MobMap v3.10 released
A new version of MobMap has just been released - and it's a bigger release, as the version number jump from 3.04 to 3.10 indicates.
The most significant new feature in this version is the new MobMap Quest Tracker.
It's basically meant to be a full replacement of Blizzard's quest tracker, as you won't need it anymore if you feel comfortable with the MobMap tracker (if you don't, you can completely deactivate the MobMap tracker, though I really suggest to try it out first). First of all, the MobMap tracker automatically tracks everything in your quest log, you don't have to add quests to it. To keep your monitor from exploding though, quests are grouped by region as they are in the quest log. The region you're currently in is automatically moved to the top!
Then, there are of course the usual "questionmark buttons" from MobMap to do quick searches for quest details or quest targets. But those buttons have gotten significantly smarter: their behavior has been tuned for offering a much better "flow" when doing many quests. First of all, if a quest target as, for example, an NPC you have to kill, is only found in one zone, then its locations are immediately displayed on the map, and if you have TomTom or Cartographer Waypoints (I highly suggest installing TomTom if you haven't already, it's really useful) installed a waypoint with an arrow to it will automatically be created for you pointing into the direction of the quest target. You can even completely suppress the map display if you wish so and have just the waypoint being created, though I personally find it rather informative to glance at the dots and see which area they cover to know the exact area where the quest targets can be found. In addition to the quicksearch stuff, clicking a quest title will open the Blizzard quest log with the selected quest being displayed.
The new quest tracker frame also shows an estimated distance from your current position to each quest target, in order to help you decide which one you could do next (and yes, the data that allows this would even be suitable to create a full-blown routing feature, though that is a veeery big and complex thing which I might add some day in the not-too-distant future, but not tomorrow or such, as it really takes time to develop such a biggie in a way that doesn't suck). And another nice detail: the guy where you have to turn in a quest is added to the quest targets, so even quests which usually don't have a target now have at least this last "turn this quest in at [npc name here]" target (which you can of course quicksearch with MobMap).
The new quest tracker window is of course freely movable and sizable, to suit your personal needs and interface configuration. You can also pin it in one location once you have found the perfect place, just shift-click onto the arrow in the upper right which you should grab to move the window. This arrow is also used to toggle the quest window on and off, so you can hide it while not questing. And of course MobMap won't load its quest databases into memory until you actually show that quest tracker for the first time, so if you don't need it in a WoW session, it won't chew on your resources.
Okay, so there've been some more minor fixes in MobMap itself and the data collection routines besides this feature addition, but that's nothing big. This release is focused on the quest tracker, which is meant to be the basis of some more feature additions I've planned to streamline questing with MobMap. And I'd of course like to hear what you think about this new feature, if you like it or not, if there are problems with it (detailed reports about new bugs are greatly appreciated!) etc. - just leave me a comment.
Oh, and don't forget to update your database if you move from MobMap v3.04 to 3.10, as there has been a DATABASE FORMAT CHANGE!
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changelog v3.10:
- added: The new MobMap quest tracker was added. This tool allows you to track all your quests at once like with the Blizzard Quest Watch, but it has multiple improvements like showing quests which don't have a target, showing an estimated distance to the place you have to go to for each target MobMap knows about, allowing quick access to the questlog page of a quest and showing the NPC where a quest has to be turned in as a "quest target", all complete with MobMap quicksearch buttons of course.
- added: A new MobMap options sub-panel on the Blizzard interface options screen to configure the new quest tracker (or disabling it entirely, if you wish so)
- added: An option to directly create TomTom/Cartographer waypoints when searching for a quest objective via the new quest tracker
- changed: when using the quicksearch buttons to search for quest objectives, the MobMap window will not pop up anymore if an objective is found that is only located in one zone, if a quest drop is found which only drops from one mob in one zone or if a pickup item is found which can only be gathered in one zone. Instead, the locations you need are directly shown on the map.
The most significant new feature in this version is the new MobMap Quest Tracker.
It's basically meant to be a full replacement of Blizzard's quest tracker, as you won't need it anymore if you feel comfortable with the MobMap tracker (if you don't, you can completely deactivate the MobMap tracker, though I really suggest to try it out first). First of all, the MobMap tracker automatically tracks everything in your quest log, you don't have to add quests to it. To keep your monitor from exploding though, quests are grouped by region as they are in the quest log. The region you're currently in is automatically moved to the top!
Then, there are of course the usual "questionmark buttons" from MobMap to do quick searches for quest details or quest targets. But those buttons have gotten significantly smarter: their behavior has been tuned for offering a much better "flow" when doing many quests. First of all, if a quest target as, for example, an NPC you have to kill, is only found in one zone, then its locations are immediately displayed on the map, and if you have TomTom or Cartographer Waypoints (I highly suggest installing TomTom if you haven't already, it's really useful) installed a waypoint with an arrow to it will automatically be created for you pointing into the direction of the quest target. You can even completely suppress the map display if you wish so and have just the waypoint being created, though I personally find it rather informative to glance at the dots and see which area they cover to know the exact area where the quest targets can be found. In addition to the quicksearch stuff, clicking a quest title will open the Blizzard quest log with the selected quest being displayed.
The new quest tracker frame also shows an estimated distance from your current position to each quest target, in order to help you decide which one you could do next (and yes, the data that allows this would even be suitable to create a full-blown routing feature, though that is a veeery big and complex thing which I might add some day in the not-too-distant future, but not tomorrow or such, as it really takes time to develop such a biggie in a way that doesn't suck). And another nice detail: the guy where you have to turn in a quest is added to the quest targets, so even quests which usually don't have a target now have at least this last "turn this quest in at [npc name here]" target (which you can of course quicksearch with MobMap).
The new quest tracker window is of course freely movable and sizable, to suit your personal needs and interface configuration. You can also pin it in one location once you have found the perfect place, just shift-click onto the arrow in the upper right which you should grab to move the window. This arrow is also used to toggle the quest window on and off, so you can hide it while not questing. And of course MobMap won't load its quest databases into memory until you actually show that quest tracker for the first time, so if you don't need it in a WoW session, it won't chew on your resources.
Okay, so there've been some more minor fixes in MobMap itself and the data collection routines besides this feature addition, but that's nothing big. This release is focused on the quest tracker, which is meant to be the basis of some more feature additions I've planned to streamline questing with MobMap. And I'd of course like to hear what you think about this new feature, if you like it or not, if there are problems with it (detailed reports about new bugs are greatly appreciated!) etc. - just leave me a comment.
Oh, and don't forget to update your database if you move from MobMap v3.04 to 3.10, as there has been a DATABASE FORMAT CHANGE!
----------------------------------
changelog v3.10:
- added: The new MobMap quest tracker was added. This tool allows you to track all your quests at once like with the Blizzard Quest Watch, but it has multiple improvements like showing quests which don't have a target, showing an estimated distance to the place you have to go to for each target MobMap knows about, allowing quick access to the questlog page of a quest and showing the NPC where a quest has to be turned in as a "quest target", all complete with MobMap quicksearch buttons of course.
- added: A new MobMap options sub-panel on the Blizzard interface options screen to configure the new quest tracker (or disabling it entirely, if you wish so)
- added: An option to directly create TomTom/Cartographer waypoints when searching for a quest objective via the new quest tracker
- changed: when using the quicksearch buttons to search for quest objectives, the MobMap window will not pop up anymore if an objective is found that is only located in one zone, if a quest drop is found which only drops from one mob in one zone or if a pickup item is found which can only be gathered in one zone. Instead, the locations you need are directly shown on the map.
Phew...okay, so bigger changes always tend to grow disagreements. I have read the comments in the MobMap v3.10 posting and extracted some changes from them which I could integrate rather quickly to improve the user experience with the newly added quest tr
Tracked: Nov 23, 20:04
Another bugfix release - squishing more bugs in the quest tracker. I want to get that thing running smooth before I even think about adding new features (though I do have some on my list, like making it scalable or allowing to ignore certain quests). I
Tracked: Nov 24, 06:27