Apologies if this is a dumb question.
But im trying to update a simple text label but no luck.
There is no error reported, but it doesnt update to “Mum”. 
If i do it onStartScreen it NPE.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<nifty xmlns="http://nifty-gui.sourceforge.net/nifty-1.3.xsd"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://nifty-gui.sourceforge.net/nifty-1.3.xsd http://nifty-gui.sourceforge.net/nifty-1.3.xsd">
<!-- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -->
<!-- load default styles and controls -->
<!-- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -->
<useStyles filename="nifty-default-styles.xml" />
<useControls filename="nifty-default-controls.xml" />
<style id="console-red" base="button-font">
<attributes font="fonts/menu.fnt" color="#f00f" />
</style>
<style id="console-white" base="button-font">
<attributes font="fonts/menu.fnt" color="#ffff" />
</style>
<style id="console-font">
<attributes font="fonts/verdana-48-regular.fnt" color="#00ff" />
</style>
<!-- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -->
<!-- messages view -->
<!-- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -->
<screen id="start" controller="julius.sky.voicehud.core.hud.MessagesController" width="60%" height="60%">
<layer id="HUDGUI" childLayout="center" backgroundColor="#0000" visible="true" width="60%" height="60%">
<panel childLayout="vertical" width="50%" height="100px" backgroundColor="#0f08">
</panel>
</layer>
<layer id="MESSAGES" childLayout="center" backgroundColor="#0000" visible="true" width="60%" height="60%">
<image filename="Interface/images/mum.png" childLayout="overlay" width="70" height="50"/>
<control name="label" id = "nameLabel1" text="name" color="#0f88"
align="center" valign="top" height="50px" >
<!-- font="Interface/Fonts/Arial32px.fnt">-->
</control>
<control name="label" id = "messageLabel1" text="hello" color="#0f88"
align="center" valign="center" height="50px" >
<!-- font="Interface/Fonts/Arial32px.fnt">-->
</control>
</layer>
</screen>
</nifty>
public class MessagesController extends SimpleApplication implements ScreenController{
private HUDGUI hudGUI;
private Nifty nifty;
private Screen screen;
/**
* Creates a new controller instance for nifty-gui.
*/
public MessagesController(HUDGUI hudGUI)
{
// this.sim = sim;
this.hudGUI = hudGUI;
this.nifty = hudGUI.getNifty();
this.screen = nifty.getCurrentScreen();
}
public void bind(Nifty arg0, Screen arg1) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
public void onEndScreen() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
public void onStartScreen() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
// TextRenderer nameLabel = screen.findElementByName("MESSAGES").
// findElementByName("namelabel").getRenderer(TextRenderer.class);
// nameLabel.setText("Mum");
//setTextToElement("control.id", "text")
// setTextToElement("nameLabel", "Mum");
// setTextToElement("namelabel1", "Mum");
}
/**
* Sets given text to the given element (e.g. label).
*
* @param elementID
* Element's ID to assign a text to.
*
* @param text
* Text to set.
*/
private void setTextToElement(String elementID, String text)
{
getElementByID(elementID).getRenderer(TextRenderer.class).setText(text);
}
/**
* Looks up an element by ID.
*
* @param elementID
* ID to look up.
*
* @return
* Element with given ID.
*/
private Element getElementByID(String elementID)
{
return nifty.getCurrentScreen().findElementByName(elementID);
}
@Override
public void simpleInitApp() {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
// setTextToElement("nameLabel1", "Mum");
}
@Override
public void simpleUpdate(float tpf) {
setTextToElement("nameLabel1", "Mum");
}
}