How does it work?

GamTextTriggers works by reading your log file to watch for triggers in each line. The program reads your log file constantly and when it find one of the triggers you had set, it will perform the requested action.

To get started you will need to:

  • Download and install GamTextTriggers and if it isn't available already, install .NET Framework V2.0
  • Prepare EverQuest to produce the log file that will be checked
  • Set the triggers required within GamTextTriggers


Download and install GamTextTriggers

My programs require "Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0" installed. This comes standard with Windows Vista and Windows 7, but if you use an older version of windows, you will need to download "Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0" from the Microsoft site, on this page. Once your computer has "Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0" installed, you can run GamParse.

Once you have "Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0" installed, go to the Downloads page to download the latest version of each of my programs. You will have two choices, with an installer, and without. Most people will want to download the package with the installer.

Unzip the file you downloaded. If it is the package with the installer, simply run the Setup.exe and follow the prompts, which will install GamTextTriggers and create an icon on your Start menu. If you downloaded the package without the installer, you now have the .exe available. Place it into a folder of your choosing, and if you are upgrading from an older version, you can overwrite the old version.


Preparing EverQuest for logging

You need to enable logging, so the information goes to a file. It is that file which GamTextTriggers will read. To turn on logging in game you enter the command:

/LOG ON

You can also set EverQuest to automatically start logging. In your EverQuest directory you can find the main settings file called EQClient.ini and updating this file will make logging permanently enabled. Search for LOG= and change it to appear as:

LOG=TRUE

Now information will be saved to your log file as you play. You may have some information filtered, so you will want to check your filters in the Options tab. To access the Options tab in game, use the key combination of Ctrl+O and then go to the Filters tab. Set the options to 'Show' for any information you wish to to see in your log file. See the options tab shown below:



For triggers, you will most want the general information enabled, but won't need the actual damage messages. If you wish to also use your log file for parsing, you may want to enable all options, but for use in triggers only, you can disable information about other's melee, by setting "Others' Misses" and "Others' Hits" to Hide. Showing the hits and misses for other can put significant pressure on older computer systems. Choose the options you wish for triggers in a way that minimises the pressure on your system, while still giving you the output that you need.


Using GamTextTriggers

Now that you have the program installed and enabled logging within EverQuest, you can now run GamTextTriggers.

You must enable logging any time you wish to use triggers. If you have permanently enabled logging, you will simply need to run GamTextTriggers to begin. If you haven't made the permanent change, you will need to enable logging each session you wish to use triggers for. GamTextTriggers will check the log file to ensure you have logging enabled for that session, and will prompt you if logging has not yet been enabled.

Start the program, and you are able to begin entering your triggers. All triggers begin with the trigger phrase, that text which will trigger the action you require. Enter the trigger text, and then decide which of the outputs you require.

Using the onscreen displays REQUIRES that you play EverQuest in windowed mode. This is due to how the overlays are built.

If you are only using the sound options, then you can play EverQuest in either windowed or full screen mode.

Display text: This will place text on your screen for a short while. You can display text of your own choosing, or you can display the full line which had triggered the display in the first place. Use this for actions that you require knowledge of immediately.

Displaying your own text is good for actions like raid events, where you need to perform an action based on an emote given. The action may be like:
DUCK!
Stop melee
Cure the death DoT

Displaying the full line is most useful for actions like the MOTD being changed. If you triggered from "GUILD MOTD:" then showing the full line will place the full MOTD on screen for you to easily see.

Display timer: This will place a timer on your screen for the time you have chosen. There are many timed events which are handy to have easily visible on screen.

You will need a description of the timer, as it will appear on the screen, and then enter the duration of the timer in hours, minutes and seconds using the dropdowns.

Select the behaviour you require when the timer is triggered. You can create new timers each time it is triggered, restart the existing timer, or do nothing if the trigger is currently running.

Some cases where you would create a new timer for would be, casting mezz or debuffs on multiple targets, having a timer for each target debuffed or mezzed so you can get a guide for how long remains on your mezz and debuffs. It will only be a guide, as you cannot easily tell from the log file if the target you mezzed was a new target, or an existing target being remezzed, but it is still a useful guide.

Times where you would restart the trigger could include when you have a very short term buff that needs regular recasting, like shamans with their panther line and champion line of buffs. If you recast the buff, your group will have its advantage for the full amount of time again, so restarting the timer will represent this well. Obviously you can check the timer on the buff in your buff window, but it is far easier to have it as a plainly visible trigger on screen.

A few times you may want to leave the existing trigger alone, rather than starting a new one, or restarting the existing one. Events like Pallorax have a timer, after which the main mob greatly increases in power. You can set a timer based on your hitting the target to start the 30 minute timer until it enters 'crazy mode', but you don't want a new timer for every time you hit the target, and you don't want the 30 minute timer to restart on each hit, so once the timer has started, it will do no further action when the trigger message is received until the timer has finally completed.

On completion of the timer, you can chose to output some text to screen to further highlight the timer has completed. This is often useful with re-use timers of certain abilities, like melee discs or AA abilities, so you know when you are able to use them again.

Lastly on timers, you may want to end some timers early. If you were tracking the casting of the complete heal spell by another player to you, you will start with a 10 second timer, but you will want to cancel that timer if you see the caster had been interupted, as that heal will no longer be cast on you.

Play sound: This will perform almost identically to the in game audio triggers, but with a couple enhancements.

As GamTextTriggers allows you to include a 'substitute' in your trigger and output, you can customise the audio that is played dynamically.

Playing a sound file will perform exactly as audio triggers in game, except it moves the work out of the game and into a seperate application, which allows you to easily share your triggers with others, so you can directly import a new trigger in GamTextTriggers, while trying to perform the same to the EverQuest triggers requires that you either re-type or paste the information in game, or have knowledge of how to update the trigger file in a text format.

The main power in playing sound comes from the text to speech option. With this you can simply type the words you want spoken, and you are ready to go. You no longer need to find or create a custom audio before using the trigger, you just enter the text you want spoken and it is available immediately.

Further enhancing the power of text to speech is the use of 'substitute' text. When your trigger contains a substitute as {s} that text can be used on the output.

For example, you can use that to grab a players name and then use that on the output.
Trigger by: {s} has been rescued by divine intervention!
Text to speech: Cast D.I. on {s}

This will result in your computer telling you to recast divine intervention on a specific player. In the case that it was triggered on my character, Gamanern, the message spoken to you would be: "Cast D.I. on Gamanern".


Options

The options are mostly self explanatory, but the main options you will want to use are the options to relocate where the message output and the timer output windows are.

Press the button for the output area you wish to move, and a place holder window will appear that you can drag to the location you want the output to appear. You can resize the windows and move them about, including moving the windows to another display, if your computer is connected to more than one monitor.