ShowMessage
A function included in the GECK for Fallout 3.
Contents
Description
ShowMessage is used to display messages to the player. The message itself is an editor object that contains all the data: display text, type of message, and buttons (if the message is a message box).
Syntax
ShowMessage MessageID:ref var1:var var2:var ... var9:var Duration:int
The number of var parameters required is equal to the number of format specifiers in the specified message's content, up to a maximum of 9.
Example
ShowMessage MyMessage
Shows MyMessage.
ShowMessage TimeScaleMessage TimeScale
Shows TimeScaleMessage, and inserts the value stored in TimeScale into it. In order for this to work, TimeScaleMessage must have the appropriate format specifier to display a floating point value.
Formatting messages
Variable parameters can be used in conjunction with a Message in order to insert variables into the displayed text.
- Use the formatting notation below in the text of the Message.
- The number of parameters called by ShowMessage must match the number of variables the message is expecting.
Formatting notation
%.2f - This means format the variable with 2 decimal places.
%.0f - This will format the variable with 0 decimal places, so is the normal choice for integers.
%5.0f - The number in front of the point specifies the minimum width of the number. In this case, there will always be enough space in front of the number for 5 digits:
Number 12 wins Number 1234 wins
Formatting switches
The following formatting switches can be used in Messages. Put them in any sequence right after the '%'
| Switch | Function |
|---|---|
| + | Display + in front of positive numbers |
| <Space> | Leave a leading space in front of positive numbers |
| - | Use left-aligned formation instead of right alligned. |
| 0 | The filling-char used for formatting is '0' instead of ' ' |
Other Functions
%g - This usually works just like "%.0f", displaying 0 decimal places. When the number is 1000000 or larger, though, the game diplays it in scientific notation (1E+006)
%.3e - Shows numbers in scientific notation (123000 = 1.23E+005)
%% - Use this to display a percent-sign in the message
&sUActn... - Allows you to insert the key used for a given control, such as the Activate button, the Always Run button, or the Block button. See the sUActn article for the list of control codes.
FOSE/NVSE Switches
Since this is a vanilla function, it cannot take advantage of the extra FOSE/NVSE String Formatting functionality.
Notes
- Buttons are part of the Message form. If no buttons are specified on a MessageBox type message, a default "OK" button will be displayed.
- Message Type on the Message determines whether we are displaying a "message" (upper right corner, single line of text, doesn't interrupt the game) or a "message box" (center of the screen, game stops until the player presses one of the buttons).
- The optional parameters must be declared variables or globals. You cannot use constant values.
- Variables can be inserted into the displayed text (see below). The message will fail to display if the wrong number of variables are passed into the ShowMessage call.
- Variables cannot be inserted into a message box's buttons.
- If you make messages with multiple choices and want to script changes based on the button pressed then use GetButtonPressed to check the button pressed.
- The "Duration" parameter doesn't actually do anything
- It's not recommended to call this command in response to a button choice with GetButtonPressed from another message already on the screen inside MenuMode blocks as it can lead to the message not showing when needed, instead use GameMode if you have multi layered use of ShowMessage.
