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.
• Ctrl+V pastes clipboard text into the current message.
• Preserves Unicode emoji sequences during typing, paste, Backspace, networking, and overhead wrapping when BONELAB has a compatible fallback glyph.
• 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.
• Wraps overhead text onto two lines after 80 characters and three lines after 120, with progressively smaller fonts. The local VR preview remains unchanged.
• Uses Fusion's original nametag font, background, and automatic stacked layout.
• Prevents size drift by enforcing a clean font baseline and resetting the chat element's local scale while leaving Fusion's avatar-scale modifier intact.
• Includes separate BoneMenu toggles for the chat feature and local typing HUD, plus a manual clear button.
• Includes a persistent Disable Text Input switch, also toggled with F2 or Page Up, for flatscreen players who need normal keyboard controls.
• 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, Ctrl+V to paste, 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.

Disable Text Input stops only local typing and Ctrl+V capture. Press F2 or Page Up to toggle the same setting without opening BoneMenu. Incoming chat remains active while text input is disabled.

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