Chatline

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

Overview

ChatLine is a UI widget responsible for rendering a single chat entry—such as a player message, system notification, or skin announcement—in the game's chat interface. It dynamically configures visual content (message text, sender name, and badges) based on the ChatTypes enum and manages focus-based size scaling and alpha blending. It integrates with skin data and supports localized skin announcements via STRINGS.UI.NOTIFICATION.NEW_SKIN_ANNOUNCEMENT.

Usage example

local chatline = ChatLine(chat_font, 100, 20, 300, 80)
chatline:SetChatData(
    ChatTypes.Message,
    1.0,
    "Hello, world!",
    {1, 1, 1},
    "PlayerOne",
    {0.8, 0.8, 1},
    "knight_helmet",
    nil
)
chatline:UpdateAlpha(0.7)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: Checks ChatTypes enum (e.g., ChatTypes.Message, ChatTypes.SkinAnnouncement, etc.) for type-based rendering logic. Uses ANCHOR_LEFT, ANCHOR_RIGHT alignment constants.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
root	Widget	nil (created in constructor)	Root container widget for all visual children.
type	ChatTypes enum	ChatTypes.Message	Type of chat message; determines which UI elements are visible.
user_width, user_max_chars	number	nil (from constructor args)	Maximum width and character count allowed for the sender name text.
message_width, message_max_chars	number	nil (from constructor args)	Maximum width and character count allowed for the message text.
message	Text	nil	Text widget displaying the chat message.
user	Text	nil	Text widget displaying the sender name.
skin_btn	ImageButton	nil	Interactive button for skin announcements (click triggers SkinsItemPopUp).
skin_txt	Text	nil	Display text showing the skin name in skin announcements.
skin_data	table or nil	nil	Packet of skin data: {skin_name, user_name, user_colour} used by SkinsItemPopUp.
flair, announcement, systemmessage, chattermessage	Widget (badge templates)	nil	Badge widgets shown conditionally based on type.

Main functions

UpdateSkinAnnouncementPosition()

• Description: Recalculates and sets the position of skin_btn and skin_txt relative to their content size.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

UpdateSkinAnnouncementSize(size)

• Description: Updates the font size of skin_btn.text and skin_txt, then recalculates positions.
• Parameters: size (number) — the new font size in pixels.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnGainFocus()

• Description: Called when this widget gains focus; increases font size to focus_chat_size (≈35) via UpdateSkinAnnouncementSize.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnLoseFocus()

• Description: Called when this widget loses focus; resets font size to chat_size (30) via UpdateSkinAnnouncementSize.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

UpdateAlpha(alpha)

• Description: Sets the opacity (alpha) of visible content and adjusts visibility of message/user, skin, and badge elements depending on self.type.
• Parameters: alpha (number) — opacity value in [0, 1]. If <= 0, hides the entire line.
• Returns: Nothing.

SetChatData(type, alpha, message, m_colour, sender, s_colour, icondata, icondatabg)

• Description: Configures the full visual and logical content of the chat line. Handles text placement, colouring, badge assignment, and skin announcement setup.
• Parameters:
  • type (ChatTypes enum) — defines the message type.
  • alpha (number) — opacity to apply.
  • message (string) — chat message text.
  • m_colour (table) — {r,g,b} or {r,g,b,a} array for message colour.
  • sender (string, optional) — sender name; if nil, sender is hidden.
  • s_colour (table) — {r,g,b} or {r,g,b,a} array for sender colour.
  • icondata (any) — flair or announcement icon data passed to badge widgets.
  • icondatabg (any, optional) — background flair data for ChatterMessage.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

None identified.