View source for Revision12.000


Revision 12.000 is upon us. Here are the changes, and how to "fix" the bot.
* Where computers need data from humans, it is always prone to human error (yous of course, not me.. :) ). I'm not a fan of human error, to help remove this, I will be removing the need for ALL SPELL LISTS. With the change to spell names (Kick, Kick II, Kick III) there is no need for a list that tells the bot that "Kick" is in the same spell line. While spell lists are going away, just a note, that SpellExports are NOT going away. In fact, they are extremely important. They hold all the information about your spells - and is completely automated (no human error!).
* Renaming of save files (your character configuration files located in the /save/ folder. Files were previously named toonname_eq2config.xml. They are now named servername_toonname_eq2config.xml. (see below for reasons why - a lot of these compound each other).
* Names, to IDs, back to Names! Originally, back in the day (when none of you used the bot :P) the save files saved the name of the spell. Up until now, it has been saving the ID of the spell. I am now changing it back to the base spell. That means it went from Kick IV, to 2309234234, and now Kick (no roman numerals).
* Since the saves now work off of base names (like Kick), FRIENDLY LEVEL UP IS ENABLED! This means if you have Kick IV in CA slot #2, then you level and get Kick V. When you reload the bot, Kick V will magically (well.. not really magically) appear in slot #2.

While that may not sound like much, that was thousands (yes, thousands) of lines of code to add/change. The good news is, I tested it and it works great. Now for the bad news... I mentioned that the new saves were renamed. You could rename your current save, but the saves were changed. The bot can't load an ID from a save file anymore. Originally this meant ALL profiles, for every toon had to be re-done from scratch. This one time pain for all of you was worth it to me for these upgrades (and what it allows in the future)... However, I run a full group and have alts etc etc, and I'll be damned if I have any plans of going through every single character redoing profiles.

Unfortunately, there is some pain. I wrote a script that will convert your old saves (toonname_eq2config.xml with ID's) to (servername_toonname_eq2config.xml with base names). That's the good news, the bad news is, this script has to be run while the toon is logged in. Script only takes approximately 4 seconds.


'''What YOU have to do'''
* Update from the SVN. This will get you version 12 and a new file called UpdateSaves.iss.
* Load a fresh EQ2 session. Log in without loading the bot ( run ogre login toonname ) for example.
* With no scripts running, type "Run UpdateSaves"
** This leaves your old toonname_eq2config.xml file alone. This will be a "safe" backup for now.
* Now load the bot by typing "Run Ogre".
* Check your bot - it shouldn't be any different than what it was before.

'''Pros'''

The positives of why this was done.
* Removal of Spell list - less errors, was no reason to having 2 "lists" (spell list and spell export).
* Allows for friendly leveling up of spells.
* You can once again look at a save file and see spell names if need be.
* Bot no longer uses old innerspace code that Lax could disable at any time (it hasn't been supported for 4 or 5 years)
* Having the same name of toons on different servers works with the servername addition :)

'''Cons'''

The negatives/limitations
* The one-time pain of having to fix your saves (the UpdateSaves)
* No choice (or very limited) of choosing a tier of spell to use. This will probably only be a concern with the next level increase (1-2 years?). Because we use the SpellExport only, if it has level 91-100 spells in it, you will use them. We'll deal with this next level increase if it's an issue.


'''Special note'''

Keep in mind with this patch, there were thousands of lines of code changed. I tested as much as I could, but there is always the possibility that I missed something. If you notice anything wrong, please report it. IRC works best for contacting me.