HUD Colour / Contrast

[vk2war]

G'day,

 

I know that this will not affect most of you. So I implore your patience. I once was flying planes before I could legally drive a car. I was also shooting weapons as an Army Cadet that apparently scare the living hell out of Aussies for some strange reason, and winning competitions. My eye sight has always been okay, even under correction and in the Military it was always pertinent to my skill set.

 

I have lost the ability to have a dominant right hand that works almost at all whilst pronating without severe nerve pain. Now I have also lost most of the sight in my dominant right eye (once always my good eye) after the last piece of titanium was inserted into my L5/S1 vertebrae.

 

I went in in pain, came out in pain and without any vision for 8 weeks. When it returned the damage to my right eye was permanent.

 

To that end I thought Id never be able to drive, fly micro-drones (FPV) racing, as my photo-sensitivity and loss of vision sucked and I guess still does obviously.

 

To that end I sat around like a sook for 5 months staring into the abyss and walked past my FPV goggles so many times just telling myself why bother only to find out that I was wrong, very wrong.

 

I cannot see faces anymore. Anyone further than a few feet from me kinda looks like a silhouette. Clearly defined outer lines, but everything in between kind of gets blurred into indiscernible characteristics.

 

Regardless, I picked up my FPV goggles and plugged a battery into one of my tiny whoops. (If you do not know what it is just check out YouTube, they're are 65-70mm motor to motor micro-copters).

 

So I stuck my goggles on and placed the Tiny Whoop on my head. Well stuff me drunk, I could see again with a couple of caveats.

 

I walked around my house and was astonished that this crappy 600TVL camera allowed me to see my daughters face clearly from across the room.

 

One might call out Eureka at that stage. Well this took me down the rabbit hole of buying a heap of stuff for MS Flight Sim. Then I discovered DCS.

 

With my Photo-sensitivity being a problem, especially on the net. I have a 3 x 4K monitor setup and I cannot see bugger all unless it is in Darkmode. Its taken me 2 years now to sort out my system so I can just add filters in which ever browser I am using.

 

Now, you have the background. Here is my issue. If you have not already tuned out, thank you.

 

I started off in the A10C. I love it. My problem is, reading the HUD in it. The F-18 well, the HUD is just that little bit better for me to read. However, even with my HP Reverb on, with prescription lenses for it, I simply get a lot of double vision (Yes I play with the IPD). A quick Zoom in kind of fixes that, but heres the thing. I have every map, the only one I can really work in is the Caucuses map. Reason, its the only map that has a contrast good enough for me to barely see what the hell I am doing.

 

Look, I do not know anything about Lua Scripting. What I need is the ability to turn the contrast of my HUD up along with the AMPCD which I cannot see at all unless it is in Night Mode. Its like looking at the sun to me, even with the brightness down.

 

For whatever, the Maps on the AMPCD are pretty much one great big white mess. For me to see anything resembling a delineation of land/sea I have to switch to night mode. There are no blues in it.

 

Thats my second issue, obviously the first being, Please can someone help me with the Contrast and Colour of my HUD.

 

Since Supercarrier, things are a little better for me. I have been able to actually see on occasion a contact under me on the ground by about 5000ft, so things are a little better for me.

 

What has me rattled is the HUD Issue mainly, on all aircraft I own. I may never be able to fly combat anything beyond visual range, but I would at least like to be albe to not cause my self a stroke trying to read my HUD so I can pass my check flight for my 101 with my Squadron.

 

So anybody who may have a solution I would be really appreciative. I know the A10C has the ability to change HUD colour, I tried it, It just was not bright enough.

 

I use a HP Reverb.

 

Thank you

 

VK2WAR

Edited May 30, 2020 by vk2war

[Harker]

Hey man, I think I can help. Please tell me exactly what you want first though.

 

Do you want to make the HUD font brighter or more defined? That's easily doable. I've made a mod for myself, just place the materials.lua file in C:\DCS\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\ and replace the existing file. Make sure to back up both the original and the modded files in a safe place, since DCS will overwrite the mod every time you run an Update or Repair and you'll have to reapply it.

 

Do you want to make the HUD glass darker? A little more complicated, but doable as well.

 

As for the map on the AMPCD, it's possible to either disable it completely, by selecting MODE and then de-selecting (unboxing) MAP. That can be done without any modification.

 

There's also an easy mod to disable brightness control for the AMPCD symbology, but keep it for the map only. That way, you can turn down the map brightness by either turning the knob or going to Night mode, but the symbology will always stay at max, so it stands out. If you want that, place the AMPCD_init.lua file in C:\DCS\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\Multipurpose_Display_Group\AMPCD\indicator\ and replace the existing file. Same deal with the backups etc.

 

EDIT: added some files. See how the changes work for you and let me know if you want to adjust some things.

AMPCD_init.lua

materials.lua

Edited May 31, 2020 by Harker

[vk2war]

Hi mate,

 

Thanx for the reply. I guess its the HUD that is the biggest issue. WIth the AMPCD on start up, I usually, set it to night mode, so I can get an idea where I am. I will turn up the contrast to as far as it will go and turn symbology up to as far as it will go, from there I do as you said, hit the left middle button twice so it just shows the HSI.

 

I can deal with having to do that. Its the HUD that is the problem. Its hard to tell if it needs to be brighter so it stands out more especially in the PG or Nevada maps. Or the contrast needs to be increased or colour changed. Definately brighteness would be the go at least to start.

 

I dont need the windscreen tint to be darker. Unless that would make it more defined. So I havent really thought about that. I do know that if I jump into a Huey, the Yellow Reticle, is about the best HUD (loosely) display that I have seen, but I havent really spent too much time in the desert with it.

 

Hope that makes some kind of sense.

 

Will try your files now, and let you know, thanx heaps mate.

[Harker]

It's very easy to change the HUD color, go to the materials.lua file I sent you, line 23, MDG_materials[MDG_SELF_IDS.HUD] = {5, 450, 50, 300}. Try out values yourself and see. You can make it any color you want. The default values from DCS are {2, 255, 20, 255}.

 

The first three numbers are RGB values, the fourth number is transparency, if I'm not mistaken. Normally, they range from 0 to 255, but I found that you can actually go beyond that and have a color "pop" more. To me, the effect looks closer to HUDs I've seen in real life. Sometimes it's a little too bright/blooming, but I'm still tweaking it.

[vk2war]

Damn you're a miracle worker mate, thanks so much!!! Haven't tried it on the other maps yet, but hell I can read it like I couldn't before on the Caucuses map !

 

I will check out the code and see if I can tweak it like you said.

 

You would think, knowing the operational requirements of the planes, that the hud would change automatically, for example, if you are flying in the PG map, you would expect the HUD to change as you cross from Sky to Sea, to Mountain, to Desert. Where the scene is dark, the contrast would change as you go through from dark brown to light brown to blue to dark blue.

 

I think green tends to be a good compromise, but its less easy to see when you're facing the sun.

 

The new Supercarrier mod tends to be a little improvement, but what you just gave me, 1000 % better.

Edited June 1, 2020 by vk2war

[sobe]

Harker:

 

 

 

I also have an issue with the green font HUD. Is there any way to outline the letters and numbers in a black outline so you can see them better?

 

 

Update: Your materials lua made the HUD font more readable.

Edited June 1, 2020 by sobe
added second paragraph

[Harker]

Damn you're a miracle worker mate, thanks so much!!! Haven't tried it on the other maps yet, but hell I can read it like I couldn't before on the Caucuses map !

 

I will check out the code and see if I can tweak it like you said.

 

You would think, knowing the operational requirements of the planes, that the hud would change automatically, for example, if you are flying in the PG map, you would expect the HUD to change as you cross from Sky to Sea, to Mountain, to Desert. Where the scene is dark, the contrast would change as you go through from dark brown to light brown to blue to dark blue.

 

I think green tends to be a good compromise, but its less easy to see when you're facing the sun.

 

The new Supercarrier mod tends to be a little improvement, but what you just gave me, 1000 % better.

 

 

Very happy to hear it mate! :thumbup:

 

 

Harker:

 

 

 

I also have an issue with the green font HUD. Is there any way to outline the letters and numbers in a black outline so you can see them better?

 

 

Update: Your materials lua made the HUD font more readable.

 

 

Happy to help. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to add an outline to the HUD font, since there's no relevant argument available, but maybe someone else has figured out a way. You can, however, make the font thicker (or thinner) by modifying the MDG_strokesDefs.lua file, located DCS\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\Multipurpose_Display_Group\Common\indicator\ . It may help. Keep in mind that the same file will affect the DDI font as well.

 

Alternatively, you can try modifying the AVQ32_init.lua file located \DCS World\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\Multipurpose_Display_Group\HUD_AVQ32\indicator\, since it has both font thickness and fuzziness arguments. But when I tried, I didn't see a difference, it seems it's controlled by the general MDG_strokesDefs.lua file.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Harker

[Oilman100]

It's very easy to change the HUD color, go to the materials.lua file I sent you, line 23, MDG_materials[MDG_SELF_IDS.HUD] = {5, 450, 50, 300}. Try out values yourself and see. You can make it any color you want. The default values from DCS are {2, 255, 20, 255}.

 

The first three numbers are RGB values, the fourth number is transparency, if I'm not mistaken. Normally, they range from 0 to 255, but I found that you can actually go beyond that and have a color "pop" more. To me, the effect looks closer to HUDs I've seen in real life. Sometimes it's a little too bright/blooming, but I'm still tweaking it.

 

Did you figure out how to change the HMD so we can get both colours to match ?

[Harker]

Did you figure out how to change the HMD so we can get both colours to match ?

line 77: materials["HMD_SYMBOLOGY_MATERIAL"]

[Oilman100]

line 77: materials["HMD_SYMBOLOGY_MATERIAL"]

 

Many Thx

[Padonis]

After the last patch there are terrible problems with reading HUD and HMD. Which lines of .lua files require these letters to be bright and font thick? I care about HMD the most, it is the least visible to me.

Edited June 5, 2020 by padonis

[avenger82]

G'day,

 

I simply get a lot of double vision (Yes I play with the IPD).

I use a HP Reverb.

 

Thank you

 

VK2WAR

 

I don't know how software IPD could contribute to double vision with only one eye, but HP just released new version: G2 with hardware IPD.

[Terry Dactil]

Thanks Harker.

You have made my F-18 flyable again. :thumbup:

[Noluck]

As an aging pilot, I also really appreciate this thread and mod's.

 

First @vk2war, hats off to you sir. Your persistence in a difficult personal situation is an inspiration to me!

 

@Harker, your mod's are well received here, thank you so much, helped me out big time.

 

Cheers

---

Edited June 7, 2020 by Noluck

[chase]

@Harker Like others have said.. It's nice to see people stepping up and helping others when there is so much finger pointing lately, that this is a pleasant change.

 

I copied the (materials.lua ) over to C:\DCS\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\

and overwrote the file. ( After backing it up )

 

The plane loaded correctly, but when the Sun hits the DDI it still kind of washes out the screen with reflections. Is this MOD only for the HUD, or is there a different file for the DDI's?

 

I think it does provide some help over the stock version.

Otherwise the HUD looks much brighter So thanks for that.

 

I'm running current beta 2.5.6.50793

 

I also run Kegetys VR Shaders mod.

 

Thanks.

Dave

[Harker]

@Harker Like others have said.. It's nice to see people stepping up and helping others when there is so much finger pointing lately, that this is a pleasant change.

 

 

 

I copied the (materials.lua ) over to C:\DCS\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\

 

and overwrote the file. ( After backing it up )

 

 

 

The plane loaded correctly, but when the Sun hits the DDI it still kind of washes out the screen with reflections. Is this MOD only for the HUD, or is there a different file for the DDI's?

 

 

 

I think it does provide some help over the stock version.

 

Otherwise the HUD looks much brighter So thanks for that.

 

 

 

I'm running current beta 2.5.6.50793

 

 

 

I also run Kegetys VR Shaders mod.

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Dave

 

The washed out look is due to changes in the lighting that came with the a recent update, it has nothing to do with the mod. You can try to make the font more visible by increasing the R,G,B and Alpha values. The same file controls all the fonts in the plane. The HUD is controlled by "MDG_materials[MDG_SELF_IDS.HUD] and the fonts for the displays are exactly below that. (LMDI, RMDI and HI, for the left DDI, right DDI and MPCD respectively).

[chase]

Ah ok. Thanks.

[PoorOldSpike]

Can I just toss these screenshots into the playpen-

 

Firstly, if we suspect our HUD is too dull in daytime we should double-check that it's not somehow reverted to the "night" low-brightness setting.

I assigned these two key combos to check mine-

 

 

(PS- don't ask me what all the other HUD-related keys are for above, I haven't a bleddy clue)

 

 

 

 

Secondly below is my cockpit default view, the HUD looks okay-

 

 

 

 

But usually I add a bit of zoom like this so I can see everything better-

 

(They're only jpeg screenshots, the actual ingame screen looks much sharper)

 

 

PS- on a medical note I've been almost blind in one eye from birth, it could have been easily corrected as a kid, but I somehow slipped through the net and it's too late now, grrr..but luckily I've always been able to muddle through with only one-and-a-half eyeballs..:)

Edited June 14, 2020 by PoorOldSpike

[vk2war]

Just out of pure curiosity, and I know its the wrong forum, but how would you do the same thing in an A10C?

[vk2war]

No worries mate, thanx for the vote of confidence. I love this world. I see it for the most better than I do real life. Hell I think I said I walked around my house with a microdrone and crappy 600tvl camera on my head, with Fatshark Goggles on and I saw better than I normally do. I think what @Harker has done for us is amazing, I am harrassing him for an A10C version (Lets hope he says yes). Honestly though, the brightness levels should be totally off the wall by switch anyway which ED should consider in an update. Crossing my fingers.

[vk2war]

As soon as someone offers to buy my HP Reverb I will update it with the new one. Having said that, just imagine putting on a pair of safety glasses (if you dont wear any) then blotch vaseline pretty much randomly leaving some space for some vision at the periphery and a tiny bit about 10 percent in and around the center. Thats what I see normally if I close my (now) good eye.

 

With the HMD you have settings for Left Right or Both. Ive set mine for both. If I set it for right I see nothing. Setting it for left is so so. Kinda useless on both as well for me.

 

The HUD however, is different. I see it. Its very good now with the MOD Harker gave me. I also have Lenses in the goggles for my prescription. This should fix the IPD issue, but I change it every so oft hoping to get it slightly better in the software. Sometimes it seems okay, others it does not. It also matters how the goggles are worn. Sometimes they slip down and you have to adjust. Sometimes its perfect sometimes not.

 

The Double Vision thing Ive been told is normal for that distance with my condition and the lenses in. Then again, Im not too sure my Ophthalmologist gives too much of a flying continental as long as it keeps the tyres clean on his Mazerati Q Series. Yes Im slightly jealous.

[Harker]

No worries mate, thanx for the vote of confidence. I love this world. I see it for the most better than I do real life. Hell I think I said I walked around my house with a microdrone and crappy 600tvl camera on my head, with Fatshark Goggles on and I saw better than I normally do. I think what @Harker has done for us is amazing, I am harrassing him for an A10C version (Lets hope he says yes). Honestly though, the brightness levels should be totally off the wall by switch anyway which ED should consider in an update. Crossing my fingers.

It's the same principle. The materials.lua file is located at C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World\Mods\aircraft\A-10C\Cockpit\Scripts\ . Line 28 is materials["HUD_IND_GREEN"] = {R, G, B, Alpha}.

 

I've attached a modified materials.lua that I use the same values as for the F-18. Just replace the default file in the above directory and remember to replace it after each update, until ED fixes the issue themselves.

 

Let me know how it works.

materials.lua

[t1mb0b]

very useful info, trying black HUD symbology for TAC turns against bright skies, cheating I know