Smaller Main Map

[Tralfazz]

Although we can scale many UI elements, the main map is not one of them. Fortunately, only a tiny bit of code is needed to change it so that it doesn't fill the entire screen, allowing a player to examine the map and still steer a mount or even engage in chat or combat simultaneously.

You can get my little skin at lotrointerface.com here:
https://www.lotrointerface.com/downl...fo.php?id=1124



From the readme file:
====================
This is an extremely simple skin which makes the main map smaller and changes it to a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The main map as it defaults in LOTRO fills the entire screen. This can be nice for smaller screens but it prevents the player from seeing anything other than the map whenever the map is being displayed. And unlike many other UI elements, the game does not offer, by default, any way to adjust the scaling of the main map.

In addition to the size issue, the main map's data is actually in a 4:3 aspect ratio but since it fills the entire screen and this is no longer 2007, your screen is probably a wide-screen aspect ratio, most likely 16:9. This distorts the main map making regions appear to be shaped different than they really are and making text harder to read because of the stretching.

This skin adjusts the size of the map so that it fills an area just a bit larger than the upper-left quadrant. With the map open you can still see the right side of your screen (which is most likely where you have your quest tracker), the bottom (where your skill bars are most likely placed), all or most of your chat window (if it's in more-or-less the default position at bottom-left), and enough of the rest so that you can steer your mount through the landscape while examining the map. The aspect ratio is 4:3 which allows all the map data to be displayed "as intended" and makes the text easier to read because the stretching is eliminated.

You can easily change the resolution to make the map larger or smaller or to change the aspect ratio (if you are so used to the "stretched" view that you prefer it over the "true/unstretched" view). Just change the values of WIDTH and HEIGHT to your preference within the SkinDefinition.xml file. I like 1024x768 on my 2048x1152 monitor so that's what's in the SkinDefinition.xml file.

Please don't expect any updates to this simple skin. I won't add any features. I won't make any changes to match your specific monitor or chosen screen resolution, just do the very simple edits to the SkinDefinition.xml file yourself.

To learn how to install and enable a skin for LOTRO, please read the very good instructions here:
https://www.lotrointerface.com/forum...q_installation
In addition to these instructions, I've found that after choosing the skin I want from the in-game menu I have to log out the character and then log it back in for the change to take effect. It's also important to add the skin while the game is not running, and you'll need to quit and relaunch the game in order for any edits you make to the SkinDefinitions.xml file to be recognized.

The code used here is extremely simple so if you want to use it for your own more complex skin or add it to a skin compendium, please be welcome to do so. If you like this simple stand-alone skin as it is, please do not remove this readme file if you share or distribute this skin.

Tuesday 2021-01-05
John M. Hammer
LOTRO.com Forums ID: Tralfazz
LOTROInterface.com Forums ID: JohnMHammer

[Tralfazz]

https://www.lotrointerface.com/downl...fo.php?id=1124

I just uploaded a revised version of SmallerMainMap to lotrointerface.com. The main changes are to the readme.txt.

============================== ==========
============================== ==========

This is an extremely simple skin which makes the main map smaller and changes it to a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Since I first uploaded this I learned that many other skins provide this function. However, they do a lot of other things, too. If you want to use the default LOTRO interface skin but just want a smaller main map, this skin will do that for you.

---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

The main map as it defaults in LOTRO fills the entire screen. This can be nice for smaller screens but it prevents the player from seeing anything other than the map whenever the map is being displayed. And unlike many other UI elements, the game does not offer, by default, any way to adjust the scaling of the main map.

In addition to the size issue, the main map's data is actually in a 4:3 aspect ratio but since it fills the entire screen and this is no longer 2007, your screen is probably a wide-screen aspect ratio, most likely 16:9. This distorts the main map making regions appear to be shaped different than they really are and making text harder to read because of the stretching.

This skin adjusts the size of the map so that it fills an area just a bit larger than the upper-left quadrant. With the map open you can still see the entire right half of your screen (which is most likely where you have your quest tracker), the bottom third (where your skill bars are most likely placed), all or most of your chat window (if it's in more-or-less the default position at bottom-left), and enough of the rest so that you can steer your mount through the landscape while examining the map. The aspect ratio is 4:3 which allows all the map data to be displayed "as intended" and makes the text easier to read because the stretching is eliminated.

I have experimented with different values for WIDTH and HEIGHT within the SkinDefinition.xml file but have not achieved satisfactory results.

Note that three different skins are included with this download:
1- SmallerMainMap, which is the very simple skin I developed for my own use and decided to share with the community on lotrointerface.com.
2- LargerDressingRoom, which is based on Wicky71's "Larger dressing room window" skin which itself is based on Brygard's "Dressing Room eXpanded" skin.
3- LDR-SMM, which combines the functionality of both SmallerMainMap and LargerDressingRoom into a single skin.

I use LDR-SMM myself because I don't like the main map filling up my entire screen and I enjoy being able to examine outfits in more detail with the larger dressing room frame.

---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

To learn how to install and enable a skin for LOTRO, please read the very good instructions here:
https://www.lotrointerface.com/forum...q_installation
In addition to these instructions, I've found that after choosing the skin I want from the in-game menu I sometimes have to log out the character and then log it back in for the change to take effect. It's also important to add the skin to the skins folder while the game is not running, and you'll need to quit and relaunch the game in order for any edits you make to the SkinDefinitions.xml file to be recognized.

The code used here is extremely simple so if you want to use it for your own more complex skin or add it to a skin compendium, please be welcome to do so. If you like this simple stand-alone skin as it is, please do not remove this readme file if you share or distribute this skin.

Tuesday 2021-01-05 (updated Sunday 2022-02-13)
John M. Hammer
LOTRO.com Forums ID: Tralfazz
LOTROInterface.com Forums ID: JohnMHammer

https://www.lotrointerface.com/downl...fo.php?id=1124