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misc

misc folder​

Formerly home to everything that didn't belong in the other folders, with the introduction of themes, the misc folder has become vacant. However, it was given a new purpose as the go-to location for some of AO's extra customization potential.

Character Themes​

Starting with 2.8, you can define a new character theme as a separate folder inside base/misc through chat = in the char.ini, allowing characters to use custom chatboxes (the box your message appears in) and interjections. Input should be a directory in misc/ containing the chatbox you want to use. (i.e. - chat = Phoenix Wright would point to base/misc/Phoenix Wright)

Overlay Effects​

Starting in 2.8, you can overlay animations on top of your current character to convey extra emotional range.

Effects are searched in:

  • base/themes/<current theme>/effects
  • base/misc/…, where … is the name of an effect folder defined in char.ini under an effects = … entry.

In both cases, effects.ini must be present in the effect folder so that the client can determine which effects can be displayed.

Supported effect formats are the same as the character formats (GIF, PNG, APNG, WebP).

Effect icons must be base/misc/[effects folder]/icons inside the effect folder and should be no bigger than 16x16.

Effects can also define sound effects in effects.ini. The format for effects.ini is as follows:

effect_name = sfx-name
effect_stretch = false
effect_under_chatbox=true

Each entry is self-explanatory, but to explain what each one does:

  • effect_name: The name given to the effect, which will be shown in the Effects Dropdown menu.
  • effect_stretch: (Introduced in 2.9.0) Affects whether or not the effect stretch/squish with the viewport or not, if the aspect ratio differs from that of the viewport.
  • effect_under_chatbox: (Introduced in 2.9.0) When False, the effect will display over the chatbox (much like the Realization effect)

Note that character themes and effect folders can overlap; there is nothing stopping them from doing so.

Currently, there is a known compatibility bug where effects made during 2.8.x do not appear in the Effects Dropdown Menu for 2.9.x clients. Currently, there is a bug within AO 2.9.1 clients that prevent effects from being shown