Visual treatment - Element Labs

Purpose

configs/visual.jsonc controls how the world looks while the map is open. The map shows the real world, so the same scene can be dark, foggy or half-hidden by cloud depending on the time and weather. These settings hold it steady and readable. Everything here applies only while the map is open, and is undone when it closes.

Options

Colour and time

Key	Default	Meaning
`timecycle`	`"TUNNEL_orange"`	The colour grade applied to the world. Any of the game’s own grade names is accepted.
`timecycleStrength`	`1.0`	How strongly it is applied, from `0.0` (none) to `1.0` (full).
`lockTime`	`true`	Whether the time of day is held fixed while the map is open.
`lockTimeHour`	`12`	The hour it is held at, from `0` to `23`. Midday keeps the whole map lit.

Weather effects

Key	Default	Meaning
`hideCloudHat`	`true`	Whether the cloud layer is hidden. Cloud sits between a high camera and the ground, so leaving it visible obscures the map.
`fogDisabled`	`true`	Whether distance fog is switched off. Fog is what makes far parts of the map grey out.
`hideWorld`	`true`	Whether every ped and vehicle is hidden while the map is open. A transparent map otherwise shows the world still moving under it; with it on, the scene is the city alone. Set it to `false` for a view that is meant to watch the world.

Settings screen

Choosing the Settings tab opens the game’s own settings screen over the map.

Key	Default	Meaning
`settingsBlur`	`true`	Whether the map behind the settings screen is blurred while it is open, the way the pause menu blurs the world.
`settingsBlurFade`	`250`	How long the blur takes to appear and to clear, in milliseconds.

Sound

Key	Default	Meaning
`muteGameAudio`	`true`	Whether the game’s own audio is silenced while the map is open. The map’s own sounds still play. See Sound.

Detail distance

The map is drawn from the streamed world, so how much of it is loaded decides how complete it looks.

Key	Default	Meaning
`lodScale`	`3.0`	The ceiling on detail distance while the map is open.
`lodScaleNear`	`3.0`	The detail distance used when the camera is low, where buildings must be recognisable.
`lodScaleFar`	`1.0`	The detail distance used when the camera is high, where individual buildings do not matter.

The value in use moves between lodScaleNear and lodScaleFar as altitude changes, and never exceeds lodScale.

Example

A neutral grade, night held instead of midday, and lower detail for weaker machines:

{
  "namespace": "visual",
  "configVersion": 1,
  "scope": "client",
  "values": {
    "timecycle": "default",
    "timecycleStrength": 0.4,
    "lockTimeHour": 22,
    "lodScaleNear": 2.0,
    "lodScale": 2.0
  }
}

Leaving the world exactly as it is in game:

{
  "namespace": "visual",
  "configVersion": 1,
  "scope": "client",
  "values": {
    "timecycleStrength": 0.0,
    "lockTime": false,
    "hideCloudHat": false,
    "fogDisabled": false
  }
}

Applying changes

restart element_map

Safety

Key	Stay within	Why
`lodScale`, `lodScaleNear`, `lodScaleFar`	Roughly `1.0` to `4.0`	Detail distance is the single largest cost of having the map open. Raising these values loads far more of the world and can cost frames on weaker machines. Below `1.0` the map looks unfinished, with buildings missing.
`timecycleStrength`	`0.0` to `1.0`	Outside that range the result is not predictable.
`lockTimeHour`	`0` to `23`	Outside that range the hour is not a valid time of day.
`timecycle`	An existing grade name	A name the game does not have leaves the world ungraded. There is no error, so check the result in game.
`settingsBlurFade`	Roughly `100` to `600`	Below that the blur snaps on, which reads as a glitch. Above it, the settings screen is legible before the map behind it has finished blurring.

Setting lockTime to false means the map inherits whatever the time is, so night makes it much harder to read. If you want the world’s real time, consider raising timecycleStrength to keep the map legible. hideCloudHat and fogDisabled restore what they changed when the map closes, so a player who had cloud and fog before opening the map has them again after. hideWorld only affects this client: other players still see you and your vehicle while you are in the map. It hides players, peds and vehicles, including your own, and brings them back the moment the map starts closing.

Configuration
Camera: the altitude range the detail settings respond to
Sound

​Purpose

​Options

​Colour and time

​Weather effects

​Settings screen

​Sound

​Detail distance

​Example

​Applying changes

​Safety

​Related