UI change/GUI change

[undercovergeek]

is it possible anywhere to edit where text appears on the info screens?

i know where the main flat grey info box that TF info and the then ship info is displayed on in game is stored - but how do I change where the layout of the text that is put onto this box is displayed?

[undercovergeek]

ill add a bit more info as it maybe to noones advantage - my plan was to move the text on the ship display screen so that the .bmp for the ship art could be twice as big allowing for more detail and a whole new art package

[wdolson]

Sorry, the only thing you can change is the art.  The text is all controlled by the code.

Are you talking about changing the screen for the current information for a given ship, or the ship class information display?  If you are talking about the ship class information, somebody could write their own ship and aircraft info utility that draws data directly from the scenario file.  With that you can do anything you want with the layout and art.

It may be possible to write an external utility using the tools that the tracker was built with that would give you information on individual ships, but I'm not sure that data is available.

Bill

[undercovergeek]

just the one in game that you click on that gives you the pic of the ship at sea/dock, its load out, weapons, and other various information - my plan was to drop all this info down and leave the top half for the ship pic allowing much more details for the artists to go at

I can make the box bigger even using ao8 instead of ao6 from the art files but the text is hardcoded to be at the top and around the bmp - i would need access to the code that simply moves all the text down about 9 or 10 lines and away from the bmp image leaving room for a bigger better picture - if its in the code i have no chance do i?

[undercovergeek]

and you could do this:-

[wdolson]

It's pretty unlikely.  

Sorry,
Bill

[undercovergeek]

sigh............. just a thought - no worries thanks for help

[el cid again]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

Sorry, the only thing you can change is the art.  The text is all controlled by the code.

Are you talking about changing the screen for the current information for a given ship, or the ship class information display?  If you are talking about the ship class information, somebody could write their own ship and aircraft info utility that draws data directly from the scenario file.  With that you can do anything you want with the layout and art.

It may be possible to write an external utility using the tools that the tracker was built with that would give you information on individual ships, but I'm not sure that data is available.

Bill

Actually - it is only difficult - not impossible. It is impossible with the official editor - or the semi-official tools like the pwhexe editor. But if you can use a hex editor - and if you can figure out where the message you want to change is - you could replace the text. What you probably cannot do is change the size of the image - which must "plug in" in various places in a compatable way. But simply changing a text message is probably possible - if you can find the original message in the program - which with many tools should be possile to do. I do not recommend tampering with code - which would have lots of unpredictable effects - and might violate the terms of use all users agree to - but changing a text message in a game designed for users to add countless types of planes, aircraft, units, locations etc probably would not bother anyone.

[undercovergeek]

what would i point he hex editor at - where is the code actually hiding?

[michaelm75au]

Changing the code to move the lines would be a bit time-consuming as almost all the print positions would need to be recalculated. Plus some of the other screens that use the ship graphic would also need to be re-done.
From memory, there is just enough room to show 20 devices from a ship in the body of that screen. I think it had to be moved up slightly to allow all the devices for the big convoys to show.
Also using the altFont option, requires a bit more space on the screen.