Question Changing font of the HUD and MFDs

[Krishnan]

Hi Everyone.
I noticed that in @dgatsoulis 's videos, he had a custom font for the hud and mfds.
Is there a way to set it like that?
Here is the video for reference.

Thanks,
Krishnan

 

[GLS]

AFAIK there it no "official" way to change fonts in Orbiter. Most likely that was done by replacing* the used fonts ("Courier New", "Arial", "Times New Roman") with the desired fonts.

*) replacing the actual font files in Windows, which are used by other programs and Windows.

 

[Krishnan]

AFAIK there it no "official" way to change fonts in Orbiter. Most likely that was done by replacing* the used fonts ("Courier New", "Arial", "Times New Roman") with the desired fonts.

*) replacing the actual font files in Windows, which are used by other programs and Windows.

Oh, okay. Thanks! Do you know what font is specifically used in Orbiter MFDs?

 

[GLS]

Oh, okay. Thanks! Do you know what font is specifically used in Orbiter MFDs?

Should be Arial and/or New Courier.

 

[dgatsoulis]

This was a while back, on Orbiter 2010. One of the changes was to the font1tex.dds located in the textures directory:

I am pretty sure that I had also changed something in the glass cockpit texture files, but I can't recall the exact changes.
The final step was to replace Arial with Times New Roman (or something similar) in Windows, though this did have some problems down the line.

 

[Krishnan]

This was a while back, on Orbiter 2010. One of the changes was to the font1tex.dds located in the textures directory:
View attachment 26924
I am pretty sure that I had also changed something in the glass cockpit texture files, but I can't recall the exact changes.
The final step was to replace Arial with Times New Roman (or something similar) in Windows, though this did have some problems down the line.

Thank you so much! I am planning on replacing the textures with Futura font, and since I mainly only use 2d cockpit, will I be fine just replacing the font1tex.dds?
Also, how would I get the same size font and spacing? What did you use?
Edit: I tried editing that file, but it doesn't seem to work. I think it is because of Orbiter 2016... I also replaced the map mfd texture with a nice, coloured map texture, but it doesn't change it on map mfd, but it does change it for other mfds that use the map texture, like aerobrake mfd.

 

[llarian]

I think the Map MFD is a 2016 thing. I tried to do the same but it would not change from the default. If you find a way please let me know.

 

[DaveS]

I think the Map MFD is a 2016 thing. I tried to do the same but it would not change from the default. If you find a way please let me know.

This because for Orbiter 2016, Map MFD moved away from using a static bitmap as the background to using vector drawing.

 

[llarian]

Thanks DaveS. Any idea where the drawing resides?

 

[dgatsoulis]

Also, how would I get the same size font and spacing? What did you use?

Photoshop and some patience.

Ok, I had some time today and searched through my old Orbiter installations. The files that need to be changed are in the Textures\Cockpit folder. Everything seems to work as it did in Orbiter 2010, with the exception of the top screen info-view which had been completely overhauled in Orbiter 2016.

For the MapMFD you can revert to the old version by using the line MFDMapVersion = 0 in Orbiter.cfg (or Orbiter_NG.cfg, if you not using the inline client).
Just remember that compared to the new MapMFD version, the old one had limited functionality (only one zoom level, no terminator line, etc..)

I have attached a zip file here with all the changed textures from Orbiterroot\Textures\Cockpit. Remember to keep backups of the ones you are using now, in case you don't like them.

Any idea where the drawing resides?

MapMFD looks for .vec files located in the Config\(Name of body)\Data directories. vec files are lists of the coordinates of the contour of the maps . I can't recall if there is a tool that can convert a vector drawing to a .vec file, as I suspect the .vec format is a custom one for Orbiter. A vector drawing in .svg file format is in a "human readable" form and the coordinates of the vector path are listed there, so it shouldn't be too difficult to convert an svg vector drawing to a contour that MapMFD can read. Never tried it myself though.

 

[Krishnan]

Photoshop and some patience.

Ok, I had some time today and searched through my old Orbiter installations. The files that need to be changed are in the Textures\Cockpit folder. Everything seems to work as it did in Orbiter 2010, with the exception of the top screen info-view which had been completely overhauled in Orbiter 2016.

For the MapMFD you can revert to the old version by using the line MFDMapVersion = 0 in Orbiter.cfg (or Orbiter_NG.cfg, if you not using the inline client).
Just remember that compared to the new MapMFD version, the old one had limited functionality (only one zoom level, no terminator line, etc..)

I have attached a zip file here with all the changed textures from Orbiterroot\Textures\Cockpit. Remember to keep backups of the ones you are using now, in case you don't like them.


MapMFD looks for .vec files located in the Config\(Name of body)\Data directories. vec files are lists of the coordinates of the contour of the maps . I can't recall if there is a tool that can convert a vector drawing to a .vec file, as I suspect the .vec format is a custom one for Orbiter. A vector drawing in .svg file format is in a "human readable" form and the coordinates of the vector path are listed there, so it shouldn't be too difficult to convert an svg vector drawing to a contour that MapMFD can read. Never tried it myself though.

Thank you! I was wondering the same thing about the upper text (time warp, mjd, fov, etc.) and I noticed that it was different for me and had the legacy yellow text in textures, but the white text in sim. I did go through the cockpit textures folder. Will I be able to edit it using Paint.net?

 

[dgatsoulis]

Thank you! I was wondering the same thing about the upper text (time warp, mjd, fov, etc.) and I noticed that it was different for me and had the legacy yellow text in textures, but the white text in sim. I did go through the cockpit textures folder. Will I be able to edit it using Paint.net?

Any program that lets you edit the alpha channel should be ok.

 

[Krishnan]

Any program that lets you edit the alpha channel should be ok.

What is the alpha channel? Is it the background layer? I can't edit any of the text, so do I have to create a new layer and retype all the text, then position it on top of the old text, then merge the layers?

 

[DaveS]

The alpha layer is the transparency layer.

 

[Krishnan]

The alpha layer is the transparency layer.

So I messed around with Paint.net yesterday. I can confirm that it does edit transparency layer. What do I do next? Do I just create a new layer, type text in new font, align it over the top of the old text, and somehow remove the old text? I am sorry, my photo-editing skills are a bit low.

 

[dgatsoulis]

So I messed around with Paint.net yesterday. I can confirm that it does edit transparency layer. What do I do next? Do I just create a new layer, type text in new font, align it over the top of the old text, and somehow remove the old text? I am sorry, my photo-editing skills are a bit low.

I am not familiar with Paint.net, so I can't help with that. Just to clarify: The transparency of a layer (which is usually a value between 0 - 100%) is not the same as the alpha channel, which is a gray scale image, with the black pixels being transparent, the white pixels opaque. Try googling "Paint.net alpha channel" to see if your program supports editing the alpha channel.
I've always used photoshop, so I don't know much about other programs, but I hear that GIMP is a free alternative to photoshop.

If you are having difficulties, go ahead an line up the letters of the font you want to use (don't just type the alphabet and stretch it; each letter must be lined up). That's 90% of the work. Once that's done, post your pic here in any format you can and I (or other members of the forum) will set it as an alpha channel for you.

 

[Max-Q]

I use Paint.net a lot and it can most definitely edit the transparency layer.
Manual is available here.