Real-Time Head Chat

Real-Time Head Chat is a mod-only accessibility chat for BONELAB Fusion. As a player types on their physical keyboard, the text updates above their avatar's head for other players running the mod. There is no chat window to open and no clipboard workflow.

Features

• Enabled automatically after installation.
• Updates overhead text while the player is typing.
• Shows a compact near-vision preview of the local player's head text.
• Backspace edits the current text.
• Enter clears the text immediately.
• Five seconds without keyboard input clears the text automatically.
• Reliably relays messages from hosts and clients, limits them to 160 characters, and sends at most ten updates per second.
• Removes stale remote text if a clear update is lost.
• Includes separate BoneMenu toggles for the chat feature and local typing HUD, plus a manual clear button.
• Includes saved, live VR HUD placement controls expressed in centimeters.

Requirements

• MelonLoader
• BoneLib 3.2.1 or later
• LabFusion 1.14.2 or later

Every player who needs to produce or see the overhead text must install this mod. Players without it do not participate in the head-chat system.

Installation

Install through Thunderstore Mod Manager/r2modman, or copy RealTimeHeadChat.dll into BONELAB/Mods/ for manual installation.

Usage

Join a Fusion session and begin typing on the physical keyboard. Use Backspace to edit, or Enter to dismiss the current text. The chat feature or only its local VR HUD can be toggled under BoneMenu > Real-Time Head Chat. Head Chat Enabled controls typing and broadcasting; Show VR HUD controls only the local headset preview. Both are enabled by default.

Use VR HUD Placement to adjust horizontal position, vertical position, and distance from the headset in centimeters. Changes apply immediately and save automatically.

Changelog

1.2.1

• Fixed hosts running the mod blocking every client-originated chat update.
• Worked around LabFusion 1.14.2 dropping the authenticated sender ID from custom module messages during pre-relay validation.
• Added targeted host-local delivery using the authenticated outer message sender while preserving normal relay to all other clients.

1.2.0

• Added a VR HUD Placement BoneMenu submenu.
• Added live horizontal, vertical, and headset-distance controls displayed in centimeters and converted to Unity meters internally.
• Placement persists through MelonPreferences.
• Added a reset button for restoring the default HUD position.

1.1.4

• Fixed hosts not seeing head-chat updates sent by remote clients.
• Added explicit local delivery for validated client messages at Fusion's server-side relay point while preserving normal relay to other clients.

1.1.3

• Fixed client-originated head-chat updates failing to reach other players in lobbies with multiple users.
• Changed typing synchronization to Fusion's reliable all-client relay route.
• Local-owner filtering still prevents a sender from creating a redundant remote bubble for themselves.

1.1.2

• Renamed the ambiguous Enabled option to Head Chat Enabled.
• Renamed the local preview option to Show VR HUD and clarified that it does not disable typing or broadcasting.
• Updated the in-game help text to explain both controls.

1.1.1

• Replaced the desktop-only IMGUI preview with a world-space HUD anchored to the local headset, allowing it to render inside VR.
• Refined the near-vision HUD size and placement for a less intrusive view.
• Added a default-on BoneMenu toggle that hides the local typing HUD without disabling chat transmission.

1.1.0

• Added an always-visible, client-only lower-left HUD preview.
• The preview displays the exact text currently being broadcast above the local player's head and shows a subtle prompt while empty.

1.0.0

• Initial release.
• Added enabled-by-default physical keyboard capture during Fusion sessions.
• Added real-time, avatar-attached overhead text for players running the mod.
• Added Backspace editing, Enter-to-clear, and automatic idle clearing.
• Added rate limiting, message length limits, input sanitization, and stale-text cleanup.
• Added persistent BoneMenu enable setting and manual clear control.