Darqwood

Thanks for your post, Purgpow. I have tried a quick-and-dirty version of your idea #1 and it does work, although the sheer amount of data for a weekend's worth of raid encounters was very heavy, and it felt like too much setup work long-term. I've taken a slightly more automatic approach which should appear in the next version. Instead of setting up a specific list of spells before an encounter, the spell monitor begins listening when the encounter starts for all known and unknown spellcasts. Then when any spell goes into one of the slots it checks the presets, and if the spell is "known" it immediately adds and fires the alert automatically. So you can just wade into battle and the listener will handle all text/sound alerts completely hands-free, no matter what the encounter is.

I have also added a fairly ambitious countdown timer overlay for the listener. If you've ever used the timer on my clock mod, you will recognize it in the spell monitor. Each spell slot has a mini version of the countdown timer with a progress bar and a warning flash, all easily configurable. The listener can automatically start up a default timer for all spells that are "unknown," or if you know the approximate casting interval of a particular spell you can add that to your presets. The timer overlay will keep track of the last 10 intervals between casts of each spell, as well as the last five "pre-casting" intervals (time from the start of the encounter to first casting.) So you can look for casting patterns that may improve your efficiency.



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Purgpow

i just updated the new Mob casting / tagging window, haven't tried it yet but what a great idea. i was clicking through options and had a few ideas for when you added it to your next updater. you might already be doing these but thought i should voice them anyways.
1. From what i can tell there is only 3 Alert banks to choose from at the moment, Was wondering in the future if there will be more, and or a way to build banks of them as presets from mob we raid each weak so there ready to go. Like use a drop down box to change to the next bank, similar to the way you have the UI setup to change between different character presets.
2. is there a way to get multiple alerts to one spell? For example so we can have an audible alert, a /raidsay, and a /shout or what ever we need" all be tied to the same spell going off by the mob?

these are a few things that pop into my head while first looking at your new Window.

You do great work, Love the UI

Thanks for making it.

gnogood

Yes, that was the problem, thought i removed em all. Place all addons with eq2map and one related to player/pet windows was still in there. The curse icon was no longer active after removing the player window file.

So, other than this ui, I only try to incorporate other player, pet, and heroic opportunity addons in attempt to size them down is all.

Very helpful UI. Group/raid/curse window hotbars ftw!

Darqwood

I don't have anybody else reporting this, are you combining the group and threat windows with another interface?

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gnogood

Finally reinstalled for the latest xpac and the curse icon is up in both group and threat windows. Somehow the icon disappears occasionally, so any ideas on the problem? Tried file check, going through utility and reinstall, but came out the same still showing the curse icons.

Darqwood

You can do either one. If you already have EQ2Maps installed, you can point the DarqUI updater to that folder, and vice versa. There are no conflicts or ignore list issues with EQ2Maps.

DarqUI looks for a root folder named "EverQuest II" and a subfolder named "UI" as the anchors for most of its operations. These are default folder names for the streaming and non-streaming installations. If the error message is coming from a DarqUI dialog box and it says something about the game folder being named incorrectly, your game folder is probably named something other than "EverQuest II".

iamstillwater

Sorry to bother you again, but I was just wondering about using this in tandem with EQ2maps.

Specifically, I'm not sure where or how to install it properly, as I keep getting this error saying that eq2.ini could not be found or could not be installed.

Would you happen to know what order I should install your mod and the EQ2Maps mod in?

Darqwood

There are two new themes on the updater. These are not simple re-colors, but adaptations of full skins by Drakah and gurkoz (see interface description above for images and links.) Both of these artists did an amazing job of capturing the look and feel of their respective themes. If you ever played Vanguard or EverQuest II in the early days, these themes are guaranteed to give you a smile. You can switch between them any time with a simple click of the mouse. Choose a theme from the DarqUI Window Utility before starting the game, or log all the way out and back in after changing your theme selection.
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Darqwood

Yes and yes. On a new install, the utility will look for your game in several likely places. If it finds the game, it suggests a folder name and creates the new, empty folder in the right place. If it doesn't find the game, you will get a dialog box that lets you create and point to the new UI directory manually. You won't have to give the information again unless you move the utility program itself. For example, you may decide to move the utility from your desktop into the DarqUI folder. In that case, you'll have to remind it one more time where to find your UI.

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iamstillwater

Hi again,

Just checked back on the comment I made and saw that you replied. Thank you for the nice reply you made. You've basically allayed all my fears.

Since this is a new install, and I'm still downloading it, I suppose I should play for a while with the regular UI running, then switch to your UI.

One last question though. When I run the updater, do I have the application point towards my installation location as the place where it updates, or does it scan for the game when it first runs?

Darqwood

Hello iamstillwater, DarqUI works for all resolutions that the game will accept. If you get a new monitor or change resolutions in-game, everything will continue to work fine.




When you first load up the DarqUI, all of your windows will be in the same place where you left them last time. Nothing is nailed down, so you can arrange the game screen to your liking, and in fact each of your characters can have its own UI layout. If a window won't move, right click and choose "Window Settings," then uncheck the Locked and Clickthrough options. The game itself handles the automagical part, and it does a pretty good job of rearranging your setup when you change the size of the window or change resolutions.




The download on this page will give you a single, small utility program in a zipped file. Unzip the file and drop the utility onto your desktop, then right-click the icon and "run as administrator." At this point the utility will suggest and create a folder for your UI files. Then you will see the Updates tab, so click "Check for Updates" and you'll get a list of available files from the server. Finally, press "Update Now" to get the new UI files.

You can close the utility and use the interface immediately at this point, and in fact I suggest playing the game for a bit without configuring anything just yet. There are two ways to load the DarqUI into the game:

1) On the Settings tab click "Make Default" and then start EQII. Or,

2) Type /loadui DarqUI while logged in to the game.

Some of the UI windows allow you to make customizations for your characters, and you do that with the various tabs in the utility. You can run the utility while you have the game running, just remember to reload the UI (/loadui DarqUI) each time you save new customizations. Alternatively, you can set up your characters first, and then start up the game afterward.

You can customize as much or as little as you like -- you can't mess up anything and you don't need to know XML or open Notepad to get things like you want them. Browse through the various tabs in the utility, and hover your mouse over anything that doesn't make sense. There is plenty of context-sensitive help at the bottom of the utility for just about everything. Remember to check for updates every now and then, and post a comment here or send me a private message if you find a bug or want to see a new feature added.

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iamstillwater

Good day,

I'm a returning player who used to use a different compilation/set when playing EQ2, and I just had a few questions regarding this particular UI mod updater thingamajig.

First, does DarqUI work on a 1440x900 monitor? It's the only monitor I have, sadly, and I can't really upgrade right now.

Second, how easy is it to move stuff around or resize UI elements as necessary? I don't have much experience customizing my own UI, which is why I was hoping this UI setup would be a matter of either autoMAGICALLY (!) rearranging things based on screen resolution and size or manually, yet easily manipulating individual elements to create a setup you can be happy with.

Third, how does this work, exactly? I just download the installer, let it run, and start the game? I'm running a Windows 7 machine, for reference.

Thank you for your time.

Darqwood

Be sure to check out the new Tagging/NPC Spellcast Monitor, Target and Implied Target UI pieces available now from the DarqUI v2.2 updater. Feature lists and images are in the interface description at the top of this page. Hope you enjoy using them!

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Darqwood

Dechau, most of the various DarqUI pieces are shown directly below the image of the updater on this page. I don't have any recommended arrangements for placing the windows around the screen -- that's entirely up to the player. The raid window is missing from the composite image above, but you can see it here:

http://www.eq2interface.com/download...CureCheck.html

Also, there are no specific resolutions required by these UI mods. The worst cases would be the Experience/Command bar which needs a minimum of 800 pixels wide in maximized mode, and the Broker window which fits into 1024x768 with plenty of extra room around the sides. In most cases, the modded windows follow the sizes of the default windows fairly closely. I doubt anyone is running EQ II at less than 800x600 In fact, I don't believe the game window will stretch smaller than 1024x768 in windowed mode so you should not have any limitations on that.

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Dechau

so just looking again..
I like the idea of the updater, but I am still missing some pics of teh actual UI..

Any chance you will some from both solo and raid view ?
Also, what resolution did you make this for, and will there be probs if I use it with other resolutions than yours ?

Thanks in advance