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danielbrendel/saytext-chat

Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again

PHP

2

26 commits

updated Oct 7, 2026

www.saytextchat.com

See the code

See what people are saying

SourceMessageScoreDate

SayText Chat - Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again (r/selfhosted)

Hey fellow selfhosters! 👋 It's me, the guy behind HortusFox and many other projects. When I was here the last time, I posted a Minecraft Creeper Tamagotchi game which was well recieved. So, I've got another nostalgia web app for you. Might be fun especially for Gen X and millennials. Did you play…

2

Oct 7, 2026

README

SayText Chat

Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again
(C) 2026 by Daniel Brendel
www.danielbrendel.com

web-php license-mit nostalgia-yes maintained-yes

Table of contents

Description

SayText Chat is a simple self-hostable retro chat app that revives the feeling of playing oldschool CS 1.6.

Features

  • Send text messages
  • Send radio commands
  • Send speech commands
  • Send leetspeak text
  • Switch teams (CT, T, SPEC)
  • View online count
  • View online users
  • Toggle sound
  • Switch backgrounds
  • API endpoint
  • Responsive design
  • Basic docker setup

Commands

The following commands are available

  1. /radio Issue a radio command.
/radio gogogo
  1. /speak Issue a VOX speech command
/speak access denied
  1. /leet Send a chat message translated to leetspeak
/leet Owned by a pro-gamer.
  1. /switchbg Switch to a different background image (randomly selected)
/switchbg
  1. /sound Toggle sound or check sound status
/sound on|off|status
  1. /timestamps Toggle timestamps for chat or check timestamps status
/timestamps on|off|status

Installation

The recommended way to install the project is using Docker.

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/danielbrendel/saytext-chat

  2. Edit your prefered settings in the docker-compose.yml

  3. Pull the image

    docker compose pull

  4. Launch all containers

    docker compose up -d

  5. The app should now be available on http://localhost:8080.

Available settings

This section covers all available app settings with default values.

SettingDescriptionDefault
APP_SERVERNAMESet your prefered chat server name"SayText Chat Server"
APP_SERVERTOPICSet your prefered chat server topic"Welcome to this SayText Chat server"
APP_SERVERPREVIEWSet your prefered chat server preview image relative to /public/img folder"preview.png"
APP_DELAY_FETCHDuration in milliseconds when to check for new chat content10000
APP_DELAY_ONLINEDuration in milliseconds when to check for amount of people online10000
APP_RESOURCEHOSTSet the resource provider URL for docker deployment"https://resources.saytextchat.com"
APP_DEBUGEnable or disable app debug modetrue
APP_UPDATEDEPSSet to true if composer packages shall be updated upon container startfalse
APP_TIMEZONESet your prefered time zoneUTC
LOG_ENABLEWhether app logging shall be enabled or nottrue

License

This project is maintained under the MIT license. Please see LICENSE.TXT for more information.

Disclaimer

This project is fan-made, and is not affiliated with Valve Corporation or any of their properties.

nostalgia

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danielbrendel/saytext-chat

Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again

PHP

2

26 commits

updated Oct 7, 2026

www.saytextchat.com

See the code

See what people are saying

SourceMessageScoreDate

SayText Chat - Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again (r/selfhosted)

Hey fellow selfhosters! 👋 It's me, the guy behind HortusFox and many other projects. When I was here the last time, I posted a Minecraft Creeper Tamagotchi game which was well recieved. So, I've got another nostalgia web app for you. Might be fun especially for Gen X and millennials. Did you play…

2

Oct 7, 2026

README

SayText Chat

Chat like you're playing CS 1.6 again
(C) 2026 by Daniel Brendel
www.danielbrendel.com

web-php license-mit nostalgia-yes maintained-yes

Table of contents

Description

SayText Chat is a simple self-hostable retro chat app that revives the feeling of playing oldschool CS 1.6.

Features

  • Send text messages
  • Send radio commands
  • Send speech commands
  • Send leetspeak text
  • Switch teams (CT, T, SPEC)
  • View online count
  • View online users
  • Toggle sound
  • Switch backgrounds
  • API endpoint
  • Responsive design
  • Basic docker setup

Commands

The following commands are available

  1. /radio Issue a radio command.
/radio gogogo
  1. /speak Issue a VOX speech command
/speak access denied
  1. /leet Send a chat message translated to leetspeak
/leet Owned by a pro-gamer.
  1. /switchbg Switch to a different background image (randomly selected)
/switchbg
  1. /sound Toggle sound or check sound status
/sound on|off|status
  1. /timestamps Toggle timestamps for chat or check timestamps status
/timestamps on|off|status

Installation

The recommended way to install the project is using Docker.

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/danielbrendel/saytext-chat

  2. Edit your prefered settings in the docker-compose.yml

  3. Pull the image

    docker compose pull

  4. Launch all containers

    docker compose up -d

  5. The app should now be available on http://localhost:8080.

Available settings

This section covers all available app settings with default values.

SettingDescriptionDefault
APP_SERVERNAMESet your prefered chat server name"SayText Chat Server"
APP_SERVERTOPICSet your prefered chat server topic"Welcome to this SayText Chat server"
APP_SERVERPREVIEWSet your prefered chat server preview image relative to /public/img folder"preview.png"
APP_DELAY_FETCHDuration in milliseconds when to check for new chat content10000
APP_DELAY_ONLINEDuration in milliseconds when to check for amount of people online10000
APP_RESOURCEHOSTSet the resource provider URL for docker deployment"https://resources.saytextchat.com"
APP_DEBUGEnable or disable app debug modetrue
APP_UPDATEDEPSSet to true if composer packages shall be updated upon container startfalse
APP_TIMEZONESet your prefered time zoneUTC
LOG_ENABLEWhether app logging shall be enabled or nottrue

License

This project is maintained under the MIT license. Please see LICENSE.TXT for more information.

Disclaimer

This project is fan-made, and is not affiliated with Valve Corporation or any of their properties.

nostalgia

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Chat with your friends on your own terms.

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basecamp/once-campfire

Super simple group chat, without a subscription

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maxpert/raspchat

A chat server that can run on Raspberry Pi

421

ancsemi/Haven

Self-hosted private chat: no cloud, no telemetry, no Big Tech. Discord alternative that runs on…

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chrisluo5311/squad-chat

Claude's cooking. Chat with your squad. Friends online, right beside your Claude Code session. Zero…

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simplex-chat/simplex-chat

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rafaelcg/pqp

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