August Waypoints
Added 2024-07-31 04:01:01 +0000 UTC"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."
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I Hear That
If you use the custom Gear Buff Macros window, you already know you can configure a visual reminder when the maintained buff on a piece of gear wears off or gets debuffed. Earlier this year Darq Side member Elmenstar pointed out that even though the color reminders are eye-catching, players could also benefit from an audible signal when certain critical buffs expire, especially during combat.
The result is a new dialog in the Window Manager that offers some additional settings for your buff reminders. You can choose between audible (playsound) and visual (color) reminders as well as an extra audible that accompanies the buff recast timer on your Gear Buff Macros.
Now you don't have to keep glancing over at the Gear Buff Macros window to see if that critical buff is still running. The sound will get your attention initially, and then you can respond efficiently. This feature is in-game right now -- make sure you have the latest updates and give it a try. Thanks, Elmenstar!
A Touch of Class
Even though new member nismo is now using DarqUI, like many of us he has also used ProfitUI in the past. He asked in Discord whether the Group window could be configured with an option to display each group member's subclass, similar to how it looks in ProfitUI CE. Answer: Yes. Thank you, nismo!
No Character
In last month's Waypoints newsletter I showed you a new Bank setting suggested by Darq Sider Kattster that will reclaim some screen space when visiting a bank. Naturally Kattster's next suggestion was to offer the same option with the Guild Bank. If the Character window seems superfluous while you're restocking supplies for your guild, we've got you covered. Use this new companion setting on the Guild Bank window. Thank you, Kattster!
Making a List, Checking It Twice
And speaking of guilds, the absence of Census data for the new Origins server presents a hindrance in several areas, not the least of which is guild management. Without Census data the very useful EQ2U Guild Listings and Gear Reports* are inoperable for guilds on Anashti Sul, as are several features in the DarqUI utility that rely heavily on a live Census connection.
Darq Side member OxyContin pointed this out recently in Discord, and wondered if there was some way to extract roster data directly out of the Guild window. I wasn't optimistic, but after tinkering a bit we were surprisingly successful at grabbing guild member names, ranks, notes etc, from the member list and logging them into their own separate log file.
OxyContin is a digital wizard, so he is using an early xml-only prototype of the feature to convert his guild roster into a formatted CSV that ultimately gets displayed on his guild's website.
For the rest of us, the upcoming version of the DarqUI utility has been leveraged to do the heavy lifting of grabbing and formatting the roster logs that you create in-game. Your log file can contain multiple listings with different ordering arrangements and fields for your various needs.
*(Example EQ2U reports were selected randomly)
This is the Settings dialog where you will be able to choose which fields you want to include as well as specify a private channel where the roster data will go to be logged. There's even a Separator field allowing you to customize imports into your spreadsheet app.
In the upcoming utility you'll be able to use a dropdown list to select from all rosters in the log file by date. You can display and extract any roster in CSV format or as formatted text.
And here is the CSV result in Excel or other spreadsheet app. (With apologies to the members of this guild who haven't logged in to the game in over 10 years!)
Utility v3.1.3.8 will include this feature and is nearing the finish line for publication. You'll be the first to know about it here when it's released.
Other upcoming utility improvements:
UI files will be automatically checked and reset for Live/Origins each time the utility is opened (there will be a checkbox to prevent this behavior if desired in Settings)
jnils has made some nice back-end improvements to the EQ2MAP database that reduce mismatches between cached files and new versions when you check for updates (downloading the same map file over and over even though it is up to date.) Updates to EQ2MAP files using DarqUI are not negatively affected with the current utility, but v3.1.3.8 will use jnils' new method for an improved experience
Notifier: Allow copy/paste text from output pane (Ixoth)
Notifier: Check for DarqUI/EQ2MAP updates in multiple folders (several members)
Notifier: New EQ2MAP database improvements from utility
There are several places in the DarqUI utility where it makes sense to be logged out of the game before changing a setting. Adding a warning to these places if the utility sees that you are logged in to the game
Within Range
By now pretty much every EverQuest II player using ACT has likely heard about Reapp's ACT Statter. It's an ACT plug-in that can optionally integrate with the DarqUI Stat Monitor to graph combat stats and their overcaps on the fly in ACT, for one character or an entire raid.
One set of stats that isn't yet represented in the Stat Monitor is melee ranges: Primary, Secondary and Ranged damage. Recently member Sephy brought this to my attention, so I sent Reapp some modified files and he promised me he would take a look and see what can be done. Fingers crossed -- if doable it could be a nice improvement for the already amazing stat graphs.
Edit: here's a beta screenshot from Reapp from just a few minutes ago -- groovy!
Thank You
I want to welcome a bunch of new players who joined the Darq Side this month, and sincerely thank our long-time members for your continued patronage. I hope you're enjoying the premium UI with all the extra features and conveniences that come with your membership. When you have a few minutes I'd love for you to browse through the collections at the top of this page. I think new members will be amazed at what we've been doing with the premium UI.
As you can see from this and previous newsletters, the vast majority of UI improvements don't come from me. DarqUI and DarqUI Premium are great examples of crowdsourcing at its best. It's you, the players who use the product, who are responsible for the brainstorms, suggestions and improvements in virtually every case. There's always a long to-do list here at Darq Side HQ, and it's my honor to bring you cool new tweaks, and sometimes a major feature or two, every month. Thank you!
