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(Z) Datapad 3k Character Limit Example Mod

This mod is intended to be a template for modders creating their own scenarios who want to include Datapads into their worlds that can surpass the 1,000 character limit of vanilla Datapads. With this method of story delivery, you're afforded an approximate maximum of 3,000 characters and 3-5 paragraphs. Your mileage may vary before the text begins to go off-screen.

Vanilla Datapads are hardcoded to have a limit of 1,000 characters. It has something to do with performance. If anyone from Keen comes across this mod, throw your scenario creators a bone? A limit of 3-5k characters would be a substantial boon for a story-driven campaign. Any less, for me at least, is a headache that would sometimes require 2-3 Datapads per lore drop. I want to be able to fit a full lore drop into one Datapad each time a player comes across an outpost or a ship that contains one. This mod concept is my workaround for the limitations we have to work with.

The way it works is that I utilize the Description field for the main body text of the mission logs I'm introducing into my upcoming scenario. This is an intuitive solution, as players must hover their cursor over the Datapad item in order to right-click on it anyways. They'll naturally see a few paragraphs of text that pop up as a tooltip and realize that's the main content of the Datapad. Coordinates, or another 1,000 characters, can be manually typed into each custom Datapad as per usual. Download the example mod for more details about how to implement these Datapads into your scenario.

I've found that a limit of 3k characters is a great balance while writing history documents and mission logs for my scenario. At times, it forces me to employ brevity where I might not otherwise be as stringent on that front. There is of course the option of writing lore drops into the public data of an LCD screen, but this method provides players with a way to carry your story along with them as they progress through your scenario, in case you want to employ a rather intricate storyline that players might want to have older Datapads on hand for in case they forgot about any key information related to your plot.

If you're not a modder and you've read this far into the description, stay tuned for my upcoming scenario. It will be a story-based space odyssey.