I'm getting close to the point where I'm comfortable beta releasing PerfectRaid 2.0. I wanted to post here to give you a good idea of what to expect when the mod comes up for the first time, and get feedback on the overall system. I have not decided on everything yet, and I'm still working through things. My goals are the same as they ever were, but due to the changes in the UI, some of the simplicity has been lost. I'm going to do my best to give you guys exactly what you want, and exactly what I need.
PerfectRaid Options
When loading PerfectRaid for the first time, you will be confronted with a single column, showing each of the classes, in healing order (i.e. Warriors, Priest, Druid, Shaman, Paladin, Rogue, Mage, Warlock, Hunter). You will have the following options available to you in this "Simple Mode", the GUI for which can be accessed using the /praid command.
* Display your player frame at the top of the column
* Display your focus frame at the top of the column (below Player if active)
* Display your party frame at the top of the column (does not include you)
You will also have a radio that lets you select one of the following modes:
* Simple Mode - Class Display
* Simple Mode - Group Display (1 Column)
* Simple Mode - Group Display (2 Columns)
* Advanced Display Mode
Class Display is the default, but only allows one column (for now). I won't be coding 2-columns in manually, but we should be getting some help from Blizzard on that side of things.
Group Display will display the groups 1-8 in either one column, or two columns. If you choose the two column mode, then it will be split into odd and even (odd being on the left, even on the right).
Simple Mode
In Simple mode you have the following options:
* Set the backdrop color of the frames (not implemented yet)
* Choose to display the label of each "group" (i.e. class name, or group number)
* Add a vertical separator to separate each group, in pixels
* Show all frames as growth bars instead of depletion bars
* Display the health missing on each unit
* Disable or Enable Range Checking (it will choose your base healing spell as the test.
You will not be able to edit options while in combat, ever.
Advanced Mode
In Advanced Mode by default you will not have any frames created. You will be confronted with the "Frame Editor" which is very simple. It allows you to Add, Edit, and Delete different groups you'd like to display. You can choose from the following options (selecting as many as you'd like):
* Warrior, Priest, Druid, Shaman, Paladin, Mage, Warlock, Rogue, Hunter
* Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, Group 5, Group 6, Group 7, Group 8
Anyone who fits into any of these groups will be displayed in your frame, sorted by Name (I can't change this). You also have an option to enable "strict" filtering, which means that in order for someone to be displayed, they must match ALL conditions, for example you could show all Priests in Group 1. Keep in mind that you can't combine classes AND use strict filtering, since there is only one class per user.
You can edit, and delete these frames at any point in time. They will be saved wherever you drag them to and restored on the next game load, along with your options. These frames will only be displayed when you are in a raid (naturally).
What about Buff Display
Right now I am planning on a very customizable system with really sane defaults. You will be able to enter the "buff" editor. In the buff editor you are able to specify the following criteria:
* Name of the buff or debuff
* Group name (Alternate name) of the buff debuff
This will be the localized name of the buff, i.e. it will need to be properly localized for non enUS clients, but you are able to change these easily. The group alternate name is there so you can group Mark of the Wild and Gift of the Wild together as a single buff.
You can then specify the following display options:
* A text string to be displayed (With color codes intially, a color selection box later) or
* An icon to be displayed.
You can also specify the following conditions for the buff:
* Any of the classes
* Any of the groups
* Subclasses, "Healers", "Mana Users", "Melee", etc.
* Only show buff when its missing
Buff display works in the following manner:
* Buffs are tracked and cached for each unit.
* When they have changed, we scan each of the buffs you would like to look for.
* If that buff is found (or missing, depending on options) then we check each of the condition functions to see if one of them applies to the unit.
* If one of the conditions returns true, then we display the text string or the icon, as specified. If multiple instances of the buff/debuff exists, then the string is repeated.
This allows Druids to watch for Thorns on Warriors only, or Paladins to watch for Blessing of Wisdom on each of their mana users. This system also gives you the flexibility to watch for debuffs on a custom basis, for example:
* When fighting Maexxna in Naxx, every 40 seconds or so, she will cast Web Wrap on a number of players in the raid. You can specify this debuff, and give it a specific text string, i.e. "Webbed" so you know to watch those people and take care of their cocoons. You no longer need special mods to watch very custom things, because you can do it all right within PerfectRaid.
Frame Display
Right now the frames will look like the following, when left-aligned (no idea what i'm doing with right-alignment):
Code:
[MARKER] Unit Name [=======XX] [ICON][ICON][ICON][TEXT]
* [MARKER]: This will (eventually) display the raid target icon, if one exists. It may also be expanded in the future to show when a unit has aggro (a red sword perhaps), who is master looter, who is raid leader, etc. It won't become too extensive, but I'll think about it.
* Unit Name: This will be colored by class color for each unit
* XX: The status text goes here (DEAD, GHOST, OFFLINE, AFK?). This will also display the health deficit, if any.
* [ICON]: These are any of the buffs you have specified to show icons. These will be displayed BEFORE the status text.
* [TEXT]: This is what you're used to, with buff notifications.
Debuff Notifications
Right now, I'm toying with what to do for debuff notifications (i.e. Magic, Poison, Disease, etc.). What I'm thinking about currently is a reasonably transparent colored texture over the status bar, pulsing with the debuff color, for example, purple for a curse. This would make it VERY clear who needed to be decursed. I have not decided if I want these notifications in the text status section, but if I do, they'll be there.