Colors

DDA is colorful game. You can use several foreground and background colors in various places:

  • map data (terrain and furniture);
  • item data;
  • text data;
  • etc.

Note: Map data objects can only have one color-related node defined (either color or bgcolor).

Color string format

Whenever color is defined in JSON it should be defined in following format: Prefix_Foreground_Background.

Prefix can take one of following values:

  • c_ - default color prefix (can be omitted);
  • i_ - optional prefix which indicates that foreground color should be inverted (special rules will be applied to foreground and background colors);
  • h_ - optional prefix which indicates that foreground color should be highlighted (special rules will be applied to foreground and background colors).

Foreground - defines mandatory color of foreground/ink/font.

Background - defines optional color of background/paper.

Note: Not all foreground + background pairs are defined by their full name. Use in-game Color manager to see all color names.

Note: If color was not found by its name, then c_unset is used for Foreground and i_white for Background.

Examples of color strings

  • c_white - white color (with default prefix c_);
  • black - black color (default prefix c_ is omitted);
  • i_red - inverted red color;
  • dark_gray_white - dark_gray foreground color with white background color;
  • light_gray_light_red - light_gray foreground color with light_red background color;
  • dkgray_red - dark_gray foreground color with red background color (deprecated prefix dk instead of dark_);
  • ltblue_red - light_blue foreground color with red background color (deprecated prefix lt instead of light_).

Color code

Color code is short string which defines color and can be used, for example, in maps notes.

Possible colors

Color (image) Color name (dda) Color name (curses) Default R,G,B values Color code Notes
#000000 black BLACK 0,0,0    
#ff0000 red RED 255,0,0 R  
#006e00 green GREEN 0,110,0 G  
#5c3317 brown BROWN 92,51,23 br  
#0000c8 blue BLUE 0,0,200 B  
#8b3a62 magenta MAGENTA 139,58,98 P  
#0096b4 cyan CYAN 0,150,180 C  
#969696 light_gray GRAY 150,150,150 lg deprecated lt prefix can be used instead of light_
#636363 dark_gray DGRAY 99,99,99 dg deprecated dk prefix can be used instead of dark_
#ff9696 light_red LRED 255,150,150   deprecated lt prefix can be used instead of light_
#00ff00 light_green LGREEN 0,255,0 g deprecated lt prefix can be used instead of light_
#ffff00 yellow YELLOW 255,255,0    
#6464ff light_blue LBLUE 100,100,255 b deprecated lt prefix can be used instead of light_
#fe00fe pink LMAGENTA 254,0,254 lm  
#00f0ff light_cyan LCYAN 0,240,255 c deprecated lt prefix can be used instead of light_
#ffffff white WHITE 255,255,255 W  

Note: Default RGB values are taken from file \data\raw\colors.json. Note: RGB values can be redefined in file \config\base_colors.json.

Color rules

There are two types of special color transformation which can affect both foreground and background color:

  • inversion;
  • highlight.

Note: Color rules can be redefined (for example, \data\raw\color_templates\no_bright_background.json).

Color tags

Color tags can be used in most places where strings can be displayed to the player:

    "name": "[Ψ]Stop Concentrating",
    "description": "End your concentration on all of your maintained powers.\n\nChanneling this power <color_green>always succeeds</color>.",

    "text": [
      "<color_light_blue>You see a Russian sheepdog off at the edge of your vision.  It walks past some scenery and vanishes.</color>"
    ]

and

    { "u_message": "The <color_light_green>zombie</color> bursts in <color_red>flames!</color>", "type": "mixed" }

will be displayed respectively as:

image

image

and

image

Do note how the color tags override the default color for a "mixed" dialogue message (magenta). This is not always the case, so it requires testing to find out the intended combination.

Additionally, color tags can be combined to generate color gradients, and be nested into each other:

    { "u_message": "<color_red>H</color><color_magenta>ell</color><color_red>fire</color> and brimstone." },
    { "u_message": "<color_light_gray><color_white>This text is white</color> while this text is light_gray, <color_light_red>this is light_red</color>. This is light_gray again</color>", "type": "mixed" }

which are displayed as:

image

image

Note: Items that use relic data automatically turn the item’s displayed name in pink. Color tags override this, in case one wants to “hide” it from the player, or to make them look “mundane”. Similarly, if one wants, otherwise mundane items can have colored names.

User color customization

Base colors

Users can customize the color appearance by setting the color triplets in config/base_colors.json. The default config looks like this:

[
  {
    "type": "colordef",
    "BLACK": [ 20, 30, 38 ],
    "DGRAY": [ 121, 97, 49 ],
    "GRAY": [ 173, 135, 59 ],
    "WHITE": [ 215, 181, 109 ],
    "BROWN": [ 120, 83, 42 ],
    "YELLOW": [ 231, 155, 32 ],
    "RED": [ 181, 45, 26 ],
    "LRED": [ 200, 105, 65 ],
    "GREEN": [ 142, 140, 61 ],
    "LGREEN": [ 153, 171, 79 ],
    "BLUE": [ 35, 65, 86 ],
    "LBLUE": [ 88, 102, 105 ],
    "MAGENTA": [ 217, 131, 22 ],
    "LMAGENTA": [ 218, 153, 71 ],
    "CYAN": [ 77, 72, 127 ],
    "LCYAN": [ 131, 109, 175 ]
  }
]

The mapping values are [Red, Green, Blue] color triplets, with numbers for each ranging from 0 to 255.

If for whatever reason one wanted to make all the “red” colors appear blue on the screen, they could change the "RED": [ 181, 45, 26 ], to something like "RED": [ 10, 10, 220 ],.

The game provides a nice built-in color manager with several pre-defined color themes that can be easily switched between.

GUI colors

The UI menus do not (always) adhere to the base color customization, and can be customized separately, in the config/imgui_style.json. The default config is:

{
  "inherit_base_colors": false,
  "colors": {
  }
}

Changing inherit_base_colors to true would make the imgui menus follow the base colors theme with some reasonable defaults.

It is, however, also possible to tweak the specific element colors with higher fidelity and not be restricted to the 8-color pallete by specifying the respective elements and colors in the colors object. Like so:

{
  "inherit_base_colors": false,
  "colors": {
    "ImGuiCol_Text"                   : [1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TextDisabled"           : [0.50, 0.50, 0.50, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_WindowBg"               : [0.06, 0.06, 0.06, 0.94],
    "ImGuiCol_ChildBg"                : [0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00],
    "ImGuiCol_PopupBg"                : [0.08, 0.08, 0.08, 0.94],
    "ImGuiCol_Border"                 : [0.43, 0.43, 0.50, 0.50],
    "ImGuiCol_BorderShadow"           : [0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00],
    "ImGuiCol_FrameBg"                : [0.16, 0.29, 0.48, 0.54],
    "ImGuiCol_FrameBgHovered"         : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.40],
    "ImGuiCol_FrameBgActive"          : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.67],
    "ImGuiCol_TitleBg"                : [0.04, 0.04, 0.04, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TitleBgActive"          : [0.16, 0.29, 0.48, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TitleBgCollapsed"       : [0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.51],
    "ImGuiCol_MenuBarBg"              : [0.14, 0.14, 0.14, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_ScrollbarBg"            : [0.02, 0.02, 0.02, 0.53],
    "ImGuiCol_ScrollbarGrab"          : [0.31, 0.31, 0.31, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_ScrollbarGrabHovered"   : [0.41, 0.41, 0.41, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_ScrollbarGrabActive"    : [0.51, 0.51, 0.51, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_CheckMark"              : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_SliderGrab"             : [0.24, 0.52, 0.88, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_SliderGrabActive"       : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_Button"                 : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.40],
    "ImGuiCol_ButtonHovered"          : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_ButtonActive"           : [0.06, 0.53, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_Header"                 : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.31],
    "ImGuiCol_HeaderHovered"          : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.80],
    "ImGuiCol_HeaderActive"           : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_Separator"              : [0.43, 0.43, 0.50, 0.50],
    "ImGuiCol_SeparatorHovered"       : [0.10, 0.40, 0.75, 0.78],
    "ImGuiCol_SeparatorActive"        : [0.10, 0.40, 0.75, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_ResizeGrip"             : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.20],
    "ImGuiCol_ResizeGripHovered"      : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.67],
    "ImGuiCol_ResizeGripActive"       : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.95],
    "ImGuiCol_Tab"                    : [0.18, 0.35, 0.58, 0.86],
    "ImGuiCol_TabHovered"             : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.80],
    "ImGuiCol_TabActive"              : [0.20, 0.41, 0.68, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TabUnfocused"           : [0.07, 0.10, 0.15, 0.97],
    "ImGuiCol_TabUnfocusedActive"     : [0.14, 0.26, 0.42, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_PlotLines"              : [0.61, 0.61, 0.61, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_PlotLinesHovered"       : [1.00, 0.43, 0.35, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_PlotHistogram"          : [0.90, 0.70, 0.00, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_PlotHistogramHovered"   : [1.00, 0.60, 0.00, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TableHeaderBg"          : [0.19, 0.19, 0.20, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TableBorderStrong"      : [0.31, 0.31, 0.35, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TableBorderLight"       : [0.23, 0.23, 0.25, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TableRowBg"             : [0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00],
    "ImGuiCol_TableRowBgAlt"          : [1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 0.06],
    "ImGuiCol_TextSelectedBg"         : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 0.35],
    "ImGuiCol_DragDropTarget"         : [1.00, 1.00, 0.00, 0.90],
    "ImGuiCol_NavHighlight"           : [0.26, 0.59, 0.98, 1.00],
    "ImGuiCol_NavWindowingHighlight"  : [1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 0.70],
    "ImGuiCol_NavWindowingDimBg"      : [0.80, 0.80, 0.80, 0.20],
    "ImGuiCol_ModalWindowDimBg"       : [0.80, 0.80, 0.80, 0.35]
  }
}

The keys in the mapping are the ones provided by ImGui library, and it should be “obvious” or perhaps “intuitive” what those do (which is to say, there is no explicit documentation at the moment). Values are [red, green, blue, opacity] quadruplets with values between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive. However [red, green, blue] triplets are also accepted, and in those cases opacity is assumed to be 1.0 (i.e. fully non-transparent).
The values in the above snippet are those of the default ImGui theme that the game uses, so copy-pasting that into your own config/imgui_style.json should yield no visual difference from the empty config. They can be used as a reference.

You can play around with specific values in the imgui playground (accessible from the game main menu -> imgui Demo Screen -> Configuration -> Style -> Colors). You can then easily “Export” the chosen colors to use in imgui_style.json config.