UI Lab Example Mod

This mod showcases a Terminal Visor HUD — a diegetic helmet-display design that demonstrates the full power of the RmlUI data binding system.

Run

make run MOD_NAME=ui_lab

or

./build/vkquake -game ui_lab

Terminal Visor HUD

A green-on-dark terminal aesthetic inspired by sci-fi helmet visors and system readouts.

Design Features

• Mixed typography — Space Mono (monospace) for labels/values, Space Grotesk for body text
• Asymmetric L-shape layout — status left column, vitals bottom strip, center clear for gameplay
• Visor chrome — corner L-brackets + system header bar with level/map name
• 5-tier health-reactive theming — entire palette shifts based on health (green → amber → orange → red)
• Powerup overrides — each powerup transforms the HUD aesthetic (Quad=blue, Pent=red, Ring=ghost, Suit=toxic green), effects stack
• Visor glitch — damage triggers a 150ms opacity/transform stutter across the whole HUD
• Weapon contextual readout — panel morphs color per ammo type (shells/nails/rockets/cells)
• Mode-adaptive layouts — SP shows objectives + sigil tracker, DM shows mini-scoreboard via data-for
• Sigil collection tracker — 4-slot persistent display in SP mode
• Terminal-style animations — notify slide-in, centerprint with "INCOMING TRANSMISSION" frame, weapon switch recalibration flicker

Health Tiers

Tier	HP Range	Color
4	100+	Calm green
3	80-99	Slight amber
2	60-79	Warning amber
1	40-59	Orange-red
0	<40	Critical red + pulsing borders

Testing

• god + hurt 10 — cycle through health tiers
• give q / give p / give r / give s — test powerup visual overrides
• Switch weapons — verify contextual color change and recalibration animation
• ui_reload_css — hot-reload RCSS changes live

What It Overrides

• ui/rml/menus/main_menu.rml
• ui/rml/menus/pause_menu.rml
• ui/rml/hud/hud.rml
• ui/rcss/lab_menu.rcss
• ui/rcss/lab_hud.rcss

Mods Menu Discovery

The Mods menu discovers directories containing at least one of: pak0.pak, progs.dat, csprogs.dat, maps/, or ui/. ui_lab is discovered via its ui/ directory.

Quick Validation Checklist

1. On startup, you should see the custom UI LAB main menu.
2. ESC in-game should open the custom pause menu.
3. HUD should display the terminal visor aesthetic with green-on-dark panels.
4. Visor chrome (corner brackets + header bar) should frame the viewport.
5. Health tier colors should shift as HP changes.
6. Powerups should override the HUD color scheme.
7. ui_reload and ui_reload_css should update mod files live.