Addon Update - v1.4.0

It's that time again! I just uploaded another update to the WoW-Pro leveling addon. Click here to download it!

This update is mostly bug fixes, with one nice new feature added by Silvann - coordinate based completion! This means we can have a run step which directs the user to an exact location, rather than just a general area. Thanks for the awesome contribution, Silvann!

Full version notes incoming...

New Features

• Coordinate based completion. GUIDE CODERS: Use |CC| to enable coordinate completion, and |CS| for a specific coordinate sequence, both with R type steps.
• Several guide files have been updated

Bug Fixes:

• Minor bugs with mapping coordinates fixed
• Error causing Hellfire Peninsula guide to be unplayable has been fixed
• Issues in several guides caused by a lack of a QID have been fixed
• Faction neutral guides should now correctly show up in the guide list
• Accept steps with |PRE| tags will no longer be incorrectly skipped

Tour Guide Recorder

Pretzl recently discovered that Tekkub is still updating his Tour Guide Recorder over on WoW Interface. The Tour Guide Recorder can be used to create guide files for our addon as well, though some editing will be needed to change the coordinate style from TourGuide's version to our own. Obviously these guides will be very bare bones, with no notes and none of the awesome features we've added (such as sticky steps, ranking, and step skipping). But it can be a great way to start, especially when writing guides from scratch. Until I can put together our own in game recorder and editor, this is a great option. Thanks Pretzl, for finding this!

The World of Jiya

An update on what's going on with me - I've been even busier than expected. I'm still unpacking in my new home, and school starts at 8am tomorrow morning (ewww). Still, I expect that things will shortly settle down and I will be back to my old active self.

ADDON UPDATE - v1.3.0

The WoW-Pro addon has been updated! You can download it here.

Target Button

One of the coolest new features in the addon is the addition of a target button. If the guide author includes the new |T| target tag and the name of a mob or NPC, a button will appear next to the step. If you click the button, the game will attempt to target the mob, and if found, will place a skull above their head. This will be great for hard to find quest mobs, especially those who can spawn in one of several places.

Scrolling

Scrolling is now possible in the main guide window! This is awesome for guide authors in particular, since it allows you to see all steps in a guide much more easily. Our typical user will probably never use this feature (indeed I would recommend you not to!) but for authors who need to move around in the guide and see completed steps, it's great!

Step Ranking

This is probably going to be one of the most important features in the addon, but it will need to be coded into guides before it will do anything. The idea is that you now have a sliding scale from 1-5 where you can choose the level of "completeness" you want - 5 being the most complete, 1 being the least. People with tons of heirlooms, recruit a friend bonus, rested XP, or who like to run dungeons can choose a lower rating, since they tend to level faster. People who don't have any bonuses or who are going for questing achievements can choose 5. Guide authors will rank steps based on how important they are and how easy they are to do. Quests with great rewards (XP and/or gear), which aren't too difficult, and which aren't out of the way, will be ranked 1 (most important). Quests which aren't too far out of the way but which only have mediocre awards will be ranked around 3. Quests with little reward and which take you out of your way will be ranked 5 (least important). Any inranked steps will be considered a 1.

As you can see, this will revolutionize our guide and make it much more useful to a wider variety of people. Unfortunately, we won't really be able to see the full awesomeness of this feature until it is implemented throughout a guide. Our goal is to have all of these features fully implemented in our Cataclysm guides, so you should be able to see all of them in action when the expansion is released.

Change Log

Here is a full list of the changes in this version.

New Features

• Several new tags added to help make our guides even more clear! See the "guide writers" section below for details
• Scrolling in the normal guide frame! You can now enable scrolling in the display options, which will also display ALL quests, including optional and skipped ones.
• Target button - if the guide coder provides the name of a target mob or NPC, the guide will now show a target button next to the step which will target that mob or NPC if they are in range and place a skull above their head, so you can easily locate patrolling or otherwise hard to find mobs.
• New step ranking system ranks the importance of steps! This allows you to choose how complete you would like your experience of a zone to be. If you just want to level and get out of there, and if you have heirloom gear or recruit a friend bonuses or run instances, you can set the addon to a lower level of completeness to skip unnecessary quests. NOTE: While this has been implemented in the addon, it has not yet been added to guides. This will happen gradually, but should be implemented in Cataclysm guides by the expansion's release.

Guide Writers

Several new tags and steps have been implemented:

• LVL - use this tag to denote a step that completes once the user reaches that level. There is also a new step type, L, to denote a step that completes once the user levels up.
• LEAD - use for lead in or breadcrumb type quests, followed by the QID for the quest it leads to. This step will be checked off if the user has already completed the quest it leads up to.
• T - target tag. Follow by the name of the mob or NPC you want the user to be able to target.
• r - Repair/restock step. Behaves exactly like a N step in that it must be checked off, but has a nice repair/restock icon.
• P - profession tag. Follow by the name of the profession, and optionally the level of the profession required for the step. The step will only be displayed if the character has that professions at that level.
• RANK - this tag should be used as much as possible from now on, and denotes how important a quest is. 1 is the most important and will NEVER be skipped. 5 is the least important. Vital quest chains with great XP and item rewards should be marked 1. Things that are neutral in rewards but which are convenient to do should be around a 3. Things that take you out of your way and aren't particularly rewarding should be marked a 5. Anything unmarked will be considered a 1. In general, a character with heirlooms and RAF should be able to get through the guide on a setting of 1, while a character with none of these bonuses and who doesn't do instances or have rested would need a setting of 5.

Bug Fixes:

• Conflict with BlizzBugsSuck resolved
• The |NC| noncombat tag will now only apply to C complete steps.
• Several bugs due to lack of a check to make sure the QID was provided
• Addon should now correctly count skipped quests toward guide completion in the progress count
• General restructuring and streamlining of quest skipping and display functions should improve performance and reduce bugs

Moving Time

I will be moving this weekend, so this is it for me until next week. I hope everyone enjoys the update, and I'll be back battling bugs and working on Cataclysm guides after the weekend!

Secret New Project

I've started work on a new project, inspired by Pretzl of WoW-Pro. I'll be working on it in my off time when I need a break from addon work. It's pretty small, but a fun little guide that I hope people will find amusing and useful, or at least an interesting peak into the beta for those who don't have access.

I won't tell you all exactly what it is yet, though! It will be a surprise!

Beta Buzz

I've been exploring the beta, and I have to say I can amuse myself for hours just flying around looking at the changed scenery. It's gorgeous. I've also peeked into some of the low level dungeons, and I definitely like the changes I see. Beautiful dungeon maps, quest givers at the beginning of the instance - oh to level at such a time!

My biggest disappointment this week was learning that the year's work I put into What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is essentially worthless. The Violet Proto-Drake has been downgraded to a 280% mount, and you have to buy the next level of flying just like everyone else if you want to fly at 310% speed. I think this was a bad call on Blizzard's part, basically taking away a fun toy that people worked hard to earn. I understand not applying that 310% to all our other mounts, but they should have let us keep the fast speed on the ugly purple drake, at least. Oh well.

The World of Jiya

I will be moving this Saturday, and plan to get a new version of the addon up before then. I'm also working hard on the guide recorder, but it's slow going. Hats off to Shakazahn, who found an abandoned project similar to ours which uses a guide recorder - we'll be reverse engineering it to get ideas on how to implement ours.

Future Plans

Once the craze of getting leveling guides ready to go dies down, I'd really like to purchase FRAPS and get some video editing software so I can make some video guides. I'd like to think I'd do a decent job of it. Subjects I could cover include boss fights, achievements, class advice, and who knows what else!

That's all I have for today, just wanted to give you folks an update on the goings-on for WoW-Pro and myself.