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[ZombieR]

NOTICE! Currently, the colored codes which use hexadecimal values (not hexadecimal color codes) are not displaying in the forums so following this tutorial will produce a basic marquee.

Okay, after seeing one of Forver's Service Towers in Borealis I was reminded of the lost scripts I had made that displayed changing and colorful messages through pet names. Well, I decided to make another one and share it, it's pretty basic but here goes. This one is designed to scroll text from left to right but you can also create other effects, such as making the text scroll the opposite direction, having the text "fade" in using alternate colors, having the text change on both sides, randomly changing the text or making the text stationary but changing letter capitalization or color.

Here is a script you can run using a Service Tower which anyone can pick up from the Towers shop in Borealis. First, go to your Scripts folder located within your AO directory, probably:
Funcom/Anarchy Online/Scripts

If the Scripts folder does not exist, create it. AO does not create this folder itself, but people who have worked with scripts before might have created it previously. In your Scripts folder create a plain jane .txt document named: defiantscroll.txt

Copy the text below into this text file:

/tower rename "..THIS IS THE DEFIANT.."
/delay 500
/tower rename ".THIS IS THE DEFIANT..."
/delay 500
/tower rename "THIS IS THE DEFIANT...."
/delay 500
/tower rename "HIS IS THE DEFIANT....T"
/delay 500
/tower rename "IS IS THE DEFIANT....TH"
/delay 500
/tower rename "S IS THE DEFIANT....THI"
/delay 500
/tower rename " IS THE DEFIANT....THIS"
/delay 500
/tower rename "IS THE DEFIANT....THIS "
/delay 500
/tower rename "S THE DEFIANT....THIS I"
/delay 500
/tower rename " THE DEFIANT....THIS IS"
/delay 500
/tower rename "THE DEFIANT....THIS IS "
/delay 500
/tower rename "HE DEFIANT....THIS IS T"
/delay 500
/tower rename "E DEFIANT....THIS IS TH"
/delay 500
/tower rename " DEFIANT....THIS IS THE"
/delay 500
/tower rename "DEFIANT....THIS IS THE "
/delay 500
/tower rename "EFIANT....THIS IS THE D"
/delay 500
/tower rename "FIANT....THIS IS THE DE"
/delay 500
/tower rename "IANT....THIS IS THE DEF"
/delay 500
/tower rename "ANT....THIS IS THE DEFI"
/delay 500
/tower rename "NT....THIS IS THE DEFIA"
/delay 500
/tower rename "T....THIS IS THE DEFIAN"
/delay 500
/tower rename "....THIS IS THE DEFIANT"
/delay 500
/tower rename "...THIS IS THE DEFIANT."
/delay 500
/defiantscroll.txt

Save the file and create a second .txt document in your Scripts folder called stop.txt

Copy and paste or type the following short statement into the document:

/delay 1

This just creates a method of stopping scripts that might go berserk. When executed, it sends an interruption to previously running scripts using a delay command causing the previous script to end. This is important, as many scripts loop theirself at the end of the file, going on indefinitely until another script is run. The stop.txt script simply runs and finishes without recursion. Save the file and go to your character in-game. Summon a Service Tower. While waiting for the tower to come online we can create a macro to easily call the scripts you have made.

Two basic macros to control your new respective scripts could be:

/macro petscript /defiantscroll.txt
/macro STOP /stop.txt

Type these lines into the normal in-game chatbar and send. A small black box with yellow text should appear that you can pull up to the utility bar and click on or press the corresponding key to call the macro. Notice the parameter after /macro could be any name you personally identify with. The part after that needs to be the name of the .txt file.

Target the pet and call the defiantscroll.txt using the macro (you can also type /defiantscroll.txt into the chatbar manually each time to run it). You should see the approximate scrolling text:

..THIS IS THE DEFIANT..

You can terminate Service Towers by typing /tower terminate but this does not terminate the script. The script can be terminated by calling the second script we made, /stop.txt

If you're an engineer, meta-physicist or bureaucrat you can also run scripts on your pets like you would the service tower but the .txt file needs to be edited, specifically /tower rename should be changed to /pet rename. In Notepad (Windows), you can use the Replace function found on the menu bar (Edit > Replace...) to do this quickly.

If you have scripts to share, post them here!

Also, I take no responsibility for any consequences of persons running scripts and am not thoroughly familiar with AO's policy for or against them. I believe they are generally tolerated but could be considered an expolit if used on pets during PvP. If asked by a GM to stop the script I would advise you to do so by running the stop.txt file, terminating the pet or relogging into the game. Use scripts at your own risk.