Question

Adding player name into list:

chatList0.Add(s);

Adding player msg into list:

chatList.Add(s);

Printing the player name & msg in different color:

            for (int i = 0; i < chatList0.Count(); i++)
            {
                //draw system msg (contains name/time/etc)
                spriteBatch.DrawString(font, chatList0[i], new Vector2(40, arr1[i]), Color.Yellow);
                //check length of system msg
                Vector2 offset = textEntry.GetMeasurements(font, chatList0[i]);
                //draw msg after offset
                spriteBatch.DrawString(font, chatList[i], new Vector2(offset.X + 40, arr1[i]), Color.White);
            }

Is this correct? Are there any changes needed to optimize the code?

Answer 1

DrawString can only draw in one colour at a time, so you need to draw the 2 different bits of text separately.

I suggest making a class or struct for your messages, that has PlayerName and Message properties.

Then when you loop through each item to draw them, get the PlayerName, then use SpriteFont.MeasureString to measure how wide the string will be.

Then draw the PlayerName (and a ": " or whatever) where you currently do.

Then, draw the Message, in your other colour, offset by the X property of the vector returned from your measurestring method.