***************************************************************** Chalk v3.1.0 The Elder Scrolls III: MORROWIND Requires Tribunal OR Bloodmoon (For scripting functions) ***************************************************************** This mod adds sticks of chalk. These can be used to write on the ground, walls, or other surfaces. A selection of pre-set text and symbols are provided, but you can also spell your own message by letter. Index: 1. What's New? 2. Installation 3. Playing the Plugin 4. Save Games and Compatibility 5. Known Bugs 6. Credits & Permision ***************************************************************** 1. WHAT'S NEW? ***************************************************************** New since version 3.0.3: * Glowing chalk. Finally! * More interface tweaks. New since version 3.0.2: * Fixed bug where pre-placed text would lose its size. * Help scrolls disappear if you drop them. * Minor interface tweaks. New since version 3.0: * More punctuation marks for custom text. * Chalk marks are now slightly transparent. New since version 2.1: * Writing on walls! * New interface for entering custom text. * A few new standard texts. - Locked - Check Map - Quest - Keep Out * Auto-draw feature removed (it was kinda pointless.) New since version 2.0: * Fixed one texture. (missing alpha channel) * Moved chalk textures to their own folder * Fixed re-sizing texts when adjusting. New since version 1.0: * Custom Text! Write your own messages. * Colored (red) Chalk. * You can now rotate and adjust the height of chalk marks. * Removed some of the less useful text (since you can write anything you want now) and added: - Circle - Body outline - 6th house marks like those already in the game. ***************************************************************** 2. INSTALLING THE PLUGIN ***************************************************************** To install the plugin, unzip the files into the Morrowind/Data Files directory. Be sure to keep the directory structure intact. From the Morrowind Launcher, select Data Files and check the box next to Chalk30-Base.esp, and if you want to add glowing chalk, put a check by Chalk30-Glow.esp as well. ***************************************************************** 3. PLAYING THE PLUGIN ***************************************************************** FINDING CHALK Where to find chalk: Chalk can be found at a Trader or Pawnbroker in most towns on Vvardenfal (not Mournhold or Solstheim). You can also find it in random junk crates such as in bandit caves. Red chalk is a little rarer but found in the same places. Glowing chalk if harder to find, but (assuming you loadded the optional glow plugin) in some enchanters' shops, and other random places. USING CHALK ----------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING: If you read all this it's probably going to sound alot more complicated than it really is. Feel free to read Basic Usage and skip the rest for now. For your convenience, these same instructions are available in-game as a scroll by equipping a stick of chalk and clicking Help. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Basic Usage It's as easy as one, two, three. 1. Drop the chalk on a flat surface like the floor or a crate. 2. Select from one of the categories, like "Symbols" or "Inventory". 3. Select the specific mark you want, such as "Arrow" or "Junk". Adjusting Marks If after making a chalk mark you find it isn't positioned correctly (e.g. it's floating, clipping the ground or at an odd angle), activate the mark select "Adjust". In the adjust menu, "/\" and "\/" adjust the height and "<" and ">" adjust the angle. Clicking one of these buttons rapidly will adjust by larger steps. Click slowly to move by small steps. When you activate a mark you can also "Rub it out" instead of adjusting it. Custom Text To write your own message, drop the chalk and select the "Custom Text" button. You will see a grid with "Your Text Here" written in the middle. You can adjust this if it isn't positioned correctly. Click "Later" if you need to step back for a better look. Once you are satisfied with the placement, click "Write Text". You'll get a menu with letter groups (e.g. [A B C D E]) as well as buttons labeled "Space/Other", "Hide", and "Done". Write your message by selecting a group of letters and then picking a specific letter, and repeating. "Space/Other" will present you with options to insert a space, start a new line or change character sets. Beside the Latin alphabet, you can use Daedric letters and "Numbers Etc." which also contains punctuation marks. The Hide button hides the menu for a second so you can get a better look at what you're writing, and of course the Done button closes the menu. Writing on Walls This is a little trickier. There are two ways to do it. Either place the chalk at the base of the wall, or stand as close to the wall as you can and drop the chalk at your feet (by putting the cursor somewhere you can't set it down). In either case, once you get the usual menu, click the "Wall" button, at the bottom. The menu will say "WALL" at the top, and just to make sure you don't miss it, the menu changes shape as well. As you might have guessed, clicking the Wall button again will switch back. In wall mode, most features work the same, but positioning is more complicated. That's because writing on the wall adds a new dimension of complexity, literally. Instead of four buttons there are now six. "/\" and "\/" you will remember, but now we have "<<", ">>", "><" and "<>" as well. The first two control the angle, pretty much like "<" and ">" did. But "><" and "<>" are new. These adjust depth, or how close the mark is to the wall. "><" pushes text closer to the wall and "<>" pulls it back. If it's too far it will look like it's floating, and if it's too close it will either clip the wall or be hidden completely. Note, if you try to write on a wall that slants back towards you, your mark my appear inside the wall. To avoid this, place it a little farther back and adjust it afterwards. Options To see the options menu, "equip" a stick of chalk, that is, drop it on your character's portrait. The first three options control mark size. Small (1) is half size, Large (3) is double. The selected size is indicated by an @ to its left. The next two buttons open sub-menus for custom text mode and wall writing options. More on these in a moment. Finally, the help button gives you a scroll containing the text you are reading right now. Alternate Custom Text Mode There are two ways to enter custom text. The one already described is called "Multi-Level". The other is the "Classic" system used in earlier versions. An @ indicates the selected mode. Here's how the Classic method works. You get a menu like this: +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Latin Alphabet: [A] B C D E F G H I J K L M N | | O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | | | | [<] [>] [Add] [Sp] [Ln] [More...] [Done] [-] | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ "<" and ">" move the [ ]. "Add" adds the letter currently in [ ]. "Sp" adds a space. "Ln" starts a new line. "More..." changes character sets. "Done" is pretty obvious. And "-" is like the "Hide" button in the other method. Wall Mode Menu There are three options here. Height, Angle Snap, and Wall Mode. Height is the default height of wall marks. 1.00 is eye-level for a male Dark Elf. Use the "/\" and "\/" buttons if you wish to adjust it. Angle Snap will "snap" wall marks to the nearest, 15, 45, or 90 degrees. Or it can be turned off. The idea is to save you from having to adjust the angle manually since many walls are at one of these angles. Click the button below the words Angle Snap to cycle through these the options. Wall Mode allows you to write on walls instead of flat surfaces by default. The options are "off", "ON", "Save" and "Drop". "Off" means flat writing is the default. "ON" mean wall writing is default. "Save" means it will remember which you used last. "Drop" means it defaults to wall writing if you drop the chalk at your feet, and flat writing otherwise. In any case you can always use the "Wall" button to switch between wall and flat modes just before you make a mark. Click the button below the words Wall Mode to cycle through these options. Miscellany A stick of chalk can be used 20 times before it's all gone. You can see how many uses are left in a stick of chalk at the top of the menu when you equip it or on the menu you get when you drop it, the current size appears here as well. The are three kinds of chalk: white red and glowing. You'll probably use white chalk most of the time, but red chalk can come in handy if you need to write on a light colored surface. Glowing chalk is of course great for use in the dark, but harder to find (and not present if you didn't load the glow plugin). ***************************************************************** 4. Save Games and Compatibility. ***************************************************************** INSTALL Using an existing save games shouldn't be a problem, unless you have a pre-3.0 version of this mod. In that case, first, unload the old version using the directions below. You will lose any old chalk marks of course. And just to be safe, always start a new save game when using new plug-ins. UNINSTALL To uninstall, drop any items you have from this mod (to avoid the weight bug), and save on a new slot. Unselect this mod (on the data files list) and load your game. Click through all the missing object/script/etc errors and save. The following folders can now be deleted if you wish: Data Files\Icons\Chalk Data Files\Meshes\Chalk Data Files\Textures\Chalk GENERAL I avoided editing any existing NPCs or containers in stores by dropping either a few sticks of chalk or a box of it in the store. The only compatibly problem I can think of for this mod is that it changes the following leveled lists: random_pos random_de_pos random_com_kitchenware random_smuggler_1-5 random_smuggler_6-10 random_smuggler_11+ random_bandit_1-5 random_bandit_6-10 random_bandit_11+ The glow plug-in also changes one standard container: Wizard_chest_01_evil If you think you have another mod that changes these, you should use a list merging utility. ***************************************************************** 5. Known bugs. ***************************************************************** Lights (torches, lanterns, etc) don't cast light on chalk when it's first drawn, making it hard to see in some cases. After you either leave the area and come back, or save and reload, the chalk will be correctly lit. Sometimes even then, the chalk can be hard to see because of the way lighting for large objects like building pieces is calculated. You can "write on a wall" without a wall... ***************************************************************** 6. Credits & Permision ***************************************************************** Created by ManaUser paul AT manauser DOT info Special Credits: Dongle, for the lovely flat trasparent meshes, without which this mod would look a whole lot uglier, and custom text would not be possible. Everyone else who gave me input on the forums. ***************************************************************** You have permission to redistribute this mod unaltered. You have permission to distribute an altered version of this mod provided that you identify it as such. You have permission reuse any part of this mod in your own mod provided that you change the file names and object IDs so your mod will not conflict with this one.