Tags are case-insensitive. This reference uses the named-argument syntax accepted by Star Rod. The older colon syntax is also accepted where a tag consists of positional byte arguments. Numbers in colon-style tags are hexadecimal; numbers in named-argument tags are decimal unless prefixed with 0x.
Ordinary source newlines are ignored. Use [BR] for a visible line break.
Type Characters Colored button icons [A] [B] [L] [R] [Z] [C-UP] [C-DOWN] [C-LEFT] [C-RIGHT] [START]Uncolored button glyphs [~A] [~B] [~L] [~R] [~Z] [~C-UP] [~C-DOWN] [~C-LEFT] [~C-RIGHT] [~START]Solid arrows [UP] [DOWN] [LEFT] [RIGHT]Miscellaneous shapes [NOTE] [HEART] [STAR] [CIRCLE] [CROSS]
The characters %, [, ], {, and } have special meaning in source files. Escape them as \%, \[, \], \{, and \} when they should appear as text.
Tag Description [BR]Start a new line. [Wait]Wait for the player to press A. [Pause 20]Pause printing for a fixed time. [Next]Advance to the next page. [Style Right]Select the message-box style; normally the first tag. [Yield]End this part without closing the box so the script may continue the conversation. [End]Terminate the message; required for every complete message.
Style Description RightStandard NPC bubble connected from the right. LeftStandard NPC bubble connected from the left. CenterStandard NPC bubble connected from the center. TattleAdaptive bubble used for Goombario’s map tattles. ChoiceChoice box with custom position and size: [Style Choice pos=96,112 size=128,62]. InspectGray box with a scrolling background. SignWooden sign. LamppostMetallic sign: [Style Lamppost height=72]. PostcardPostcard on the lower half of the screen: [Style Postcard index=0]. PopupSmall, automatically sized popup in the center. STYLE_BUnnamed engine style 0B; sized similarly to Popup. UpgradeUpgrade-block box with the same position and size arguments as Choice. NarrateCentered announcement such as “You got an item!” EpilogueSilent centered text without a box, used for chapter epilogues. STYLE_FUnnamed engine style 0F; sized similarly to Inspect or Narrate.
Tag Description [Font Normal]Select Normal, Menu, Title, or Subtitle. Credits fonts have limited character sets. [Variant 0]Select font variant 0 through 3. [Color 16]Set the text-color palette index. [SaveColor] / [RestoreColor]Save and restore one color; this is not a stack. [Spacing 8]Force every character to the given width. Zero restores normal spacing. [Size 20,20]Set horizontal and vertical scale. One value sets both. Default is 16,16. [SizeReset]Restore the default size. [CenterX 160]Center following text around an X coordinate.
Tag Description [NoSkip]Prevent the player from skipping the message. [InputOff] / [InputOn]Disable or enable input while printing. [DelayOff] / [DelayOn]Disable or enable the normal character delay. [Scroll 1]Scroll by a number of lines. [Speed delay=6 chars=3]Print chars characters after each delay. [Voice Bowser]Select Normal, Bowser, or Star; Spirit aliases Star. [CustomVoice soundIDs=0x141,0x142]Supply two custom printing-voice sound IDs. [Volume percent=50]Set voice volume; a raw value from 0 through 255 may be used instead. [EnableCDownNext]Allow C-Down to advance to the next page. [RewindOn] / [RewindOff]Enable or disable message rewind state.
Tag Description [SetPos 80,32]Set X and Y. X may be 0–320; Y may be -255–255. [SetPosX 80]Set the X position. [SetPosY 32]Set the Y position. [Right 8]Move following text right; resets on a new line. [Down 8] / [Up 8]Move following text vertically. [SavePos] / [RestorePos]Save and restore one position; this is not a stack.
Tag Description [StartChoice]Start a choice list and disable normal printing delay. [Option 0]Begin an option and place its cursor in a smart choice. [EndChoice cancel=1]Finish a smart choice; optional cancel is returned when B is pressed. [Cursor 0]Place the hand cursor for an old-style choice. [SetCancel 1]Set the B-button result for an old-style choice.
Choice indices range from 0 through 5. Prefer StartChoice and EndChoice; Star Rod supplies bookkeeping which older messages had to write by hand.
Tag Description [ItemIcon itemName=Mushroom]Draw an item icon by name. itemID=0x80 may be used instead. [InlineImage index=0]Draw one of four message images at the current print position. [Image index=0 pos=85,97 hasBorder=1 alpha=255 fadeAmount=15]Draw a message image at a fixed position. [HideImage fadeAmount=15]Hide the current message image; zero hides immediately. [AnimSprite spriteID=0x17 raster=0]Draw one sprite raster. [Animation spriteID=0x17 rasterIDs=0,1,2 delays=4,4,8]Build a looping sprite animation; each raster requires a delay.
Image tags use the list most recently supplied to SetMessageImages; they do not load image data themselves.
Effects are paired. A named closing tag closes that effect, while [/fx] closes the most recently opened effect:
[Wave]This text moves in a wave.[/Wave]
[Rainbow][SizeWave]Two effects at once![/fx][/fx]
Effect Description ShakeMove characters randomly. WaveMove individual characters in a wave. NoiseOutlineDraw a noisy outline. StaticBlend static into the text: [Static percent=50]. BlurBlur along x, y, or both: [Blur dir=xy]. RainbowCycle individual character colors. DitherFadeDither toward transparency: [DitherFade percent=50]. GlobalWaveApply a wave to the line as a whole. GlobalRainbowApply a rainbow across the message as a whole. PrintRisingPrint characters small and let them rise into place. PrintGrowingPrint characters small and grow them into place. SizeJitterRandomly vary character size. SizeWaveVary character size in a wave. DropShadowAdd a shadow behind the text.
See Adding and Modifying Messages for examples of complete messages.