MOD: LazySumo's Minimal

What?

from Sins Forums
The UI for Sins is a thing of beauty and wonder. Except for all of the wasted real estate. There is soooo much wasted that I just had to do something. And since I can't yet mod features via scripting (Come on Ironclad, patch that in for us!) well, here we are.

This is just a simple UI mod, I changed a .tga file to get rid of all that metal and altered some XY coords in two .window files to tighten things up and viola! We're done. The mod SERIOUSLY adds in some extra "roominess" all the way around, so hopefully people will like it.

Here is what the final output looks like:



I've posted it to the upload site and am waiting for them to approve it, but for now you can download it from here:LazySumo's Minimal

Simply drag the folder inside the .zip file into your Sins folder, backup your install and run the RUNME.bat file by double clicking. Please read the file before you run it, it simply renames 2 files and copies 2 files. CHECK IT FIRST SO YOU KNOW.

Enjoy playing Sins with the extra screen. The visuals ingame are so pretty, I can't believe they decided to hide so much of it.

-Lazy

***** EDIT *****
I've changed the mod to be a complete UI minimalization, previously it was only the bottom bar, but I really like the way it looks now.
modding
27,831 views 29 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Not bad, that looks very well done. Sorta like the minimalist UI for supreme commander.

Is the top bar unchanged?
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Nothing done to the top bar, it's pretty minimalist already. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to do the same thing. However, I'm currently busy spreading my animas to the unbelievers on Hygiea. :) I might tackle the top bar tomorrow as well. Of course, I'll have to get rid of the spiffy name, sigh. Maybe LazySumo's T&A?

Thanks for the compliments, too! Much appreciated.
ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Shadow_Warrior, check it now. Thanks for the suggestion, glad you made it. I'm especially happy with how NON-intrusive the popup window is now. Glee!
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
ehm, should I backup the whole SOASE folder? :/

Will you make this into a mod that can be activated/deactivated after the next patch? :)
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Lut, the smart thing to do is ALWAYS back it all up, just to be sure. But if you examine the .bat file you can see what files are altered and back those up. Just because I'm such a great guy the batch file will go ahead and make backups for you.

Not sure about next patch, are they planning on putting in some sort of scripting then?
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
I dont know, I just assumed it would be possible because the game has an Enable/Disable mod screen under options ^^.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Hmmmm... I'll check into it. Thanks for the tip.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
You are joking, right? The default UI hardly takes away any space, it's already very minimalistic, so wtf are you talking about? :)
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
You can make the mod show up on the Enable/Disable list by putting it in the Mods directory (which can be shown on the Mods UI screen in-game), but there's a bug preventing optionally-loaded mods from working right now. They're fixing it in 1.02, iirc.

For now if you want to mod you have to edit the actual game files.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Mm.

Intriguing!
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
ok, tahnks for the tip ^^-*
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
eSphynx, you're kidding, right? You can always have MORE minimal! Yeesh. :)

Thanks KL, I'll look into it once 1.02 gets closer.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
Well, 1.02 is coming out Friday or early next week, so it's pretty close ;)
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks for this. Got to admit I found it a little disorienting compared to the old UI but I love being able to see more.

I will suggest adding in a batch file that you can run that will restore the old files though.
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks for making this - the game looks SOOO much better playing in total full screen (ie. without the interface). This gets me closer to that.

Can you make it even MORE minimal? For example, I almost never use the four buttons on the lower left that report events. It seems like there's absolutely no need for them to be that big. Do you have the capability to scale them down, or is that too difficult because of the way they are rendered? Similarly, Can you reduce the font size for the resource numbers in the upper right, and get rid of the border around them? Basically, I want the interface to be as small and unobtrusive as possible.

Thanks so much!
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
Hey, stupid question. I just installed this mod and it looks very appealing, but now my tactical info is missing. The gravity well disc is gone, as are the ship icons when I zoom out. With the scale of this game, I cannot see anything unless I'm zoomed way in. It's like it's stuck in scenematic mode now, and the scenematic mode button does not seem to do anything. Is this supposed to be part of the mod, or did something else happen to it for some reason?

I didn't back up the SOASE folder because I'm at a premiuem for space on my computer. I'm running a repair on the installation now to see if that fixes it.

BTW, forgive me if this is a known glitch or something. I just got the game on Sunday, and I've only played it twice now.
Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top
I sorta like the UI the way it is.
Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top

I sorta like the UI the way it is.
End of quote


Um, then don't install the mod?
Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top
Ignore my post, I solved it. Anyone know why the devs included options to turn off icons in the game when the scenematic mode does that for us? I never even thouht to look for options like that. Turning them off basically makes the game unplayable, but looks better, which is exactly what the scenematic mode is for, so why include options as well?

Oh well, don't answer that. It's OT here.
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top
Wow. Just played for about 4 hours, first time using your mod. I take back my earlier comment about wanting something even more minimal - your minimalist version really does the trick. Great work! Really helps those of us at lower resolutions.
Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top
Glad you were able to solve it noo3lb (does that mean 3 pounds of noob?? :) ) And thanks for the good reports everyone else. At this point I've looked over the modding tools that ICO has released and this mod won't work there (yet). But as soon as it does I'll update it. For now keep on running the .bat file as always. Peace!

-Lazy
Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top
Actually, my name is n003lb, not noo3lb. Zeros, not "o"s. It's an aircraft registration number, like N172CA. My real passion is aviation.
Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top
Doh! My bad n003lb. What kind of aircraft?
Reply #24 from Sins Forums Top
Almost any. It's my callsign in flight simulators. In reality, I can't afford the plane. I've got my sport license, which allows me to fly a relatively new class of light weight planes called Light Sport Aircraft, or LSAs. Unfortunately, there are no LSAs available around here now. When I got my license, there was an LSA available for rent at a local airport. It was an friend's plane that he would rent to others when he didn't need it. Unfortuately, he moved a few months ago and now I'm without an aircraft until I can afford to buy my own, which will hopefully be within a year or so.

I have to tide myself over right now with the simulators and the occasional chance to fly my R/C birds, when the weather cooperates, which is very rarely  (:( .