October Waypoints

Two monsters were at a Halloween party. Suddenly one said to the other, "That girl just rolled her eyes at me! What should I do?" The other monster replied, "Be a gentleman and roll them back to her."
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Usually our Waypoints newsletters tell you about bug fixes and features that are scheduled to be released in the near future, and we do have some of those. But today I also want to show you three brand-new updates that you haven't seen yet, that are available for you right now.

A Matter of Time

Recently in Discord, Darq Side member Tazz asked if there was a way to automatically consume a potion or other expendable that can't be auto-consumed. I mentioned the recently upgraded timer system that's already built into the DarqUI Clock window, so it made sense to start there to leverage the feature. Kammelle liked the idea, so the two of them along with Sharakari were enlisted to test some things. Here's what we came up with.

You can now add up to three optional command lines that will be run in sequence each time the selected timer expires. The commands can be pretty much any valid command that you can type into chat -- not just potions, temps, etc. You also have an option to run the commands immediately when you start the timer.

Even though certain temporary expendables can already be set to auto-consume without attaching them to a timer, you still might want to have more control over starting and stopping them instead of using auto-consume. I've forgotten several times to stop auto-consuming after a long night of gaming. But using the timer command feature will ensure that you don't waste anything, since the timer (and commands) suspend when you log out or switch characters.

Under No Illusions

One of those little quality-of-life issues that never seems to get addressed is the Hide My Illusions checkbox in the Character window [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Some zones allow illusions, some don't. Some zones allow mounts, others don't. Some illusions work with mounts, some don't. With all the overlapping requirements, it's no wonder the setting goes on the fritz so often when logging in or zoning.

Recently Darq Sider Vlkodlak decided he'd had enough, and wondered if there was anything that could be done to make the setting stick more reliably. We went to work, and for those of us who are annoyed by the issue I think you'll like the result.

Right next to the Illusions checkbox on the Options tab of the Character window you'll find a new button: Enforce. Click it and you'll get a choice to hide your illusions, show your illusions, or do nothing. The window contains a small 15-second timer that starts whenever you log in or zone. When the timer expires, your illusion setting is forcibly applied. Easy!

If you zone quicker than 15 seconds, the window will detect that you've landed and enforce your setting early. If you have the Character window open to the Options tab, you can see the timer counting down.

Note that if you have multiple illusions running, the setting can't pick a specific one nor will it force your mounted character to display an incompatible illusion. Sorry, no flaming gnoll skeletons riding unicorns! This feature simply relieves you of the chore of constantly opening the Character window and manually checking or unchecking the box.

Quick Tips

This is another QoL tweak that involves tooltips. As I mentioned in a previous post, EverQuest II's complex tooltips for spells, gear, items, etc., are great for conveying a lot of information, and I like for them to appear instantly or at least very quickly when mousing over things. But in the heat of battle the large, colorful tooltips are unnecessary and a major distraction, always getting in the way of hotkeys and other on-screen elements.

The game offers two default settings in the Options window to configure tooltip delays, but they don't take combat into account. That's where the new auto-delay setting comes in.

A new page in the Window Manager offers controls to automate tooltip delays as you move into and out of combat. Here you will find slidebars for hotbar and non-hotbar tooltips in both settings. Activate or deactivate the entire auto-delay feature with a simple checkbox, and fine-tune the delay values according to your tastes.

Now tooltips can be fast and responsive most of the time, but out of sight during battle. And this is one of those settings that you can just set-and-forget, without the need to tinker with it day to day.

Thanks to Darq Side members Kammelle, Tazz, Sharakari, Vlkodlak, chief, Dr. Pepper, Jrox and Bowmaster for their help in various stages of testing and feedback on these three features, and others, during September. All of us have been juggling work, school, kids, parents, vacations and more, while also enjoying our favorite virtual Norrathian pastime. So I'm pleased that we were able to get all testing done so we could publish just in the nick of time!

In Other News...

...we'll be looking at these suggestions and requests during October:

● In Discord recently, member Prisma suggested we look for a clearer way to show which items we're currently wearing in a comparison. Right now, the tooltips prepend "Currently Equipped" to item names, but we came up with several ideas for an improved UX including this one:

As always, no promises but we'll be taking a stab at it this month.

● Working on the new clock features shown above, we went through four completely different code alternatives for counting down long timer values more accurately. (The game has no standardized way for us to mark time in seconds, if you can believe it!) Finally in the last few days, with extra testing from chief and Dr. Pepper, we've hit on a bit of code that looks to be very accurate even for long times.

There are several critical spots in the UI that use some earlier countdown methods, and in the interest of accuracy we'll be looking to see if the new timer control can benefit those areas. This is more of a long term back-end tech issue, but if you've ever experienced a time span or delay using a DarqUI feature that seemed slightly "off," this new timer code should correct it.

● It appears to be confirmed that the next expansion will see adventure and tradeskill level increases, and korpo53 mentioned a potential issue with Broker Presets regarding levels searched. Depending on what sort of preset you're searching for on the broker, checking the box for "My level" should search for the correct level range, and that's not always going to be your level minus 10.

● While configuring the URL Helper app, new Darq Side member Bowmaster suggested that an in-game control to toggle between internal and external browsers would be nice to have. There is already a checkbox on the Browser setup page that will switch between the two, but you need to restart the game after changing it. We're going to look at revising the setting to toggle it immediately without logging out or reloading the UI.

● Just this week I discovered a minor case of goofiness in the Map window that affects EQ2MAP and standard versions in all three sizes. When using the search box, partial matches begin showing up as you type in a small dropdown below the search. But the dropdown sometimes appears way off to the left, nowhere near where it should be. Fix incoming.

● And speaking of dropdowns, is there any EverQuest II raider who isn't infuriated by the Loot window dropdown snapping shut when distributing loot, and somebody types something into chat? Vlkodlak reminded me about the issue, which also afflicts the default UI in other places besides the Loot window. I've attempted unsuccessfully to resolve this in the past, but we'll take a fresh look in October at eliminating this aggro generator once and for all.

That's not everything on "The List" by far, but my attention span tells me it's enough for now. As always, if you don't see your recent feature request or suggestion here, that does not mean it's forgotten.

Thank You

I'm honored to welcome quite a few new Darq Side members during September, and I also want to express my sincere thanks to our established members for your continued patronage. It's because of you that we can do more and as you can see above, the vast majority of improvements and new ideas come directly from our membership.

It's my pleasure to bring your player-designed features to hundreds of patrons and thousands of other EverQuest II players around the world every month. It's proof that when we say you're part of the project, we mean it!