This is made from 9 images (3 headers, 3 bodies, and 3 footers).
This is made from 1 image.
Wii messages can be displayed on the Wii Message Board using its default design. However, it is also possible to use controls and special enhancements specified by an application. The following items represent specifiable content; it is possible to select and use only those items that are necessary.
You can change the image displayed in the background of the main text of a message when it is opened.
You can change the envelope image that is displayed immediately after the Wii Message Board is opened.
A sound can be played when a message is opened. Looping play is also supported.
A button that will directly start an application can be displayed when a message is opened.
These features are collectively called "Letterform Template".
To use each of the Letterform Template features, a data file that supports each of these features must be provided.
Although these are independent data files, they must ultimately be combined into a single archive by darch.exe. With an archive file created this way attached to a Wii message, the letterform template can function properly.
Following is an explanation of the data files for using each of a letterform template's features.
For convenience, envelope and letterform data files are explained together here. If not necessary, using one or the other alone is permissible.
Envelopes and letterforms are constructed as TPL (Texture Palette Library) format image files; each of their parts are laid out on the Wii Message Board as follows.
This is made from 9 images (3 headers, 3 bodies, and 3 footers).
This is made from 1 image.
The only supported format for image files is the TPL format.
You can use TexConv.exe to create TPL files out of TGA format image files.
Be sure to specify GX_CLAMP when creating TPL files to prevent texture wrapping.
Make sure that the width and height of the individual image files are the same size or smaller than the sizes shown above under "Image File Construction".
When the width and height sizes are smaller, they are scaled for display in the Wii Message Board.
The texel format must not be GX_TF_RGBA8 or GX_TF_C14X2, and it must be a format that is supported by the Layout library.
The usable formats are as follows:
GX_TF_I4
GX_TF_I8
GX_TF_IA4
GX_TF_IA8
GX_TF_RGB565
GX_TF_RGB5A3
GX_TF_CMPR
GX_TF_C4
GX_TF_C8
Save each of the TPL files with names as shown below, and store them in separate archives for the letterform and envelope using darch.exe.
Archives TPL files that contain only a single envelope texture. The upper limit on data size (after archiving) is 30KB. If this size is exceeded, the image will not display correctly.
- thumbnail.arc
- img/my_LetterS_b.tpl
The nine textures that make up the letterform of an open message are saved individually in TPL format files, which are combined in a single archive. The upper limit on data size (after archiving) is 400KB. If this size is exceeded, the image will not display correctly.
- letter.arc
- img/my_Letter_a.tpl (header - left)
- img/my_Letter_b.tpl (header - center)
- img/my_Letter_c.tpl (header - right)
- img/my_Letter_d.tpl (body - left)
- img/my_Letter_e.tpl (body - center)
- img/my_Letter_f.tpl (body - right)
- img/my_Letter_g.tpl (footer - left)
- img/my_Letter_h.tpl (footer - center)
- img/my_Letter_i.tpl (footer - right)
Each of the archived images must be LZ77-compressed using ntcompress.exe. Set the letterform name to letter_LZ.bin and the envelope name to thumbnail_LZ.bin.
Make sure they are aligned to 4 bytes.
Example:
$ ntcompress -l -A4 -o thumbnail_LZ.bin thumbnail.arc
convert thumbnail.arc(27808byte) to thumbnail_LZ.bin(4580byte)
$ ntcompress -l -A4 -o letter_LZ.bin letter.arc
convert letter.arc(369536byte) to letter_LZ.bin(56816byte)
The letterform and envelope data are created this way.
Banner sound format files can be used by letterform templates. For more details, consult the IconBannerTools man page. The file name is fixed to be sound.bns.
Channel Jump Button is displayed when a message is opened and will directly start an application. The application that will start when the button is pressed is controlled by data called Channel Jump Data.
For methods of creating Channel Jump Data, refer to the makeChJp.exe page. The file name is fixed to be chjump.bin.
The data files that were prepared to use each of the features are then archived again using darch.exe.
When this is done, the filenames and folder structures take the following forms:
./thumbnail_LZ.bin
./letter_LZ.bin
./sound.bns
./chjump.bin
(Not all files need to be included.)
The archive file that is ultimately obtained can take any filename.
The maximum file size for the letterform template is 120 KB. The size of the archive file that is ultimately created should be kept to 120 KB.
The letterform template is a feature specifically for the Wii Message Board. The created archive file is attached and sent in a Wii message specified as the message type NWC24_MSGTYPE_WII_MENU or NWC24_MSGTYPE_WII_MENU_SHARED. The binary type is specified as NWC24_APP_WII_MSGBOARD.
This letterform template cannot be sent from a PC or anything other than a Wii application. To learn how to create Wii messages, see the NWC24 Library Function Reference Manual.
2007/11/13 Added note about creating TPL files.
2007/10/15 Added text about size restrictions for archiving envelopes and letterforms.
2007/8/2 Large-scale revisions in conjunction with addition of descriptions of the Sounds and the Channel Jump Button.
2007/07/17 Corrected the description of supported texel formats and changed size restriction to 120 KB.
2007/04/19 Corrected line spacing of the message body in the images for enlargement, and added text about the console region setting.
2007/03/23 Corrected footer size for the images for enlargement.
2007/03/13 Initial version.
CONFIDENTIAL