Quote: --- Original message by: Gamma927
HUD Message Text Tutorial
By: Me KS

hud_messages are different from unicode_string_lists that the string list editor saves. These you're going to have to do manually in notepad and compile them with Tool.

First off, in your notepad file, each line will be one hud message. Don't make them too long, as Halo does not clip the message to a new line in-game, and instead it runs off the screen. However, there is a way to make new lines if you really need that much text. It's shown later in the tutorial.

You have to name each message with a name that's easy to remember so you can refer to it in a script, and then directly after the message name, stick an "=" sign and then write the message right after. So, here's an example of a few lines:

vehicle_warning=>> WARNING: Enemies Alerted
crapload=>> Eliminate All Covenant Forces
crapload_1=>> Then Advance Into The Area

You don't have to include the ">>" at the beginning, but it was used for most hud messages and it looks best to have it.

Now, if you find yourself absolutely needing more space than the screen offers for one message, there is a 'new line' character and it looks like this:

|n

Wherever this character is placed, the text after it will be part of a new line on the screen. I doubt it's necessary, but whenever Bungie used this newline character they always put one space before and 4 spaces after it. It's probably for aligning the new line with the first line, so I would do the same. Here's an example from b40's hud_messages (you might not see the 4 spaces, so just quote me to see them):

obj_chasm2=>> Reach the transition to the |n third chasm.

After you have all of the messages you need, save the file in the exact same directory as your scenario is located under the "tags" folder, but in your "data" folder, and you must save it as "hud messages.hmt" without quotes and change the "Encoding" to "Unicode", not the default "ANSI". You will know what I mean when you go to save with Notepad. Tool will not compile correctly unless you do all of these steps.

For example, if your scenario is located in "tags\levels\amazingmap\amazingmap.scenario", then you either have to find "data\levels\amazingmap" or create that directory and then save it there, resulting in the file's path being "data\levels\amazingmap\hud messages.hmt".

Then at this point you're ready to do the tool command hud-messages, which is:

tool hud-messages (path) (scenario name)

So, for the example above, I would type:

tool hud-messages levels\amazingmap amazingmap

because the path to either the scenario or the messages file is the same: "levels\amazingmap" and the scenario name is of course "amazingmap".

It then compiles your hud_messages tag into the tags folder where your scenario is and automatically gives a reference to it from your scenario so you don't have to do it yourself. Then, you're ready to refer to these messages in your script.

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(show_hud_help_text "boolean")

shows or hides the hud help text

"boolean" meaning you can enter "true" or "false", as in "yes" or "no", or you can enter "1" or "0", respectively. When this is turned on, the hud message selected will be constantly displayed, so you should turn it off again when you want it to disappear.

(hud_set_help_text "hud_message")

displays "message" as the help text

This command selects which hud message to be displayed when the command above is set to "true". You use the name of whatever was before the "=" sign for the message you want in the original ".hmt" file you compiled. For example, for this line in the hmt file:

ohcraphelpme=>> You're Screwed, Have Fun

If you want that message, you use this command like so:

(hud_set_help_text ohcraphelpme)

(hud_set_objective_text "hud_message")

sets "message" as the current objective

This command does the same thing as the one above, except it sets the message to be displayed when you hit "Esc" and go to the pause menu under "Objectives".
Edited by Gamma927 on Jan 25, 2012 at 07:07 PM