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[MOD] Pocket-play UI++ (v2.21) - UI for EE games on phones

PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
edited February 14 in UI Modding
This is a total conversion UI mod for IE:EE on phones. It is compatible with BG:EE, SoD, BG2:EE and IWD:EE. The layout is built for around 5-6 inches wide screen resolution. It inherits many functionalities from my older Dragonspear UI++ mod, but graphically is very different. I went with a sort of minimalistic approach, which is more practical for phones, you can check the screenshots below.

P.S.: Pressing and holding the "actionbar switch" button, next to the "select all" button in the main gameplay screen, will open the cheat menu.

Screenshots:
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Installation:
Download the mod from github:
Download the latest release

On Android, select the "override" folder inside "the pocket_play_ui" and copy it to:
Android\data\com.beamdog.NAMEOFTHEGAME\files\
Alternatively, you can install it as a WeiDU mod using this guide.

On iOS, install it as a WeiDU mod using this guide.
Post edited by Pecca on
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Comments

  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    edited April 2020
    New update released with fixed chargen bug, which gave created characters max XP. Also some graphical updates and label with sorcerer's amount of castable spells per day.

    Also, updated the OP with how to open the cheat menu.
    Post edited by Pecca on
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited April 2020
    So, I put all those 230 files in \override and imported them to my iOS device. I got a crash to Desktop (i.e., the app crashed upon importing the files...)

    Any chance you will turn this into a WeiDU mod?
    Post edited by _Luke_ on
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    I don't know the correct path on ios, as I don't have one. But I'm not sure I understand. You have a crash, when files are copied to the phone? I don't know ios so I'm not sure why that would happen. Also, how would weidu help? You can't as far as I know run weidu on phones and if you could, it would simply copy-paste as you can do now without it.
  • GusindaGusinda Member Posts: 1,917
    Thanks @Pecca, works like a charm.

    Gus
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Okay I released yet nother small update because I left accidentally an unused button in the record screen.
  • _Luke__Luke_ Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,535
    edited April 2020
    @Pecca

    Well, I'm not sure what's wrong with this mod... I even tried copying your files to \portrait instead of \override, still nothing...

    I can definitely install your Dragonspear UI++ mod on my iOS device plus other UI modifications, I've been using this method for quite some time...

    And yes, I have a crash when files are copied to my iOS device... If I reopen the app, the UI is still the vanilla one...
    1. Is that because my device is a tablet instead of phone? I don't think so because I copied your files to my desktop version of the game and everything is fine (the game launches correctly)
    2. Is that due to wrong PVRZ texture format? I don't know Android, but iOS devices use the "PVRTC 4bpp RGBA" texture format...
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Released version 2.0. This version ensures compatibility with SoD, BG2:EE and IWD:EE. It is also a WeiDU mod to allow to be installed on iOS (you can still copy-paste on android). Also updated the OP with the installation instructions, so make sure to remove the previous version from your phone before using this one.
  • blackjack4247blackjack4247 Member Posts: 1
    Might just be me, but on Android 10 (Pixel 3) all the portraits are blacked out during character creation.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    @blackjack4247 hi, sorry I don't know what might be the issue. It doesn't happen to me. You can try to start a game with vanilla UI and install this mod after the character generation.
  • CaedwyrCaedwyr Member Posts: 176
    Hi @Pecca this looks like a pretty sweet UI mod for playing the IE games on phones or smaller tablets. I saw some feedback on another forum and figured it would be useful to pass it along here.
    I just tried out Pecca's Pocket-Play UI mod. It looks amazing - like a totally modern game. Without getting into whether that is necessarily a good or bad thing, it is anyway a real departure from the BG UI and most UI mods, and it looks clean and professional. I got v2.0 installed with Weidu, and then ran A7TextureConvert at the end if my install as usual, and the UI works and the game plays on my iPad Mini 2.

    However.

    It doesn't work well enough that I would actually play a whole game with this UI, and that's a shame. Here are my findings:
    1. The main problem is with the resolution. The UI appears to be tailor-made for the iPhone resolution of 1134x750. My iPad (and, I think almost every iPad apart from the new Pro models) have a resolution of 2048x1536, scaled down to an extra-sharp rendition of 1024x768. The Pocket Play UI is therefore too big when the "scale UI" option is enabled in the BG2EE graphics settings - 155 pixels are off the left and right sides of the screen. If I deselect "scale UI," then the iPad uses its native 2048x1536 resolution, and the Pocket Play UI is tiny. It would be really nice if the UI could be made to support the 1024-pixel screen width... I don't know how easy it would be for Pecca to do that.
    2. In my current install, the stat-rolling screen uses the vanilla BG2EE UI. I think that is because I installed the "Faydark's Auto-Roller" from EEUITweaks after the Pocket Play UI. This is not the end of the world - it is still totally functional.
    3. The class choice screen also uses the vanilla UI instead of the Pocket Play UI. I presume this is because I installed the "Dual into Kit" mod after the UI overhaul. This again isn't a big deal, it is a screen you only ever see once during any particular playthrough. Better compatibility would be wonderful, but I can totally deal with it as-is.
    4. The proficiency screen is a little screwy. I installed the EUITweaks "Show Proficiency Limits" component and the "Dual Into Kit" mod with the "Proper Proficiency Selection" option, both installed after the Pocket Play UI since they both patch UI.menu instead of replacing it. The proficiency screen appears with the Pocket Play UI, and it initially shows the correct proficiency limits; but as soon as I spend a proficiency point, the displayed limits become wrong (either 5 or 10). I'm not sure what, exactly, is the conflict here.
    5. Tome & Blood's "Revised Identify" surprisingly works just fine. @Bubb looks like your B3_Identify function is nicely adaptable!
    6. Tome & Blood's "Multiclass Sorcerer" spell selection function works. The only issue is, you cannot read any spell descriptions, you have to choose by icon. That might be a bit problematic with stuff like my Feat System, where players won't necessarily know what each icon is. This uses @kjeron's "Spell Learning UI" mod and uses the Spell Sequencer functionality... I know other UIs also make it difficult or impossible to read descriptions in these screens, and I never understand why...
    7. Finally, at some places the UI slows down, like in the spell memorization screens in character generation. The iPad Mini 2 hardware is ancient, so I think this is just due to the high quality of the UI's graphics. And it is still totally functional, you just need to wait a few seconds to get to the next screen. There is also a tiny delay - half a second or so - when going to the inventory screen. Again, I suspect on moderately recent hardware this would go away. It's not a big deal at all.

    All in all, this is really, really promising. I would really love to use this UI in the playthrough I'm about to start. It just needs to support the 1024-pixel-wide iPad resolution, and it would be great if it made it easier to see spell descriptions in the Spell Sequencer screen. Then it would be perfect.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Interesting and once again I'm surprised. I would consider the UI elements way too large on other screens than phones. I shortly played BG on tablet some time ago with the vanilla UI and remeber it was playing fine (in terms of UI element sizes). If I was designing mod for tablets, I would make those elements much smaller than in this mod, especially the main gameplay screen could be rid of the "switch actionbar buttons" mechanics, which is far from the ideal, but it was still preferable to having half of the screen covered with buttons. But the problem with tablets might be that the relative screen sizes vary a lot more, then with phones, where they are always just tiny.

    Anyway as was pointed out earlier, this mod is adjusted to 16:9 ratio scaled interface (the equivalent of 1365x768 pixels). Most tablets have 4:3 ratio which is scaled equivalent of 1024x768pixels. That means I would have to redesign-shrink all screens to make them fit, which is something I won't do anytime soon, unfortunatelly.

    Anyway, I'm now (slowly) working on updating Dragonspear UI++, and experimenting with UI zoom function, which is something that could one day be of use for this mod too.
  • GusindaGusinda Member Posts: 1,917
    Hi @blackjack4247, I have no problems with portraits either but I am on Android 9. Not sure whether this makes a difference or not but I would expect it wouldn't. The data permissions are likely to cover the entire folder. Are you able to see all portraits in Vanilla?

    Gus
  • VerthissVerthiss Member Posts: 22
    Hi @Pecca and thanks for the mod! I really like the graphical style and functionality! I have a problem with my phone though, some of the UI elements display in the middle of the screen. I thought the problem was caused by my phones aspect ratio (19.5: 9), but it seems like the same problem persists even on PC with a standard 16:9 ratio:
    cu9ond7xzb0z.png

    I wanted to fix that myself by using Edit Mode (and then transferring the UI.menu to my phone) but it seems like the Edit Mode does not work with the Pocket-play UI installed. Any suggestions on what can I do?
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Hi, the mod is meant to be played on with scaled interface turned on, otherwise the ui is too small on phones.
  • VerthissVerthiss Member Posts: 22
    Scaling of the interface doesn't seem to be an issue here.
    The above screen was taken on PC to just to demonstrate the problem (as it looks very similar to what I'm experiencing on my phone).
    But ok sure, this is how it actually looks on my phone:
    pgb0t0k32g9l.jpg
    Turning scaling on and off doesn't change anything.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Ah I see. I made the mod for 16:9 ratio. I admit it was just laziness from my part since I just did it for my phone. But IIRC some android phones have an option to play games at 16:9 ratio even if their screen is wider.
  • VerthissVerthiss Member Posts: 22
    I think I found a solution. I edited the functionality of the dialog box icon in ui.menu so it changes the position of the other things to 2280 instead of default 1500. That might be a janky solution, but looks like it works :D
  • Barbariandruid777Barbariandruid777 Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2021
    Hey everyone, happy new year. Love this mod to play on my ROG phone. Really makes things easier.
    The only problem that I have with it is the fact that ToB becomes inaccessible after you clear SoA on the android BG2EE version of the game. If I close the game once after saving the game on the beginning of chapter 8, close the app and reopen it, it takes me back to the SoA game and I cannot load the ToB save I have just created. I can only resume it from the final SoA save of the game. Anyone know a fix for this?
  • jtwilli87jtwilli87 Member Posts: 2
    This UI Mod is great! Makes the game enjoyable on my phone!! excellent. One issue I have is that when I click the levelup button in the record screen my screen just goes black. I looked into UI.MENU and I'm having a hard time finding where the level-up screen is reffered too, maybe I'm missing a BAM file or something that actually has the level-up screen image? I can switch back and forth between classic UI and this one, but am interested in understanding to UI.MENU and maybe fixing this.

    Thanks so much
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    @jtwilli87 Hi, not sure why you have this bug, do you have any other mods in your game? Anyway, you can find UI element which opens level-up screen when you search for "characterScreen:OnLevelUpButtonClick();" around row 1139. You can find the screen itself when you search for "name 'CHARGEN_PROFICIENCIES'" around row 16667. Hope it helps.
  • jtwilli87jtwilli87 Member Posts: 2
    I'm using the mod file posted by another user on the forum that has a bunch of mods for android install, since the mod process is pretty tedious for the apk. Everything looks good in the UI.MENU, strange, not sure why I get the black screen. Thanks for responding though
  • SimpleFearSimpleFear Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2021
    Verthiss wrote: »
    I think I found a solution. I edited the functionality of the dialog box icon in ui.menu so it changes the position of the other things to 2280 instead of default 1500. That might be a janky solution, but looks like it works :D
    EDITS: I originally posted as a question to Verthiss on how he did this but I figured it out, and it works great!

    I had the exact same issue that you had Verthiss (Iphone XR and XS - tested on both) and I'm looking in the ui.menu (EDIT: and have figured it out, the solution is below if others need it):


    EDIT: MENU.UI is in Baldurs Gate II 2.5.16/Payload/Baldur's Gate II.app/pocket_play_ui/override
    Open it with notepad and find teh below code (either with find 1500 - or by scrolling)

    Edit the '1500' (which I now recognize as the x coordinates of the message window in the UI) to 2280, or really any number that will knock it off the viewable screen.

    Original:

    button
    {
    name "rgOpenMessages"
    area 3 3 87 87
    bam rgpguils
    sequence 15
    action
    "
    --Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',5,nil,nil,nil)
    --Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',16,nil,nil,nil)
    local x,y,w,h = Infinity_GetArea('messagesRect')
    if (x == 1500) then
    Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',5,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',16,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldLastMessageBox',1500,nil,nil,nil)
    else
    Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',1500,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',1500,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldLastMessageBox',5,nil,nil,nil)
    end
    "
    }

    with edits (you can copy and paste the below to replace the above or just change the 1500 to 2280):

    button
    {
    name "rgOpenMessages"
    area 3 3 87 87
    bam rgpguils
    sequence 15
    action
    "
    --Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',5,nil,nil,nil)
    --Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',16,nil,nil,nil)
    local x,y,w,h = Infinity_GetArea('messagesRect')
    if (x == 2280) then
    Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',5,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',16,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldLastMessageBox',2280,nil,nil,nil)
    else
    Infinity_SetArea('messagesRect',2280,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldMessageBox',2280,nil,nil,nil)
    Infinity_SetArea('worldLastMessageBox',5,nil,nil,nil)
    end
    "
    }


    You then must run/rerun the pocket_play_ui.exe to reinstall and follow the weidu installation instructions to load the changes to your phone.
    Post edited by SimpleFear on
  • mjgamjga Member Posts: 3
    Hi. I just installed this UI on my iphone 6s, and i feel like its installed, but all the icons are black. Any help? 67tnk9sj7mpt.jpg
    nj3a30chy6vt.jpg
  • AranthysAranthys Member Posts: 722
    mjga wrote: »
    Hi. I just installed this UI on my iphone 6s, and i feel like its installed, but all the icons are black. Any help?
    For reference if anyone faces the same issue, it was solved here https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/66644/how-to-install-mods-on-ios-devices-no-jailbreak/p14
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    Might just be me, but on Android 10 (Pixel 3) all the portraits are blacked out during character creation.

    @Pecca hey I'm having the same issue as @blackjack4247 where the portraits on character creation are blacked out. It isn't a big deal as I am just selecting by name. But this is what it looks like if you're interested.

    89y5bcrgmmkc.jpg
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    This mod is excellent BTW. Thank you so much for making it and publishing it!!
  • Anyway to get this working for Planescape Torment EE on Android?
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Anyway to get this working for Planescape Torment EE on Android?

    No simple way, pst is too different from rest of ees.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    I have released a new version with fixes for resolutions wider than 16:9.
  • Cuttooth_Cuttooth_ Member Posts: 5
    Love this mod but dialog seems to be broken for me. No text appears and the game becomes unresponsive. On Pixel 6 w/ Android 12 using latest version of BG2EE and latest source from the github.
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