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Followtext

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-08

Overview​

FollowText is a UI widget that displays a text label positioned to track a target entity on the screen. It inherits from Widget and uses screen-space projection to update the text's position based on the target's world position, ensuring the label moves with the target during gameplay. It optionally supports HUD scaling adjustments via event listeners and legacy fallback.

Usage example​

local followtext = followtext("Fonts/latin font.fnt", 24, "Hello!")
followtext:SetTarget(some_entity)
followtext:SetOffset(Vector3(0, 1, 0))
followtext:SetScreenOffset(5, -10)
TheFrontEnd:AddWidget(followtext)

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: None identified
Tags: None identified

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
textText widget(created internally)The child text widget used to render the string.
offsetVector3Vector3(0, 0, 0)Local offset applied to the target's symbol position.
screen_offsetVector3Vector3(0, 0, 0)Additional screen-space offset (in pixels) applied after projection.
targetEntity or nilnilThe entity being followed; if valid, the text updates to match its position.
hashudbooleanfalseInternal flag indicating whether HUD scaling listeners have been attached.

Main functions​

SetHUD(hud)​

  • Description: Attaches HUD scaling event listeners to the widget (e.g., to update text scale when HUD size changes). Only activates once.
  • Parameters: hud (Widget) — the HUD widget instance used to scope the event listeners.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetTarget(target)​

  • Description: Sets the entity the text should follow. Triggers an immediate position update.
  • Parameters: target (Entity or nil) — the entity whose position determines the text location.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetOffset(offset)​

  • Description: Sets the local offset (in world units) applied relative to the target’s symbol or position.
  • Parameters: offset (Vector3) — offset vector added to the target's position before screen projection.
  • Returns: Nothing.

SetScreenOffset(x, y)​

  • Description: Sets the screen-space offset (in pixels) to adjust the final text position.
  • Parameters:
    x (number) — horizontal offset in pixels.
    y (number) — vertical offset in pixels.
  • Returns: Nothing.

GetScreenOffset()​

  • Description: Returns the current screen-space offset.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: number, number — the current x and y screen offset values.

OnUpdate(dt)​

  • Description: Updates the widget's screen position based on the target's world position. Called automatically due to StartUpdating().
  • Parameters: dt (number) — delta time since last frame (unused directly but required by update loop).
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: If target is nil or invalid, or target.AnimState is missing and Transform is absent, no position update occurs.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to:
    continuefrompause — updates text scale when game resumes from pause.
    refreshhudsize — updates text scale when HUD scale changes (params: hud, scale).
  • Pushes: None identified