My map window feels nekkid!
 

Well, I finally got the icon overlays to auto-load and still allow the default icons (piped down from the server I assume) to show. So I bid a fond farewell to the Select Map tab. It was a decent idea; to let us access any map at any time. But from a coding stand-point, it was bloating the XML badly and wasn't all that useful.

Here's an update on the project's progress:
- Multi-floor maps now automatically load the map for each floor.
- Icon overlays automatically show (and the icons are on top of the fog).
- The XML has been modularized and the format standardized (just a couple loose ends to tie up here).
- Icon overlays for default city zones are ready.

What needs to happen before the next official release:
- Nektropos Castle needs to be finalized (and Edgewater Drains? how's that going DizTorDed?)

What will happen after the next official release:
- An auto-updater which will grab icon data straight from maps.eq2interface.com will be implemented.
- Current maps will get fine-tuned and new ones will be created.
- Options (such as only show icons during mouse over, current loc display and close on escape) will be made available for download.
- Style sets for Zonx's Fetish UI (done), Deathbane27's Mook UI (almost done) and BohoMOD need to be created (and I need requests for other UI styles from authors or fans, leave posts here, avoid PMs as my box is often crammed to the brim). These make the map window look like the parent mod.

Devs and people who are staying cutting edge on this, try out the XML; especially make sure the overlays auto-load correctly for both halves of Antonica, both halves of Commonlands and Thundering Steppes. Check Blackburrow, The Caves and Stormhold to make sure floors switch properly and at appropriate times.

Quib

I'll be doing that AFTER the next official release. ...what do you mean by "almost done"?

Well, I made the set for Zonx's and was gonna do the Mook style, sort of as examples. If You wanna do your own I definately wouldn't complain; was just trying to not burden you or Zonx and have a few styles ready for the release.

Quib

Not a burden, trust me. :p

So all the window_***.xml files in the EQ2MAP subfolder are the ones we use for visual style alterations, right?

Yeah, there's 6, and their format is flexible. Nothing in them critical to the window working, and you can include them in your mod (and tell people to get EQ2MAP), but even if they don't follow instructions, it won't cause them any UI troubles (they just won't have EQ2MAP maps).

2 Things clenched doing it this way:
- After telling a friend how to set up EQ2MAP with Zonx's UI, they didn't follow some instructions and wound up with EQ2s UI not fully loading (lots of black space, no 3D render).
- Check out the massive OnShow for the main page object in eq2ui_mainhud_map.xml. It's going to be changing anytime we get new overlays set up and really need to stay available for me to edit.

Attaching the new (and final) version of my version of Zonx's Fetish UI style files. Just for newer examples.

----- Edit -----
- window_backdrop.xml is where I suggest most of the code to rearrange the window go.
- window_frame.xml has limited usefulness for mods, and I mostly expect it to be used to adjust the look of the frame (gasp!).
- window_options.xml is where I suggest most functionality (not graphical) mods go. My close on escape, and mouse-over-only icons mods will use this XML and should allow for some mix-and-matching of look and function.
- window_pathfinder.xml doesn't actually have to be used at all, and should allow for some mix-and-matching. The current loc + pathfinder mod sues this XML as an example.
- window_quests.xml though meant for Eloa's quest plug-in, other authors "could" do stuff with it. It's pretty flexible and gets a Visibility call in the first OnShow of the main page so could get some initialization code put in it.
- window_titlebar.xml contains a few buttons and will likely be heavily modded for style sets. This one is mostly for looks, and neat little button functions.
---------------

Quib

Kk, I got that down, and now I understand about the installation errors leading to EQ2 not loading if you'd decided to go my way. :p

Question, though. Why have seperate files for the frame and backdrop? Any mod changing either would need to change the other.

Also, whether you end up merging those or not, can you move this stuff into the Backdrop file?

<Page BackgroundOpacity="1.000" Location="19,59" Name="MapFrame" RStyleDefault="/FrameStyles.ThinCornered.rect" ScrollExtent="443,513" Size="443,513"/>
<Page AbsorbsInput="false" BackgroundOpacity="1.000" Enabled="false" GetsInput="false" Location="13,53" Name="Box" RStyleDefault="/FrameStyles.win_gold_plain" ScrollExtent="457,527" Size="457,527">
<Page AbsorbsInput="false" BackgroundColor="#554939" BackgroundOpacity="1.000" Location="4,4" Name="TanBack" PackLocation="top,left" PackLocationProp="0004/0001,0004/0001" PackSize="absolute,absolute" PackSizeProp="0013/0001,0010/0001" ScrollExtent="444,517" Size="444,517"/>
</Page>

That's the frilly background junk that doesn't fade with the backdrop. I'd prefer to be able to delete/alter those directly instead of with scripts. :p

Sorry to be a headache, but there's a problem with the OnShow script.

I need the second line ( Size=484,597 ) removed or altered to use a variable that I can set from a script, otherwise I can't kill the deadspace in the window without disabling the script entirely and thus screwing with your wonderful new new auto-showing overlays.

Well, the frame can still have some non-visual scripting attached to it that I personally make use of. I'm avoiding having more than 1 top level object in each XML file (as per Sunthas' concerns about valid XML format) also.

I won't put them in the backdrop file (in relation to the part about no XML containing 2+ top level objects) but I will break them off into a seperate XML. I should be able to merge them into 1 top level object so this'll add just 1 new XML.

Will have this for you tomorrow afternoon along with some changes to the way city zone icon pages work.

Quib

I am seriously confused. What's the concern?

(Please join the chat room so we can discuss this more quickly. This is inefficient. :p)

Here's those page obhects split off. Will update the Fetish Style Set for the change tomorrow.

Quib

Sweet, thanks for all the hard work. :)

Time to dive in. Leave a cookie on the surface so I can eat when I come up for air in a few days. :p

Edit: Nevermind, I looked at the Fetish one again. Interesting...

Any other custom skin modders: WC_Backdrop needs to be set to visible="false" and the script set to trigger OnShow with no OnHide event.

The game forces WC_Backdrop to always be visible. If you don't make it visible yourself then the game will force it to show after the main window's script events, but if you DO make it visible yourself with OnHide="visible=true" as is customary, then the script executes BEFORE the parent window's. :p


At any rate, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. :cool: Here's the MookUI EQ2MAP skin. Its official release will be after the modular version makes it to the download section.

A small change, but a good idea I think nonetheless.

In the main page's OnShow I've added
QM_Overlay.Location=MapPage.Location
and changed QM_Overlay and it's Icons subpage's location and sizes to match up with those of MapPage and it's Icons subpage. Since the overlays should overlay precisely, doing this will make sure they're never misaligned.

Since this new line in the OnShow message gets called after the backdrop scripts, it takes precedence, so you don't even ACTUALLY have to change your style set, but you probably should.

Quib

Thanks, that was bugging me. :p

Out of morbid curiosity, why does the main window's script disable the Frame's OnHide script? I presume that you want whatever you have in mind for it to only execute once? :D

Antifog code so I could get clean screenshots of maps in game. The frame XML also has code in it to hide icons and the loc arrow to accomplish this.

It's there because there's a condition where the frame's code doesn't execute and so the main page clears it so it doesn't run after-the-fact.

Quib

Edgewater Drains: I posted the 3 levels as best as I could get. There are some level 30+ guys that can see through my sneaking. :(

I am working on leveling now so that I can get through and finish it.

D'oh! I never saw the attachment. Getting it and seeing where the holes are. No need for the frown; your data has been very accurate and very easy to work with, so it's all good.

Quib

Some issues with the window frames?
 

Quib,

I've been using your 5_7 revision for a couple of days now, and the only problems I can see with it are shown in the attached pictures.

You had said something about packaging up for a release soon, so I wanted to make another post detailing the issues I've found so far.

• In the first picture, (and this applies to every map) the map is not lined up properly, and ends up being offset from where it should be. This is affecting arrow placement, and defogging of zones. ie, the arrow is not quite lined up with where I am - if I'm on the bank of a river, the arrow looks like it's in the middle of the river. And the same with fog - the defogging is offset a couple of pixels from where I actually am on the map.
  
• The second picture is probably unrelated to your code - I think it was zonx who was making those zone connection maps - did I miss a download somewhere? I got the zone connection images for the city zones - but if the world zones are not done yet, I recommend leaving out the button on the world map for this release.
  
• The icons auto-load with zones perfectly. AWESOME! But, clicking on an overlay icon doesn't create a wisp.

Edit: oops, it would help to attach the pictures :)

Whoops! I had a part of the XML screwed up in 5_7. I had been playing with style sets and accidentally left one of the non-default files in when I zipped it all up.

ger did the awesome zone connection maps, I'll attach the files here, they go in the images\maps folder.

The POIs on the overlays don't draw trails because they don't have any pathfindlocations. They COULD draw trails, but they'll need pathfindlocations. They'll be part of the auto-updated POI system once we get the zonerects for all those zones figured out.

Quib

Thanks Quib, those attachments solved the first two issues. Everything looks great now!

Did you get it? I was going to do the zone erecs but had no map to base the farthest points on.

buuuuuuuump up for quib

I have the logs and have parsed them but haven't gotten anything in-game yet. Working some formatting stuff out with Talyns then will get back to getting them in game.

Quib

I tried playing around with them ( you would call it playing too if you saw how bad it came out) and was able to get a map but it was so ugly. I could have done better with my son's crayons. :(