The Universal World Owner's Manual

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===== Welcome Screens =====

Settings allow you to control what the player first sees when they join your world. Many worlds use an image for their welcome screen - if you can edit a jpg file then you'll probably find that the easiest way of telling new players to your world what they can expect.
Dont forget that players joining your world for the first time will probably have little idea what to expect, so text on your welcome image explaining the basics of your world can be very handy.

===== Showing recent events ===== 
Various of the settings for 'Show While Gone Screen' show a 'recent events' list. This list is built up by the server as particular events - such as a player buying a for-sale building - occur. On some worlds - such as fighting worlds, where buildings change ownership rapidly - this list will not be appropriate and should not be used.

<note>You can add custom messages to the 'recent events' screen using the commands [[reference:server_commands:full_command_list#messline|*messline, *messone]] etc.
</note>
You can also activate the 'While Gone' screen for a player by using the command **[[reference:server_commands:full_command_list#showwhilegone|*showwhilegone]]**.

===== Scripting the welcome screen ===== 

TODO

===== Using a web image for your Welcome Screen =====
Firstly, you must set the URL for the image you wish to show. You do this by your world's ''Data/NamesFile.txt'' file and adding a line in the form..
<code>
  WELCOMEIMAGEHTTP,0=''http://yourserver.com/WelcomeImage.jpg''
</code>

Use the command ''*reloadnames'' to get the server to update any changes without having to restart 

For the welcome screen to appear, you also need to set appropriate values on the ''*settings'' screen. Change ''*settings -> Graphics -> Show While Gone Screen'' to 3 for the standard welcome screen, where just the image is displayed, centered on the screen. (See below for full details of the other settings values). 

<note tip>
When creating a welcome screen image, keep the image size below 800x600 - as this is the minimum resolution that the game can be played in. People with old computers or low screen size may have problems if you try to use a larger image.
</note>
 
===== Using a server image for your Welcome Screen =====

To use a welcome image stored with your server rather than a web-server, you must create a welcome.jpg file in your server's Data\Images folder.(Create the folder if it doesnt exist)
Once you have your image prepared, use the command
<codedoc>
*updatewelcome
</codedoc>
and the server will process the image file so it can be downloaded by your players. You can make changes to the welcome.jpg at any point, just use the ''*updatewelcome'' command after each change so that players see the latest version.

===== Opening message =====
Normally, when you land on any planet the game prints the message 
''"New to the game? Press shift+ f3 for help.." etc ''

You can change this message by editing your world's NamesFile.txt file and adding a line in the form.. 

<code>
OPENINGMESSAGE,0=Welcome to my planet etc 
</code>
Use the command ''*reloadnames'' to get the server to update any changes without having to restart

If you are using a welcome image or background text which contains most of your game's major rules, it is a good idea to include a message indicating that to your players. e.g. Press Shift+F5 for world text, or Press Shift+F6 for rules image.

===== Welcome screen settings =====
''*settings -> Graphics -> Show While Gone Screen'' controls which screens appear

''0 = No initial screen is displayed when a player logs in \\
1 = Displays the screen containing recent events when a player first connects to the island \\
2 = Displays a screen containing the standard ruleset for the island. \\
3 = The welcome image is displayed centered on the screen. No events or rules are shown. \\
4 = The welcome image is displayed centered on the screen. Recent events text is also shown. \\
5 = The welcome image is displayed centered on the screen. Ruleset text is also shown. \\
6 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit the entire screen. No events or rules are shown. \\
7 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit the entire screen. Recent events text is also shown. \\
8 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit the entire screen. Ruleset text is also shown. \\
9 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit half the screen. No events or rules are shown. \\
10 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit half the screen. Recent events text is also shown. \\
11 = The welcome image is displayed scaled to fit half the screen. Ruleset text is also shown.  \\
''

===== Other opening screens - Team select =====

Some of the options in *settings -> Subgame -> Team Selection Mode use a team or town selection list that appears when the player first joins your world. The lists appear after the welcome image if you have one.

Team Selection Mode 7 = Players choose their team from a 2 team lobby screen when they enter the game (they are evenly balanced on team 1 and 2 by default). They can change their team as many times as they want until the 'wargame' has been started (using the *gamestart command or by using the autowar game modes). All players are locked in spec until the game has started.

Team Selection Mode 8 = If the player currently has no 'Home Town', a lobby screen is displayed where players can choose any of the towns currently on the island. When chosen the player is transported to the town. (But they still have to apply for residency in the normal way). 

Team Selection Mode 9 = If the player currently has no birth town, a lobby screen is displayed where players can choose any of the towns currently on the island. When chosen the player is transported to the town, their birth town is set to it, and their team is set to the same as the birth town.