Fatal
08-29-2002, 02:11 PM
Recently I have been able to exchange emails with Roy Eltham,a senior programmer
for the Everquest Live team and one of the original folks who helped develop the new
UI. I asked the most common questions I have heard on the different message boards
relating to the new UI.
Here are the questions, followed immediatly by the answer.
1) Will you folks be releasing a 'schema' that a standard XML editor (for
instance, xml spy) would be able to use to actually display the files the
way they would be displayed in the game? We currently have a working version
of a 'viewer' but there are still issues with it, mostly due to
unseen/unknown rules not available to us as a user.
>1) Unfortunately, the way our stuff works it would be difficult (probably
>impossible to get it right) to make a schema that a standard xml editor
>could use. To be honest, we currently just use standard text editors
>internally, and a special version of the client that lets us run offline and
>windowed. So the game itself is our viewer.
*Note: There are a couple different tools out there now which do exactly this.
*Check out www.sidlwidl.com!
================================================== ===========================
2) Can we get a list of which windows have hard coded requirements that
certain elements must be present in. For instance, we can't just rewrite any
window because in some cases it fails due to missing element types.
>2) The list would be pretty much every window. Currently, we are in the
>process of making the code deal with missing elements without crashing. In
>most cases it will just run and whatever function the missing piece had will
>just not work on that window, but in some cases (primarily whole windows or
>tab pages being missing) it will revert to the default UI files. We realize
>that it would have been more ideal to make everything completely flexible as
>to what window it goes in and so forth, but that would have required a great
>deal more work (and the new UI was already a great deal of work) and time
>(we probably would still be working on it and not have it live yet).
================================================== ===========================
3) Will we have the ability to create our own windows? Currently, we are
modifying windows that have other functionality. Obviously this is not
optimal for the developers or for VI. It looks like the most of the code is
there, what seems to be missing is the ability to actually call the window.
>3) We would like to eventually work something out for this to be possible,
>but it will be somewhat limited since the "new" windows will only be able to
>have elements on them that we have coded to work on any window (guages,
>labels, animations, and some inventory slots).
================================================== ===========================
4) We see that the STMLBOX tag is present and some folks have totally
rewrote the help window. This is not our preferred method, we don't want to
alter the content you are providing in the help window. If we could create a
new window, or alter an unused window, to be an STML window and actually
designate a <src> for the stml file, alot of these issues would disappear.
>4) I will look into the idea of the STMLBOX tag having a default source file
>to go in it. Keep in mind that you can only access files from the local hard
>drive.
================================================== ===========================
5) Could we get an exact definition as to what kind of UI mods would be
against the EULA now. We assume if it doesn't interact with the datastream
or alter the actual client's code, it would be allowed.
>5) UI mods should not be able to violate the EULA. However, if through some
>bug in our system you should find a way to alter the code of the game such
>that it allows you to exploit or cheat then it will be considered a
>violation. However, while I can't say this will never happen, I can say that
>is it very unlikely because we have set thing up in such a way that it
>should not be possible.
Thanks Roy!
http://amichi.not.net/~polyneices/Ramsus.gif
Ramsus (http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=13934) </p>
for the Everquest Live team and one of the original folks who helped develop the new
UI. I asked the most common questions I have heard on the different message boards
relating to the new UI.
Here are the questions, followed immediatly by the answer.
1) Will you folks be releasing a 'schema' that a standard XML editor (for
instance, xml spy) would be able to use to actually display the files the
way they would be displayed in the game? We currently have a working version
of a 'viewer' but there are still issues with it, mostly due to
unseen/unknown rules not available to us as a user.
>1) Unfortunately, the way our stuff works it would be difficult (probably
>impossible to get it right) to make a schema that a standard xml editor
>could use. To be honest, we currently just use standard text editors
>internally, and a special version of the client that lets us run offline and
>windowed. So the game itself is our viewer.
*Note: There are a couple different tools out there now which do exactly this.
*Check out www.sidlwidl.com!
================================================== ===========================
2) Can we get a list of which windows have hard coded requirements that
certain elements must be present in. For instance, we can't just rewrite any
window because in some cases it fails due to missing element types.
>2) The list would be pretty much every window. Currently, we are in the
>process of making the code deal with missing elements without crashing. In
>most cases it will just run and whatever function the missing piece had will
>just not work on that window, but in some cases (primarily whole windows or
>tab pages being missing) it will revert to the default UI files. We realize
>that it would have been more ideal to make everything completely flexible as
>to what window it goes in and so forth, but that would have required a great
>deal more work (and the new UI was already a great deal of work) and time
>(we probably would still be working on it and not have it live yet).
================================================== ===========================
3) Will we have the ability to create our own windows? Currently, we are
modifying windows that have other functionality. Obviously this is not
optimal for the developers or for VI. It looks like the most of the code is
there, what seems to be missing is the ability to actually call the window.
>3) We would like to eventually work something out for this to be possible,
>but it will be somewhat limited since the "new" windows will only be able to
>have elements on them that we have coded to work on any window (guages,
>labels, animations, and some inventory slots).
================================================== ===========================
4) We see that the STMLBOX tag is present and some folks have totally
rewrote the help window. This is not our preferred method, we don't want to
alter the content you are providing in the help window. If we could create a
new window, or alter an unused window, to be an STML window and actually
designate a <src> for the stml file, alot of these issues would disappear.
>4) I will look into the idea of the STMLBOX tag having a default source file
>to go in it. Keep in mind that you can only access files from the local hard
>drive.
================================================== ===========================
5) Could we get an exact definition as to what kind of UI mods would be
against the EULA now. We assume if it doesn't interact with the datastream
or alter the actual client's code, it would be allowed.
>5) UI mods should not be able to violate the EULA. However, if through some
>bug in our system you should find a way to alter the code of the game such
>that it allows you to exploit or cheat then it will be considered a
>violation. However, while I can't say this will never happen, I can say that
>is it very unlikely because we have set thing up in such a way that it
>should not be possible.
Thanks Roy!
http://amichi.not.net/~polyneices/Ramsus.gif
Ramsus (http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=13934) </p>