Vanilla HUD Plus 2 - FallUI HUD Preset Mod

VANILLA HUD PLUS 2 | FALLUI PRESET

The video lets you see the HUD in action, and is likely a better demonstration than a description of static images.

INSTALLATION

Install like normal. When in-game, select the HUD preset you want from the FallUI - HUD MCM Menu. Save your game and re-load it.

DESCRIPTION

A couple years ago, I messed around with FallUI HUD to make this preset. The goal there was to clean up the vanilla HUD but to respect the vanilla design as much as possible, mostly aiming to make it more legible with my armchair UX knowledge.

Now, a couple years later, I've revisited it again, using that old preset as a base. I wanted to opt for something more bold and do something that would take more liberties. This would be fun for me, personally, but should also be more enjoyable on the user end. I allowed myself make more dramatic changes to the HUD, condensing things and generally making them more PC-friendly. I also decided to inject some color into it--a lot of using colored icons for our inventory, and the monochrome HUD was getting a bit boring. Plus, I think this pairs nicely with Fallout 4's focus on injecting color into the wasteland. If the game world can receive some color, why not the HUD? The screenshots and video above should demonstrate it nicely and help you decide if you'd like to use this HUD. I've also included a brief discussion of some of the changes below, although the video/screenshots are likely your best bet.

Finally, it's recommended that you have a Green HUD color for this install, although I've included presets that work better with White HUD colors, Yellow HUD colors, and HUD colors of any other coloration.

GENERAL

1. The line underscore of all bars (health bars, XP bars, etc.) has been entirely dropped. Instead, bars now have a nice, dark, slightly gradient box to underscore them.
2. Brackets were traded for gradient backdrops in almost all cases, resulting in a rather pleasing looking "slab" effect for most UI elements.
3. The compass has been moved to the top of the screen and also received some colored elements: yellow for quest markers/doors, and blue for your player-placed marker. These helps these markers stand out amongst a busy compass.
4. Messages, tutorials, and animated quest images are all kept on the top-left.
5. Quest completed pop ups are aligned with the left of the screen, right below messages, tutorials, and animated quest images.
6. Superfluous elements have been removed: hit markers, enemy skull icons, and enemy legendary icons. There's already sufficient information to tell you've hit an enemy. Enemy skull/legendary icons remove discovery from the game, in my opinion--your HUD tells you to run away, rather than you figuring that out yourself; and the legendary icons remove the surprise of an enemy mutating.

CHARACTER PANEL/ENEMY INFORMATION

1. All player important information has been collected on the bottom-left hand side of the screen: HP, AP, and XP. In addition, current location name is displayed above these bars. Status effects (including survival icons) are displayed below. The Level-Up reminder and Workshop reminder are below these icons. Note that these bars remain on screen all time due to how the backdrop for them works, but they are smaller than vanilla bars.
2. Bars are color coded: green for player health, yellow for stamina, and white for XP.
3. All enemy specific information is grouped in the bottom center of the screen: enemy HP, critical meter bar, and the sneaking indicator. They are aligned with the character's bar information on the Y axis.
4. The critical meter bar being below the enemy health bar was done because I, personally, always forget about my ability to use crits in this game. Having it right below the enemy's health bar in VATS reminds you that it is there while remaining unobtrusive.

CROSSHAIR/LOOTING

1. The quick-loot menu is more directly to the right of the crosshair and more centered than vanilla, resulting in a cleaner, less
2. overwhelming quick-loot experience.
3. Looting has received some coloration: blue icons for tagged materials, yellow for legendary, and a brighter green for items that are better than what you have equipped.
4. The crosshair hide itself unless you are looking at something or have a weapon drawn. In such case, it just remains a simple, unobtrusive dot, and nothing more.

WEAPON/PERK INFO

1. Ammo, grenades, animated Vault-boy perk indicators (Well-Rested, Idiot Savant), and power armor battery warnings are all
2. now on the bottom-right. This condenses all of your equipment/perk related info on one side.

Note that everything should be pixel-aligned--if something isn't, post in the comments, and I'll fix it.

REQUIREMENTS

1. FallUI - HUD
2. Mod Configuration Menu

CREDITS & THANKS

1. m8r98a4f2, for the excellent FallUI - HUD mod that this mod relies on.
2. registrator2000, for making the absolutely essential Mod Configuration Menu .