How to change your chat colors

[Zanthyna]

• 15.5 Update: The way colors work in AO have changed. Once I figure them out, I will update this guide, but until then, much of this information is probably obsolete.

• Update 12/17/03: My chat color file is now available for download
  Okay, I have uploaded my ChatColors.cfg file that I use so, if you want, you can download my ChatColors.cfg and try it. Make sure to right click on the link and do a "Save Target As" and while saving it, make sure to not save it as a .txt file (some versions of Windows and notepad automatically add the .txt--if it does, simply remove it so the file name remains ChatColors.cfg.
  
  To 'instal' it, go to C:\Program Files\Funcom\Anarchy Online\Prefs, make sure you back up your old file (rename it ChatColors.cfg.old), then copy my ChatColors.cfg file into the directory. I suggest trying out the new colors for a couple of days to see if you like them. Also, feel free to switch some of the colors around if you like (i.e. you could move the orange color I use for /emotes to team chat if you want all your team chat orange). Also note that I have a couple of lines that start with a semicolon and are alternate colors that aren't used, like the line starting with ";team"

Most chat colors in AO are user selectable and can be easily changed. I changed several default colors because I had a hard time seeing green team messages mixed in with the red and green battle message spam (and I don't want to turn off all battle messages). The following is directions on how to change your chat color and below that is my current set up and why I use it.

First, go to C:\Program Files\Funcom\Anarchy Online\Prefs and open ChatColors.cfg in Notepad. This site offers a good utility to help you choose new chat colors, but you can just guess at numbers if you like, though the ChatColors.cfg file offers some simple instructions itself. You (theoretcally) don't even have to worry about making a back up copy, because if the file is missing or deleted, AO will automatically generate a new one. Also note that I suggest testing new colors as vicinity or /w then pasting it where you want it because no one in your guild wants to see you spam test messages for 20 minutes.

Once you have ChatColors.cfg open, all you need to do is change the number values to change the color. The numbers are presented in R, G, B, meaning the first number is the amount of red in the color, the second is green, and the third is blue. There are two ways you can express the color values numerically, the first is from 0 to 255. Zero is none of that base color, and 255 is 100% of the base color. The actual chat color is is the mixture of the three base colors, so for example, a 255, 255, 255 would be white because 100% red, 100% green, and 100% blue makes white.

AO can be open and running while you edit your colors, so I suggest you log in somewhere where you can send a lot of test messages without annoying others (such as one of the many empty rooms in Tir). Note that if you save changes to ChatConfig.cfg while the game is running, only messages sent after you saved will be the new color. You can 'save' the original color by adding a semicolon and then putting the original colors after that so, for example, one line would look like this.
team = (48,150,255), (48,210,255) ;modified from (99,230,137).

Also, instead of using the (255, 255, 255) for colors, you can use a hexidecimal representation. Basically, you write something like #0077ff, where 00 is red, 77 is green, and ff is blue. each color is expressed by two numbers or letters, with 00 being none of the selected color and ff being all of it. The basic order is 00, 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99, aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, and then ff. The first number or letter is the tens collum while the second is the ones colum, thus changing a 77 to 87 will be ten times the chage going form 77 to 78 would be. Think of it like 0 to 9 then just using letters instead of numbers, like a is just 10, b is 11, c is 12, all the way to f, which would be 15.


Here is the set-up I've been using for a while now (these are the ones in my downloadable .cfg file listed above). I've been very happy with these colors and several of them are changed from the last settings I had listed here.


admin = (255,140,252), (255,140,252)
clan = (97,166,255), (230,140,255) ;modified from (15,242,11), (15,242,11)
emote = #ff6600, #FF6600 ;modified from (255,0,153)
gm = (255,97,166), (255,97,166)
misc = (255,255,255), (255,255,255)
newbie = (102,255,153), (102,255,153)
news = (0,240,0), (0,240,0)
pgroup = (0,166,81), (0,166,81)
seekingteam = (99,230,137), (99,230,137) ;modified from (102,153,255)
shout = (255,255,201), (255,255,201)
team = (250,200,250) ;original (99,230,137)
tell = (0,255,255), (0,255,255)
tower = (255,99,255), (255,99,255)
vicinity = (255,255,69), (255,255,69)
whisper = (48,210,255), (48,210,255)

Basically, I changed my team and org colors from green so i would see them stand out from the green and red battlespam and it works great--I don't miss messages. I made the clan and LFT channels green because I won't be reading these during a fight, so they are good to have green, because green is one of the most readable colors. I also changed the emote color to an off orange because I felt the original color blended too easily into light background colors.

Good luck with your own edits and feel free to post any changes you have made to this thread so people have several alternate choices for their chat colors.

Added January 3, `04: You can also change your default font, its size, and whether you want it regular, bold, or italic. When the login menu comes up (before you've logged on), select "Settings." Then choose "Advanced Settings" and then "Choose Font." From there, you can change your default font settings. (thanks to admanb for this tip).

[FOset]

does any of this effect the color of the selected target in the upper right hand corner? when i'm outside, the target name offen gets lost in the sky. does this change with text, or is that a game skin issue?

Dregan

[Zanthyna]

No, it does not, but there is a simple work-around. Create the following as a script and run it if you want to know what the target is. Open notepad and type /tell %m %t. Save the file as "target" in C:/Program Files/Funcom/Anarchy Online/Scripts. Open your scripts folder and remove the ".txt" from the end of the file. Now, whenever you can't read what you have targeted, type "/target" to activate the script and you will send yourself a /tell with the name of the target.

For example, my doctor Woefallen has a mob targeted but I cannot see what I have targeted. I type /target, hit Enter, and I get a private tell that says "Freshman Clan Doctor." This works great because the color of /tells shows up well and because, since it's a /tell, you won't be confusing teammates or annoying others, even if you spam it.

If you want to use this frequently, you can make a macro for it. Type /macro target /target and you will have a macro button that you can place in your shortcut bar for easy use.

[___________Metalhand]

Great work Zanthyna! I've always wanted to change some of the chat colors, but I didn't know how. Your guide makes it easy!

Thanks again!

p.s. - Just a minor correction in your write-up. In hexadecimal notation, f = 15, not 16.

[CarLBanks]

what does clan channel do?

[Zanthyna]

Originally posted by CarLBanks
what does clan channel do?

Clan channel is your org (guild) chat color. Dunno why they call it "clan," since "Clan" is also a faction name.

Oh, thanks Metalhand for the correction. I"ll edit the original post to make it look like I can do math.

[Nevver]

You can also use this color picker by Beaker, the creator of Helpbot.

[_____________Ariatta]

Kick ass, babe! That's awesome! That was one of my biggest complaints coming from DAoC!

[Zanthyna]

For those of you (both of you ) who are using my specific modifications, I have made a couple of changes which I think further improve the color scheme. I changed the LFT color from the same green as the battle/buff spam to that formerly used by team chat, to make it stand out from the battle/buff spam. Also, I darkened the orange I use for emotes some, making it look more orange and less 'dirty.'

The following are the changed lines (the "modified from" values are FC's original colors, not my previously changed colors).
seekingteam = (99,230,137), (99,230,137) ;modified from (102,153,255)
emote = #ff6600, #FF6600 ;modified from (255,0,153)

[Zanthyna]

Bumping this back up to the top.

[Zanthyna]

Anyone else have any custom settings they have found work really well? I'm pretty happy with mine, but there are certain lighting conditions that I feel the team chat doesn't do very well in.

[_________counterveil]

*sob* my changes won't take...anyone else have this problem?

[Zanthyna]

If you are using an older version of windows/notepad, I don't thing it automatically saves the file as .cfg, so you should try Save As ChatColors.cfg

If that still doens't work, let me know.

[___________Catalyste]

250 200 250 (See signature, below)

[Zanthyna]

Originally posted by Catalyste
250 200 250 (See signature, below)

I saw your sig before but hadn't gotten around to testing 250,200,250 until just now. It seems to work great, though I was unable to test it in white rooms (which almost nothing works in) and at places like Cyborg camps (where I have been spending a lot of time lately and where I haven't been very happy with my team color). I also found that switching the order, i.e. 200,250,250 and 250,250,200 worked well in my tests. I have written a script that I use when in white rooms that makes all my text show up black, though the script does have its limitations and it only makes my text show up black to everyone elses--leaving their text still nearly impossible to read. I'd cut and paste it for you, but that doesn't work for some odd reason with the black color change. Basically, it is called /dark and it looks like the following:

/dark
{color change to black}%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
You can find links to a script editor that will allow you to use black text, then all you have to do is put in %1 - %9. When you are in a white room, you just type /dark your message, up to nine words, and your message will show up readable. Go to my website listed in my sig for a link to the script color editing program.

[Zanthyna]

Bumping back to the top so it's easy to find.

[ntrox1]

Free bumpage, should be sticky or at least linked/nicluded into a guide

(and not THAT guide either )

[_______________Eryni]

This is extremelly helpful, thank you!

Is there any way that a mod can stickey it please?

[Zanthyna]

Thank you both! First time I've had anyone reccomend a thread of mine for sticky-dom! I have been expirementing with a couple of different colors and will post the changes when I'm happy with them.

[Zanthyna]

Bumping this back up from the second page.