I want to start with stating that I for a long time couldn't decide if I should make this mod or not, due to the nature of how it would function because of the limitations in the current UI customization implementation.
But as you can probably figure out by now, I decided to make it anyway and throw it out there.
If anyone would like to use it, well, they wouldn't get the chance unless I actually made it.
If nobody wants to use it, due to the limitations, well, at least it didn't take too much time out of my schedule to make it :)
It's called Viper's Group Window: Special Edition. Special edition because it is a bit special in the way it functions, due to said limitations. You will figure that out as you read on.
But Anyway, let's get down to what this mod does.
It's an extension of the group window, meaning it won't change your current group window in any way and you don't have to use a specific group window mod or anything like that for it to work. It will allow you to have a view of any group/raid member or pet, while adding the following things:
- Stamina bar.
- Mana bar.
- Freely movable window for each group/raid member or pet.
- Decide which group/raid members or pets to show.It all sounds kind of nice, yes. I know a lot have been wanting to add stamina and mana bars to the group frames, which was also the main reason for me making this.
However, here comes the bad part. Since it's made the way it is (only way possible currently) and it's certainly not supposed to function this way either, there are some quirks that comes along with it.
- You have to close and reopen all windows on zoning, otherwise they won't update.
- If a player goes out of updating range you might have to do the same for that player (close/reopen).
- Positions aren't stored and each window has to be postioned each time it's opened.
- The tooltip when having your mouse over a group/raid member or pet now has limited information. It's lacking level, class, location and pet point usage. I might find a clever way to add this in the future.
- It's now only showing debuffs.
- Currently if you lock down a tooltip it won't have any background, but I will fix that in the next few days (assuming it's possible, but I'm quite sure it should be, so don't worry too much about that).
- The title for the tooltip when locked down (for instance the name of an item) isn't being shown either. I have an idea to add it without causing any trouble, so it should hopefully also make its way back too.
- No out-of-range indication in the window.
- No class icon (although I might add the class text at some point) in the window.
- No indication of who's the group/raid leader in the window.All of this might make you go: "Then why do I want to use it anyway?"
Well, it gives you more freedom and added information - and currently this is the only way it's possible.
I've played a few hours with it myself and found it quite useful. Sure, there were situations where I had to close/open some windows, but overall the positives far outweighed the negatives.
For instance during a raid you will most of the time be in the same area and all together, so that gets rid of the different updating issues, meaning the mod will just work as it should. The bonus of using this is then that it allows you to have only the ones you are supposed to heal (or whatever) in a place where you can better see them, aside from having 24 bars jumping up and down in one big cluster.
I'm hoping to get Funcom to fix some of the updating issues or even pick up the entire concept and make a proper implementation of it - who knows?
But I'll try and see what I can get Funcom to do at least.
So the future of this mod comes down to mostly how it's recieved by you, the users. If there's interest in it, I will do my best to make it into something that's completely reliable (but do note, that requires Funcom to take action too), and without any of the drawbacks that currently exist.
I do have various things planned, but I don't want to spend too much time on it if nobody really cares about this quirky implementation. But hey, blame Funcom for not giving us API access yet ;) I'm just trying to find odd ways of making things happen with what's presented to us developers as of current, which isn't a whole lot :)
How to use it
Find the player/pet in your group/raid or pet window. When you mouse-over them you'll see the tooltip with the new bar and such inside.
Then just shift + left-click to lock that window down and you will be able to move it anywhere you like.
Click the X in the upper-right corner to close the window again.
Do it for any and all players/pets you want to have visible.
Version 1.0.1:
- New graphics for pinned tooltips, so they're no longer transparent.
Note that this solition isn't perfect, but it doesn't appear that I can change the default tooltip templates used, so there will be a few minor quirks (for instance the new tooltip will be displayed inside the default tooltips when hovering over something).
Follow the individual addon's installation instructions.
