Color classes (Technical Help)

The text that is sent to the players in The Two Towers is structured into "messages". Each message has its own type (also known as "class"), such as "room description", "combat", etc. Messages can also be nested within each other, like "exits" description being contained within "room description". To make the text more readable, for most of these message types you can set your own color using the "color" command. Furthermore, if your client supports MXP (see "help mxp" for more details), you may also be able to change the font face and/or size.

This help file provides a reference of all available classes so that you can better understand what the "color" command entries mean. The list is presented by category to make it easier to understand; please note, however, that the "color" command will list the classes in alphabetical order instead.

1. Descriptions

• room_desc - This is the default color in which the room descriptions are displayed. If no other specific colors are set, this works for both "glance" and "look" and covers exits, items and NPCs present in room, weather description, etc.
• room_short - This is the color in which the room "title" will be displayed in "glance" command, as well as during fast movement such as "travelto". If not set, the display defaults to what is set for "room_desc".
• exits - This is the color in which the exit names are displayed for both "look" and "glance". When not set, the display defaults to what is set for "room_desc". Commas and the word "and" in the exit description are not covered by this color, unless you have "full_exit_color" variable set to "on" (see "help sets" or check "settings" command for more details on this).
• water_exits - Same as "exits", but for water exit names, that is directions you can swim to.
• item_desc - This is the color in which all specific descriptions are displayed. To be more precise, this applies to "look <something>" and "glance <something>".
• ercolor - This is the color in which evil player "short descriptions" will be displayed in room contents (both for "look" and "glance"). If not set, this defaults to what is set for "room_desc". Note that the display applies to both Evil Races and Free Race servants of Sauron.
• frcolor - Similar to the above, but for all other players (non-servant Free Races).
• npccolor - This is the color in which NPC "short descriptions" will be displayed in room contents. If not set, it defaults to what is set for "room_desc".
• itemcolor - This is the color in which item (that is, not players and not NPCs) "short descriptions" will be displayed in room contents. If not set, it defaults to what is set for "room_desc".

2. Communication

• say - This is the color in which says from other players and NPCs will be displayed, such as "Joe says: ...". This also covers soul emotes (see "help semotes").
• tell - This is the color in which tells from other players will be displayed, such as "Joe tells you: ...".
• tell_outgoing - This is the color in which tells sent by you will be displayed, such as "You tell Joe: ...".
• whisper - This is the color in which whispers from other players will be displayed, such as "Joe whispers to you: ...".
• emote - This is the color in which emotes performed by other players using the "emote" and "emoteat" commands will be displayed. Note that this does not cover soul emotes; these use "say" class.
• tellhist_incoming - This is the color in which tells sent by other players will be displayed in the "tellhist" command output.
• tellhist_outgoing - This is the color in which tells sent by you will be displayed in the "tellhist" command output.
• partysay - This is the color in which messages sent by other players in your party using "party say" command will be displayed.
• partyemote - This is the color in which messages sent by other players in your party using "party emote" command will be displayed.
• plea - This is the color in which messages sent by players via the "plea" command will be displayed.
• shout - This is the color in which shouts of other players will be displayed.

3. Communication - channels

You can configure color for each channel (comm) you have access to. Channels are displayed in a separate section of "color" command.

The following channels are available to players:

• comm - also known as OOC; available to all players above level 4.
• newbiecomm - available to all players under level 6 and to newbie helpers.
• fr, er - available to Free Race / Evil Race+Servants respectively, for players above level 4.
• clan - available to players who are in a clan.
• guild - available to players who are in a guild.
• newbiehelper - available to newbie helpers only.
• ptcomm - available to playtesters only.
• gm - available to guildmasters only.

When you set a color to any of these channels, the incoming messages on that channel will be displayed with this color. Also, unless you set "commhist_color" to "off", history for that specific channel will also be displayed using this color.

4. Combat

• combat - This is the color in which all combat messages will be displayed. This applies to:
  • hit (or miss) emotes from your bare hands or your weapon.
  • special attacks from professional abilities (like headbutt or feint).

  Since most weapon emotes include colors on their own, you will probably hardly notice the "combat" class color there - only the word "You" and your enemy's name will be coloured using it. However, if you change the font face and/or size for the "combat" class (requires client MXP support), the whole weapon emote will be displayed with your chosen font.

• lawsys - This is the color for the messages from the courthouse. Usually they will remind you about your outstanding subpoenas and fines to pay. This color will also be used for all lawsys-related information for your current combat, such as a notification that you are in a lawless area and an attack on you cannot be reported.
• spar - This is the color for various messages from the sparring system, such as about players joining and leaving your spar group.
• shape - This is the color used for output of "shape" command.
• consider - This is the color used for output of "consider" command.

5. Events

• weather - This is the color for weather messages, such as about rain starting, or sun setting. This applies only for spontaneous "event" messages, not weather description included in room descriptions.
• auction - This is the color for tells (and listings) from the auction NPCs, such as "Laryn tells you: an item is now on sale...".
• announce - This is the color for announces of your friends logging in; this will work only if you have "announce_friends" variable set.
• hints - This is the color for random gameplay hints that new players receive.
• movement - This is the color in which movement messages from other players and NPCs are displayed, such as "Joe enters." or "Bob leaves west.". Note that for players, "movement" class is overridden by "frcolor"/"ercolor" if you have them set.
• scouts - This is the color used for scout reports when requested or a region's status in the war has changed.
• system - This is the color used for system broadcasts, sent by the MUD driver automatically (such as on beginning of a reboot) or manually by the Administrators.
• shutdown - This is the color used for the reboot countdown messages.
• skillup - Color used for messages about skills increasing due to use.

6. Miscellaneous

• songs - This is the color in which text of your songs will be displayed as you perform them. Note that this is the only color class that affects text seen both by you and other people (those who listen to your songs). Because of that, you cannot use MXP for this setting.
• menutitle, menubody, menuprompt - They are colors used for respectively header, body and footer of menus created with the T2T generic menu system. This system isn't widely used so far for regular players: just in the "settings" and "removetag" commands, so there is little use for these settings. Menus are useful for guildmasters, though, since some features of the GMEdit system use them.

7. "who" command display

The "who" command is the most customizable command on The Two Towers. With it, you can set different colors for different players, to be able to quickly find friends, enemies, and others amongst the players who are currently online. There are several classes you can set here:

• whoclanmate - For players in your clan.
• whoguild - For players in your guild.
• whofriend - For people on your "friend" list.
• whoenemy - For people on your "enemy" list.
• whonewbie - For new T2T players.
• whofree - For non-servant Free Race players.
• whoevil - For Evil Race players and Free Race servants of Sauron.
• whoneighbor - For people who have MUD mail address at the same town as you.
• whoguildally - For people who are in guilds allied with your guild (if their "guildinfo" is set to public).
• whoguildenemy - For people who are in guilds hostile to your guild (if their "guildinfo" is set to public).

For each of the classes you can set a different color so that the "who" output is clear.

The priority of the classes is as follows:

friend > enemy > clan > guild > newbie > guildally > guildenemy > neighbor > fr > er

That is, if someone is both a newbie and on your friend list, their name will be displayed using the "whofriend" class rather than "whonewbie".