Chat Font Size

Table of Contents

Introduction

How to Change Font Sizes: Chat and Miscellany

This tutorial will show you how to change the font size of some elements for Secret World Legends, primarily chat font size. Please see the end of this guide if you are looking to change the size of the Zone and Combat announcement popups, which do not use the same procedure as the chat-based font detailed herein.

Do you have eye issues or a large screen? Is your chat too small for your awesome resolution? Do you squint to read regardless because the chat never seems to scale with the rest of the UI?

Look no farther! This short guide will allow you to change the size of chat font to your whim! Let your eyes relax!

How to Edit Font Size

Procedure

Warning: This will involve modifying a file in SWL: Fonts.xml. We will be turning a copy of it into a customized UI element.

A file editor is necessary for this. If you do not normally edit files, a very basic and easy to use one for our purposes is Notepad++, but there are many others out there. Use whatever you are most comfortable with.

1. First, go to ...\SecretWorldLegends\Data\Gui\Default and select the file 'Fonts.xml' in the folder.

2. Next, copy this file.

3. Then, go to ...\SecretWorldLegends\Data\Gui\Custom and paste this copy of Fonts.xml into the Custom file.

This will allow it to act as custom UI, much like an addon, without harming the Default UI in any way. We do not want to edit the Default version of this file.

4. Open the version of Fonts.xml now placed in your Custom GUI folder with your file editor of choice.

You will see the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<!-- $Change: 61157 $ (must be within the first 200 characters of the file) -->
<Fonts>

<!-- List of extra none standard fonts that need to be added as a font resource by the game. -->
<FontMemResource name="Gui/Default/Fonts/hyborian.ttf" />
<FontMemResource name="Gui/Default/Fonts/futura.ttf" />
<FontMemResource name="Gui/Default/Fonts/PetitaMedium.ttf" />

<!--
'name' = User defined font name. Used in GUI files to define the font an object should use.
'face' = Windows font name to use.
'size' = Point size of font or 'Scaled' to specify a resolution dependent size with a base scale of 'x'.
'weight' = Controls the weight of the font. Can be one of: 'Thin', 'ExtraLight', 'Light', 'Normal', 'Medium', 'SemiBold', 'Bold', 'ExtraBold', or 'Heavy'.
(NB: While Windows claims to support all of the above weights, I have only ever seen a noticable difference between Normal and Bold.)
'italic' = Specifies an italic typeface or not. Can be 'Yes', or 'No'.
'antialias' = Specifies the level of antialiasing. Can be 'None', 'Medium', 'High', or 'Auto'.
-->
<Font name="NORMAL" face="PetitaMedium" size="12" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="NORMAL_ITALIC" face="PetitaMedium" size="12" weight="Normal" italic="Yes" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="NORMAL_BOLD" face="PetitaMedium" size="12" weight="Bold" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="SMALL" face="PetitaMedium" size="11" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="LARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="14" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="LARGE_BOLD" face="PetitaMedium" size="14" weight="Bold" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="HUGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="15" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="CHAT" face="PetitaMedium" size="12" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="None"/>

<Font name="HYBORIANSMALL" face="PetitaMedium" size="16" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="HYBORIANLARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="18" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

<Font name="TSWLARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="16" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="TSWSMALL" face="PetitaMedium" size="12" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

<Font name="FLYING_NUMBERS" face="PetitaMedium" size="31" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="FLYING_NUMBERS_ITALICS" face="PetitaMedium" size="31" weight="Normal" italic="Yes" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="FLYING_NUMBERS_SHIELDED" face="PetitaMedium" size="35" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="FLYING_NUMBERS_SHIELDED_ITALICS" face="PetitaMedium" size="35" weight="Normal" italic="Yes" antialias="Full"/>

<Font name="COMBAT_FEEDBACK" face="PetitaMedium" size="37" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="HEADLINE" face="PetitaMedium" size="21" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="LARGE_SC" face="PetitaMedium" size="27" weight="Normal" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

<Font name="3D_TEXT" face="PetitaMedium" size="26" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="3D_TEXT_BOLD" face="PetitaMedium" size="26" weight="Bold" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="3D_TEXT_SMALL" face="PetitaMedium" size="23" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="3D_TEXT_futura" face="PetitaMedium" size="26" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>
<Font name="3D_TEXT_HYB" face="PetitaMedium" size="36" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

<Font name="SCALED" face="PetitaMedium" size="Scaled(35)" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

5. Edit the number values to what you see fit!

We will only be editing the first instance of these values. There is a second set after comments concerning 'Regional Font'. We will not be touching that version.

6. Save your changes.

Please save changes made only to the Fonts.xml placed in the Custom folder.

7. Start Secret World Legends and verify the font sizes are changed to your liking.

If you do not find the size suitable, turn off the game and edit the file. Changes are only visible upon a complete restart.

If at any time you want to entirely reverse the changes, just delete the Customized version of Fonts.xml and its Fonts.bxml counterpart that will be created upon game startup.

Editing Font in The Secret World

This guide has been updated for Secret World Legends; however, the process and Fonts.xml are the same for The Secret World.

Editing Chat Size in The Secret World

If you wish to change the chat sizes within The Secret World, please follow the procedure outlined in this guide with the following difference:

The proper directory to place the custom Fonts.xml file will be ...\TheSecretWorld\Data\Gui\Customized instead of Custom.

Everything else about the guide remains exactly the same in Secret World Legends and The Secret World!

Editing Chat Font Size

Only certain lines of Fonts.xml are for the chat itself. Check the following table to know which to edit for which in game font size option.

Chat Font Size Names

In-Game Font Size Option Fonts.xml Name
Small NORMAL
Medium LARGE
Large HUGE

To alternate font size options in-game:

  1. Select the desired tab and click the cogwheel in the top left corner of your chat window.
  2. Hover to "Font Size". A popup window will appear showing the three sizes: Small, Medium, and Large.
  3. Select your desired font size. The selected size will have a check mark next to it.

This selection is only valid for the tab it has been made in. To alter any other tab sizes, follow these directions again.

Follow the directions to the first part of this guide to edit the file accordingly.

In Practice

I advise changing at least two options. The appropriate line to change will look like this if, for example, you were going to change the Medium font option to something larger:

Unedited 'Medium' font option code:

<Font name="LARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="14" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

I changed the size from 14 to 22 for my edited version, changing the code to the following for ease of sight on a larger monitor to reduce eye strain:

Modified 'Medium' font option code:

<Font name="LARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="22" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

Changing the LARGE size will also change the size of the in-game Chat Settings interface accessed by aforementioned cogwheel.

You can also change the bold or italic options of a selected font if you so desire.

Changing the NORMAL size will also change the chat tab label sizes, as those too use NORMAL.

Experiment and see what works best for you, as each person will benefit differently from changes in sizing.

Please note that changing the font sizes in this file will also change sizes as they appear when called upon by an addon or script, including the larger colored fonts many people use to get notice when speaking. They frequently use the 'HUGE' size and as such can appear quite drastic if you have greatly increased the size of this compared to your other Font Size Options.

Editing Miscellaneous Font Elements

Miscellaneous Fonts.xml

The size of the map's Zone Title and the Anima Leap pricing beneath the Zone Title accessed in the bottom right upon hitting m uses the following line:

<Font name="TSWLARGE" face="PetitaMedium" size="16" weight="Medium" italic="No" antialias="Full"/>

Change the size as desired.

Editing HUD Scale

The size of temporary on screen messages are not edited through Fonts.xml, but are nonetheless an obscure Interface Option. These elements are considered the HUD. To change the scale of this particular set, go to the following:

Settings (F10) > Interface Options > HUD Display > Miscellaneous > Miscellaneous Scale

Change the scale as desired.

This will most noticeably change the size of Heads Up Display messages such as Zone announcements, error messages regarding lack of target, line of site, or currencies. Zone announcement examples include: Master Planner activation and failure, the Rider's Arrival and Summoning, Anansi Beta's game rules, Hel's flinch status, Zuberi's Ally announcements within Agartha Defiled, the air strike countdown within the Manhattan Exclusion Zone, the name of a Zone and its region when entered, Anima Well acquisition, and more.

Changing the Miscellaneous scale will also alter floating combat text size, PVP scoreboards, and the popup menus from right-clicking on a player's name through the Group and Raid GUI.

Most of the options within Fonts.xml appear to do very little.

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