ISBoxer 42:Detailed Start Guide

From ISBoxer
Revision as of 14:01, 10 October 2016 by Lax (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

This content (or portions thereof) describes ISBoxer 42! ISBoxer 42 is newly released, and we are working on updating parts of the documentation for the new version.

This guide is like a more comprehensive Quick Start Guide. It only assumes that you have installed ISBoxer (and Inner Space) and are ready to begin configuring it on a single PC. (Multiple Computers will require additional work; it is recommended to try configuring on one PC first to gain an understanding).

Overview

ISBoxer Toolkit is designed to configure Inner Space for multiboxing. You'll use ISBoxer Toolkit to choose settings, then "Export to Inner Space" to activate the configuration and transfer those settings to Inner Space, so that you can launch your team!

The ISBoxer interface

As detailed on the User Manual page, the ISBoxer interface is comprised of three basic areas:

Top left pane The top pane provides a general overview of your ISBoxer configuration. Elements in this pane typically have 3 special behaviors: they can be highlighted to view details or make changes, they can be right clicked to pull up a context menu, and many can be dragged into the left pane or into controls in the right pane to form an association. All items in the top pane have Help that can be pulled up with F1 after selecting.
(bottom) Left pane The left pane provides a view of the selected item in the top pane. Selecting an element in the left pane will in turn show details (if applicable) in the right pane. For example, a Character Set may be selected in the top pane, and a Slot may be selected in the left pane, showing configuration for that Slot in the right pane. Many elements in the left pane can also be right clicked to pull up a context menu. Items in the left pane cannot be dragged to form associations like the ones from the top pane. Most items in the left pane have Help that can be pulled up with F1 after selecting.
(bottom) Right pane The right pane provides details of the selected item in the left pane. Changes made in the right pane do not take effect immediately, and can be undone if necessary. To undo a mistake, right click an empty area of the right pane to bring up a special context menu with Undo and Apply options. Navigating away from the page will automatically apply the changes. Similarly, selecting a different item in the top pane will apply any changes to the previously selected item

File, Wizards and Help menus are available at the top of the interface, with many useful options.

The Inner Space interface

When Inner Space is running, it is typically "minimized to the system tray" (notification area). The Inner Space crosshairs icon can be found there by the volume and other system icons; if it is not visible, it may be hidden by default under a "Show hidden icons" button (usually a triangle pointing upward) and can either be accessed from there, or dragged to the visible icons area. Right clicking the Inner Space icon will bring up a context menu which will list games, ISBoxer Character Sets and Slots (after you Export to Inner Space later), and then some items specific to Inner Space itself -- Add Game, Configuration, Patcher, and Console; this guide covers the use of Add Game, while the others are not typically needed unless specifically instructed. Note that various settings in the Inner Space Configuration screen (including FPS limiter settings) are handled or overridden by your ISBoxer configuration, so it is not typically necessary to use the Configuration screen.

Adding your game to Inner Space

Inner Space supports many games, targeting the Direct3D 8, 9, 10 and 11 graphics APIs, in addition to OpenGL. (Direct3D 12 support is planned when it is used by a related game.) ISBoxer will launch the game (or its launcher) through Inner Space, thereby allowing your ISBoxer configuration to take effect.

To add a game to Inner Space:

  1. Right click Inner Space in the system tray (notification area) and select Add Game
  2. Either drag the shortcut for your game to the Add Game window, or click "Browse" to locate the proper file to launch for your game
  3. Make sure to give the Game a Name in the Add Game window, and click OK
  4. The game should now be listed in the Inner Space menu

The Game, and its "default profile", will be selected in your ISBoxer configuration later on, so it knows how to launch the game.

Using the Quick Setup Wizard

Now that you've made sure Inner Space has your game listed, it's time to configure your first ISBoxer team! The Quick Setup Wizard will guide you through the process, which should only take a few minutes.

Start by opening the Quick Setup Wizard. This can be done via the Wizards menu, or you can press Ctrl+Q.

Page 1: What game will you play?

The Quick Setup Wizard will first ask which game you'll be playing. This is, hopefully, the easiest part of using the wizard! Your selection on this page will affect options on the remaining pages, which may be adjusted automatically to better support the game.

If the game you are playing is not listed, select "Other" at the bottom.

Page 2: Which Characters will form this team?

Configuring Characters with the Quick Setup Wizard

After selecting the game you will be playing, next it is time to set up your Characters. On this page, a tree of automatically discovered Characters is provided for you, along with boxes for manual data entry. If your Character is listed, clicking it will fill in the appropriate boxes to the right. Either click your Character and verify the information in the boxes, or manually enter your Character's information and click "Add character to team".

Depending on the game selected, Account name boxes may be available
  • For World of Warcraft, there is both an Account name and a Battle.net account field. ISBoxer automatically detects the correct Account name for auto-discovered Characters, but it cannot detect your Battle.net account name. Filling in this box will allow ISBoxer to make sure your Config.WTF file for this Character has the correct account name saved, for easy login.
  • For RIFT, there is an Account name field. ISBoxer automatically detects the correct Account name for auto-discovered Characters (noting that RIFT keeps a history of the last 4 logins). Filling in this box will allow ISBoxer to make sure your RIFT settings file for this Character has the correct account name saved, for easy login.

The Inner Space launch "Game" and "Game Profile" settings will match a Game and Game Profile configured in Inner Space. This is how ISBoxer knows what game to tell Inner Space to launch. If you have multiple Game Profiles (for example if your game requires Multiple game folders to multibox) then this setting will allow you to configure the right Game Profile for each Character as you create your team. If no games are currently configured through Inner Space, a "Help me" link is provided.

Page 3: What will we call your new team? (Character Set)

Now that you have decided which Characters make up your team, it is time to give your team a name. This name will be used to refer to this specific team, which will be turned into a Character Set in ISBoxer. This will be used later on by selecting the name from a list of teams you can launch, so it is recommended to keep your team names simple, and easy to tell which team is which.

Page 4: Window Layout selection

Next it's time to pick a style of Window Layout. This page offers a drop-down box with a list of possible Window Layouts generated for your team on your monitors, as well as a set of properties that can affect the generated layouts. Existing Window Layouts that are compatible with your team are also included.

Peruse the styles in the drop-down box and choose one that is close to what you want. If any properties are changed, take note that the drop-down box resets and re-populates with different generated Window Layouts, and you may need to look through them again.

If you are not satisfied with one of the generated styles, it is recommended to choose the closest to what you want, rather than to choose no Window Layout and attempt to build one from scratch. After completing the Wizard, you can easily alter the size and position of any of the Regions in your Window Layout. To do so, select your Window Layout in the top left pane, and then select Regions in the bottom left pane; this will bring up the Regions editor for you to either click-and-drag, or manually enter precise size and position numbers.

Tip
ISBoxer 42 includes a new "Use Video FX" option when selecting a Window Layout style. This will set up Video FX to show inactive windows in the given layout, instead of moving and shrinking the actual game windows. If shrinking the game window causes a problem for your game, or if you want a convenient way to use Video FX and still keep a Window Layout, definitely give this option a try. See Video FX Layout for details.

Page 5: CPU Strategy selection

reasons to use different strategies. ISBoxer 41's CPU Strategy page will try to select an appropriate recommendation for smooth performance for you, based on how many game instances you will be playing across how many CPU cores you have. (Previous versions of ISBoxer automatically defaulted to Round-Robin strategy, which was not optimal in a large number of cases!)

The drop-down box in the lower half of the CPU Strategy page provides the list of CPU Strategies. Each entry shows the number of Slots (game instances) that will utilize each CPU Core, as well as the total number of CPU Cores that each Slot will use. The closer those numbers are to the same value, the smoother the expected performance. For example, if it says "slots per core 1/3/1/3" this is indicating that some CPU cores are only used by 1 slot, while others are each used by 3 slots; therefore the expectation in this case is that some of the cores will be much busier than others. On the other hand, if it says "slots per core 3/3/3/3" then each is expected to perform about the same.

You can change your CPU Strategy later via the CPU Strategy Wizard if needed, so it is okay to be unsure about which is best. Choose a CPU Strategy (if you are unsure, use the recommended setting that has been selected for you) and let's move on!

Page 6: How would you like to control the game?

Selecting and configuring a configuration style with the Quick Setup Wizard

This final page of the Quick Setup Wizard will significantly affect how you use ISBoxer, so if there is one time that you should actually pay attention, it is on this page of the wizard.

Depending on the game you selected on Page 1 of the wizard, one of the following styles of configuration is automatically selected and recommended for you
Configuration Style Details
Bare Recommended only for ISBoxer veterans. This style of configuration starts without any of the standard Key Maps and Menus, and may require additional manual configuration.
Non-broadcasting This style of configuration disables Broadcasting entirely by default, starts with minimal standard Hotkeys and Menus, and may require additional manual configuration. Recommended for games with Input Broadcasting prohibited or limited. (e.g. EVE Online)
MMO - Standard Recommended for ISBoxer newbies and veterans. This style of configuration includes the standard Key Maps and Menus. Broadcasting mode is off by default, with all other Hotkeys enabled by default. Includes broadcasting to pass the standard MMO Hotkeys, 1 through =, optionally assisting first
MMO - Pro Recommended for ISBoxer veterans. This style of configuration is a more complex and advanced version of the MMO - Standard style. Additional Key Map assignment is expected with this style, which also includes a Menu Button Set for its custom Combat Hotkeys.
Generic Broadcasting Recommended for Diablo 3 and Marvel Heroes, as well as similarly-played games. This style of configuration is designed to be suitable for Action RPG games. Broadcasting mode is ON by default with this style.
Tip
When the "Show me advanced options" box is checked, additional options will appear, including Control Groups and Key Maps assignments to help you easily set up Action Target Groups and configure default Key Maps; this is especially helpful with the MMO - Pro style of configuration, which will use additional Key Maps and is likely to use Action Target Groups.

After selecting a configuration style, remaining options on this page are available by scrolling downward.

Basic Broadcasting of 1 through =

The Quick Setup Wizard includes optional basic broadcasting of 1 through =, the standard Action Bar Hotkeys used in MMORPGs. If you do not want this, simply un-check the "Basic Broadcasting" box and move on.

Additional options are available to customize these basic broadcasting keys:

  • 3 check boxes are available to add Alt-, Shift-, and Ctrl-modified versions of 1 through =. This will apply Hotkeys to mappings that will otherwise be created without them, in case you want to add the Hotkeys later on. Do note that these added Hotkeys will apply to other Character Sets as well.
  • An Action Bar Overlay (also known as the Standard Menu) for the 1 through = buttons can be enabled via check box. This option is disabled by default, but will be incredibly useful for anyone who would like to click on buttons rather than using the Hotkeys.
  • Auto-Assist is available via check box. This option is enabled by default for World of Warcraft, but disabled for other games. The reason for this is that different Follow/Assist Modes (see Party Mechanics, below) may not work as Auto-Assist, depending on the game -- It is recommended to simply manually assist as needed, e.g. by using the Assist Me Hotkey.
  • Auto-Interact with Target is available via check box. This option is always disabled by default, but some World of Warcraft players find it useful to include. As with Auto-Assist, this option may not work, depending on the game (noting that most games do not provide this anyway) -- It is generally recommended to simply Interact with Target manually as needed.

Party Mechanics

For MMO styles (Standard and Pro), ISBoxer 42 includes Party Mechanics options, most importantly for the use of Follow and Assist features built into most of these games. ISBoxer will select one for you by default based on the game you are playing, and some methods will work better than others depending on the game, but in case of trouble you can almost always use the "designated Main Character" option.


Follow/Assist Mode Details
None No action will be taken if the Hotkey is pressed
Directly Follow/Assist designated Main Character This option allows for easy, fool-proof configuration. Create a Hotkey in the game to /follow your designated main character, and another Hotkey to /assist him, then give those to ISBoxer under "Follow Main Character" and "Assist Main Character"
Target current Slot, then Follow/Assist Target This option allows following/assisting all slots, using in-game Party Targeting Hotkeys. This can be impractical/confusing in some games with wonky party lists (e.g. Star Wars The Old Republic), and breaks when others are in your party (or members are missing) -- in which case it is also possible to switch to another Follow/Assist method on the fly.
Target Party Leader, then Follow/Assist Target This option allows for easy configuration if a designated Hotkey in the game can target the Party Leader (or your designated main character), and another can Follow and another can Assist. Give those to ISBoxer under "Target Party Leader", "Follow Target" and "Assist Target"
Directly Follow/Assist current Slot (per-Slot Follow/Assist Key Bindings) This option allows following/assisting all slots, using a manually-configured in-game Macro for each Character. This can be tedious to configure if you have a lot of Characters. Give ISBoxer the entire list of custom Follow and Assist Hotkeys.
Directly Follow/Assist current Slot (Slot ID Modifiers) This option allows following/assisting all slots, using in-game Macros in a way that all Characters can follow with one key (plus some Modifiers) and assist with another key (plus some Modifiers). This is similar to the WoW option.
Directly Follow/Assist current Slot (auto-generated WoW Macros) This Mode is automatically selected by default for World of Warcraft. It will use generated Macros in the ISBoxer Addon to handle follow and assist for all Characters.

What did we just set up?

See also Quick Setup Wizard: Finished!

  • A Character is set up for each of the Characters you told ISBoxer about
  • A Character Set is created with a Slot for each of the Characters
  • Your CPU Strategy is applied to each Slot in your Character Set
  • Your Window Layout is created and applied to your Character Set
  • Universal Key Maps are created, with your selected Hotkeys
  • Virtual Mapped Keys are configured on your Character Set to select "Active methods" for Mapped Keys with different possible implementations -- for example, the Assist and Follow methods selected during the wizard will be chosen for you here.
  • Variable Keystrokes are created and filled in with Game Key Bindings
  • A Repeater Profile, responsible for Broadcasting Mode and also optionally used by Video FX, is created and attached to your team
  • Virtual Files may be set up for your Characters depending on the selected game, to assist with game features like "Save account name" (for login) and in some cases per-window graphics and sound settings as well
  • Menus will be created and, in most cases, attached to your Character Set
    • A Menu with the toggles for Key Maps/Menu Hotkeys and Broadcasting Mode is always attached
    • For MMO styles, a Standard Menu is also optionally created for you. The Standard Menu is mostly transparent, and can be repositioned over your Action Bar (or Quickslot bar or Hotbutton bar or whatever the game calls it) in the game for a simple visual indicator as you play, as well as the ability to click on your Action Bar for the same behavior using the Hotkeys. If the Standard Menu does not fit your Action Bar, simply adjust the sizes in the "Standard" Menu Template to fit!
    • A Formations Menu is also created for MMO styles. Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F by default to temporarily toggle on the Formations Menu, then click and hold on any of the buttons to activate the Formation
  • For World of Warcraft, a WoW Macro Set called Quick Setup 42 is created and assigned to your Character Set. When you Export to Inner Space, the ISBoxer Addon for WoW is created, which will set up the in-game macros for each Character.


Activate your configuration changes

After completing the Quick Setup Wizard -- and any time in the future that you've made changes in ISBoxer Toolkit and want them to apply -- do an Export to Inner Space. You can find it in the File menu, or press Ctrl+E.

Launching your team for the first time

At this point you have completed your initial configuration for ISBoxer, and it is time to try launching your team. This process can be slightly different depending on the game you're playing, but overall the process works roughly the same:

  1. Ensure the game's launcher is not already running (otherwise, if ISBoxer attempts to launch it, the launcher may simply determine it is already running)
  2. Right click Inner Space and, under "ISBoxer Character Sets", select your new team
  3. ISBoxer should begin automatically launching your team.
    • If ISBoxer launched the game's launcher:
      1. Log into the appropriate account
      2. Click Play
      3. Make sure the Launcher closes after the game client is launched
    • If ISBoxer launched the game directly and the game requires you to enter your password or 2-factor authenticator code, temporarily disable Hotkeys via Shift+Alt+M (or click the "A,Z" icon in the top left corner) to do so. Turn Hotkeys back on when you are finished.
  4. When the game client is launched, ISBoxer should automatically launch the next instance for your team
    • If you had to manually exit the game's launcher, or if it took more than 3+ minutes for the game client to open:
      1. With the game window(s) remaining open, you may need to re-launch your ISBoxer Character Set to have ISBoxer continue launching your team. ISBoxer will recognize those already launched, and should continue launching any missing windows

Troubleshooting game launches

If you're having trouble getting your team launched, it might be helpful to come speak with us! Our helpers are trained in diagnosing problems like this, and can often point out a program to close or a system setting to adjust to correct the issue.

Finishing up in-game configuration

Depending on the game you're playing and the options selected during the wizard, you may have a few things to do once you enter the game.

Enabling ISBoxer-created in-game macros and bindings

For certain games, ISBoxer can automatically create in-game macros and assign Key Bindings.

  • World of Warcraft: Ensure the ISBoxer Addon is enabled. This is done via the in-game Addons window.
  • Star Trek Online, Neverwinter: /bind_load_file isboxer-binds.txt

Manually configure in-game macros and bindings

For most games, ISBoxer cannot automatically create in-game macros or assign Key Bindings. In these cases, you may need to manually configure any in-game macros and/or Key Bindings for your selected Follow/Assist Mode (if the game has these features), as you may have specified during the Quick Setup Wizard. In-game key bindings given to the wizard are kept under Variable Keystrokes, and can be changed at any time.

The process for doing this step is different for each game, but generally all you need to do is make sure there is a key binding configured in the game to Follow, and one to Assist, and that they match what ISBoxer believes these key bindings are.

Formations and Movement Keys

Note: This section does not apply to many Action RPGs, which may have no movement keys.

ISBoxer provides a simple method for spreading your team into formations. (Tip: No, you cannot reliably move your team around while remaining in formation -- that is much more complicated!) All that is required for this to work is your movement keys. By default, ISBoxer will use WASD for forward, turn left, backward, and turn right, and this will match most games. However, Q and E are the default strafe left and strafe right (step left and step right) keys in ISBoxer, which may not match your games. If you intend to use ISBoxer's formations, select Variable Keystrokes in the top left pane and adjust to match your in-game settings.

Operating your team

Now that first-time items are taken care of, let's briefly go over the typical gameplay process. You will not usually need to adjust any configuration in order to play!

Once in-game, this is usually what we do
  1. Make sure Hotkeys are turned back on (Shift+Alt+M)
  2. Make sure Broadcasting Mode is disabled (Shift+Alt+R)
    • If using the Generic Broadcasting style, Broadcasting Mode will typically be enabled instead
  3. Invite your Characters to your in-game Group/Party. Note that some games will order the Characters in your Party based on the order they were invited; in those cases, it may be important to invite in the same order as in your Character Set.
    • World of Warcraft: Shift+Alt+I by default will perform the group invites for you
    • It may be possible to configure this function for other games using an in-game macro to invite each Character. If you are able to do so, you can set the "Invite Team" Variable Keystroke to match the in-game key binding, and then use ISBoxer's Shift+Alt+I Hotkey to fire it off.
  4. Accept Group invites. Note that some games will order the Characters in your Party based on the order they accepted; in those cases, it may be important to accept in the same order as in your Character Set.
  5. Sync/Gather Characters together. Often we leave our Characters in different locations, but usually when we multibox we want them all in the same place.
  6. Enable the game's Auto-Follow if available (Alt+F)
  7. Explore and play!

MMO Combat

This section applies to the standard MMORPG style of gameplay.


Looting

Questing

Formations