The Relay from Deep Space

A mod for the game The Message from Deep Space that allows players to communicate over the Deep Space Communication Relay in-game.

TRfDS is in beta currently. Expect things to break.

Before you install, it is highly, highly recommended you complete the game first!

Basic Usage

After installing the mod, you will see a new RELAY button on the main tabs view. This is how you access the Relay.

The RELAY MANAGER, RELAY INPUT, and RELAY screens are how you interact with the Relay. The RELAY MANAGER screen is daunting at first, but all of the features are explaiend in the Features section below.

For now, enter a callsign, in base 8, and then click SET to begin chatting.

After you enter a callsign, the RELAY screen will populate with messages. You can input your own Meteor0ese message into the RELAY INPUT screen, then click SEND to send it. When you're finished chatting, you can click LOGOUT to leave the Relay.

There is another button on the RELAY screen, RECOMPILE. Whenever you define a new signal, you'll need to RECOMPILE the output to update older uses of it.

Features

You'll want to be on the RELAY MANAGER screen for most of this. It's recommended to set a callsign, then return to this screen by clicking the MANAGER button. You can return to the RELAY INPUT screen by clicking INPUT.

Adding new signals to the dictionary

Under the ADD NEW SIGNALS text, there are 2 text entry fields and a MAKE button. The ID text entry expects a negative integer, corresponding to the ID of the new signal you want to create. The NAME text entry expects a plaintext name, no more than 18 characters, that the new signal will be called. After entering these, press MAKE to update your dictionary with the new signal. You can then press RECOMPILE to update the Relay messages with your new definition.

This signal persists with your dictionary like every signal from the game does. You can edit it, add formatting, add notes, etc, just as you can with any other signal. If you want to permanently remove a custom signal, hold control and click the delete button in the dictionary menu.

Message actions

When people send pretty visuals, you can use this to see them. Enter the ID of the message (the grey number to the right of the callsign in the RELAY window) into the text entry field and click VIEW.

Image created by astro (callsign 1574)

Channels

Channels allow people on the Relay to communicate in isolates spaces, usually so they don't clog up the main channel. Adding and removing channels requires defining 2 custom signals, if you wish to find these out on the Relay, skip this section.

After you join channels, you can cycle through ones you're active in, and the RELAY output will update with the messages in that channel.

Channels you're in are saved and loaded from disk. You can find this file by navigating in-game to MENU -> HANDLE SAVE FILE -> SHOW WHERE MY FILES ARE STORED, then opening that path in your file manager of choice. All files this mod creates are stored in the TRFDS folder in this path. It's recommended you don't change the enabledChannels.save file, but you may view it in any text editor. If you modify it and break something by accident, it's safe to delete, the mod will save a new one when you join a channel again.

Configuration

Many aspects of this mod are configurable, you can find details on each config option in the config file that BepInEx generates. Note: It is only generated after launching with the mod enabled, so you will need to launch once to see the config file at all.

v1.8.0: It Radiates

This release is entirely quality of life focused, but contains lots of great features!

• Added hotkeys to the most used Relay-related buttons
• Added a COPY button to the message actions
  • You can copy a message's text, or copy a message's signals while holding CTRL
• Added the ability to send any arbitrary signal by sending |-sig. No more temporary definitions just to ask a clarifying question!
• Added a scroll to the INPUT screen and removed the character limit
• Added a sound for when a new message is sent, it uses the same audio as receiving a new transmission from Meteor 0
• Access to the Relay is now locked behind finishing the game
  • Why: I, along with many other Relay participants, believe that it can ruin the emotional impact of TMfDS
  • There is a config option to bypass this, provided solely for debugging purposes. Please do not use this to access the Relay before finishing the game!
• Most of the RELAY MANAGER screen is hidden until a callsign is set
  • Why: Most of it didn't do anything unless you were logged in, so it prevents people from having strange issues like trying to switch channel before even joining the Relay
• Fixed not being able to parse very large numbers

This is the final major release, unless anything big happens.

I would like to give a huge thanks to Applesinmypants for creating this wonderful game, and to all the lovely people on the TMfDS discord who've helped me create this.

v1.7.0: It Sings

Adds music playing!

• You must define the signal required to create music to listen to it, someone on the Relay will be able to teach you if you don't already know it
• Removed color palette and confetti toggles, those are now in The Colors from Deep Space
• Updated how visuals hide the bulk of the message, they no longer cut off anything after the visual

v1.6.0: It Gleams

Various small fixes and quality of life features. Nothing major, but it should feel a lot nicer to use!

• Added callsign colors with compatibility with the official Deep Space Communication Relay and astro's client. Thanks to astro for letting me reference their implementation
• Added a custom icon for the RELAY button
• Updated how compilation errors display to give some more info about the issue
• Made dict sort by key order
  • New entries are still appended to the bottom, but when the game is re-loaded it's sorted by the signal ID
• Fixed not being able to delete a dict entry, then add a new one
• Fixed the callsign entry field allowing you to enter incorrect numbers and enter more than 4 characters

With this, the project is finished!

But... can you hear that on the horizon?

v1.5.0: It Compartmentalises

Adds channels! Spoilers for some signals. If you'd prefer to find them out on the Relay, don't click below!

• Channels are saved and loaded to your computer. You can find the file from in game: Menu -> Handle save file -> Show where my files are stored. The file is under the TRFDS folder, named enabledChannels.save. It's recommended you don't touch this unless you know what you're doing
• Currently, you can only join channels with signal names. You cannot join channels named after numbers. This may change in the future
• Renamed to The Relay from Deep Space (sorry Taco!)
• Added a config option to allow users to show the initial 10 Relay messages instantly
• Fixed an issue causing the last line or character of a message to not display

v1.4.0: It Observes

You can now view visual data that people send over the relay!

• Allows players to view message visuals!
  • Enter the ID of the transmission you want to view and click "VIEW"
  • Watch the beautiful creation render
• Allow sent and received relay messages to display their signals on the oscilloscopes, toggleable by a config
• Added a config option for dict label rendering
• Added a config option to re-enable multicoloured confetti

v1.3.0: It Camoflauges

Many new small quality of life features and fixes!

• Relay messages can now be recompiled for after you define a new signal
• Monitor colour themes can now be customised in the config
• Relay messages are printed char-by-char or line-by-line or instantly, depending on message length and the config
• Relay websocket source can now be configured
• Confetti cannon can be turned off (but you would make me very sad :( )
• Fixed dictionary saving signals incorrectly
• Fixed an issue causing relay scrollbar to not be set when first loading messages
• Removed line numbers on relay and hidden scrollbar (scrolling functionality remains)

v1.2.0: It Speaks

You can now add new entries to your dictionary!

• Dictionary update
  • Add new dictionary terms via the Relay Manager screen
    • Left input is the signal ID
    • Right input is the signal name
    • "MAKE" button creates it, saves your game, and populates your dictionary accordingly
  • Dictionary terms can now have up to 18 characters
  • Dictionary terms with signal IDs longer than 3 characters are budged over so they don't overlap
• Randomly generates an example callsign on load
• Confetti canon no longer fires if you haven't defined the custom signal for it

v1.1.0: It Crawls

Marginally increases user experience

• Renamed all instances of "DSCR" to "Relay"
• Added callsign error handling, including player-facing error messages
• Added a barebones signal compilation error message
  • It will tell you some things are wrong, but not what exactly
  • This will be improved in future

v1.0.0: It Lives

• Release