Darq

ProfitUI CE: Larger Chat Input

August 27, 2024 Update: The default Chat window was revised to include a resizable text input line. The ProfitUI CE component was updated to match this behavior. You can change the text size at Options > User Interface > Chat Window. The default feature is an improvement over the Chat window variants below, and therefore it replaces them on the updater.

ProfitUI CE user Avenn suggested in Discord recently that the UI looks fine at 4K...

June Waypoints

New friends are like new adventures. You never know what lessons they will teach you.
                      -Unknown

The new TLE server has generated a mountain of buzz despite a somewhat rocky opening day. A lot of players ended up staring at the login screen for several hours on Tuesday, which made it seem more like an expansion release day. B...

It's Even More Broker Than We Thought!

Update: May 26 patch notes indicate yet another chapter in the ongoing Broker pricing adventure. Pricing still maxes out at 50 million plat per item, but you can spend up to 100 million plat per purchase. Note that the Large Plat Values feature is no longer necessary since all possible sales prices can now be set with the standard pricing keypad.

From the May 24 patch 2022-05-25 01:46:14 +0000 UTC View Post

It's Morning Again in Norrath

There's a ton of optimism and excitement today as EverQuest II launches its newest TLE server, Varsoon. It looks like a lot of players, both new and returning, are planning to set sail for the Shattered Lands.

This is a great chance for us to welcome a number of new members to the Darq Side. I've messaged with several of you about how to enable DarqUI 4K, so it's...

A Queue Tip

Most of the time you need the Onscreen Message to remain up and visible for a reasonable amount of time. Certain raid scripts, quest updates and NPCs display text in this area that doesn't also go into the Chat window. If your delay timer is set too short, you won't have enough time to read those ephemeral messages. We've all been there.

On the other hand whenever you respec your AAs or create a Heroic character, those messages seem to go on and on. You can go into Opti...

DarqUI 2K/4K Group 21 Published

Part 3

Just in time for the new Varsoon TLE server, Character Creation and Character Select are now available in 2K and 4K sizes. DarqUI doesn't modify anything in these areas, so you can download the new files in the L or XL 2022-05-22 12:10:56 +0000 UTC View Post

Red Player One

Update:  For now we're going to revert these two components back to their earlier versions.  According to reports from players, this feature may be the source of game crashes. We'll investigate and see if it can be rolled out in a different way. Thank you for your patience.

One of the strengths of DarqUI is that it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel over the default interface. When players load up DarqUI for the first time, it looks and feels for the m...

Appearance Familiar Presets

What's better than a giant green frog with a buff following you around? A giant green frog that's really a black panther! There are several hundred Familiars to choose from, and some are, shall we say, easier on the eyes than others. We already have a Familiar Presets feature, but now patrons can select an Appearance Familiar that will be summoned along with each preset. 

If you've been using 2022-05-09 17:39:21 +0000 UTC View Post

May Waypoints

There is magic in the old and magic in the new; the trick is to successfully combine the two.

                    ― A.D. Posey 

You'll notice that some of the items below involve future changes to the utility, even though we have a brand-new version available this week. I realize that publishing new app versions close together tends to be disruptive, but shortly afte...

DarqUI v3.1.3.1

Old Dog, New Tricks

Since the 64-bit rollout appears to be scheduled for mid-summer, v3.1.3.1 will probably be the last utility that targets both 32- and 64-bit platforms. Up to now, everything DarqUI-related has been tested on two older 32-bit machines which gives us a good baseline for performance. The idea is that if a new feature performs well on 32-bit systems, th...

Here We Go Again...

More new developments in the ongoing browser situation, and the borderless fullscreen game feature.

Browser

In a recent update Daybreak replaced the aging Awesomium browser with a Google product called CEF. The result seems to work just fine, although it has temporarily affected a couple of our features that I want to tell you about.

The DarqUI Notifier app offe...

DarqUI 2K/4K Group 20 Published

Part 3

Here are three odds-and-ends components that I've been wanting to get done for a while: Connection Stats, Achievement Cast and Breath Meter. All three are in the Extras package. Not sure what that's all about? Check out this post that explains it. These three additions will bring Group 20 to a close. Is Group 21 already ...

Things Go Beta with DarqUI

Good grief, has there ever been a cheesier title for a post? As you know, we once again have an opportunity to log in to the Beta server, this time to try out the upcoming 64-bit game platform upgrade. So far I'm very optimistic; everything works beta... er, better.

If you've decided to copy some of your characters over and give Beta a try, there's no reason why DarqUI can't tag along,...

Weapons At the Ready!

For raiding, specifically raid leaders, EverQuest II offers some useful basic tools. About three years ago the Group/Raid Countdown window was introduced, providing raid leaders with a very visual way to marshal their forces on the pull with a common timer. The DarqUI version makes the experience audible and even more visual.

Another helpful gadget familiar to raiders is the ...

It's the Little Things...

If you've been watching the news you know that EverQuest II will soon follow in the footsteps of its predecessor by converting to a 64-bit platform for servers and clients. The Beta server has already been converted, and offers players a chance to help iron out any rough spots before the upgrade.

In addition to the platform change, a few quality-of-life nuggets are showing up here and ...

Learning from Lexus

The evolution of UX is not limited to digital applications. When I was a kid my grandparents had to reach across the seat of that mammoth Chrysler station wagon to unlock the passenger doors. Years later pretty much every vehicle came with electric locks, a bit of automotive UI improvement that eliminated seat-reach once and for all. Fast-forward to now and your doors magically unlock as you approach th...

On Further Examination...

Every now and then we experience a "gotcha" when the game developers make an undocumented game change that affects the custom UI in unexpected ways. The most famous instance to date has been surprise changes to the way spell casts are reported, resulting in a super-annoying stutter for players using earlier versions of the Maintained Spell Monitor.

Recently multiple players have mentioned the Examine Item window disappearing more frequently than usual, ...

April Waypoints

April showers bring... 

        ...more reasons to stay inside and explore Vetrovia!

As March comes to a close, all of the utility improvements proposed in last month's newsletter have been finalized and tested. Some new requests and tweaks have found their way onto the boards since then, and the chances that we will be publishing a new version of the utility in April have increased considerably. That keeps us on track...

DarqUI 2K/4K Group 19 Published

Part 3

As promised, the Advanced LFG window is now available in L and XL sizes, and that will complete Group 19. Even though LFG doesn't seem to get much use, I did discover that players on the new Kael Drakkel server were giving it a go, and it makes sense to include it in this group along with the Community window. LFG is part of the Extras package -- see Part 2 below for details. Group 20 is already under the knife, so stay tuned!

Part 2

Here's a componen...

Breaking Camp

The new Camp Next feature has gotten some good reviews, but one requirement to make it work is not obvious. If you have wanted to try it out but it doesn't seem to do anything, most likely account name(s) and password(s) have not been assigned.

In the case of missing credentials, instead of silently failing to camp to your next character, the window now gives you an informative message (see i...

Linux Helper

Over the past year and a half we've encountered a surprising number of Darq Side members who game on Linux computers.  Linux in all its different flavors is an operating system that's not for the faint of heart, but it's been growing rapidly in popularity due in part to significant compatibility improvements with Windows apps and games like EverQuest II.

One of those Linux-savvy Darq Siders is Arder...