help.tbl

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The help.tbl defines the help overlays shown on interface screens, such as the main hall, when the player presses F1: text with lines and brackets pointing at parts of the screen.

This table is one of the Modular Tables and can be extended with xxx-hlp.tbm.

Code: /gamehelp/contexthelp.cpp. See Tables for every table.

Badges show the version a field or behavior was added in. Fields without a badge are from the original game.

Contents

1. Format
2. Sections
3. Sample

Field index (every field, one per line in table order; click one to jump to it)

Sections

• +resolutions
• +font
• +pline
• +left_bracket
• +right_bracket
• +text

---

Format

• Table consists of several sections that are each defining their respective screens ingame. Every section starts with the name of the screen preceded with $ (Example: $ship) and ends with $end
• Section names are up to 31 characters. A section with a name used before, in this or an earlier table, replaces that section completely.
  • Default sections:
    • $ship
    • $weapon
    • $briefing
    • $main
    • $barracks
    • $control
    • $debrief
    • $multicreate
    • $multistart
    • $multijoin
    • $main2
    • $hotkey
    • $campaign
    • $simulator
    • $tech
    • $command

Sections with other names can be defined too. A main hall shows one through +Help Overlay: in mainhall.tbl.

Sections

• Sections consist of various drawing objects: text, lines or brackets (left or right).
• +resolutions and +font, if used, come first and in that order. After them, the drawing objects can come in any order and any number.

+resolutions

• Defines the number of resolutions in this overlay. May be 1 or greater; anything less is an error.
• If this is set to anything other than 2, then all other parameters in this overlay that normally take two sets of values must now have a set of values for each resolution. For example, if an overlay has four resolutions, then any bracket parameter must have four pairs of values instead of two.
• The default value is 2.
  • Example: +resolutions 4

+font

• Defines the font used for the text in this overlay. The number here points to a font entry in fonts.tbl, with 0 pointing to the first one.
• Takes one value for each resolution.
• The default value for each resolution is 0 (normally font01.vf).
  • Example: +font 0 0 0 0

+pline

• Draws lines on the help screen.
• Can be used to draw several connected lines
• Is defined with an array of values
• First value defined the number of points used to draw the line. Any number works: the line has one segment fewer than its points.
  • 2 = straight line (2 points)
  • 4 = 3 segment lines (4 points)
  • 6 = 5 segment lines (6 points)
• Other values are used to define the coordinate locations on screen separately for each resolution in the table. Coordinates are marked as x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3 etc - you must have enough co-ordinates to match the number specified in the 1st argument and you must have an array for each resolution.
  • First array for the lowest resolution, then the next largest, and so on.
  • Example: +pline 4 170 320 120 320 100 340 60 340 272 512 192 512 160 544 96 544

+left_bracket

• Draws bracket opening to left on the help screen
• Is defined with a pair of numerical values for each resolution
• Location is defined with two values per resolution, starting with the lowest resolution.
  • Example: +left_bracket 257 325 358 517

+right_bracket

• Draws bracket opening to right on the help screen
• Is defined with a pair of numerical values for each resolution
• Location is defined with two values per resolution, starting with the lowest resolution.
  • Example: +right_bracket 257 325 358 517

+text

• Draws text on screen
• Is defined with a pair of numerical values for each resolution, followed by a string
• Location is defined with two values per resolution, starting with the lowest resolution.
• The text is one string, used at every resolution. It can be an XSTR for translation, up to 128 characters:
  • XSTR("text", -1)
  • Example: +text 25 280 40 448 XSTR("Choose your ship type.", -1)

Sample

$ship
+text 25 280 40 448 XSTR("Choose your ship type.", -1)

+text 175 304 276 496 XSTR("Choose a new ship type by dragging", -1)
+text 175 317 276 509 XSTR("its icon over one of the available", -1)
+text 175 330 276 522 XSTR("wing slots.", -1)
+pline 4  170 320 120 320 100 340 60 340  272 512 192 512 160 544 96 544
+left_bracket 169 312 270 504
+pline 6  259 335 280 335 300 355 300 377 280 397 183 397  361 527 448 527 480 559 480 603 448 635 293 635
+right_bracket 257 325 358 517

+text 337 370 565 592 XSTR("Revert to the original", -1)
+text 337 383 565 605 XSTR("ship distribution.", -1)
+pline 2  502 374 570 374  730 596 912 596
+right_bracket 499 365 727 587

+text 400 150 636 265 XSTR("When finished outfitting", -1)
+text 400 163 636 278 XSTR("all available wings,", -1)
+text 400 176 636 291 XSTR("you can go to the", -1)
+text 400 189 636 304 XSTR("weapons loadout screen", -1)
+text 400 202 636 317 XSTR("or enter the mission.", -1)
+pline 6  162 43 330 43 350 63 350 173 370 193 395 193  259 69 528 69 560 101 560 277 592 309 632 309
+left_bracket 394 184 630 299
+pline 4  554 206 588 206 608 226 608 424  790 321 941 321 973 353 973 678
+right_bracket 552 197 788 312
$end