In a future version I would like to be able to disable chat in replays (without hiding the UI as well) and for the online functionality to persist into the lobby screen:

Use cases:

• While broadcasting, sometimes a session changes from the lobby to track and vice-versa and chat messages are re-enabled, and require muting again. This is a problem for several reasons:
  • Sometimes with few cars on track, it is difficult to mute the chat and bring the game scene up before the lights go out.
    
  • Choreographing chat muting between sessions is a pain sometimes, often leading to profane chat messages being shown to the audience.
    
  • If a session ends, the chat sound plays because chat is unblocked automatically and that can sometimes end up being broadcasted also.
    
• A more general use-case might be for people who make LFS videos. Muting chat in replays would make that easier I'd expect (Without having to hide the UI too with SHIFT+F).
  

Feature requests:

• Disable chat in both single and multi-player replays (without hiding the UI).
  
• Allow chat mute in the online lobby screen and let it persist between the lobby and track sessions and vice versa.
  

Possible implementation:

Add a third 'blocked messages' mode to persist chat muting between track<->lobby screens.

I would appreciate it if you would consider adding this to a future version. Thank you.

In addition to this, it would be nice if there were better control over hiding chat, especially via InSim.

Currently, from our testing, it appears that the - key to hide chat is completely ignored when in Shift+U mode. On live broadcasts, we have to switch to another camera view (onboard) for LFS to accept the - key.


It would be useful to have more control/visibility over this via InSim:

1. Currently, there's no way for InSim to block/hide the chat from what I can tell. Faking a - press via SCH doesn't seem to work. There's also no way to know the current status of blocked messages, other than parsing MSO when - is pressed.

2. When pressing Shift+F, there seems to be 3 states in some cases, which change in a cycle: Hide -> Hide more -> show. InSim seems to only be aware of hidden or not, with no differentiation between the two levels of hidden. There isn't even a STA sent on the second Shift+F press.
I don't know everything that the "hide more" actually hides, but if that includes *all* chat messages, then opening that up to InSim control could be a solution for some cases.
It appears that the "hide more" state only works for replays, is that correct? Is it just the equivalent of hide UI + block chat, or does it do more?

Nice ideas. I've been tinkering with videos and screenies recently, and it's an almighty pain to turn off all the things I use when racing - mirrors, gauges, split times, mini-map, clock/FPS etc.

I don't want these things being off to be saved as my settings, so I use a second LFS instance to do this and make sure it is closed before my main 'racing instance' is closed, then close and reopen the main instance - if I mess that up, then I've got to undo all the changes too.

I'd love a 'capture mode' with a hotkey that would just toggle every overlay - nothing on screen but the action. Edit: shift-F

Also, if we're tinkering with that kind of thing, could it be made optional for a race restart to turn my chat history off? It's minor annoyance sure, but I have crashed whilst preoccupied trying to find the 'H' key many times more than I have crashed because something was hidden by text.

Quote from Racon :

I'd love a 'capture mode' with a hotkey that would just toggle every overlay - nothing on screen but the action.

Pressing SHIFT+F twice (or three times?) does this as far as I know.

Cheers Pete! Works a charm - another I must've missed that one moment for my collection

Quote from Racon :

Cheers Pete! Works a charm - another I must've missed that one moment for my collection

Don't worry, after I posted my feature request, Mandula reminded me about this feature, I forgot it also hid chat messages.

There is already an option to disable chat in MP replays, by editing cfg.txt

MPR Message Block 0/1/2

0=not blocked
1=minus
2=shift+minus

Today I've enabled the minus key in free view mode and also enabled /press minus

I know this doesn't answer everything on the thread.

Quote from Scawen :

I know this doesn't answer everything on the thread.

No, but this is really handy to know and will solve a few of my issues, thanks!

Quote from mbutcher :

Feature requests:

• Disable chat in both single and multi-player replays (without hiding the UI).
  
• Allow chat mute in the online lobby screen and let it persist between the lobby and track sessions and vice versa.
  

Possible implementation:

Add a third 'blocked messages' mode to persist chat muting between track<->lobby screens.

I'm trying something to allow the message block key to work in all screens, not only in-game.

I've also made it persist when you go between game and lobby. You suggested this as a third mode. Does it need to be a third mode or should it be OK for blocked messages state to simply persist into the lobby and back?

At the moment, my version only switches messages back on automatically if a replay ends or if you exit from the lobby screen back to the entry screen.

Quote from Degats :

In addition to this, it would be nice if there were better control over hiding chat, especially via InSim.

I've added a command /block for this.

/block 0 - no block
/block 1 - block user messages
/block 2 - block user messages and system messages (like SHIFT + minus)

Quote from Degats :

2. When pressing Shift+F, there seems to be 3 states in some cases, which change in a cycle: Hide -> Hide more -> show. InSim seems to only be aware of hidden or not, with no differentiation between the two levels of hidden. There isn't even a STA sent on the second Shift+F press.
I don't know everything that the "hide more" actually hides, but if that includes *all* chat messages, then opening that up to InSim control could be a solution for some cases.
It appears that the "hide more" state only works for replays, is that correct? Is it just the equivalent of hide UI + block chat, or does it do more?

The additional replay SHIFT+F state blocks the replay control bar and any messages.

Do you know about the /hidetext command? It does the same as SHIFT+F but doesn't have that extra state for replays.