[1.12.x] ZTheme v1.1.3 - A dark theme for KSP (2024-02-27)

[zapsnh]

I've been """"learning""""  Figma and created these icons. What do y'all think?

link to the figma

Edited July 15, 2023 by zapsnh

[Nazalassa]

1 hour ago, zapsnh said:

I've been """"learning""""  Figma and created these icons. What do y'all think?

Damn, that's nice!

[UltraJohn]

5 hours ago, zapsnh said:

I've been """"learning""""  Figma and created these icons. What do y'all think?

Looks great!

[pipe]

Hey, sorry if it's the wrong place to ask for help but for some reason the altitude and staging meters are dark instead of white, so it's really hard to read them

https://imgur.com/a/SpkvwMV

I bet I messed something up but I don't know what

[UltraJohn]

58 minutes ago, pipe said:

Hey, sorry if it's the wrong place to ask for help but for some reason the altitude and staging meters are dark instead of white, so it's really hard to read them

https://imgur.com/a/SpkvwMV

I bet I messed something up but I don't know what

Hi. The color for the altitude digits should be light grey/white. Can you confirm if the correct value is being set?

Find and open this file: GameData/ZTheme/config.cfg and look for this line: tumblerColorPositive = 0.816,0.816,0.835,1

if it's not the same as this, you may have an older version installed, so make sure to update ZTheme and HUDReplacer to the latest version.

[pipe]

6 minutes ago, UltraJohn said:

Hi. The color for the altitude digits should be light grey/white. Can you confirm if the correct value is being set?

Find and open this file: GameData/ZTheme/config.cfg and look for this line: tumblerColorPositive = 0.816,0.816,0.835,1

if it's not the same as this, you may have an older version installed, so make sure to update ZTheme and HUDReplacer to the latest version.

I can confirm the value is identical to the one that you provided, I already use the latest version.

[UltraJohn]

21 minutes ago, pipe said:

I can confirm the value is identical to the one that you provided, I already use the latest version.

Very strange. Can you post your KSP.log?

[pipe]

10 minutes ago, UltraJohn said:

Very strange. Can you post your KSP.log?

Of course, but how do I share it? The file is 9 megabytes, far too much for pastebin

Scratch that.

https://pomf2.lain.la/f/t3q0gv84.log

Edited July 14, 2023 by pipe

[UltraJohn]

11 minutes ago, pipe said:

Of course, but how do I share it? The file is 9 megabytes, far too much for pastebin

Scratch that.

https://pomf2.lain.la/f/t3q0gv84.log

I can't load that page. Can you try a different host?

[zapsnh]

3 hours ago, pipe said:

Hey, sorry if it's the wrong place to ask for help but for some reason the altitude and staging meters are dark instead of white, so it's really hard to read them

https://imgur.com/a/SpkvwMV

I bet I messed something up but I don't know what

What version of HUDReplacer do you have? If it ain't the latest, update it.

[zapsnh]

OrbitIcons.png is almost done!

Spoiler

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by zapsnh

[pipe]

7 hours ago, zapsnh said:

What version of HUDReplacer do you have? If it ain't the latest, update it.

You're right, I just checked the version and it was 1.1.0-beta... actually ancient. Thanks, CKAN.

I updated it and everything works fine now. Thanks

[UltraJohn]

Heya, just checking in to see if there's any news on the VAB buttons?

I'm not sure if @OnlyLightMatters forgot about it or is busy with other matters (pun not intended but oh well )

Edited August 16, 2023 by UltraJohn

[zapsnh]

1 hour ago, UltraJohn said:

Heya, just checking in to see if there's any news on the VAB buttons?

I'm not sure if @OnlyLightMatters forgot about it or is busy with other matters (pun not intended but oh well )

I've checked on them like 1 month ago on the PR they made, no reply unfortunately.

[OnlyLightMatters]

Hi all. Sorry, I did not have much time to work on the subject and I won't have any before at least several months. I am resigning  of my current occupation because I am finally joigning a space agency! I still don't understand how they were foolish enough to accept me  I should get to Kourou in November. So, I have a lot of work to find a successor and train him/her to my activities.
My work is here : https://github.com/OnlyLightMatters/SrcZTheme
You are more than welcome to use, fork, steal it, whatever.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by OnlyLightMatters

[UltraJohn]

@OnlyLightMatters Wow, congratz! Best of luck to you!

[zapsnh]

I've made some moar icons for stuff. Feel free to leave some feedback.

I may change these icons a bit so go to Figma for the latest iterations

These icons remind me of something...

Spoiler

ZTheme for Firefox coming to a Firefox CSS Store near you

--

jk

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by zapsnh

[zapsnh]

Apparently people post changelogs of new mod releases on their topics??? Who would want people to get notified of new releases of their mods?? snh ny head

ZTheme v1.0.0

Changelog

• The R&D tab icons have been finished

• The VAB has proper icons now

• The KAL Editor icons have been finished (note: sometimes these icons don't show up, I don't know why)

• The science dialog has proper icons now

Known Issues

• KAL Editor icons sometimes don't show up.

[zapsnh]

Someone on the r/KSP discord complained about the icons being unreadable. Unfortunately, I literally have no idea what icons they were complaining about so I'd like to see some constructive criticism about the icons and the whole theme in general.

[shelshok]

Sorry but I kind of agree, at least in the case of the top VAB/SPH icons. The point of icons is to, at the slightest glance and without thinking, know what they are and what to press, but...

The stock new/open/save, even if slightly out of place in a ship builder, are still consistent with what people know from other apps. They are very clear, and require almost no thought to use.

Your open and save are essentially the same icon but mirrored and with an arrow flipped so it always takes me a moment to decide. And how many players know what that cylinder is supposed to represent? Honestly, I'd go with some form of document* folder and disk as well, but if not, maybe something that represents the "database" a bit better in this context.

A plus for "new" doesn't really make sense when the whole point of the VAB is to add things. If not a document icon, you could use something that represents deleting instead of adding, as that button will delete the current ship.

Launch and exit VAB are both right arrows of some sort. I'd at least differentiate that part.

Stock launch is clear about what it will do. Stock exit is less so because it suggests exporting or sending, but leaving a box is still less ambiguous than a right arrow which suggests a next step.

The ones on the left are more literally difficult to read...

The wrench is too  realistic in shape and difficult to make out at a small size (I just see a dash at first glance). A more stumpy wrench with larger ends (or just the open end) might be easier to recognize. I'd probably go with a gear and three lines to represent the list of actions.

The Kerbal really requires some imagination. I see a really small rocket in front of a planet. The problem here is mainly the smaller size, but maybe if you put a more generic stick figure it might help. Maybe even three of them next to each other to represent a crew.

The cargo is very abstract at such a small size. Maybe show multiple cargo items instead?

The rocket and plane next to each other doesn't really indicate switching anything. The stock version isn't so much better, but at least it let's you say "I want to make a plane" or "I want to make a rocket" depending on the context.

Of course, anyone who's been playing for a while will know what they do, but that doesn't mean they can't be better at representing what that is.

As for the rest of the icons and the theme itself, I think you are doing a fantastic job.

[shelshok]

Actually, since you're asking for criticism on the theme in general as well, I'd say my only issue with it is there seems to be a bit of inconsistency about whether it's flat or not. Some elements are plain flat while others have drop shadows and raised borders when they don't really need them.

For buttons or anything meant to hover over another element, shadows make sense (like the fly/recover buttons), but take for example the icons in the list of saves. There's no need for them to  have a border or shadow when they can just be a graphic to the left of the text.

Similarly, the buttons on the left of the space center have borders and shadows while the toolbar buttons don't.

On a similar note, many of the icons are just a shape on a background, but the filter list in map mode also has a glow around the icon.

Otherwise, I do want to stress again that you are doing a fantastic job. I just like giving feedback.

[zapsnh]

45 minutes ago, shelshok said:

Spoiler

Sorry but I kind of agree, at least in the case of the top VAB/SPH icons. The point of icons is to, at the slightest glance and without thinking, know what they are and what to press, but...

The stock new/open/save, even if slightly out of place in a ship builder, are still consistent with what people know from other apps. They are very clear, and require almost no thought to use.

Your open and save are essentially the same icon but mirrored and with an arrow flipped so it always takes me a moment to decide. And how many players know what that cylinder is supposed to represent? Honestly, I'd go with some form of document* folder and disk as well, but if not, maybe something that represents the "database" a bit better in this context.

A plus for "new" doesn't really make sense when the whole point of the VAB is to add things. If not a document icon, you could use something that represents deleting instead of adding, as that button will delete the current ship.

Launch and exit VAB are both right arrows of some sort. I'd at least differentiate that part.

Stock launch is clear about what it will do. Stock exit is less so because it suggests exporting or sending, but leaving a box is still less ambiguous than a right arrow which suggests a next step.

The ones on the left are more literally difficult to read...

The wrench is too  realistic in shape and difficult to make out at a small size (I just see a dash at first glance). A more stumpy wrench with larger ends (or just the open end) might be easier to recognize. I'd probably go with a gear and three lines to represent the list of actions.

The Kerbal really requires some imagination. I see a really small rocket in front of a planet. The problem here is mainly the smaller size, but maybe if you put a more generic stick figure it might help. Maybe even three of them next to each other to represent a crew.

The cargo is very abstract at such a small size. Maybe show multiple cargo items instead?

The rocket and plane next to each other doesn't really indicate switching anything. The stock version isn't so much better, but at least it let's you say "I want to make a plane" or "I want to make a rocket" depending on the context.

Of course, anyone who's been playing for a while will know what they do, but that doesn't mean they can't be better at representing what that is.

As for the rest of the icons and the theme itself, I think you are doing a fantastic job.

Any other comments about the icons? The side/bottombar icons (e.g. resource, contracts, deltaV calc, etc.), science dialog icons, anything in this Figma file?

How about the VAB icons in this screenshot of an unreleased (and most likely very copyright infringing) version of ZTheme?
oh and here's the gallery of that version too maybe you'd like some elements of that version in a future release

--

40 minutes ago, shelshok said:

Spoiler

Actually, since you're asking for criticism on the theme in general as well, I'd say my only issue with it is there seems to be a bit of inconsistency about whether it's flat or not. Some elements are plain flat while others have drop shadows and raised borders when they don't really need them.

For buttons or anything meant to hover over another element, shadows make sense (like the fly/recover buttons), but take for example the icons in the list of saves. There's no need for them to  have a border or shadow when they can just be a graphic to the left of the text.

Similarly, the buttons on the left of the space center have borders and shadows while the toolbar buttons don't.

Can you post some screenshots of the offending textures. Should make the work easier.

47 minutes ago, shelshok said:

On a similar note, many of the icons are just a shape on a background, but the filter list in map mode also has a glow around the icon.

Otherwise, I do want to stress again that you are doing a fantastic job. I just like giving feedback.

omg i forgot to theme those icons should be pretty easy to fix tho

[shelshok]

For the saves list, I mean this...

To be honest though, those icons could use some work. The career could be a bit more abstract (doesn't really need the helmet around the chart). The rocket in a box sort of makes sense, but it's one of your few 3D icons.  For the three, I'd maybe pick just a chart for career, just a flask for science, and for sandbox, maybe something like a shovel and/or ball with a star on it or something to suggest playing around.

In Space Center view (maybe the icon should be brighter to match most toolbar/active buttons)...

In VAB, these work pretty well (except maybe the Kerbal still)....

As for copyright, these are all generic objects. You should be safe if you redraw them from scratch.

But why not remove the thick outline to give yourself a bit more room? You could separate with a space or just a darker line between them.

I definitely think the asterisk makes mare sense than the plus, as it's pretty universal for new.

Funny enough, one of your screenshots loaded with an X over the corner, and I think this makes the most sense so far for exit....

I do think the bright outlines look out of place in general as you don't have them on most buttons. Especially here...

Both of those seem like they'd be easier to read and not so bright with just the symbol on a darker square.

For inspiration on icons, maybe take a look at Apple's SF Symbols collection.

Edited August 27, 2023 by shelshok

[Xaned Kerman]

squeaky? can you make a download link of the navball?

[Dig1talCrus4der]

I just posted new issue to your Git. Some of my icons and textures are displayed incorrectly. ZTheme version 1.0.0, Screenshots and Mod list included.