Removing NPC Name during combat

[watchwolf]

I was going to add a reply to an earlier topic but the big red letters said it would be better if I started a new one instead. So...

It really annoys me when the name of the NPC glares at me when I'm in combat. I know it's a Balrog, etc, and in fact having it show when you're trying to make a recording of the epic battle sort of spoils the effect. So I am trying to make it go away.

I used to think I knew a little about SGML, HTML and XML, but for some reason I can't make this work.

I looked for the code that might control this and I found this under menus/main/hud_info_menu.xml. I'm putting probably a little more than the specific code in question so it can be seen in context:

(line 75 below)

    <!-- NAME ============================================================================-->
   <text name="hudinfo_name">
      <id> 1 </id>
    <!-- <alpha> <copy src="darnui_settings" trait="_ndalpha" /> </alpha> --> <!-- DarN add -->
      <alpha> <copy src="parent()" trait="_txt_ha"></copy> </alpha>
    <visible>
         <copy> 2 </copy>
   <!-- _{<copy> 1 </copy>
        <onlyif>
             <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="_combat" />
             <and src="darnui_settings" trait="_hide_enemy_name" />
        </onlyif>} -->
      </visible>
      <string></string>
      <font> <copy src="darnui_settings" trait="_ndfont"></copy> </font> <!-- DarN (2) -->
      <justify> &center; </justify>
      <red>
         <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="red"></copy>
      </red> <!-- red w/ telekenisis alteration -->
      <green>
         <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="green"></copy>
      </green> <!-- green w/ telekenisis alteration -->
      <blue>
         <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="blue"></copy>
      </blue> <!-- blue w/ telekenisis alteration -->
      <wrapwidth>
         <copy src="screen()" trait="width"></copy>
         _{<copy src="screen()" trait="cropx"></copy>
            <mul> 4 </mul>}
         ₇₂₀   <!-- effective width of hudemainmenu -->
      </wrapwidth>
      <x> <!-- DarN Center screen -->
         <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="_centerscreenx"></copy>
      </x>
      <y> <copy src="HUDInfoMenu" trait="_centerscreeny"></copy> </y>
      <user15> -46 </user15>
   </text>[/color]
(line 115 above)


I've colored in gray the text that is gray in my XML editor tool, and added in red which lines they are. I figure the notated code appears to be instructions to make the name disappear under combat situation.  It seems to me that I should either 1: Replace the corresponding strings with the notation code, or 2: add the highlighted code where it is shown.

I have tried doing this every which way I can imagine with no effect, except when it's so wrong it doesn't load at all. I know that when I do create an error my editor tells me exactly what it is and where.... it's hard to ignore it when it says "fatal error"

So what am I doing wrong? Am I so far off base I'm in the wrong .xml doc?

I did find menus/prefab/darn/hud_info_menu_config.xml and thought to myself, "Self..." I thought, "This looks like the place where the vanilla .xml might be over-ridden by the darn one..." (no slur inferred with the "darn" word in there, though it has become a bit frustrating...  ) but it doesn't appear to address the issue. Maybe I just don't see it?

Can the experts please teach this old wolf a new trick?

[DarN]

It's been a while since I wrote that, so my memory is a bit rusty. Looking at the code, it's likely I tried to do what you describe, but didn't get it to work properly. I left it commented in there to try later I suppose. This should be a breeze with OBSE, but I haven't gotten around to that yet for this mod. Still working on another one you see.

This part:

Code:

<_combat><copy src="sibling(HUDReticle)" trait="_combat" /></_combat>

is probably where it fails - getting the info from HUDReticle. I seem to remember having trouble accessing it.

[watchwolf]

Thanks for the quick reply.

At least it's not incompetence on my part. I feel a little better. I'll pick away at it once in a while but I doubt if you have trouble with it I will do any better. But who knows... even the blind hog gets the acorn once in a while.

Peace...
 Wolf

[watchwolf]

Hi... Me again.

Now that I think about it, one of the first things I tried to do when I installed the DarNified UI was try to turn off ALL the activation icons. I hate those little pictures, so out of place and spoiling the immersion of the game. It's like, there aren't little signs floating over things and people in real life telling you what they are.... although I admit that would probably be pretty useful for some people. To me it's like the music. I turn it off. Usually, if I don't my character keeps looking around sort of confused, then this little icon pops up that says, "Hey... where's that music coming from?" I can't blame him. I usually don't hear music going on around me when I go through my daily life, changing to fit someone's idea of the situation. Well, at least not unless I'm off my meds.

But back to the game, I know a door when I see one and so on.

If it would be any easier, I wonder if instead of turning the icons off during combat, can we turn them off all the time? That would necessarily remove them during combat as well as make the game a little more ... real. Uh, said at the risk of appearing to lose touch with reality.

[DarN]

Do you want all context sensitive info removed, or just the icons?

[watchwolf]

Definitely the icons, but would all context sensitive info also entail not seeing messages such as discovery of locations? That wouldn't be bad, and I believe it's already an option somewhere. But all important info messages probably wouldn't be good idea and so I presume you probably don't mean that.

No, I think you're asking if I run across a certain plant, do I want it to tell me it's lavender or whatever? If it does then wouldn't that still allow the Balrog label to appear when I'm fighting it? If that's true then I suppose I am asking for all context sensitive info to go away. Just the label, not the activator. If I see a lavender plant I still want to be able to harvest it. If the context info is missing I would have to depend on my recognizing it. Hm... yes, that would be true immersion and reliance on one's ability to learn. Unless you can imagine any serious negative impact, yes, I think that's a good idea. Not for the beginner but I wonder if other serious immersion players who want the game to be as realistic as possible might like that idea too. It's hard-core but I like it that. I'm one of those who keeps the difficulty slider all the way to the right and looks for mods that make it more difficult.

What do you think?

[DarN]

Definitely the icons, but would all context sensitive info also entail not seeing messages such as discovery of locations? That wouldn't be bad, and I believe it's already an option somewhere. But all important info messages probably wouldn't be good idea and so I presume you probably don't mean that.

No, context sensitive info appears at the crosshair by default. Basically anythoing you point at (doors, npc's, etc). Location discovery appears in the message area (top left).

No, I think you're asking if I run across a certain plant, do I want it to tell me it's lavender or whatever? If it does then wouldn't that still allow the Balrog label to appear when I'm fighting it? If that's true then I suppose I am asking for all context sensitive info to go away. Just the label, not the activator. If I see a lavender plant I still want to be able to harvest it. If the context info is missing I would have to depend on my recognizing it. Hm... yes, that would be true immersion and reliance on one's ability to learn. Unless you can imagine any serious negative impact, yes, I think that's a good idea. Not for the beginner but I wonder if other serious immersion players who want the game to be as realistic as possible might like that idea too. It's hard-core but I like it that. I'm one of those who keeps the difficulty slider all the way to the right and looks for mods that make it more difficult.

What do you think?

To remove it, edit in hud_info_menu.xml.

hudinfo_name is the name of the objetc (eg. Door to)
hudinfo_dest is the destination (eg. Weye)
lockinfo_rect deals with door/container info (locked, etc)
iteminfo_rect deals with items on the ground and such.

Set visible to false for the ones you don't want to see:

Code

GeSHi (xml):
<visible> &false; </visible>

Whatever you decide to do with these, the crosshair will still change appearance depending on what you're looking at. Sound like what you wanted?

[watchwolf]

  Indeed. It sounds like exactly what I want.

I'll try it out and let you know after a few days.

Thanks!!

[watchwolf]

To remove it, edit in hud_info_menu.xml.

hudinfo_name is the name of the objetc (eg. Door to)
hudinfo_dest is the destination (eg. Weye)
lockinfo_rect deals with door/container info (locked, etc)
iteminfo_rect deals with items on the ground and such.

Set visible to false for the ones you don't want to see:

Code

GeSHi (xml):
<visible> &false; </visible>

Whatever you decide to do with these, the crosshair will still change appearance depending on what you're looking at. Sound like what you wanted?

I tried this several times. In the 'hudinfo_name" there was a place to set it, e.g. a <visible> key, but it was already set to &false;

The others did not have this key so I inserted it near the top in a place as similar to that of the key mentioned above. Regardless, there was no change in the HUD appearance.

I feel stupid as I am sure I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I'm in the wrong folder.

Would it be possible for you to either quote the xml that needs the change or send me a copy of one that has the changes? Perhaps this is asking a bit much. Just say so. But I'm on a quest now, I am determined now that it is proving to be difficult (at least for me). I'm sort of that way.

[DarN]

This just means the game is overriding these. Next step is to try the alpha. Instead of visible false, we try setting alpha to 0:

Code

GeSHi (xml):
<alpha> 0 </alpha>

If this don't work, set position to something crazy like

Code

GeSHi (xml):
<x> 99999 </x>

That'll move 'em off screen.

[watchwolf]

Very cool. I changed the alpha's to zero and that did it.

Thanks.