[Fury]

This is based on Kolgena's spreadsheet calculator, so thank him for the hard work. What I've added to it is that it generates ready tbm file for you. All you need is to copy and paste it into a tbm file, such as myhud-hdg.tbm.

Now, there are four outstanding issues with it.
1) $Max Directives and $Max Escort Ships are global settings and cannot be set per resolution. If you create hud gauges for a wide range of resolutions, you need to watch out for using too high numbers for lower resolutions.
2) $Load retail configuration can be set per-hud gauges, but it also requires setting $Ship, which is a *****. So for now that too is a global setting.
3) FSPort uses +Weapon Linking, but I haven't got the slightest clue how it should be calculated. Maybe Kolgena does.

And the biggest issue of them all. You need to be extremely careful with your hdg.tbm's and hud_gauges.tbl's. Using your own with any mod that have theirs included will likely lead to severe issues. Including but not limited to breaking hud gauges and hud getting rendered more than once. In the latter case, if coordinates of hud gauges are identical, you won't even notice it's getting rendered more than once.

So be careful with your hud configs. Same level of care should be used as with custom weapon and ships tbl's and tbm's.

Download link
It's in OpenOffice format.

Requires Antipodes 7 or newer to work obviously.

[Kolgena]

Sweet! This should make the thing much easier to use. Thanks for the addon!

Edit: I appear to be retarded and unable to figure out how this works. I don't have Open Office and don't intend to get it, but the calculator doesn't behave like an MS Excel file at all when I attempt to replace resolution values. I can't see the math behind what manipulates the coordinate values, and typing in new resolution numbers doesn't change anything on the Table page.

[Topgun]

Just what we needed!

[Fury]

Edit: I appear to be retarded and unable to figure out how this works. I don't have Open Office and don't intend to get it, but the calculator doesn't behave like an MS Excel file at all when I attempt to replace resolution values. I can't see the math behind what manipulates the coordinate values, and typing in new resolution numbers doesn't change anything on the Table page.

You pick your resolution and other settings in settings sheet. You shouldn't manually change anything in table or defaults sheets. If changing values in settings sheet does not work, then I guess your version of MS Office doesn't know how to read ods files properly. If need be, I can save the spreadsheet in older MS Office xls format.

Would you be able to figure out how to do +Weapon linking for FSPort?

[Kolgena]

I think it has something to do with xls. When I change the numbers in settings, nothing happens. It's also interesting that Excel points out that every number in the calculator is formatted to be text, not numerical. Might have something to do with it.

And what's +Weapon linking?

[Fury]

+Weapon linking is a HUD gauge obviously.

I'll just copy&paste hud gauges from fsport-mediavps. +Weapon linking is very much at the end.

Code: [Select]

$Load Retail Configuration: No ; If set to Yes, FSO will load any missing gauges necessary to complete the FS1/FS2 retail configuration.
; If field is not present, FSO will default this to Yes.
;$Max Escort Ships:

;$Length Unit Multiplier:

;$Wireframe Targetbox:

;$Lock Wireframe Mode:

$Reticle Style: FS1

; The following is a widescreen example HUD. If the user does not select a resolution matching the below parameters, FSO will not use this HUD and move on to the next configuration
#Gauge Config
;$Ship: GTF Ulysses
; For Per-Ship gauges
$Base: (1440, 900)
$Required Aspect: Wide Screen ; Can be "Wide Screen" or "Full Screen" ATM
$Min: (1280, 720) ; These Min and Max fields are Inclusive
$Max: (1920, 1080)
$Gauges:
+Messages:
Position: (7, 6)
+Training Messages:
Position: (533, 146)
+Multiplayer Messages:
Position: (11, 281)
+Support:
Position: (645, 625)
+Damage:
Position: (619, 71)
+Wingman Status:
Position: (1311, 169)
+Auto Speed:
Position: (1350, 788)
+Auto Target:
Position: (1350, 759)
+Countermeasures:
Position: (1238, 705)
+Talking Head:
Position: (7, 66)
+Directives:
Position: (7, 326)
+Weapons:
Position: (1238, 615)
+Objective Notify:
Position: (613, 216)
+Squad Message:
Position: (1163, 6)
+Escort View:
Position: (1238, 326)
+ETS Weapons:
Position: (1238, 759)
+ETS Shields:
Position: (1263, 759)
+ETS Engines:
Position: (1288, 759)
+Target Monitor:
Position: (7, 691)
+Extra Target Data:
Position: (7, 647)
+Target Shields:
Position: (503, 785)
+Radar:
Position: (617, 691)
+Player Shields:
Position: (827, 785)
; If you want different types of radar running, be my guest
;+Radar Orb: 
; Position: (615, 691)
+Afterburner Energy:
Position: (428, 439)
+Weapon Energy:
Position: (924, 439)
+Text Warnings:
Position: (720, 322)
+Center Reticle:
Position: (700, 438)
+Mini Target Shields:
Position: (705, 552)
+Throttle:
Position: (490, 317)
+Threat Indicator:
Position: (847, 317)
+Voice Status:
position: (7, 193)
+Ping:
Position: (1260, 6)
+Lag:
Position: (881, 620)
+Supernova:
Position: (239, 199)

+Target Brackets: ; Target Brackets, Lock Indicator, Lead Indicator, and Offscreen Indicator don't need a "Position:" field.
+Lead Indicator:
+Lock Indicator:
+Offscreen Indicator:
+Hostile Triangle:
Position: (720, 450)
+Target Triangle:
Position: (720, 450)
+Missile Triangles:
Position: (720, 450)
+Orientation Tee:
Position: (720, 450)
+Mission Time:
Position: (1363, 839)
+Kills:
Position: (1238, 731)
; FS1 specific gauge
+Weapon Linking:
Position: (841, 453)
; Komet's lead sight. Looks for "leadsight.ani"
;+Lead Sight: default
$End Gauges
#End

; Any wide screen resolutions not between 1280x720 and 1920x1080 will get a blank HUD since the config below only will apply to all Full screen resolutions
; if $Load Retail Configuration is set to Yes, the mentioned "non-supported" resolutions will have the default 1024x768 retail HUD loaded

#Gauge Config
$Base: (1024, 768)
$Required Aspect: Full Screen
;$Min: (640, 480)
$Gauges:
+Messages:
Position: (5, 5)
+Training Messages:
Position: (379, 125)
+Multiplayer Messages:
Position: (8, 240)
+Support:
Position: (459, 534)
+Damage:
Position: (440, 61)
+Wingman Status:
Position: (932, 144)
+Auto Speed:
Position: (960, 672)
+Auto Target:
Position: (960, 648)
+Countermeasures:
Position: (880, 602)
+Talking Head:
Position: (5, 56)
+Directives:
Position: (5, 278)
+Weapons:
Position: (880, 525)
+Objective Notify:
Position: (436, 184)
+Squad Message:
Position: (827, 5)
+Player Shields:
Position: (634, 670)
+Target Shields:
Position: (292, 670)
+Escort View:
Position: (865, 330)
+ETS Weapons:
Position: (880, 648)
+ETS Shields:
Position: (898, 648)
+ETS Engines:
Position: (916, 648)
+Target Monitor:
Position: (5, 590)
+Extra Target Data:
Position: (5, 552)
+Radar:
Position: (411, 590)
; If you want different types of radar running, be my guest
;+Radar Orb: 
; Position: (411, 590)
+Afterburner Energy:
Position: (274, 424)
+Text Warnings:
Position: (512, 275)
+Center Reticle:
Position: (493, 376)
+Mini Target Shields:
Position: (497, 470)
+Throttle:
Position: (347, 390)
+Threat Indicator:
Position: (386, 219)
+Voice Status:
position: (5, 165)
+Ping:
Position: (896, 5)
+Lag:
Position: (627, 529)
+Supernova:
Position: (170, 170)

+Target Brackets: ; Target Brackets, Lock Indicator, Lead Indicator, and Offscreen Indicator don't need a "Position:" field.
+Lead Indicator:
+Lock Indicator:
+Offscreen Indicator:
+Hostile Triangle:
Position: (512, 387)
+Target Triangle:
Position: (512, 387)
+Missile Triangles:
Position: (512, 387)
+Orientation Tee:
Position: (512, 387)
+Weapon Energy:
Position: (666, 424)
+Mission Time:
Position: (969, 716)
+Kills:
Position: (880, 624)
; FS1 specific gauge
+Weapon Linking:
Position: (598, 387)
; Komet's lead sight. Looks for "leadsight.ani"
;+Lead Sight: default
$End Gauges
#End


[Kolgena]

Oh, I thought it was something else.

Just to clarify, it's a FS1-only HUD element just like the rest? What exactly does it look like? The little arrows that indicate which weapons are active?

Also, if you've come up with the base resolution table for 640x480 that FS1 uses by default, I could use it to make a new FSPort calculator if you wish.

[Dragon]

Yes, it's this one.
In FS2, there's a threat indicator in there, in FS1, it's on top of the HUD, while weapons linking gauge is on the right arc.

[Kolgena]

Oooh, that thing that's part of the brackets in the middle of the screen. I got you now.

I can do that, but I'd need to know where the reference pixel is, and the default coordinates for the thing (last I checked, the tbl given in FSPort VPs is incorrect and throws elements all over the place) I could also eyeball it so it looks about centered, but where's the perfectionism in that?

I thought I should add: I'm not sure if I'm not tabling things correctly, or if it's a limitation of the HUD code, but I cannot get the ETS system to put weapon and engine sliders right next to each other in missions where your ship has no shields. Instead, there's a gap where there clearly should be a Shields slider.

[Kolgena]

K, double post, but w/e. This serves as a sort of bump as well.

Right now, I would like to know people's opinions on two ways that I can approach how the calculator deals with the center reticles (ie, the ones that show your speed and if you're being targed/shot at). I can make them look exactly as they do in 4:3 default aspect ratio, or I can have them arranged further apart, as all us widescreen gamers are no doubt used to after years of playing with stretched HUDs. To a lesser extent, this also applies to how close/far away the target/self shield monitors should be from either side of the radar.

Advantages I see for doing the former:
The calculator is compatible with outputting tables for 4:3 without having HUD elements overlap. This is in case someone wants to shrink the size of the elements on their screen. It also makes it easier for people making custom HUDs to make tables for different resolutions.

Advantages I see for doing the latter:
It looks better on 16:9 or 16:10, since elements are spread out more. That, and many of us are used to looking at HUDs like these.

For FSPort, I will be making them appear as if they were rendered on 4:3. Otherwise, the oval shape of the 3 brackets doesn't line up properly, and it looks stupid.

Also, for triple monitor displays (I assume nobody plays on double monitor because the center of your screen doesn't exist so you can't really aim), do people want all the HUD elements on the central monitor, or spread across all 3 monitors?

[Zacam]

For MediaVP usage, I think we'll want the reticule data and what not centered as if 4:3 even on the widescreen resolutions, unless there happens to be enough of a consensus for doing it another way.

[Kolgena]

Okay, the FS2 calculator is done. Expect the FS1 calculator soon.

I fixed up some problems and spent some time fine-tuning the coordinates of the HUD elements. Now, if you input 1024x768, you get a HUD output that's a pixel-perfect carbon-copy of retail. The calculator is also able to generate triple head HUD configurations. Just follow the instructions inside.

Usage is same as the one posted by Fury, except you need to have MS Excel. I'm not sure that it's compatible with Open Office since Fury's calculator doesn't work on Excel, and I assume the inverse is true.

As for whether we want the 4:3 center reticle stuff or a wider one, I have figured out a way to do that without screwing up the calculator for those who use 4:3 displays. It'll depend on what general consensus is. As for FSPort, like I said earlier, I'm going to keep the central stuff at a 4:3 aspect.

Update: FS1 calculator is finished as well. Screenshots are attached, which have HUDs drawn with 1366x768 as the base resolution. While tinkering with the FSPort calculator, I was reminded with a current code limitation that doesn't move the Gun and Engine ETS gauges closer together when shields are not present. It's nothing the calculator can do, since it happens even without a HUD_gauges.tbl in the VP or the \table directory.

Edit: Found a tiny problem in both calculators. If you set the base horizontal resolution to around 1920 or higher, you get a problem with the player shields gauge. Fix this by replacing the formula for it (Sheet4, K24) with "=FIXED(B24-512+G2/2+(G2-1024)*0.1,0,1)". This gets rid of the comma in the number, which will copy paste properly. (Minor bug, since you really wouldn't want to be drawing to anything higher than 1440x900 anyways)

[attachment deleted by ninja]