With “background_color=0,0,0” set in the panel.cfg (VcockpitN section), we are not able to make the background of our “transparent” text gauges (XML or HTML) transparent.
With our simple text gauges (no background image, text on a transparent background), and the the “background_color” set to 0,0,0 in the Vcockpit, the panel background - behind the text - appears opaque black, not transparent.
We believe the issue is with the “background_color” setting in the panel.cfg and not with the gauges : if we set the “background_color” to 255,0,0 (pure red) we clearly see the text on the panel red background (which is anticipated). If the gauge was causing the issue, the text would appear surrounded with black 'boxes". In our gauges, the text is set to appear over a transparent background.
According to the SDK, when the “background_color” in the panel.cfg is set to 0,0,0, the Vcockpit panel background should be transparent, nor solid (opaque) black.
We are still unable to make the background of a Vcockpit transparent. Even though the “background_color” is set to 0,0,0, the background always appear black and not transparent. Is this a known issue waiting to be fixed or we are missing something?
Only solution I have found is use hud=1 to add transparency to the dynamic texture, but it uses specific blending method - black is transparent, white is opaque.
Unfortunately, we were not able to make the Vcockpit background transparent. We tried hud=1 and hud=2, even though in our case it is not a hud but a simple XML (or HTML) gauge that needs to be displayed, and the background remained black even though the “background_color” for the Vcockpit in the panel.cfg is set to 0,0,0.
Note: Using a texture for the “texture” parameter does not work. It must be the name of the material for the Vcockpit “polygon” or background, not the texture, as mentioned in the SDK, unless again we are missing something. We get no display when a texture is added to the material of the Vcockpit polygon, but only a white background. The gauge is displayed in the Vcockpit only when the name of the material of the polygon is used with no texture added to the material.
In our case, it’s no big deal because our gauges are mainly luminous text displayed on a black backgound. But the issue can become problematic if we want do display black text over a white surface (for example) through a transparent Vcockpit polygon.
The SDK says to set the “background_color” for a Vcockpit in the panel.cfg to 0,0,0 for the background to be transparent. Obvioulsy, this seems not to work. The background appears opaque black.