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Author Black chat box problem FIXED!
skwerlz
Game Owner
Profile: skwerlzNWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ


Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Sunday, 05 November 2006 11:34PM
Well, more of a hack than a fix, really. But it works. Mostly.

There are several problems with chat boxes floating around the forums. This "fix" deals only with the black box that sits on top of your history window, won't disappear when you hit enter (either one), won't resize, won't move, won't let you right-click on it, and the moveable mp window tweak won't work for you. Image here. (Stolen from Atraz's post.)

To "fix" it, find your NWN2 folder. Open UI\default\defaultchat.xml in Notepad.
On the "<UIPane name..." line, you'll see x="ALIGN_CENTER".
Change "ALIGN_CENTER" to a value that's half your resolution width. If you're at 800x600, use x="400". If 1024x768, use x="512". Etc.
Save. (Make a backup first!)

Note that you MUST have your history window on the LEFT side of the screen. This "fix" pushes the chat box half a screen to the right. If your history window is already on the right, that pushes the chat box off-screen, and hitting enter will crash your game.

Provided your history window is on the left, the black box is now invisible until you stretch the history more than half a screen. Another side effect: If you hit enter and start typing, the text will appear right on the landscape.

It ain't much of a fix, but it's the best I can offer with my extremely limited programming and xml skills.

Let me know if this makes things better or worse.
  Profile: skwerlz   Send Message To: skwerlz
umbargec

Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 12:08AM
thank you very very very very much for this fix. It may be quick, dirty, and not perfect, but by God it fixed that annoying box for the time being. Let's hope the chowderheads at Bioware take note of this.

Thanks very much again for a solution to this most aggravation issue post-patch.

Log
  Profile: umbargec   Send Message To: umbargec
Torias
Moderator
Game Owner
Profile: ToriasNWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Mass Effect PC


Joined: 18 Oct 2001
From: Sydney, Australia
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 12:10AM
Quote: Posted 11/06/06 00:08 (GMT) by umbargec
Bioware

... Obsidian
  Profile: Torias   Send Message To: Torias
umbargec

Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 12:25AM
Quote: Posted 11/06/06 00:10 (GMT) by Torias

Quote: Posted 11/06/06 00:08 (GMT) by umbargec
Bioware

... Obsidian

LOL fair enough, guess I blew that one

hopefully, this fix will help others though
  Profile: umbargec   Send Message To: umbargec
umbargec

Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 01:09AM
bump so this is not missed by those that need it. This problem seems relatively widespread from my forum search, so I'll try to keep it on the front page to help others.

If this violates some rule or such, I apologize in advance.
  Profile: umbargec   Send Message To: umbargec
umbargec

Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 01:48AM
one more bump so this doesn't disappear before it can help others
  Profile: umbargec   Send Message To: umbargec
PhoenixReaver
Game Owner
Profile: PhoenixReaverNWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU


Joined: 04 Aug 2003
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 09:10PM
Thanks a lot, man. I wish the actual company who made this game could have figured this out, or even better, not made the mistake in the first place.
  Profile: PhoenixReaver   Send Message To: PhoenixReaver
Pelko

Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 11:05PM
Is it supposed to crash when i hit enter even if i've done everything right? Didn't really understand if that was only if you had the textbox on the right side.
  Profile: Pelko   Send Message To: Pelko
Cryonosis
Game Owner
Profile: CryonosisNWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR Xbox
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB


Joined: 14 Nov 2004
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 11:21PM
It sounds like you'll crash if the the textbox ends up off the edge of the screen and you hit enter.
_________________
Tekara Cryonosis
The danger from computers is not that they will eventually get as smart as men, but that we will agree to meet them halfway.
  Profile: Cryonosis   Send Message To: Cryonosis
Pelko

Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Posted: Monday, 06 November 2006 11:29PM
Yeah thats what i thought too. But it is not off the screen, i can see that if i pull out the textfield to the right. Still it crashes when i hit enter.

EDIT: Just found out that my game crash at default setting also when i hit enter :/ so i guess it has nothing to do with this then.

Edited By Pelko on 11/06/06 23:43

  Profile: Pelko   Send Message To: Pelko
skwerlz
Game Owner
Profile: skwerlzNWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ


Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 01:06AM
@reaver: So do I, but these days it's impossible to release a bug-free anything, with all the hardware and software combinations out there. And us buggy folk are probably a very small percentage of the sales. I'm sure they would have fixed the problem before release, had they known about it. They'll have a more permanent fix eventually. I hope.

@cryo: Correct.

@pelko: You have the same unmovable box as the rest of us, but yours crashes more often? Wish I knew what to tell you. Could be old video drivers, a missing font(?), underpowered video card, maybe you live too close to power lines.. I think there was a full moon yesterday too.

I got a PM from someone saying they fixed their problems by updating video drivers, then uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Seems their copy wouldn't recognize the new drivers until a reinstall. Try that, I guess.

In other news, I think the black box is related to some of the save game crashes as well. I posted about that here but no one's replied so I've no idea if I'm onto anything.

Edited By skwerlz on 11/07/06 01:07

  Profile: skwerlz   Send Message To: skwerlz
TamasB

Joined: 04 Nov 2006
Posted: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 03:13AM
Many thanks for this fix. I made a backup as you suggested (smart move anytime you monkey with someone else's program) and adjusted the x value. I noted that also on this page is another section "
<UIScene name="SCREEN_MESSAGE_1" width=398 height=118 x=12 y=590 minwidth=314 minheight=120 " which deals with the scoring and messaging info. By changing the minheight from 120 to 40, I managed to reduce the box to a more manageable size. Personally, I hate that box and wish it could be removed or turned off altogether.

Anyway, with these two fixes, the game is now playable.

Enjoy
  Profile: TamasB   Send Message To: TamasB
skwerlz
Game Owner
Profile: skwerlzNWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ


Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Posted: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 04:01AM
Remove both boxes completely? EASY!

Delete defaultchat.xml. Boxes are gone and enter doesn't crash the game.

Enjoy!
  Profile: skwerlz   Send Message To: skwerlz
TamasB

Joined: 04 Nov 2006
Posted: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 04:24PM
Interesting - deleted the defaultchat.xml and reloaded the game. Boxes were there, but the ESC key was disabled, so needed to use three-finger salute to exit. Did you do anything else besides remove the files?

BTW, the original suggested worked fine with single player, but had no effect on MP when the defaultmpchat1.xml and defaultmpchat2.xml files were similarly changed. Since we play MP more often than SP, the black boxes are a major pain in the arse. Has anyone found a way to FIX mp mode?

TIA
  Profile: TamasB   Send Message To: TamasB
MerlinsApprentice
Game Owner
Profile: MerlinsApprenticeNWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2


Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Posted: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 04:39PM
I had the same exact problem with the chat box when i first installed the game, and had the same problem as someone else who, when you hit enter, it would close out the game completely and return you to your desktop (found that out the hard way and went 45 min w/o saving, hit enter, and had to do it all over again). To fix this, i ended up reinstalling, cause i was having the same "auto-close" thing happen when i would hit escape too, and reinstalling fixed all three things for me, the black box, enter and escape quitting...
  Profile: MerlinsApprentice   Send Message To: MerlinsApprentice

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