HoverText

Based on game build 722832 | Last updated: 2026-04-28

Overview

HoverText is a UI widget extending Widget. It renders primary and secondary text strings that track the mouse position, automatically clamping to screen edges to prevent overflow. It integrates with the player's HUD and PlayerController to display context-sensitive action strings (LMB/RMB), tooltip data, and item status colors (e.g., wet vs. normal). Typically instantiated as a child of the player's HUD screen.

Usage example

local HoverText = require("widgets/hoverer")

-- Inside a HUD screen constructor:
self.hover = self:AddChild(HoverText(ThePlayer))
self.hover:SetPosition(0, 0, 0)
self.hover:FollowMouseConstrained()

-- Force text position settlement on move (optional hack for inspecting):
self.hover:ForceSettleTextPositionOnMove(true)

Dependencies & tags

External dependencies:

• widgets/widget -- Widget base class
• widgets/text -- Text child widget for rendering strings
• constants -- Defines WET_TEXT_COLOUR, NORMAL_TEXT_COLOUR, CONTROL_PRIMARY, etc.
• TheInput -- Global input manager for mouse position and control bindings
• TheSim -- Screen size retrieval for clamping logic

Components used:

• playercontroller (on owner) -- Accessed via owner.components.playercontroller for action strings and mouse state.
• inspectable (on targets) -- Checked via lmb.target.components.inspectable for profile stats.
• stackable (on targets) -- Accessed via lmb.target.replica.stackable for stack size display.

Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
owner	entity	---	The player entity owning this widget; source for HUD controls and actions.
text	Text	---	Primary text child widget; displays the main tooltip or action string.
secondarytext	Text	---	Secondary text child widget; displays RMB action or cancel hint.
isFE	boolean	false	Toggles between Front End mode (uses owner:GetTooltipPos) and In-Game mode (uses HUD.controls).
default_text_pos	Vector3	(0, 40, 0)	Fallback position if tooltip position calculation fails.
force_settle_text	boolean	nil	If true, SettleTextPosition is called during UpdatePosition.
followhandler	handler	nil	Reference to the input move handler registered by FollowMouseConstrained.
str	string	nil	Current primary string content being displayed.
secondarystr	string	nil	Current secondary string content being displayed.
lastStr	string	""	Tracks previous string to detect changes for throttling.
strFrames	number	0	Frame counter for SHOW_DELAY throttling logic.
forcehide	boolean	nil	If true, prevents Show() even if OnUpdate conditions are met.
YOFFSETUP	constant (local)	-80	Vertical offset for upper screen bound clamping in UpdatePosition().
YOFFSETDOWN	constant (local)	-50	Vertical offset for lower screen bound clamping in UpdatePosition().
XOFFSET	constant (local)	10	Horizontal offset for screen edge clamping in UpdatePosition().
SHOW_DELAY	constant (local)	0	Frame delay threshold for text change throttling in OnUpdate().

Main functions

_ctor(owner)

• Description: Initialises the widget, calls Widget._ctor, creates text and secondarytext children, and starts the update loop.
• Parameters:
  • owner -- Player entity instance; used to access HUD controls and PlayerController.
• Returns: nil
• Error states: Errors if owner is nil or lacks required HUD/Component structure (unguarded access in OnUpdate).

OnUpdate()

• Description: Widget lifecycle. Called every frame while widget is active. Determines visibility, fetches tooltip/action strings from owner, calculates text colors based on target state (wet/normal), and updates text content. Throttles text changes via strFrames to prevent flickering.
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: Errors if owner.HUD or owner.HUD.controls is nil in non-FE mode (no nil guard before access).

UpdatePosition(x, y)

• Description: Calculates the widget's screen position based on mouse coordinates x, y. Clamps position to ensure text bounds stay within screen edges (TheSim:GetScreenSize), accounting for text region size and scale. Calls SettleTextPosition if force_settle_text is true.
• Parameters:
  • x -- number screen X coordinate
  • y -- number screen Y coordinate
• Returns: None
• Error states: None

SettleTextPosition()

• Description: Updates the internal text child position based on isFE mode. In FE mode, uses owner:GetTooltipPos(); in Game mode, uses owner.HUD.controls:GetTooltipPos().
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: Errors if owner.HUD.controls is nil in Game mode.

ForceSettleTextPositionOnMove(boolval)

• Description: Sets the force_settle_text flag. Used as a hack for specific UI states (e.g., UpgradeModulesDisplay_Inspecting) to override standard tooltip positioning logic during movement.
• Parameters:
  • boolval -- boolean to enable or disable forced settling
• Returns: None
• Error states: None.

FollowMouseConstrained()

• Description: Registers a global input move handler via TheInput:AddMoveHandler that calls UpdatePosition on mouse move. Initializes position immediately. Ensures only one handler is registered (followhandler check).
• Parameters: None
• Returns: None
• Error states: None.

Events & listeners

None — Widget uses global TheInput handlers instead of entity events.