MobMap v3.20
MobMap v3.20 just went live! This is probably the patch with the most changelog entries in the history of this addon, and even though most of them are rather minor bug fixes and improvements of already-known features, there are some goodies in the bag :)
I have probably spent most time on the quest tracker, which has - after a bit of a rough start - become one of the most beloved features MobMap has to offer. But there is always room for improvements, even if it sometimes takes time (and listening to your users) to find that room.
In v3.20, the quest tracker has first of all undergone some minor enhancements, such as the type of a quest now being indicated in the quest title, or the number of other players (and their names in the tooltip) being shown in the tracker, just like in the Blizzard quest log, and some more minor tweaks. But there have also been major feature additions, one of them being a new "intelligent sorting" mechanism which always attempts to sort the quests in the quest log such that quests with objectives near your current position are at the top, while those for which you first have to travel a while are listed at the bottom. The objectives of quests are internally sorted the same way, of course, always showing you the nearest one first.
The other big change also related to the quest tracker is a new distance calculation method - well, I probably have to explain that one a little bit further. The position of a quest target (which is used for the distance display in the tracker, the new sorting, and shown as waypoint when you click on the question mark next to an objective) has been based on a precalculated position, calculated and stored in the MobMap database while it is created on the server. That works well for single targets at a fixed position, but not so well for targets which are spread out over a large area, like a bunch of mobs populating a whole valley. In such cases, the position has been assumed to be the center of the area, that is the center of all dots on the map, which is of course close, but not really correct (and sometimes even plain wrong, if there's a "hole" in the middle of the area where there are no mobs of a specific type). Especially in such cases, the new dynamic distance/position calculation is a big improvement: it uses the position data stored in MobMap - the same data that generates the dots on the map when you click on the question mark - to find the position on the border of such an area that is closest to your current position, and uses that for distance calculation and waypoint display. Since this calculated target position is updated as you walk, you'll always see the quickest path directly to your target area, not the quickest path to the middle of that area in hope that the stuff you're searching is even there.
Both of these new "features", the sorting by distance and dynamic distance calculation, can of course be deactivated - if you really want to :o) I have found them to be very useful when questing, as they provide you with even better and more accurate information about quest target locations and distances, while still leaving you the choice of what to do next.
But hey, I said "most changelog entries", so there's way more than these two bullet points I've just presented - for the rest, I encourage you to take a look at the full changelog for v3.20 following right after this paragraph. One thing left to say before though: if you encounter any new bugs in 3.20, please leave me a message here in the comments with detailed description and a stack trace, if possible! I'd like this version to be stable and reality-tested before I ready it for the upcoming WoW Patch 3.1.
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- changed: DATABASE FORMAT CHANGE! You will need to get an updated database copy!
- fixed: Token costs are now correctly displayed in the merchant tab
- fixed: The 'Suppress World Map' option setting of the MobMap quest tracker is now saved correctly between sessions
- added: The names of group members which are on a specific quest are now listed in the quest tracker quest tooltips, as well as the total number of group members on a quest which is shown directly in the quest title
- added: The type of a quest is now indicated by a letter in the quest title next to the quest level ("r"=Raid, "g"=Group, "d"=Daily, "p"=PvP)
- added: Shift-clicking a quest in the quest tracker now links the quest in chat
- fixed: Quests with all objectives completed are now correctly colored in the quest tracker
- changed: The color of completed quests in the tracker has been changed from light green to blue to make finished quests more distinguishable from quests below your level
- added: Quest tracker does now also show distance/position of objects where quests can be turned in
- added: Dynamic quest tracker distance calculation if mobs/items/... are spread out over a large area - distance is based on shortest path to the area now instead of a fixed position in the middle of the area. Automatically created TomTom waypoints are also being updated so that they always show the shortest path to the target area.
- added: Intelligent sorting of quest targets by distance has been added (can be disabled in the quest tracker options if you don't want the feature)
- fixed: World Map dots created from coords in quest comments are now displayed on the minimap, too
- fixed: When displaying dots in multiple zones at once, these dots are now displayed on the minimap as well
- changed: The minimap handling has been improved. This lowers the resource consumption and allows the minimap dots to extend to the full minimap size (instead of being displayed only on a part of the minimap around the center)
- added: Configurable background color for the quest tracker
I have probably spent most time on the quest tracker, which has - after a bit of a rough start - become one of the most beloved features MobMap has to offer. But there is always room for improvements, even if it sometimes takes time (and listening to your users) to find that room.
In v3.20, the quest tracker has first of all undergone some minor enhancements, such as the type of a quest now being indicated in the quest title, or the number of other players (and their names in the tooltip) being shown in the tracker, just like in the Blizzard quest log, and some more minor tweaks. But there have also been major feature additions, one of them being a new "intelligent sorting" mechanism which always attempts to sort the quests in the quest log such that quests with objectives near your current position are at the top, while those for which you first have to travel a while are listed at the bottom. The objectives of quests are internally sorted the same way, of course, always showing you the nearest one first.
The other big change also related to the quest tracker is a new distance calculation method - well, I probably have to explain that one a little bit further. The position of a quest target (which is used for the distance display in the tracker, the new sorting, and shown as waypoint when you click on the question mark next to an objective) has been based on a precalculated position, calculated and stored in the MobMap database while it is created on the server. That works well for single targets at a fixed position, but not so well for targets which are spread out over a large area, like a bunch of mobs populating a whole valley. In such cases, the position has been assumed to be the center of the area, that is the center of all dots on the map, which is of course close, but not really correct (and sometimes even plain wrong, if there's a "hole" in the middle of the area where there are no mobs of a specific type). Especially in such cases, the new dynamic distance/position calculation is a big improvement: it uses the position data stored in MobMap - the same data that generates the dots on the map when you click on the question mark - to find the position on the border of such an area that is closest to your current position, and uses that for distance calculation and waypoint display. Since this calculated target position is updated as you walk, you'll always see the quickest path directly to your target area, not the quickest path to the middle of that area in hope that the stuff you're searching is even there.
Both of these new "features", the sorting by distance and dynamic distance calculation, can of course be deactivated - if you really want to :o) I have found them to be very useful when questing, as they provide you with even better and more accurate information about quest target locations and distances, while still leaving you the choice of what to do next.
But hey, I said "most changelog entries", so there's way more than these two bullet points I've just presented - for the rest, I encourage you to take a look at the full changelog for v3.20 following right after this paragraph. One thing left to say before though: if you encounter any new bugs in 3.20, please leave me a message here in the comments with detailed description and a stack trace, if possible! I'd like this version to be stable and reality-tested before I ready it for the upcoming WoW Patch 3.1.
----------------------------------------------------------
- changed: DATABASE FORMAT CHANGE! You will need to get an updated database copy!
- fixed: Token costs are now correctly displayed in the merchant tab
- fixed: The 'Suppress World Map' option setting of the MobMap quest tracker is now saved correctly between sessions
- added: The names of group members which are on a specific quest are now listed in the quest tracker quest tooltips, as well as the total number of group members on a quest which is shown directly in the quest title
- added: The type of a quest is now indicated by a letter in the quest title next to the quest level ("r"=Raid, "g"=Group, "d"=Daily, "p"=PvP)
- added: Shift-clicking a quest in the quest tracker now links the quest in chat
- fixed: Quests with all objectives completed are now correctly colored in the quest tracker
- changed: The color of completed quests in the tracker has been changed from light green to blue to make finished quests more distinguishable from quests below your level
- added: Quest tracker does now also show distance/position of objects where quests can be turned in
- added: Dynamic quest tracker distance calculation if mobs/items/... are spread out over a large area - distance is based on shortest path to the area now instead of a fixed position in the middle of the area. Automatically created TomTom waypoints are also being updated so that they always show the shortest path to the target area.
- added: Intelligent sorting of quest targets by distance has been added (can be disabled in the quest tracker options if you don't want the feature)
- fixed: World Map dots created from coords in quest comments are now displayed on the minimap, too
- fixed: When displaying dots in multiple zones at once, these dots are now displayed on the minimap as well
- changed: The minimap handling has been improved. This lowers the resource consumption and allows the minimap dots to extend to the full minimap size (instead of being displayed only on a part of the minimap around the center)
- added: Configurable background color for the quest tracker
