Hycompanion NPC Speech Bubbles Plugin

A Hytale server plugin that provides floating speech bubble UI above NPCs and other entities. This plugin is an extension of Hycompanion AI NPC plugin but it can be used for other NPC plugins too :)

If you are looking for Speech Bubble for Players, use Hycompanion Player Speech Bubbles Plugin instead.

Features

🎈 Floating Speech Bubbles - Display text bubbles anchored to any entity
📍 Edge Clamping - Bubbles stay visible at screen edges when NPC is off-screen or behind camera
📐 3D Positioning - Full 3D projection with pitch and yaw camera rotation support
⏱️ Configurable Duration - Set how long bubbles remain visible
🎨 Styling Options - Customize text color and bubble offset
👥 Player-Specific - Bubbles are shown to specific players or all players
🔄 API for Other Plugins - Simple API for integration with other plugins
🔌 Optional Dependency - Plugins can use it if available, work without it

Installation

INSTALL THE PLUGIN FROM CURSEFORGE or build the plugin (from the repo):

   compile-plugin.bat

Copy the generated JAR from target/hycompanion-speech-bubbles.jar to your Hytale server's mods/ folder
The plugin will create a default config.yml on first run

Configuration

Edit mods/dev.hycompanion_SpeechBubbles/config.yml:

# Speech Bubbles Configuration

defaults:
  # Display duration in milliseconds
  duration: 5000
  # Maximum width in pixels (based on bubble image)
  maxWidth: 626
  # Maximum height in pixels (based on bubble image)
  maxHeight: 349
  # Text color (hex)
  textColor: "#FFFFFF"
  # Background opacity (0.0 - 1.0)
  backgroundOpacity: 0.9
  # Field of view for 3D projection (degrees)
  fov: 75.0
  # Offset above entity head in blocks (can be negative)
  headOffset: -0.75

# Maximum visibility distance in blocks (bubble won't show if entity is farther)
maxDistance: 25

# Cleanup interval in seconds
cleanupInterval: 30

Configuration Options

Option	Default	Description
`duration`	5000	Display duration in milliseconds
`maxWidth`	626	Maximum bubble width in pixels
`maxHeight`	349	Maximum bubble height in pixels
`textColor`	"#FFFFFF"	Text color in hex format
`backgroundOpacity`	0.9	Background opacity (0.0-1.0)
`fov`	75.0	Field of view for 3D projection (degrees)
`headOffset`	0	Vertical offset above entity head (blocks)
`maxDistance`	25	Maximum visibility distance in blocks
`cleanupInterval`	30	Cleanup task interval in seconds

Usage

Basic API Usage

Add the plugin as a provided dependency and use the API directly:

import dev.hycompanion.speechbubbles.api.SpeechBubbleAPI;
import dev.hycompanion.speechbubbles.api.SpeechBubbleOptions;

// Show a simple speech bubble (5 second duration)
UUID npcUuid = ...;  // The NPC's entity UUID
UUID playerUuid = ...;  // The player's UUID
SpeechBubbleAPI.showBubble(npcUuid, playerUuid, "Hello, adventurer!");

// With custom duration (milliseconds)
SpeechBubbleAPI.showBubble(npcUuid, playerUuid, "Welcome!", 6000);

// With full options
SpeechBubbleOptions options = new SpeechBubbleOptions()
    .duration(10000)
    .maxWidth(300)
    .textColor("#FFD700")
    .fov(90.0f);
SpeechBubbleAPI.showBubble(npcUuid, playerUuid, "Check this out!", options);

// Show to all players
SpeechBubbleAPI.showBubbleToAll(npcUuid, "Hello everyone!");

Optional Dependency Pattern (Recommended)

For a truly optional dependency that doesn't require the Speech Bubbles JAR at compile time, use reflection with Hytale's PluginManager:

import com.hypixel.hytale.common.plugin.PluginIdentifier;
import com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.HytaleServer;
import com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.plugin.PluginBase;
import com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.plugin.PluginManager;
import com.hypixel.hytale.server.core.plugin.PluginState;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
import java.util.UUID;

public class SpeechBubbleIntegration {

    private static final PluginIdentifier PLUGIN_ID = 
        new PluginIdentifier("dev.hycompanion.speech", "SpeechBubbles");
    private static final String API_CLASS = 
        "dev.hycompanion.speechbubbles.api.SpeechBubbleAPI";

    private Method showBubbleMethod;
    private boolean available = false;

    public SpeechBubbleIntegration() {
        detectPlugin();
    }

    private void detectPlugin() {
        try {
            PluginManager pm = HytaleServer.get().getPluginManager();
            PluginBase plugin = pm.getPlugin(PLUGIN_ID);

            if (plugin == null || plugin.getState() != PluginState.ENABLED) {
                return;
            }

            ClassLoader cl = plugin.getClass().getClassLoader();
            Class<?> apiClass = Class.forName(API_CLASS, true, cl);
            showBubbleMethod = apiClass.getMethod("showBubble", 
                UUID.class, UUID.class, String.class, long.class);

            available = true;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            // Plugin not available
        }
    }

    public boolean isAvailable() { 
        return available; 
    }

    public void showBubble(UUID entityUuid, UUID playerUuid, String text, long durationMs) {
        if (!available || showBubbleMethod == null) {
            return;
        }
        try {
            showBubbleMethod.invoke(null, entityUuid, playerUuid, text, durationMs);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            // Ignore errors
        }
    }
}

Complete Integration Example

Here's how to integrate speech bubbles in your plugin when an NPC speaks to a player:

public class MyPlugin {
    private final SpeechBubbleIntegration speechBubbles = new SpeechBubbleIntegration();

    public void onNpcSpeak(UUID npcId, UUID playerId, String message) {
        // Send chat message
        sendChatMessage(playerId, message);

        // Show speech bubble if available
        if (speechBubbles.isAvailable()) {
            // Truncate long messages for the bubble
            String bubbleText = truncateText(message, 150);

            // Show for 6 seconds
            speechBubbles.showBubble(npcId, playerId, bubbleText, 6000);
        }
    }

    private String truncateText(String text, int maxLength) {
        if (text.length() <= maxLength) {
            return text;
        }
        // Try to break at sentence
        int lastSentence = text.lastIndexOf(".", maxLength);
        if (lastSentence > maxLength * 0.7) {
            return text.substring(0, lastSentence + 1);
        }
        // Break at word boundary
        int lastSpace = text.lastIndexOf(" ", maxLength - 3);
        if (lastSpace > maxLength * 0.5) {
            return text.substring(0, lastSpace) + "...";
        }
        // Hard truncate
        return text.substring(0, maxLength - 3) + "...";
    }
}

API Reference

SpeechBubbleAPI

Method	Description
`isAvailable()`	Check if plugin is loaded
`showBubble(entity, player, text)`	Show simple bubble (5s)
`showBubble(entity, player, text, duration)`	Show with custom duration (ms)
`showBubble(entity, player, text, options)`	Show with full options
`showBubbleToAll(entity, text)`	Show to all players
`showBubbleToAll(entity, text, options)`	Show to all with options
`hideAllBubblesForPlayer(player)`	Hide all for player
`hideAllBubblesForEntity(entity)`	Hide all for entity

SpeechBubbleOptions

Method	Default	Description
`duration(ms)`	5000	Display duration
`maxWidth(px)`	626	Maximum width
`maxHeight(px)`	349	Maximum height
`textColor(hex)`	#FFFFFF	Text color
`backgroundOpacity()`	0.9	Background opacity (0.0-1.0)
`fov(degrees)`	75.0	Field of view for 3D projection

Technical Details and Limitation

FPS / TPS mode

The Speech Bubble Plugin works better in first person camera mode. Otherwise there is a drift in third person view. Will be fixed in next update.

Screen Resolution

The plugin uses 1920x1080 as a reference resolution. The Hytale UI system internally scales coordinates based on the client's actual resolution.

16:9 resolutions (1080p, 1440p, 4K): Work well with proportional scaling
Ultrawide (21:9): May be slightly off-center, but bubbles remain visible
Other aspect ratios: Half off-screen clamping ensures bubbles stay visible

Edge Clamping

When entities are off-screen or behind the camera:

Bubbles are clamped to screen edges
Half off-screen allowed: Up to 50% of the bubble can extend off-screen
When behind the camera, bubbles stick to the nearest edge

Building from Source

Requirements:

Java 25 (OpenJDK)
Maven 3.8+

cd hycompanion-speech-bubbles
mvn clean package
# JAR will be in target/hycompanion-speech-bubbles.jar

Troubleshooting

Bubbles Not Appearing

Check if plugin is loaded:

PluginManager pm = HytaleServer.get().getPluginManager();
PluginBase plugin = pm.getPlugin(new PluginIdentifier("dev.hycompanion.speech", "SpeechBubbles"));
System.out.println("Plugin state: " + (plugin != null ? plugin.getState() : "NOT FOUND"));

Bubble Position Too High/Low

Adjust headOffset in config:

Positive: Higher above head (e.g., 0.5)
Negative: Lower/closer to head (e.g., -0.5)

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Repository (Source Code)

https://github.com/Ultdx/hycompanion-speech-bubbles