Making high contrast nav ball!

[therealcrow999]

I liked something from all the versions posted here, and disliked other things, so i ended up making my own frankenstein navball, taking ideas from all those posted already, and adding some own.

My navball is functionally divided into three zones: horizon, climb/descend area, polar area. Each of them is designed differently, because at least i tend to use those zones differently:

http://oi60.tinypic.com/i3sawx.jpg

Horizon area: Free of any clutter. There aren't even pitch markers, because quite frankly, so close to the horizon, you functionally don't need them. Directions are readily available above and below, but the area where you're usually headed during level flight, is kept free, so that you can horizontally navigate without obscuring info.

http://oi59.tinypic.com/15ps4gm.jpg

Climb/descend area. Pitch markers from 30 to 60 degrees. Just three markers in 15 degree steps (30, 45, 60) - more precision would just look fancy, but functionally add useless clutter. Again, above and below, sky directions remain in sight.

http://oi62.tinypic.com/bdtzkw.jpg

Polar region: No one needs any precision at this angle, because: 1. There's no space. 2. There's no space. 3. You can't control very precisely at this angle anyways. Rather, all you care about is sky directions. What was east again? 90? 270? I need to know fastish! Nevermind that - just use big letters instead. The polar region thus is nothing more than 4 big letters, and a crosshair. One curiousity you can notice in the above pic though, is that not only is the north colored (red), but south as well (blue).

Pic for ingame usage:

http://i2.minus.com/i6Q5PMFxeG91P.png

Ultra Hi-Res source pic without antialiasing and smoothing - for editing only:

http://i5.minus.com/i28p95rrQ1Hiw.png

The whole thing was created in an exotic freeware app called "diagram designer" by meesoft. Probably no one knows or uses it, but in case anyone wants to edit it in diagram designer, instead of an image editor, drop me a line and i'll post the file.

EDIT: Reuploaded pics to 2img, because bayimg sucks.

EDIT2: Reuploaded pics to tinypic and min.us, because 2img sucks too.

I can confirm this works for me. I am using version 1.3 of the Navball Replacer and KSP 1.0.2. Everything works fine, navball is skinned in the right place (Using Skin from thread above). I am also on Windows 7.

[Andy81le]

I noticed that the new Navball texture is inverted on IVA. How can this happen?

Edit: Nevermind, didn't notice the iva_navball texture

Edit II: IVA still is inverted and using the navball.png, not the iva_navball.png.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Andy81le

[therealcrow999]

I have a bug with this mod, I don't know if anyone is still around that maintains it. I use this mod because I don't have a beefy computer that plays KSP 1.0.2

The problem is when I launch game, go to VAB load say Kerbal Stock X craft, launch it and when I am on the pad, I hit "M" to go to map mode and this is what I see:

I revert flight and it is still there, the only way to make it go away is restart KSP. When I come back from KSP if I go to tracking station it is fine but if I load a craft and I am on launch pad, that visual error shows up.

Here is my log files:

http://www./download/58he6us0hyuj9g4/KSP_Logs.zip

And here is a Google Doc on what mods I use:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dwITtAoPPUeFB5tnT_q3rAPEGE1iTiLc-8p9zfh6j_M/edit?usp=sharing

I figured it was this mod because when I looked in log files a lot of things kick up from NavBallTextureExport, so when I took that mod out it works fine. So I don't know if its a mod conflict or just this mod needs updated.

[zotlynn]

http://oi59.tinypic.com/u1sgj.jpg Thanks be to the work done by rynac, XedMada, 5thHorseman, regex, flashcactus, tinyboss, razark, kBob, and xEvilReeperx. Here are my tweaks to the work. Thanks to xEvilReeperx for this grand mod, to kBob for the original idea, and to XedMada, 5thHorseman, regex, flashcactus, tinyboss, and razark for graphics work.

i added a field of stars to the black, since that's when the craft is pointed toward, well, the stars. The colors look more elegant and less clowny once wrapped, though y'all are welcome to change them if you like. The polar rings and dots are crisp and small once wrapped, and sized to be just outside indicators. i used a darker green than rynac's first frankenstein submitted, and that works well for me. i modified crosshairs at line junctions to get a precise visual confirmation when the indicator is directly over the junction. In general i follow rynac's reasoning for retaining elements. i de-emphasized the 15, 30, and 60 lines, which has the effect of reducing clutter and emphasizing the 45 lines. One could further de-emphasize those lines by replacing the raised-look rectangles with simple thin lines.

i uploaded this in png and then doubted it got there in png format, sigh:

http://imgur.com/gallery/wfOPWHi/new

i was able to download from it in the png format, and then 5thHorseman was able to pull it up as a png (thanks, 5thHorseman). Maybe you can too.

For the purpose of providing a png file for ingame usage and/or further tweaks, i attempted to create an account at http://minus.com/ (and http://i2.minus.com/ , which just goes to the former url). It has a button for "create account". The button leads only to an opportunity to download a "meowchat" app, NOT an opportunity to create a minus account. If anybody here has instructions on how to create a minus account, how to share a png using a reddit account, or any other free account that will serve the purpose of providing y'all a png file for ingame usage and/or further tweaks, please let me know. Thanks.

Edited May 7, 2015 by zotlynn
adding explanation

[Superfluous J]

i uploaded this in png yet doubt it is there in png format, sigh:

http://imgur.com/gallery/wfOPWHi/new

I don't know about other browsers but I was able to click that to make the image bigger, and then right click it and get this link:

I'm not sure if that's the full size but it IS a png.

Oh, and nice navball! If I ever reinstall this mod I may give it a run

[zotlynn]

I don't know about other browsers but I was able to click that to make the image bigger, and then right click it and get this link:

http://i.imgur.com/wfOPWHi.png

I'm not sure if that's the full size but it IS a png.

Well, that's a relief. Gratitude that you checked. This means i won't be seeking yet a third image-sharing site , and that y'all can use the png via imgur. Yes, that is full size, as large as i need to put in this mod, or to edit.

Oh, and nice navball! If I ever reinstall this mod I may give it a run

Why, thank you. You won't find it much different than rynax's remake of your remake of rynax's remake of...etc, but you may, like me, enjoy the precision at crosshairs, and the twinkling of the stars. i presume these png images would be just as useful to someone who replaced their navball skin using TextureReplacer as they would be to someone who replaced their navball skin using this mod thanks to xEvilReeperx's mod here.

i tweaked a bit more, mostly to increase the color distinction between the tan cross-quarter (NE & SE) lines and the canary East line, but also doing the line-simplifying i suggested above. The re-tweak:

http://oi59.tinypic.com/2q3x545.jpg

png on imgur of the re-tweak:

http://i.imgur.com/3TlUcDo.png

[Barking Sands]

I got the inspiration from the "minimalist navball" earlier in this thread to use color coding, but not just in the cardinal arcs but also in the background colors. While this is useless to people who don't see the subtle color differences, I thought it looked pretty darn cool when I first tested it.

Spent the last couple days furnishing the attitude indicator with all the usual amenities (pitch/bank angle contour lines & latitudinal pips for both mil angles and degrees), sacrificing numbers in the display for greater contrast and visibility. End result looks pretty spectacular in practice.

The bank angle lines should be familiar to those with some experience with a standard PFD/attitude indicator cockpit. I skipped the 5 degree lines and just kept it to 10, 20, and 30 with 70 and 80 near the radial extreme. The new features are the latitudinal pips. The red arcs show heading/bearing in 5 degree pips on the 0 and 60 degree pitch angles. The black/white arcs show the same in 10/100 mil segments, which frame around the 45 degree pitch angles.

What this instrument could still use is some indicator of North or 0 degrees from the radial positions. I've tried sticking something in, but compensating for the cylindrical projection of the texture file makes it unreadable, not to mention distorted and ugly. The color coding helps, but again that doesn't work for people who have color blindness. Colors I chose are green (North), magenta (South -- opposite of green), orange (East -- orange/yellow because of the sun rising theme), and teal (West -- opposite of orange). The background coloring is slightly tinted to match, with the Eastern hemisphere using just noticeably lighter shades than the West (which might help add some colorblind-friendliness).

Preliminary version:

HUDNavBall.png (for TextureReplacer):

IVANavBall.png:

On another note, is anybody interested in a NavBall texture of the 3-gimballed Flight Director Attitude Indicator used on the Apollo missions?

There's already an image in this thread, but that image is actually a Mercator projection looking to the North with a 90 degree left bank angle, while the TextureReplacer mod uses projections looking to the North at a zero degree bank angle (it's sideways, and simply flipping it 90 degrees won't get it to render properly). Correct texture should look vaguely like:

^^ This could be a bit fun at least for a little while, because it allows players to try to "avoid gimbal lock" by keeping the vessel from pointing directly East/West while planning and executing orbital maneuvers. I'm sure there were other methods of avoiding a gimbal lock because the nav console had multiple inputs which would give the FDAI a different bearing and avoid issues when facing due East/West; at least temporarily. Still might be fun to try; just not really into putting in all that effort to make the texture if there aren't people interested in it elsewhere.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Barking Sands
spoiler tags

[Tebryn]

regarding the polar texture compression, you can create your texture in a polar alignment for text and lines near the poles, then use Polar coordinate distortion to convert it from a circular image of the pole to a rectangular image with the correct distortion for your texture to get wrapped around the sphere later.

Only tutorial video I could find quickly using GIMP:

it's a bit old but covers the basics.

once you have your equirectangular projection, you can clean up your equatorial section and finish out your texture. and everything should look clean. Currently fiddling around creating multiple independent layers that I can work with to make navball creation a bit easier. not sure what look I'm going to go for yet though.

[Commander Jebidiah]

I have a bug with this mod, I don't know if anyone is still around that maintains it. I use this mod because I don't have a beefy computer that plays KSP 1.0.2

The problem is when I launch game, go to VAB load say Kerbal Stock X craft, launch it and when I am on the pad, I hit "M" to go to map mode and this is what I see:

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii605/therealcrow999/KSP%202015-05-03%2015-23-45-38_zpskekexmru.jpg

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii605/therealcrow999/KSP%202015-05-03%2015-23-41-27_zpsa60qqpnt.jpg

I revert flight and it is still there, the only way to make it go away is restart KSP. When I come back from KSP if I go to tracking station it is fine but if I load a craft and I am on launch pad, that visual error shows up.

Here is my log files:

http://www./download/58he6us0hyuj9g4/KSP_Logs.zip

And here is a Google Doc on what mods I use:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dwITtAoPPUeFB5tnT_q3rAPEGE1iTiLc-8p9zfh6j_M/edit?usp=sharing

I figured it was this mod because when I looked in log files a lot of things kick up from NavBallTextureExport, so when I took that mod out it works fine. So I don't know if its a mod conflict or just this mod needs updated.

This is an issue with environmental visual enhancements, it commonly happens when you use an old version of EVE on a newer ksp version. To fix it download a new EVE version.

[Barking Sands]

Thanks, Tebryn, for the Polar Conversion Distortion in GIMP video link. I found that helpful. Not a huge fan of GIMP or any other image manipulation software; not that it's overly complicated, but I just don't like the results I get out of manipulating images. They always add a small amount of gradient smoothing and it adds up after so many passes so that I usually end up with color soup before too long. I end up pasting my result after each pass into MS Paint and use the pencil to iron out every little wrinkle so I don't lose my precious contrast and definition.

I've used the polar conversion to create egg shapes with numbers inside ... then just used my old best friend (MSPaint) to polish the "eggs." I was almost about to publish a new and improved version of the Enhanced Flight Director Attitude Indicator (patent pending ) when I noticed that my 70 degree pitch angle was actually closer to 75 degrees; so I had to fix the pitch angle AND redo all the "egg drawing" numbers so that they fit evenly between the pitch lines at 65 degrees.

I've also ditched the heading/bearing pips on the 60 degree pitch angle lines, and I just went with a standard white segment for the 60. The old version looked like a crossbreed between Dr. Frankenstein's monster and Leatherface after a few hours of playing KSP with it enabled.

So without further ado, here's the EFDAI lite:

EFDAI Pro (fixed chapter ring on the upper hemisphere only):

EFDAI Classic (peripheral chapter rings top and bottom -- recommended for spaceplanes & rockets with alternate starting alignments):

EFDAI Limited (fixed chapter rings top and bottom -- one for equatorial orbits, and one polar (equatorial recommended)):

Equatorial:

Polar:

Oh and one more thing: Using TextureReplacer, is there a way of applying an emissive shader map to brighten up the IVA ball such as shown on page 3 of this topic?

Edited May 16, 2015 by Barking Sands
Original upper mil scale was reversed; New release

[Lokaltog]

I just made some navball textures for KeRD, I figured I'd post them here as well in case you guys like them. They're inspired by the high contrast and Apollo designs. The navball may look a bit dark in KSP, let me know if that's the case and I'll upload some with higher contrast.

Screenshot from KeRD:

Texture and bump map (not sure if KSP supports the bump map, but if it does it gives a pretty nice bevel effect on the "ink" parts):

Edited July 4, 2015 by Lokaltog

[Zach2988]

How exactly do you install these textures?

[Superfluous J]

How exactly do you install these textures?

Follow the instructions in Post #4 of this very thread.

[Red Iron Crown]

You can also use TextureReplacer instead of this plugin for replacing the navball texture with one of your choosing.

[Reiver]

I just made some navball textures for KeRD, I figured I'd post them here as well in case you guys like them. They're inspired by the high contrast and Apollo designs. The navball may look a bit dark in KSP, let me know if that's the case and I'll upload some with higher contrast.

Screenshot from KeRD:

http://i.imgur.com/R5mGQyE.png

Texture and bump map (not sure if KSP supports the bump map, but if it does it gives a pretty nice bevel effect on the "ink" parts):

http://i.imgur.com/GheWNEF.png

http://i.imgur.com/mpFC8CL.png

That thing is gorgeous!

That said, I've come to appreciate the colour scheme of the very first one - pointing towards the black to fly to space makes so much sense I wonder how hard a re-colour would be with my terrible artistry skills, hm.

Do you know how we'd use the bump map in KSP? I'd not seen such a thing for a navball before.

[CaelumEtAstra]

Not to drag a thread from the depths or anything, but how do you use Texture Replacer to retexture the navball?

[Alshain]

Not to drag a thread from the depths or anything, but how do you use Texture Replacer to retexture the navball?

Save it in GameData\TextureReplacer\Default using the name "HUDNavBall.***" (can be jpg, dds, etc.)

[CaelumEtAstra]

Thanks. Figured it would be in the defaults folder.

[Stone Blue]

XedMada, I hope you dont mind I tweaked your DarkBall a little, into a high contrast version:

[XedMada]

Nice! I may use this one myself now.

[Stone Blue]

Well, YOU did the hard part!... I just did a little color filling and tweaking some of the fonts...

While ALL the other designs in this thread are sweet, and I can fully see where the heavy hash-marking and numbering can be useful on slow, in-orbit maneuvers, or even for rover use, I always find I can only afford quick glances at a (usually) quickly moving navball, so in my case, less is better... Just major pitch points, and minimal hashes seem to work best for me... :thumbsup:

I also use Enhanced NavBall, and have the navball sized about 200% over stock, but still need something a little less "busy"...lol

Edited September 13, 2015 by Stone Blue

[FalconB]

my version

[Stone Blue]

This still worx in 1.0.5...

Hopefully 1.1 wont break it...I've heard the whole GUI is finally gonna get a rework for 1.1...

 

Also, figured I would let everyone know, who uses RPM in any of their IVAs:

These custom textures work in RPM!

Here's the high contrast texture I last posted (I changed the black to a dk.blue):

All you have to do, is edit your texture in an editor, and flip it horizontal AND vertical (so its upside down AND text is backward)...Then save it and convert it to .dds
Then go to the ASET_Props/MFDs/ALCORPFD/ folder, take the existing NavBall000.dds, and move it OUTSIDE your main KSP folder...Then replace it with your custom texture (name your texture NavBall000.dds, of course...)...Then, PROFIT!

Edited December 8, 2015 by Stone Blue

[Red Iron Crown]

I've been using a texture that @eggrobin was kind enough to make, after posting a few screenshots I've received a few PMs asking for it so I figure I'll share it here:

Texture:

In action pic (embiggened with Enhanced Navball):

[curson]

 

On 09/12/2015 at 4:01 PM, Red Iron Crown said:

 

This is pretty awesome. However, I must be doing something wrong. I downloaded this file, and placed in the TextureReplacer/Default directory. My TextureReplacer works fine (as it replaces the Kerbals suits), but the NavBall is still the stock one, and the file placed there gets ignored.

Any idea as to what I'm doing wrong here?

Edited January 6, 2016 by curson