Should Dark Mode (Darcula) be made the default theme for all three programs

[Hammer]

Hi,

We are considering changing the default theme for the programs from the current "light" mode.


to the "Dark" Darcula mode.


We've noticed from player screenshots and saves the majority is in dark mode.

We would NOT be removing "light" options only having "dark" the default, then players wanting light would have to change them in the options.

For this poll we'd want a majority (65%+) to want dark mode to make the change.

[pokefan548]

Question: Could it be possible to have no set default and just prompt the user on first launch (might even be able to bundle in some other essential personal settings)?

[Hammer]

Question: Could it be possible to have no set default and just prompt the user on first launch (might even be able to bundle in some other essential personal settings)?

Not easily.

[pavelb]

I'd love to use dark theme, but there are certain parts of the UI scattered here and there that look *awful* in it:

[Lisbon]

Dark mode should be default, yes. It's much healthier for the eyes.

I say this even though I don't use it, just because red text is very hard to read in dark mode, due to my own screen settings.

Some parts could use some improvement, like the areas in the previous post, and the lists could have alternating shades of grey, to better parse the items in them.

[Maingunnery]

Other: I really do not care, I am fine in either mode, just make sure that the UI is prepared (Red in dark looks really bad).

[doulos05]

Dark mode should be default, yes. It's much healthier for the eyes.

I say this even though I don't use it, just because red text is very hard to read in dark mode, due to my own screen settings.

Some parts could use some improvement, like the areas in the previous post, and the lists could have alternating shades of grey, to better parse the items in them.

I use the Dark modes, but man is it difficult to make out a lot of the messages. I'm not sure I would support this despite using it.

[Heretic]

Eh...thinking on this, I think that this particular theme (ie Darcula) isn't really suited for a Dark Mode. The contrast is a little too harsh (for example, the reds on MekHQ's Personnel tab look REALLY bright, which kinda hurts my eyes and makes it uncomfortable to read, plus the reds on MegaMek don't really show up too well when I read a "Unit Destroyed" message) and certain options seem to blend together (such as when I go to a drop-down menu or a right-click menu and try to click one option, say editing statistics, but wind up clicking another option instead; this may have to do with how certain options are spaced with each other).

The theme of Flat Dark is also ill-suited for a dark mode option and suffers the same issues as Darcula. I say this as someone who primarily uses dark mode for a lot of (mobile) applications, but I firmly believe that a dark mode for MekHQ/MegaMek/MekLab would need to address the issues I raised before I feel comfortable using it. Maybe see if there's a UI/Accessibility person out there who's willing to help with this?

For transparency's sake, I voted "yes" for making dark mode default--however, y'all have to at least do something about the contrast issues, certainly, before I consider moving on from CDE/Motif as my "impromptu dark mode."