Test update 5/4/2007 probably for GU 35
 

If anyone has patched the Test server today there's a ton of new things to look at-- Neriak, Darklight Woods, Arasai race etc.

Changed and new xml files:
eq2ui_mainhud_lfg.xml
eq2ui_popup_bagoptions.xml
eq2ui_newcharscene2.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_guildcreation.xml
eq2ui_lfg_slot_template.xml
eq2ui_popup_houseitems.xml
eq2ui_windowelements.xml
eq2ui_specialelements.xml
eq2ui_arenachampions_arenamain.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_quantityselector.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_persona.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_map.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_groupmembers.xml
eq2ui_mainhud.xml
eq2ui_loginscene.xml
eq2ui_gamedata.xml

I'm going to see what the new LFG window looks like in a minute.

Yeah I saw the patch just as I was leaving for work. I'll get a compare done as soon as I get home at 11:30pm cst. Post some pictures if you see any windows that changed alot.

The only obvious visible change is the new LFG window. When you press the "!" button in the group window it opens the new window. I didn't get to really test it much but it seems at least partially functional so far. There are some really nice options included. Here are some pictures.


I was a new Arasai brigand so I'm guessing those were the default roles.

Oh, some more interesting news here:
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/p...60432&#4081298

Interface

* Custom UI's that change the quest journal should not longer crash when looking at group members' quests.
* The LFG window has received new functionality to help adventurers pool their resources and face the challenges of Norrath. Click the LFG button on your group window or use the /lfg command to open the LFG window.
* The interface for creating a guild has been improved.
* Custom Options file names are now limited to 50 characters.
* Since the world has seen the addition of multiple cities now, chat channels will now reflect that by using a good and evil naming convention.
* The client will now load the target ring textures from the ui/images folder allowing users to customize target rings

Finally :p

Added a Target Ring download/upload category. :)

Interesting news on the target ring. Seems like some real work is being done on the interface recently, many old old bugs being ironed out. I applaud that.

LFG window also looks nice.

Yes, the icons in the LFG tab are obviously mixed up and I would suggest that they make both tabs the same layout for consistency, but I'll give them a week or so before bothering them.

I'm going to have to try out some new target rings and see what I can come up with.

Oh, and the Mentor Yes/No thing is a radio button... have those ever been used anywhere else before?

I have seen radio buttons before, I think the character creation window uses some, for example. I've never tried to make some myself, however. Possibly you just need to set Radio=true and every checkbox on the same hierarchy level behaves like a radio button then. But as I said, never tested this. Easy enough to manually script in any case.

I just threw together a couple target ring images. I was hoping that the con ring would be a separate, stationary texture so I could put a pointer on one side so you could more easily see the direction a mob is facing but it looks like it rotates with the target ring.



One strange thing I noticed is that at certain camera distances the con ring sends out a colored line that circles like a beacon. This might be because the two DDS tools that I use (the GIMP plugin and the Microsoft DirectX Texture Tool) make 10 mip maps whereas the default target rings only use 3. What would be the easiest way to to generate just 3 mip maps (without the NVIDIA Photoshop plugin)?


Hmm, after some more research it looks like the ATI Compressonator can make a specific number of mip maps. Othewise it's kind of a clunky program.

I've played with the radio buttons in the UIB but never got them to work like they should. Maybe they work correctly in game but they never have in the UIB.

That one will probably hypnotize you when it rotates but I like it, looks sweet. Did you check whether there is a /cl_ command for controlling the target ring rotation?

Well, it was maybe just wishful thinking really. You can control the opacity of each ring separately but when you make the target ring transparent, it cuts transparent pixels into the con ring. Also, when you turn your character it doesn't change the rotation of the rings at all.

One thing I noticed is that you have to put custom files for both rings in your custom UI images, ring_target.dds and ring_target_con.dds. You can't just use one or the other.

A couple more target ring tests I was messing with. These are all 100% opacity-- you probably wouldn't have them both so bright normally.

New Toys
 

I LUV it when you guys get new toys ! ! That yellow ring is soooo HOT :D
Keep up the great work.

a few changed files from the patch yesterday (5/15/2007)
eq2ui_popup_bagoptions.xml
eq2ui_newcharscene2.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_lfg.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_guildcreation.xml
eq2ui_popup_houseitems.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_map.xml
eq2ui_mainhud_groupmembers.xml
eq2ui_mainhud.xml
eq2ui_hud_selection.xml
eq2ui_gamedata.xml
eq2ui_community.xml

plus new Miles folder (somehow connected to sound/audio) and a lot of updated vpks.