# Plasma Images

Hand-made art for the pods' plasma name displays. Anything dropped in here is
version-controlled and rolls out with the release: `build-package.bat` copies the
folder into `App\`, and `install.bat` puts it beside `TeslaConsole.exe`.

The folder ships empty on purpose — populate it per site.

## How it works

When the console builds a mission egg it renders every participant name into a
1-bit-per-pixel bitmap in two sizes and embeds it in the egg. By default those are
drawn procedurally: `Microsoft Sans Serif`, white on black, no anti-aliasing, the
point size stepped down from 24 until the text fits.

With **Settings → Enable Custom Bitmaps** ticked, the console looks for a matching
file here first and only falls back to the procedural renderer when there isn't
one. The toggle is remembered in `console.settings` (see below), so it survives a
restart.

## File naming

```
<text>_<width>x<height>.bmp
```

The `<text>` part is matched **exactly** against the string being rendered — the
pilot/player name, the Red Planet football team name, or the literal `Camera` for
camera pods. Matching is per-name, not global, so you can override one name and
let the rest render normally.

Two sizes are needed to cover a name completely; supplying only one is fine, the
other falls back to the font renderer:

| Size     | Egg section        | Example                |
| -------- | ------------------ | ---------------------- |
| 128 × 32 | `BitMap::Large::…` | `Camera_128x32.bmp`    |
| 64 × 16  | `BitMap::Small::…` | `Camera_64x16.bmp`     |

Rules:

- **Dimensions must match exactly.** A 130×32 file is ignored, silently, and the
  name renders procedurally instead.
- **Only brightness matters.** Every pixel at or above 50% brightness lights up on
  the plasma; everything else is dark. Colour art gets thresholded, so design in
  black and white.
- Any name that cannot be a Windows file name (`:`, `\`, `|`, `?`, `*`, …) can't
  have an override — those names always render procedurally.
- Files are read at egg-build time and copied into memory, not locked, so art can
  be swapped between missions without restarting the console.

Preview how a name looks before a mission with the console's **Plasma Font Tool**,
which renders through the same path — with the option on it shows the override.

## Where the console looks

1. `%ProgramData%\Tesla Console\Plasma Images\` — this machine's own art. Takes
   precedence, and survives a reinstall, so a site can keep local overrides that
   a release will not overwrite.
2. `Plasma Images\` next to `TeslaConsole.exe` — this folder, as shipped.