ToonTalk Command Line Options

When you start up ToonTalk it asks your name. You can supply your name on the command line instead. You can also click on "Set Options" and change many of the options listed below very easily. Many of the options described below can be controlled by items in the options notebook in ToonTalk found page 10 of your main notebook.

ADVANCED USERS ONLY:

Alternatively you can customize ToonTalk by editing the shortcut called "ToonTalk" (Alt-Enter when the icon is selected). After the part that goes StartTT.exe, you can add any of the following options separated by spaces. Note that if the shortcut ends with " then place these options after the quote. For example,

"C:\Program Files\Animated Programs\ToonTalk\StartTT.exe" -c 5 -houses 2

when given as a shortcut will start ToonTalk with cities that have 5 streets and avenues with room for 2 houses per block. The following commands will override any options set by clicking on "Set Options".

-n <name>
Name can be any length but should not contain spaces or special characters. If you add this you will not be asked for a user name.
-h <head>
Head can be 0 (bald), 1 (hair), or 2 (hat). Default is 2.
-s <sound>
Sound can be 0 to turn off sound.
-f <full screen>
Full screen can be 0 (small screen), 1 (full screen where ToonTalk takes exclusive control of the screen), or 2 (normal window that is twice the screen resolution). Option 1 tends to look nicer and is typically faster.   1 also will work regardless of the current screen resolution or number of colors.
-o <output log file name>
Everything you do is recorded in the file. It can be played back by using -I. Great way of capturing a bug. The extension .DMO is added to the file name.
-i <input log file name>
Redoes all the actions recorded when the -o option was used. -I behaves the same but will slow down to the original recording speed if running on a faster machine. Starting with Beta 18 or Release 1.1 the file name can be a URL.
-c <city size>
City size by default is 10×10 blocks (each block by default holds 4 houses). If negative will initialize the city with random houses. Your computer needs lots of memory and free disk space to run ToonTalk with large active cities. Note that this has no effect on saved cities. Beginning with version 3 (internal version 3.160) you can specify both the width and height of the city by providing a value such as 5x10.
-houses <n>
Determines how many houses are on a block. Can range from 1 to thousands. 4 is the default.
-city <file name>
Indicates which saved city you want to be in when ToonTalk starts.
-b <0, 1, 2 or 3>
Describes the number of mouse buttons available. See mouse buttons for details.
-r <reading speed percentage>
Reading speed controls how long text stays in a talk balloon. 100 percent is the default. Larger numbers makes the text stay a shorter time. Does not work if speech is also enabled.
-l <letter size in talk balloons>
Default is 100 percent.
-font_variable <font name>
Variable width font used in Marty's talk balloons and elsewhere. If its name has a space like New Modern enter it as new_modern. Arial is the default.
-font_fixed <font name>
Fixed width font used on text and number pads and elsewhere. Courier New is the default
-m <memory devoted to cache>
Default is 100 (which uses 25% of free memory). Larger numbers should speed up ToonTalk somewhat but will leave less memory for other purposes.
-u <user profile maintained>
1 means to keep track in *.usr which operations user has performed and customize help accordingly. 0 turns it off. 1 is the default.
-a <advice level>
Ranges from 0 to 6. if 0 then the Martian will say everything possible. If set to a value greater than 6 then he will say nothing on his own initiative. 2 is the default.
-t <temporary user>
1 means do not read or generate user files or notebooks. 0 is the default.
-q <ToonTalk speed>
100 is default. Higher numbers speeds up all animations.
-y <minimum frame duration in milliseconds>
0 is default. 50, for example, will result in a frame rate of 20 fps maximum even if running on a very fast computer.
-bird <see birds returning outside>
If 0 then birds take no time to return after delivering to a nest when the programmer is watching from outside. Default is 1.
-puzzle <file name>
Starts up ToonTalk running the puzzle contained in file name. File name may also be a number in which case the system puzzle named p<number>.pzl is used. If you look at <user name>.log in the Users subdirectory you'll see which puzzles you most recently solved. Starting with Beta 18 or Release 1.1 the file name can be a URL.
-next_puzzle 1
Starts up ToonTalk at the next puzzle for this user. It starts with the first puzzle if no puzzles have been solved by this user.
-autodemo <0, 1 or 2>
0 is the default and turns off auto demo mode. 1 means that when idle for 30 seconds the system repeatedly shows the introductory tour. If someone begins "play game" or "free play" then it will wait 120 seconds. The number of seconds is controlled by the line in your toontalk.ini that reads "AutoDemoMaxIdle=120".  -autodemo 2 differs only in that it will go through all the demos one by one when idle.
-subtitles <speed>
If showing a demo and subtitles exist then show them at a reading speed whose default is 100. If speed is 0 then no subtitles are shown. The default language of the subtitles can be overridden by "SubtitlesSuffix=ust" in the "Executables" section of ToonTalk.ini. Where UST is the American English subtitles suffix. UKT is for UK English. SET is for Swedish. And so on.
-speak <0, 1>
1 turns on text-to-speech. 0 turns it off. 1 is the default.
-balloon <0,1>
1 turns on word balloons for the Martian. Default is 1.
-mouse_sensitivity <sensitivity>
100 is normal. A number larger than 100 will make small moves of the mouse mean big movements in ToonTalk. A number smaller than 100 will make the mouse less sensitive.
-unicode_code_page <number>
Converts text to Unicode which can display text in all of the world's languages. For example, -unicode_code_page 932 enables the Japanese code page so that you can cut and paste Japanese text. You'll also need to use -font_variable to change to a Unicode font. If the default language is Japanese, this is automatically set.
-language <language>
Overrides the default language. You can choose any installed language by name (e.g. "English" or "Swedish") or by the 2-letter country code (e.g. "UK", "US", or "SE").
-spoken_language <language>
Overrides the default language only when Marty is speaking. Note that the talk balloon still uses the default language.
-avenues_as_numbers <0,1>
If given a value of 1, then avenues will show as digits rather than as words (ordinals).
-adjustable_sizes <0,1>
If given a value of 0 then Tooly and his friends will have the same apparent size regardless of the screen resolution. With the default value of 1 they are smaller but sharper when run with higher screen resolutions.
-closed_caption <0,1>
If given a value of 1 then you'll hear Marty speak and also see subtitles. Default is 0.
-subtitle_marty <0,1>
If given a value of 1 then you'll see subtitles rather than talk balloons.  Default is 0.
-create_narration <0,1>
If given a value of 1 will generate a narration file in the Demos directory. Default is 0.
-print_narration_start_times <0,1>
If given a value of 1 will list start times of each narration segment in your log file. Good for adding subtitles to narrated demos. Default is 0.
-integer_positions <0,1>
If given a value of 0 then the x and y position sensors will display their exact values. With a value of 1 the values are as integers. 1 is the default.
-set_option(<category>,<element>,<value>)
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then toontalk.ini is updated using the three arguments.
-next_dialog <HTML file name>
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then this will be the next (or first) dialog displayed.
-previous_dialog
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then the previous dialog is displayed. Acts much like the "Back" button in a browser.
-backup_settings
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then the current state of toontalk.ini is saved. Useful in the first of a sequence of option screens. Requires Beta 35 or 2.52 or later.
-cancel_settings
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then toontalk.ini is restored to the state it was in when backup_settings was processed. Also returns to the starttt.htm dialog
-accept_settings
Useful when customizing ToonTalk's HTML dialogs. If passed to Start ToonTalk then the state saved when backup_settings was processed is erased. Also returns to the starttt.htm dialog.
-screen_width <screen width>
Sets the screen width (and the height which is 3/4 of the width) of the ToonTalk window or the resolution of the screen if running full-screen. Better to use 'Set Options' to set this but this accepts any screen width. For example, -screen_width 2048 will run ToonTalk at 2048x1536 resolution. Common screen resolutions are easier to set by clicking on 'Set Options' after starting ToonTalk.
-default_user <user name>
A command line alternative to the toontalk.ini DefaultUser customization. Click here for more information.
-seconds_between_logs <number>
If number is greater than 0 then time travel is enabled and the number specifies how long each time travel segment lasts. Can also be customized for all in toontalk.ini.
-time_travel_enabled <0,1>
Sets the default value for the check mark on the dialog screen that asks users their name.
-must_be_new_user <0,1>
If set to 1 then ToonTalk will guarantee that the user name is new. If an existing user name is given a number is added to make it unique. This is mostly useful in conjunction with the default user option. Requires beta 42 or 3.55 or later.
-local_ini_file <ini file name>
If set then ToonTalk will use the toontalk.ini entries in the file name before using the ordinary ones. If the file name is not a full path name, then it is assumed to be relative to the ToonTalk installation directory. Requires beta 42 or 3.67 or later.
-exit_at_end_of_demo <0, 1>
When set to 0 at the end of a demo or time travel archive the player is left in control. Default is 1. See also the toontalk.ini Switch ExitWhenDemoEnds.
-keep_running_demo_despite_problems <0, 1>
If set to 1 then when ToonTalk discovers a problem when replaying a demo or time travel segment, it continues and ignores the problem. Many demo replay anomalies have no symptoms and can be ignored -- others will cause the demo to replay strangely. See also the ToonTalk.ini equivalent.

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