move chattext?

Tips, tactics, and general discussion for Evochron Legacy.
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DORN
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move chattext?

Post by DORN »

Hi there,

I am having a bit of trouble moving the chat box to the left. I assume that the chat box is that box that displays comments from hired crew members, Insufficient Energy for Jump, etc.?

1. I don't see the chattext.dat file in the EL folder, Yes, I have view all filenames turned on. I do find the chattext.dat file when I search for it. Should it be in the main EL folder or is it somewhere else?

2. I would like to move the box to the left just a little bit. Right now the edge of the box is banging up against the pitch ladder. Would a setting of -8.5 be a little move or a big move?


Thank you
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Vice
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Re: move chattext?

Post by Vice »

- The chattext.dat file is a file you'll create yourself if/when you want to modify the default placement.

- Available options are in the customizing kit here: http://www.starwraith.com/evochronlegac ... adme.htm#3 In summary:
1st value sets the red color (0-255, default 100)
2nd value sets the green color (0-255, default 255)
3rd value sets the blue color (0-255, default 255)
4th value sets the X pixel offset (usually leave at 20)
5th value sets the Y pixel offset (usually leave at 50)
6th value sets the X position (ie -7.5 for widescreen displays)
7th value sets the Y position (usually leave at 0)

- The location the file needs to be placed in is the custom \hud folder (which also needs to be created, if you haven't already created one). And that folder needs to be placed inside the game's install folder.

- Moving the message log more to the left will likely clip it off the edge of the render target for that 3D surface. But you can optionally shift it over onto its own dedicated render surface by using a value of -7.5 in line 6. It's a fairly significant move and is an option for widescreen (if that's what you are using), but puts it a little more over to the left and creates a separate render surface for it. I have attached a zipped example of such a modified chattext.dat file to this post that you can optionally use.
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DORN
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Re: move chattext?

Post by DORN »

Thanks for the clarification, Vice.

I will play around with that to see what happens.

Everything else is working fine now. I really like the little mod touches we can do to so many things.
DORN
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Re: move chattext?

Post by DORN »

Yes...that moved the chatbox to a better position for me.

Great. Thank you.

I may be missing something but is there a button or control to turn the chat box on and off?
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Vice
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Re: move chattext?

Post by Vice »

There is both a quick hide key (numpad /) and a minimize mode option (reduces it to 3 lines at a time and hides several of the control buttons), which is activated by right clicking on the 'X' next to the message log.
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