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Darker Journal background color

AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
in BGII:EE Mods
Hi

Is it possible to change out the texture of background "paper" in the Journal or somehow make it to be a bit darker?

(my biggest wish is to have yellow text and dark background like in the new Dragon Age games)

Is it possible? If yes, how?

Comments

  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    Yes - it is possible. You would need to change the appropriate graphics by putting new files in the override and then update the font colors for the specific labels in the UI.
  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    Do you by any chance know which graphic files those are? All help is appreciated
  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    edited June 2016
    I'm no good with graphics, so I can't really help with that side of things.

    Have you edited the UI previously? If not - go read this thread and enable UI edit mode.

    Then have a look through the various mods etc in the UI modding forum.

    You will need to edit the 'JOURNAL' menu in the UI to change the font colours to yellow and change the following graphics (at the least) as they are all dark...

    QUESTBG.BAM - This is the background image of the pages, you will need a dark image.
    PCHEV.BAM - This is the arrow that flips between right/down to open the journal entries.
    PARROW.MOS - This is the left/right arrow to change chapters.
    PCHAPTER.MOS - This is for the chapter header
    PAPERBUT.BAM - This is for the buttons DONE & CANCEL
    PAPERSEP.BAM - This is for the line separator
    You will also need to find the scrollbar GUISCRP.BAM and change that to a light colour.

    In NearInfinity, you can open BGEE.lua and see the text colors that have already been allocated ... $ represents light yellow and might be a good choice, otherwise you can define your own.
    Post edited by Mr2150 on
  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    Thank you - I will eventually report my progress
  • Mr2150Mr2150 Member Posts: 1,170
    edited June 2016
    Good luck - if you need any other pointers or help with UI.menu I should be able to advise / help there...

    Edited in a few more graphics that will need changing & descriptions.
  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    I want to bump this thread after 1½ year to see if there is a simplified solution to this?
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    edited December 2017
    Aleque said:

    I want to bump this thread after 1½ year to see if there is a simplified solution to this?

    It's funny that you ask. I decided to play BG1 for the first time (I actually played it for several hours a few years ago) but I have cataracts and my eyes are really bad until I get surgery in a few months.

    With the Enhanced edition I'm able to crank up the font size and scale the UI which helps a lot but I really need light text on a dark background. Most of the game is light on a dark background except for a few screens.

    Anyways, with Mr2150's link to the modding thread and by saving me some time with listing some of the images that needed to be changed I whipped this up over the last couple of nights.

    I changed a few more things so it includes:

    Quest/Journal
    Item Descriptions
    Mage and Priest Spell Books

    I couldn't figure out how to mod the World map. I also left tool-tips.

    I just made this for myself so I could play the game without eyestrain. The graphics aren't precise because I have bad eyesight and I don't want to really mod the game, just want to play it. There could be bugs, I don't know. I'm only at the Friendly Arm Inn as you can see maybe.

    This is just a quick hack, I don't know anything about Weidu and Mod merge.. Just put the files in your OVERRIDE folder.

    If you have previously installed a UI mod or if any of the files already exist you will probably have big problems. Use at own risk and all of that.

    Let me know if there's any issues and I'll try to fix them if I have time. Enjoy.

    Screenshots (Scaled UI at 5th Font Size):








    Post edited by CreamyBlood on
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    Sorry, just realized this is BGII:EE mods section. This is for BG1EE only.

  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    CreamyBlood said:

    Sorry, just realized this is BGII:EE mods section. This is for BG1EE only.

    It is still awesome! Thank you :) I hope, someone can help us create something similar for BG2. The previous tips are too technical for me :/
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    Since I have an idea what I'm doing now I'll see if I can do it for Vanilla BG2EE over the next few days.
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    I made a version of Dark Backgrounds for Baldur's Gate II - Enhanced Edition (tested on v2.367.3). Since I'm not playing it I've barely tested it but it seems to work at different UI and font scales.

    I assume that this works with other mods except any UI ones. It in all probability won't work with any UI mods and could wreck your install if you overwrite files in the override directory.

    Let me know if there are any problems.

    SCREENSHOTS (UI scaled, font size 5):











    README.TXT:


    **********************************
    * BG2EE_DarkBackrounds
    * by
    * CreamyBlood
    *
    * Version: 0.1
    * December 10th, 2017
    *
    **********************************


    =================
    OVERVIEW
    =================

    This mod was quickly made and tested for Baldurs Gate 2: Enhanced Edition. The purpose of it was to make it easier to to view text in some of the light background screens to relieve eye-strain. The graphics aren't top notch but it gives old eyes a respite by having gold text on dark backgrounds.

    I'd never modded for any Infinity Engine before but whipped this up for myself to make the game more pleasant to my eyes. There could be bugs and definite graphic improvements, and design changes and the list could go on. It's just a quick fix so I can play. I don't want to mod the game.


    =================
    WHAT IT DOES
    =================

    It changes the background colours to dark and makes the text yellow on a few screens:

    Journal/Quest Log
    Item Descriptions
    Magic User Spells
    Priest Spells
    Temple Donations
    Inn Rumours
    Identify Items


    =================
    INSTALLATION
    =================

    Copy all of the files you just unzipped into your OVERRIDE directory.

    For the GOG version it's similar to:

    x:\GOG Games\Baldurs Gate II - Enhanced Edition\override

    If you have already installed some UI mods this probably won't work. If it asks you to overwrite something you are probably going to blow up your current install. Use at own risk.


    Good luck.
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    Here's a version for Baldurs Gate II - Enhanced Edition. Let me know if there's any problems.

    SCREENSHOTS (Scaled UI, Font Size: 5)



















    README.TXT

    **********************************
    * BG2EE_DarkBackrounds
    * by
    * CreamyBlood
    *
    * Version: 0.1
    * December 10th, 2017
    *
    **********************************


    =================
    OVERVIEW
    =================

    This mod was quickly made and tested for Baldurs Gate 2: Enhanced Edition. The purpose of it was to make it easier to to view text in some of the light background screens to relieve eye-strain. The graphics aren't top notch but it gives old eyes a respite by having gold text on dark backgrounds.

    I'd never modded for any Infinity Engine before but whipped this up for myself to make the game more pleasant to my eyes. There could be bugs and definate graphic improvements, and design changes and the list could go on. It's just a quick fix so I can play. I don't want to mod the game.


    =================
    WHAT IT DOES
    =================

    It changes the background colours to dark and makes the text yellow on a few screens:

    Journal/Quest Log
    Item Descriptions
    Magic User Spells
    Priest Spells
    Temple Donations
    Inn Rumours
    Identify Items


    =================
    INSTALLATION
    =================

    Copy all of the files you just unzipped into your OVERRIDE directory.

    For the GOG version it's similar to:

    x:\GOG Games\Baldurs Gate II - Enhanced Edition\override

    If you have already installed some UI mods this probably won't work. If it asks you to overwrite something you are probably going to blow up your current install. Use at own risk.


    Good luck.



  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    edited February 2018
    CreamyBlood, I am sorry I forgot to reply. I just tested it. I put all of those files in my C:\Users\Administrator\Beamdog Library\00783\override folder. It works and looks good. Thank you :)

    My eyes are happier now!

    EDIT: Is there a way to do something similar for BG1? Reusing the same files does not work.
    Post edited by Aleque on
  • CreamyBloodCreamyBlood Member Posts: 8
    Glad you like it. My first post is for BG1. The second two are for BG2 (and are the same file) and are just a double post because a mod deleted it then a few days later put it back for some reason.
  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    Oh, I did not pay attention. Good thing I will play BG again, so I can learn to pay closer attention to details. That is awesome. I have edited some images so it looks a bit more refined, IMO. But I could not manage to edit other elements like the Journal UI.
  • AlequeAleque Member Posts: 149
    Can someone please tell me how to also change the font color to gold/yellow, when right-clicking on the spells directly from the characters' Cast Spell or Special Abilities menu? Currently the background is dark and so is the text.
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