HOWTO: Multibox SWTOR on one PC with ISBoxer!
2011-12-26 -- NEW! Step-by-step guide: SWTOR: HOWTO Launch multiple instances
Please use the above link to get started. This post has a bunch of information crammed into it in case something doesn't go right.
Multiboxing SWTOR is limited by the design of the game: the game window is not fully handled by the same process that handles the game logic. Simply getting it to run more than one instance on the same PC is a little more complicated than with other games. It is not normally possible to run the game more than one time on the same PC, but ISBoxer's virtualization now gives everyone this capability!
Here is the original proof-of-concept screenshot showing ISBoxer working correctly on one PC, using Video FX to see and interact with the other window inside the main:
Anyway with all of that out of the way:
There is both an ISBoxer update (39.1.1126.1) and an Inner Space update (5509 minimum build number). You will need them both.
* ISBoxer: go to the Help menu, and select About ISBoxer Toolkit. If your version is earlier than 39.1.1126.1, it should have a button for you to click to update.
* Inner Space: If the live build of Inner Space (5509) does not work for you, you can always try the current development build (as of this edit, the dev build is also 5509, but there is usually a test build available). To get it, right click IS and select Patcher, check "Download development (test) patches" then close and re-start Inner Space to let it patch
If you have not yet added SWTOR to Inner Space: Right click IS and select Add Game, point it at the SWTOR "launcher.exe" file, name it whatever you like and no parameters are necessary.
When you select your Window Layout for SWTOR through the wizard, disable Instant Swapping. Please note that if your windows are different sizes, and Instant Swapping is disabled, mouse repeat will not fully cover all of the windows. However, if your windows are all the same size, swapping will already be instant and mouse repeat will fully cover each window.
Therefore, my personal recommendations for SWTOR window layouts at the moment will be simulated via Full Screen Stacked plus a dxNothing window. (dxNothing is just a blank window for you to place Video FX outputs in. 1-monitor example: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1533 2-monitor example: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1222)
I am working on features for ISBoxer 40 to make it dead simple to "replace" Window Layouts with Video FX, and actually I think it will be much cooler this way. We'll see
Known issues:
* FIXED (IS build 5509): Window Layouts with Instant Swapping will not work correctly.
* Your Key Maps may require the Hold option, especially if they include a modifier (Alt, Shift, or Ctrl)
* You cannot launch multiple instances of the LAUNCHER, just the GAME. This is intended behavior and is pretty much the same for all games; the next launcher will come up after the game is successfully launched and the first launcher closes.
* If you have multiple monitors with different resolutions, you may need Inner Space build 5501 or later, and make sure the game is in Windowed mode (in the game) rather than Fullscreen mode -- see http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7407#p7407 for details
Frequently asked questions:
Q: As soon as i start up the second instance and log in, it shuts down both completely?
A: You have to be using both Inner Space and ISBoxer, not just Inner Space -- if you select a Game Profile through the IS menu (like under SWTOR, selecting SWTOR Default Profile) you are using IS without ISBoxer. You must select your ISBoxer Character Set in the ISBoxer Character Sets sub-menu to use ISBoxer
Common message popups you might get if it's not working right:
* "Only one instance of this application can run" - This happens if the SWTOR launcher is already running, and a second instance of it launches. It is possible to get this message under normal circumstances if ISBoxer tries to launch the next instance too soon (before the first launcher fully closes). At the time you get this message, you can probably manually close the first launcher instance and launch your Character Set again (with the first game clients still running) -- doing so will refresh the Character Set and fill in any missing slots, so this is also what you should do if you closed one instance and want to re-launch it, or if one crashed, etc. If it normally works, but you get this message once in a while, you may be able to increase the "Launch each Character ___ seconds after another is ready" setting in your Character Set to mitigate the problem.
* "STAR WARS: The Old Republic is already running. Would you like the SWTOR Launcher to close the existing process?" - If you are on a new enough build of Inner Space, you should not be able to get this message. Make sure you are launching the game through Inner Space/ISBoxer and not directly; if Inner Space is not launching the game you are not using ISBoxer OR Inner Space.
* "This program encountered an internal error and will exit. Error code: 1 Client initialization failed." - If you are launching SWTOR through Inner Space, but without ISBoxer, then when the second game instance is launched it will usually pop up a box like this one, after the first game instance disappears. You MUST launch your ISBoxer Character Set (e.g. from the ISBoxer Character Sets sub-menu in the Inner Space menu), rather than a SWTOR Game Profile directly through Inner Space, to solve this problem.