
The position of the center of
the weapon bar on the X-axis (as a decimal fraction). |
|
Y Position |
The position of the center of
the weapon bar on the Y-axis (as a decimal fraction). |
|
Spacing |
How far apart to space the weapon icons (1.0 is
approximately 100% of the width/height of the weapon icon). |
|
Bar Height |
What should the weapon bar's height be reported as? (Used for interactivity with other HUD
elements) |
4. Compatibility
Alternate HUDs
should be compatible with most, if not all game-types (including custom
game-types), but has not been tested on all (official and custom) game-types.
For obvious reasons, the UT2003-style score display cannot work for every
(custom) game-type out there. The
following game-types are supported:
- Deathmatch
– the DM score display is used for all non-team games not listed here
- Last Man Standing
– identical to the DM score display, but remaining lives and remaining
player count are shown instead of rank and spread
- Team Deathmatch – the TDM score display is used for
unsupported game-types
- Capture the Flag
(but not CTF4)
- Double Domination
- Bombing Run
(and Bombing
- Onslaught
– looks similar to the CTF or DDOM score displays, but shows the health
of each power-core
Assault and Invasion have no score displays. In any unsupported game-type, the
UT2003-style score display falls back to the most suitable supported
display. For example, in any game-type
derived from CTF (not including CTF4), the CTF score display is used. In a custom game-type with teams which is not
derived from a supported game-type (other than TDM), the TDM display is used.
5. Known Bugs
- Due to the way Alternate HUDs works, if you switch to the view of a Pawn you have
not previously viewed (or a player who has respawned
since you last viewed them) while the game is paused, the default HUD will be
rendered for one frame before the Alternate HUD kicks in.
6. The Plug-in System
I tried to make Alternate HUDs as “extendable” as possible, to allow
myself and other modders to make HUD element styles
for use with Alternate HUDs.
To use a new HUD element, you
need to append to a list of HUD element classes/names in the psAltHUD.ini file
(see below).
Anyone who
plans on making a HUD element for use with Alternate HUDs
should remember not to modify the psAltHUD package
(just extend its classes, as is done in the psUT2003HUD package).
|
Element
|
Class
to extend |
Append in ini file |
|
Personal
Info |
psAltHUD.psHEPersonalInfo |
PersonalInfoNames |
|
Score
Info |
psAltHUD.psHEScoreInfo |
ScoreInfoNames |
|
Time
Display |
psAltHUD.psHETimeInfo |
TimeInfoNames |
|
Double
Damage Display |
psAltHUD.psHEUDamageInfo |
UDamageInfoNames |
|
Weapon
Bar |
psAltHUD.psHEWeaponBar |
WeaponBarNames |
|
Weapon
Info |
psAltHUD.psHEWeaponInfo |
WeaponInfoNames |
Example psAltHUD.ini file:
|
[psAltHUD.MutPSAlternateHUD] // these are the available HUD
elements (in the “Configure Mutators”
GUI) // (more are available in the real
ini file) WeaponInfoNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003WeaponInfo;UT2003-style WeaponBarNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003WeaponBar;UT2003-style WeaponBarNames=MyHUDPackage.MyCustomWeaponBar;(Fake)
teh Windoze task-bar PersonalInfoNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003PersonalInfo;UT2003-style ScoreInfoNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003ScoreInfo;UT2003-style UDamageInfoNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003UDamageInfo;UT2003-style TimeInfoNames=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003TimeInfo;UT2003-style TimeInfoNames=MyHUDPackage.MyCustomTimeInfo;(Fake)
Analogue style clock [psAltHUD.psAltHUDConfigInfo] // these are the HUD elements
currently in use WeaponInfoClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003WeaponInfoBars WeaponBarClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003WeaponBar PersonalInfoClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003PersonalInfoBars ScoreInfoClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003ScoreInfo UDamageInfoClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003UDamageInfo TimeInfoClassName=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003TimeInfoBars |
Properties ending with
“Name” are (the class names of) the currently used HUD elements,
and properties ending in “Names” are available HUD elements (the
class name of the element, followed by a semicolon, followed by the name of the
HUD element). If a HUD element is not
listed in the psAltHUD.ini file, it will not appear in the “Configure Mutators” GUI.
For example, if you wanted to
make a simple weapon info element that only drew an ammo counter (with no
background or ammo icon), you would extend/sub-class psAltHUD.psHEWeaponInfo, and override the Render function to render an ammo counter.
Then, you would add the following to your psAltHUD.ini file (users of your HUD
element would also need to add this to their psAltHUD.ini file, or use your ini file):
WeaponInfoNames=yourPackage.simpleWeaponInfo;Simple
Ammo Counter
If done correctly,
“Simple Ammo Counter” should then appear in the list of available
weapon info HUD elements when configuring the Alternate HUDs
mutator.
New feature (beta 1.4):
HUD
elements can be declared in .int files. i.e.:
[Public]
Object=(Name=psUT2003HUD.psUT2003WeaponInfo,Class=Class,MetaClass=psAltHUD.psHEWeaponInfo,Description="UT2003-style")
See
psUT2003HUD.int for more examples.
7. Version History
Beta 0.7:
- First public release
Beta 0.9:
- Fixed
health/adrenaline flashing twice as fast if they were both flashing at once.
- Fixed
shield display overlapping with UT2003-style weapon bar when weapon bar is in
mini-mode.
- Fixed
adrenaline display being drawn when adrenaline is not enabled (UT2003-style
Personal Info).
- Added
UT2003-style Score Display.
- Moved the
UT2003-style HUD elements to a separate package (“psUT2003HUD.u”)
so that servers need not force clients to download them
- Fixed
Custom HUD Colours.
- TDM4/CTF4
now uses Custom HUD Colours (team colours).
- Weapon
icons on the UT2003-style weapon bar are now centred.
- Added
UT2003-style Time Display.
- Made
"w/ bars" styled elements a little less plain (scale bars are shaded
around the borders).
- Adjusted
"w/ bars" scale bars so the whole "scale" is visible (the
first 7% or so of some were not visible).
Beta 1.0:
- Added
auto-hiding UT2003-style weapon bar (“UT2003-style (auto-hide)”)
- Fixed shield display overlapping with UT2003-style weapon
bar when weapon bar starts up hidden and changes to mini-mode
Beta 1.1:
- Added mid-game config menu (set
a key to “Open Mid-Game Config”, or use
the “Mutate ConfigAltHUD” console
command)
Beta 1.2:
- Added UC-style Weapon Bar
- Added the ability to configure
individual HUD elements
- Replaced the UT2003-style (minimal) weapon bar with the “Show
Missing Weapons” option
Beta 1.25:
- Fixed
some options not being saved when Alternate HUDs is
configured from the “Configure Mutators”
GUI (options were moved into psAltHUDConfigInfo)
- Fixed “Disable” button on mid-game config GUI disabling the HUD entirely
Beta 1.4:
- Added support for HUD element declaration in int files (Object= lines). If an object declaration is
present for a HUD element, it is no longer necessary to edit the psAltHUD.ini
file on installation.
- HUD element styles are now listed in alphabetical order.
- Fixed an Accessed None on HUD reset (mid-game HUD style
change) when a default style is selected.
- Removed “Repeat Icons” option for the UC-style
Weapon Bar. Use Minus and Equals (ShrinkHUD and GrowHUD) to hide or show repeated icons.
8. Planned Features
The features I have planned,
in order of priority, are:
- Classic UT HUD element
styles (work in progress)
- Quake 3 or Half-Life HUD
element styles (maybe)
Be warned that I may never get
around to all of these.
9. Credits
Alternate HUDs was programmed entirely by me, Steve Gray, a.k.a. porkmanii (or occasionally PsychoticSteve,
hence the “ps” prefix on the packages for
many of my mods). If you have bug reports, suggestions, or comments, send them
to gray_steve@aanet.com.au.
Thanks to all the guys and gals on the Atari
Forums for their encouragement, motivation and ideas, among other
things. Thanks to Epic and Digital
Extremes for the Unreal (Tournament) series of games (and the UT2003 HUD).