Shenanigunner

This probably duplicates work elsewhere, but I did a nice tidy job using the macro_image command, so thought it was worth sharing. This set of macros gives one-click Inspiration conversion (3-for-1), which can be helpful to players who need to convert unneeded Insps to useful ones on the fly. Most users will need only one or two of them at any one time or for any one alt. Users can either create all three levels of desired conversion, or replace lower ones as alts level to the higher types. All of the relevant macro-icon and Inspiration names can be found in these examples, for further editing. (Thanks to "FDIC" who asked the question and inspired the work here.) Each macro will create a tray icon of the Insp type to be converted. Each macro used should be edited to convert to the new Insp type most desired (usually greens and purples). /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Resistance_Lvl_1 ORANGE insp_combine "Sturdy" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Accuracy_Lvl_1 YELLOW insp_combine "Insight" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Endurance_Lvl_1 BLUE insp_combine "Catch a Breath" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_resist_sleep_hold_Lvl_1 VIOLET insp_combine "Break Free" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Resurrection_Lvl_1 AQUA insp_combine "Awaken" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Lvl_1 RED "insp_combine "Enrage" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Defense_Lvl_1 PURPLE insp_combine "Luck" "Respite" /macro_image Inspiration_Health_Lvl_1 GREEN insp_combine "Respite" "Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Resistance_Lvl_2 ORANGE2 insp_combine "Rugged" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Accuracy_Lvl_2 YELLOW2 insp_combine "Keen Insight" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Endurance_Lvl_2 BLUE2 insp_combine "Take a Breather" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_resist_sleep_hold_Lvl_2 VIOLET2 insp_combine "Emerge" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Resurrection_Lvl_2 AQUA2 insp_combine "Bounce Back" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Lvl_2 RED2 "insp_combine "Focused Rage" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Defense_Lvl_2 PURPLE2 insp_combine "Good Luck" "Dramatic Improvement" /macro_image Inspiration_Health_Lvl_2 GREEN2 insp_combine "Dramatic Improvement" "Good Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Resistance_Lvl_3 ORANGE3 insp_combine "Robust" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Accuracy_Lvl_3 YELLOW3 insp_combine "Uncanny Insight" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Endurance_Lvl_3 BLUE3 insp_combine "Second Wind" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_resist_sleep_hold_Lvl_3 VIOLET3 insp_combine "Escape" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Resurrection_Lvl_3 AQUA3 insp_combine "Restoration" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Damage_Lvl_3 RED3 "insp_combine "Righteous Rage" "Phenomenal Luck" /macro_image Inspiration_Defense_Lvl_3 PURPLE3 insp_combine "Phenomenal Luck" "Resurgence" /macro_image Inspiration_Health_Lvl_3 GREEN3 insp_combine "Resurgence"Phenomenal Luck" Macros can be stored in an unused tray and that tray toggled up and down with this simple bind. Set the tray called to the desired tray number (8, 9, etc.) /bind ALT+I "toggle tray8"

AFAICT, the numbers are the fixed number of your base and thus unique. Every SG could use DUMBASS as its pass code and the whole code would still be unique to each base.

Probably both those things, and because they're tied to actual targeting etc. I don't think I'd want to look at a zone, mission or base full of reticles. :) It's already a big enough PITA that base NPCs count on the villain spectrum, so they all have perma-names if you have ShowVillainNames on.

Bathrooom pieces work great, but are subject to emphasized lighting variation. I need to build a little brightly-lit room for further experimentation. The crazy-ass letter-I idea works pretty well, too, but managing the tiling is tedious and for some reason, the lighting gradient is applied erratically to increasingly large surfaces, so that you get gradient sections like large tiles. Again, need a bright room to try again. Thanks for the suggestions.

Rikti computers make dandy door screens if you embed the pillars, and optionally the base, in the walls. They also don't block other effects such as steam when you look through them.

Just tossing in a nice bind set for ammo swaps. Works best with full-size keyboards, putting some otherwise dead/useless keys to work: /bind PAUSE "powexecname Chemical Ammunition" /bind SCROLL "powexecname Incendiary Ammunition" /bind SYSRQ "powexecname Cryo Ammunition" /bind INSERT "powexectoggleoff Cryo Ammunition$$powexectoggleoff Incendiary Ammunition$$powexectoggleoff Chemical Ammunition"

Ah, good. That's very close except for the crinkly texture. I will have to move it to a small room where I can control lighting to get the color I want - trying for a greenscreen background.

Does anyone know of an object or workaround that would let me make a solid-color wall in a base? I've searched all the tintable objects and they are tintable, not color-able. I want a bright green wall or vertical surface... ideas?

You... mean... the... one... with... the... 30-second... activation... time? (That can get interrupted and fail by a Sprocket fart?)

No, there are limits on how long an individual bind command can be. You can sometimes load over-long ones and have them work, but saving will truncate them and I believe restarting the game will do so as well. I haven't experimented to see how long a bind will be retained in an active session. I know I ran into limits with those damned mega-word attribute window commands, even in trying to use it within a single session.

That works perfectly. I had to substitute Placate to test, but it's spot-on.

Maybe it's simpler than it looks. The endless flexibility of the control interface is one of the joys of the game. :)

There is, around 256 characters, I think. I ran into it trying to create control macros for the attributes window (open and close certain lines for different alts). Having those slash commands be extra-long, along with the line-item names often being long, didn't help. I can only fit about five items into any one bind/macro string, especially to turn them off. (I think I put in a ticket asking for shorter synonyms, but it's not exactly the highest priority.) There's a limit to the number of binds in a file, as well, right around 240, but it's been difficult to pin down, as files close to the limit will sometimes throw errors and sometimes won't. It's an interaction between existing binds that are not overwritten and those being loaded, and it's erratic.

Yes, I forget about those who Pine to play the game even when they're not playing the game... :D

Yes, especially in combat. I tinkered with variations of custom/name targeting for a while before just giving up; like chained commands, the game just doesn't want it done. The Grapple bind works for me in nearly all cases: /bind G "target_enemy_near$$follow" For melee types and non-squishies, it immediately locks you onto the next target. Even for blasters and defenders, a quick G-S combo locks you on and keeps you from moving into hurt range. I'm not sure there's any 'better' option until targeting by enemy level is implemented in the custom command.

You can edit both the options file (pretty easy) and the windows file (a bit more cryptic) off line. I can't think of a need to completely configure the UI offline when you can do it interactively and simply save/load/share (and tweak offline).

Other than the Ouro tram, does EGC have any further use at all? I find it depressing to wander around.

By default, the heads-up display (HUD) for alts shows certain things all the time, others when you mouse over items and others when you have an item selected. In tinkering around to find the acceptable values for each of the menu and slash commands that control the HUD, I found a set of settings that, to me, gives a better picture of the world of foes and friends around you. Some of these settings can be set in the Options menu, but two are 'blocked' there and require a slash command to set. You can also edit and reload your OPTIONS.TXT file to change the values quickly. Here's the table, taken from the newest update of the Guide (sorry, this did not paste as cleanly as it should have... (Ha! Just figured out how to send a link to an online PDF page, so Click Here for a better version of this!) Setting / Menu Item Default Menu Option Range Gunner’s Choice ShowArchetype 2 All 2 ShowSupergroup 2 All 0 ShowPlayerName 1 All 1 ShowPlayerBars 6 All 6 ShowVillainName 6 0 2 4 6 1 ShowVillainBars 6 0 2 4 6 6 ShowPlayerReticles 6 0 2 4 6 4 ShowVillainReticles 6 0 2 4 6 4 Reticles cannot be set to 1, “show always” And here's the menu/function equivalents for the option values: Status Menu Option /setoption Value Off / Not Displayed Hidden 0 Always Displayed Show Always 1 Display on Mouse-Over Show on Mouse-Over 2 Display when Selected Show when Selected 4 Display when Mouse-Over or Selected Mouse-Over or Selected 6 The defaults either show too much info (do you really care what SG most players belong to, especially after you've teamed with them), or not enough - villain names and bars especially. Selection reticles can be annoying when you mouse over a big group, too. So my choices show player archetype only on mouse-over; player SG never; player name all the time, and player bars only when moused or selected. (You get all the information in the Target window when a player is moused/selected, so duplicating low-value info like type and SG in the UI can be avoided as clutter.) Reticles are shown only when selected, not on mouse-over. (You can still tell you have a player pointed at because their name gets a tad bigger.) For villains... names are shown all the time, bars are shown only when selected, and reticles are only shown when targeted. Makes for a much cleaner display, especially in combat. All of these can be set by Options | Windows menu items... except the villain options and player reticles. To set any of those to "always show," you have to use a slash command or edit the OPTIONS.TXT file. Which, in my recommended settings, means you have to set one value using those methods, as the others can be set in the menu. Use /optionset ShowVillainName 1 to always turn on villain name. (You can use similar commands to set the rest, or use /optionsave to create an options file, edit it, and then /optionload to load the changes.) Why set villain names on all the time? Because you can then see villains further and with name/relative level color all the time. You can cruise around street-hunting, seeing white-to-orange candidates easily easily among the worthless lowbies and scary bosses. And - the game often displays villain names, in color, much further than other visibilities, so for both street hunting and large open map searching, you have a better view. What's really interesting, and may be a bug or a temporary matter, is that visibility of villain names seems to be related to their perception/aggro range. As you approach a group, the higher the relative level, the further away you will see the name. That is, you'll see the purple boss name first, then as you close in, the red lieutnants, then the yellow mobs, etc. VERY useful. If you do nothing else, I suggest setting ShowVillainNames to 1. (And notice that the menu then shows it as "Always"... but you can't re-select that option if you change it.)

Sorry :) misread that as /windowsave doesn't work. I know, my mistype. The correction was useful, thanks.

I saw a passing comment in Help that you can replace a font file somewhere in the game folder tree. No details. There is a fonts.pigg.

Try any of the emotes in the first post. When you find one that makes your pets be quiet, set it up as a macro, as shown, or... /macro PSU "petsayall EMOTENAMETHATWORKSTOSHUTTHEMUP" This will generate a little gray power icon labeled PSU (for Pets Shut Up)

The non-humanoid pets don't respond to all of the emotes. AFAIK, mercs and zombies do, but not robots, demons or of course the animals.

Wy? Z Tht mr cmpct r smthin? :o

I worked for a long time on binds etc. that would custom-scale all the windows. Ran into bind and macro string length limits and other maintenance hassles. So... I now set the scale in options to whatever is most convenient, around 1.25, then /windowscale everything I want showing and position it... and use /windowsave. Actually, /windowsavefile with an alt-specific file name so that, say, my tank doesn't have to have a Pet window, or my solo blaster a team window, etc. I haven't looked at the wiki page or other things since these are largely out of date, but an exhaustive and verified list of window names is in the Guide. Set it all up, tweak it, and save it. Messed up? Reload. (Binds help here.) Make a change? Resave it. Share with a new alt? Use the general save/reload as a starting point. Voilá. Oh... /optionsave and /chatsave help save details that /windowsave doesn't. Repeat as above.

+1... thousand on that. I groan every time I visit a trainer or store and have to listen to howling or robot clanking.