SS2 HUD Logs

[6871d89ea9b32ZylonBane]

°SS2 °dml °minimod °SS2 AE compatible

System Shock 2 HUD Logs v2.1
June 2025
by ZylonBane

Requires SS2 NewDark patch v2.46 or higher.

This mod:

• Makes incoming emails display a HUD popup with the portrait of the sender, the sender's name, and the message subject.
• Displays the appropriate portrait, sender, and subject when cyber modules are given.
• With AUTO_LOGS true, will automatically play logs when picked up, and display a popup for them (this is the only way to display popups for found logs, due to limitations of the engine). Be aware that with this option enabled it is very easy to miss vital information from incoming emails because they will be interrupted by any logs you pick up. So very NOT recommended for first-time players.

Should be compatible with all fan missions/campaigns and non-English localizations. Note that localization of the cybermodules received message requires the string "FakeCookie" be added to OBJSHORT.STR (FakeCookie:"Cyber modules").

Two versions of the mod are provided:

• HUD Logs shows a HUD portrait and name/subject for incoming emails and cyber modules.
• HUD Logs Autoplay does the above and also automatically plays logs as they're picked up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS5bBUqRyX0

[6871d89ea9dc8JML]

Good stuff, thanks! I'd be in favor of putting the base mod into SCP.

[6871d89ea9f60Kolya]

Excellent stuff. Like it always was supposed to be there.

[6871d89eaa0b3voodoo47]

y'all are just spoiled by all them Bioshocks and Deus Exes.

[6871d89eaa1d7JDoran]

Your usual great work, ZB, thanks.

[6871d89eaa2bdMayor]

Great work, thanks!
Is it possible though to autoplay logs, only if no incoming emails or other logs are playing?

[6871d89eaa388ZylonBane]

No.

[6871d89eaa4cfHikari]

Echoing my appreciation of this mod. Doens't really change anything at base but adds a nice little touch. Seconding on the vote to roll the base version into the community patch.

[6871d89eaa63bZylonBane]

Unlikely to be included in SCP. Having it as a separate mod allows people to easily choose whether or not they want logs automatically played when picked up. Also, this mod overrides and re-implements some rather important base scripts, and I'm not 100% certain I did it correctly. If a problem is found, it's much simpler to disable a mod than to wait for the next SCP update.

[6871d89eaa7b6Deu sex]

Tried this one as well and quite happy about it, do you think it is possible to make the autoplay work with subtitles? that would be the best of both worlds!
Also the Many doesn't seem to have a portrait when it talks, deliberate choice to make it more mysterious?

[6871d89eaa912ZylonBane]

What do you mean, "make the autoplay work with subtitles"?

And how would the Many have a LOG portrait for messages they're transmitting directly into your mind? Did you think they were sending emails?

[6871d89eaacb5Marvin]

You could in theory add a Many portrait (maybe with a "The Many" text instead of the normal log/email header) as a kind of accessibility feature for the deaf or hard of hearing. At least in a technical sense it shouldn't make much of a difference unless the trigger messages are handled very differently from emails.

I'm confused by the title though, it suggests that logs get a portrait while the text mentions emails. I think it's both?

@Deu sex : IIRC only the french subtitles here also handle logs. So there's no auto-subtitling for logs, only for emails (and triggers, which some of the Many messages are).

[6871d89eaae13ZylonBane]

Logs and emails are basically the same thing-- electronically stored messages with a subject line and a portrait of the user who composed it. The Many transmissions are neither logs nor emails. They're just psychic sound files played directly into the player's head, leaving no record of them in the PDA. So having a portrait manifest in the HUD for them would be a) nonsensical, and b) technically impossible.

[6871d89eab014Marvin]

I don't think I quite understand what you're saying. In your opinion, are subtitles in SS2 an addition to the game's interface or a speech-to-text program of your cyber rig? Is the main menu part of SS2s interface or of the player's MFD? Is your mod about showing portraits matched to audio messages in a video game, or strictly about an addition to Goggle's MFD in the world of System Shock 2?

If it's the latter, then yes, you're correct. If it's the former, then it doesn't matter if you're showing an image sent via email or a visual psychic representation of The Many (let's say, with a very differently styled portrait) in your field of view.

[6871d89eab170Deu sex]

"And how would the Many have a LOG portrait for messages they're transmitting directly into your mind?"

That makes total sense actually, you have a point.

"only the french subtitles here also handle logs"

Ah damn, well, that's allright I guess, no big deal just asking, thx for the answer

[6871d89eab5eesarge945]

Also the Many doesn't seem to have a portrait when it talks, deliberate choice to make it more mysterious?

The many doesn't talk to you through audio logs

[6871d89eab812sarge945]

I have a bug to report.

Running a bunch of mods currently, however this happens with vanilla (just this mod + SCP) as well.

This seems to be mostly innocuous as it doesn't actually stop any portraits from showing up when emails are received. I do wish we could get portraits for logs in the standard version, though.

Here is the relevant error in my ss2.log

: OSM:
AN ERROR HAS OCCURED [wrong type (integer expected, got null)]

: OSM:
CALLSTACK

: OSM: *FUNCTION [destructor()] .\DMM\HUD Logs v1\sq_scripts\hudlogs.nut line [196]

: OSM:
LOCALS

: OSM: [_logBitmap] NULL

: OSM: [this] INSTANCE

: OSM:
AN ERROR HAS OCCURED [wrong type (integer expected, got null)]

: OSM:
CALLSTACK

: OSM: *FUNCTION [destructor()] .\DMM\HUD Logs v1\sq_scripts\hudlogs.nut line [196]

: OSM: *FUNCTION [OnEndScript()] .\DMM\HUD Logs v1\sq_scripts\hudlogs.nut line [200]

: OSM:
LOCALS

: OSM: [_logBitmap] NULL

: OSM: [this] INSTANCE

: OSM: [this] INSTANCE

I would provide a savegame, but I don't know which one is which.

[6871d89eabaf3Trov]

ZylonBaneI think there's a compromise. It could have a glitched out/static portrait and have [UNKNOWN] sender.
Your rig would able to process it because it is linked into your brain. This isn't 'impossible' because the rig already allows you to perceive ghosts, which already implies the rig is already connected somewhat to psychic activity.
However, since it is not a standard e-mail, the rig does not process it properly and doesn't have a 'real' portrait calling it 'The Many'. Although in my opinion it could probably start calling it 'The Many' after the reveal cutscene. You could mind-canon it as Goggles or Shodan/Polito reprogramming your rig to better interpret the psychic signal once Goggles is aware of The Many.

[6871d89eabbf2ZylonBane]

Mod updated to v2.
- Adds a message popup when you're sent cyber modules.
- Fixes a potential memory leak.

[6871d89eabcdcZylonBane]

Mod updated to v2.1
- Fixed a bug that was causing Polito's name to appear when SHODAN sent you cyber modules.

[6871d89eac00aRichard]

ZylonBane  This is my favorite mod to date as applied to the 25th AE version of SS2.  It's very immersive, as I don't have to dig into my pdf to find a recent audio log (or any log for that matter).  The pop-up at the top left of the HUD is clear and concisely displayed.  Great work!