Alternative Skins
From EUO Manual
EUO uses a GUI (graphical user interface) that can be changed in appearance by applying different skins. A skin theme consists of three files: skin.cfg, bg.png and bg_t.png respectively.
Contents |
Creat a new Skin
The skin.cfg file is a configuration file written in ASCII-code which can be altered with simple text editing programs like notepad. The file extension “png” stands for Portable Network Graphics which employs a lossless data compression and is available for most modern graphics editing program. The easiest way to create a new skin is by editing already existing skins.
skin.cfg
This configuration file defines the position of the different game overlays in the GUI. The positioning works with an x-y coordination system:
There are 6 different overlays for the game-, stat- and message box, the mini map, dungeon name and moon/sun cycle. Only the width of the message box can be altered. For example the blue2 skin.cfg with the statbox on the left:
# this is where the main window goes xoffset=17 yoffset=17 # statbox sbsx=559 sbsy=24 # message box msgboxsx=20 msgboxsy=492 msgboxwidth=650 # mini map mmx=687 mmy=487 # mini map dungeon name mmtx=738 mmty=586 # where the sun and moon start - must be at the top sunx=163
bg.png
This is the main background graphic which is 800 x 600 pixels in size (width x height). The graphic is often subdivided by separators into at least four parts where the game text and graphic overlays will appear (according to their position defined by the skin.cfg):
| name of overlay | size | transparency | |
| 1 | main game box | 520 x 456 | no |
| 2 | statbox | min 221 x 442 | yes |
| 3 | massage box | min y x 89 | yes |
| 4 | mini map | 96 x 96 | no |
All the four parts seen in the example above can be exchanged, e.g. the box for the stats can be on the left side and the messages box and mini map on top (see skin.cfg). It is recommended that the background for the stat- and messages box is of a dark colour and any pattern should kept simple because of the text overlay. Same goes for the dungeon name of the mini map. While the overlay of the main game box and mini map are not transparent, any artwork or pattern in these parts will be shortly visible during connecting to the server or sometimes during a map change. The upper most separator line has to be at least 15 pixel in height for the moon/sun cycle.
bg_t.png
This image file is 224 x 15 pixels in size and is used for the background of the moon/sun cycle. The moon/sun cycle is always at the upper most edge of the GUI, but can be shifted to the right or left. Pixel with a pink color (r=255, g=0, b=255 or html=#ff00ff) will be transparent in the GUI. The use of transperant pixels make it easier to fit the moon/sun cycle on top of the main bg.png skin, e.g. if the separators have a pattern or colour gradient.
Where to get skins
Skins can be found in the New Skin Thread of the EUO forum. In some cases the download files have to be renamed.
How to install
To use a skin create a new folder in the “pics” subdirectory under the EUO installation path:
e.g. c:\..\euo\pics\xxx
Save the bg.png, bg_t.png and skin.cfg into this new folder. Go back into the main EUO directory (e.g. c:\..\euo) and open the client.cfg file with a text editor. Make sure the EUO client is closed before you edit and save the client.cfg. Edit the following line:
“skin=” into “skin=xxx”
With xxx being the name of the folder in the “pics” subfolder. If there is no line “skin=” then simply add one.
Links
Gimp - free raster graphics editor
