<title>The Chat Window</title>
<h1 edit="1.1, shortened" publication-date="2024.08.09" co-authors="FLN"><strong>The Chat Window</strong></h1>
<p>The chat window can be accessed during <a href="server.txt">multiplayer-games</a>, via the main toolbar. Messages can be exchanged with all active players.</p>
<p>On top, you will find the 'transparent background' checkbox, by which the see-through feature can be toggled on and off. This can be especially helpful on small-screen-devices.<br />Following, the three tabs are listed, housing the three different chat types:<br />- General chat<br />- Company chat<br />- Private chat<br />Afterwards the message log is shown, where all messages are displayed as speech bubbles. If nothing is displayed in this area, then simply no messages have been sent yet.<br />At the bottom are placed the input line and next to it an arrow-symbol, which allows you to add the current view's coordinates to your message. Attached coordinates will be shown as an arrow-symbol in the chat log, next to your speech bubble.</p>
<p>For to <em>send a message</em>, click in the input line and type your text and send it by pressing the <em>enter</em> key.<br />Your message will immediately appear in the log.<br />For the cursor to leave the input line simply hit <em>enter</em> again or just click anywhere.<br />The <em>esc</em> key will close the chat window, if still active.</p>
<p><em>Received messages</em> are displayed, other than in the log only, also prompted in the news bar at the bottom of the screen and are indicated by a white number on a red dot within the chat-window-button in the tool bar.</p>
<p>Messages in the <em>general chat</em> are public, so any member of the game can see them.<br />Further, the general chat's log will persist for the hole duration of the current multiplayer map.</p>
<p><em>Company chat</em> messages are visible "but" for players active in the same company. Tough anybody can select any given company and therefore read their company chat, even if the company is password protected.<br />This chat log will be conserved throughout the duration of the map as well.</p>
<p>The <em>private chat</em> allows two co-players to exchange messages without anyone else being able to read along.<br />While in this tab any currently active co-player can be selected and texted to.<br />Alternatively the arrow-symbol next to a player's name in any log can be clicked on to, to directly transit to the private-chat.<br />The private chat's log will be erased when leaving the multiplayer session.</p>
<p><em>Please note:</em><br />- hitting the <em>tabulator</em> key will send any existing text in the input line as well. Further, typed in text can unintentionally get send, when simultaneously a new player gets connected to the current game. &gt;<br />- Message length is limited to 226 characters. Word wrap (paragraphs) or emoji-graphics cannot be inserted respectively be displayed.<br />- Double-clicking on any bubble will copy it's contained text to your clipboard, accompanied by a notification 'copied'. This is especially helpful when exchanging article URLs from the forum for instance.</p>
