NPC Scan?

[loogielv]

I know on the to do list is "tracking of rare mobs" but what are your thoughts on that? NPC Scan is one of the best in my opinion, but has a few issues of its own.

If you're not familiar with it, NPC Scan will detect, using the cache, whether certain rare mobs show up. It's very helpful if you happen to be flying over an area where there's a rare mob that you would've never known about otherwise. It sounds an audible alert, does a pop up and while it can be hard to physically find the mob sometimes, you know he's there somewhere. Perfect for taming Loque in SB etc. Is that what you were thinking of adding?

NPC Scan will also show you the known areas of rare mobs on the map and color code them, so you know exactly where to travel to to search. Where you just thinking of adding this feature?

Of course, I'd love to see the alert portion added too, since that really is great. I can't tell you how many times I've been flying across zones not even thinking about rare mobs and NPC scan goes buck wild.

It does have some drawbacks.

1) it uses the cache to detect the mobs, which of course is the best way since you dont have to mouse over or anything, but once a mob is detected, its in the cache and wont be search for again, unless you physically delete the cache folder, then log back into wow. Not a big deal, but frustrating when it detect King Krush in Orgrimmar (as a pet, of course) and now you have to log out, delete the folder, and log back in if you want to go actively search for him. It even says it will ignore findings where the mob is in the wrong zone, but it doesn't. you still have to delete the cache.

2) another drawback is it only searches for mobs that help with the Bloody Rare and other achievements, unless you specifically add the name of the mob. I'd much rather see support for every single rare mob in the game. Just because I dont NEED to kill Tak the Leaper in Barrens, doesn't mean I dont WANT to kill him. A better example of why this is a good addition is when you're in an instance and a rare mob spawns. YOu dont need them for any achievements, but the loot is still nice, usually. If you're avoiding trash, you might not ever know the rare mob is there without an audible alert, since not many people make a point to mouse over every mob they're skipping. Make sense?

[spiel2001]

nUI does already have a minimal rare spotter -- it will sound an alert when you mouse over a mob. However, nUI does not maintain any databases and it does not try to use the cache.

I do want to extend the functionality to include keeping a history of what rares you spot where and mapping that. I may, in due time, look into adding scanning functionality to nUI, as well... but that's not something I've spent much effort on yet.

For now, your best bet is to stick with NPC Scan until something better comes along or I get enough free time to play with it further in nUI.

You have to keep in mind that Blizz actively does not want you to be able to "scan" for mobs which is why you have to jump through the hoops you do with NPC Scan.

[loogielv]

yah, i totally dig it, I was just curious what you were looking to add later, and thought I'd add the idea. I do use the mouse over rare mob finder included in nUI, so to speak, but nothing tops that npc scan for the fix rare kill fix

[Vrallox]

I like how SilverDragon does it. Just enable nameplates and it'll scan them for any nearby rares. If it finds one a nice loud explosion will sound off and most likely give you a jolt. No mouseover required. (It sounds like a war zone sometimes while flying over the rare heavy Barrens. It also checks the cache like NPC Scan so you won't be missing out.

When you do find one it'll create a note on your map if you have the right kind of map addon. Only map addon I use is Carbonite so I don't know which ones work now that Cartographer's dead. It also keeps track of how many times you've seen it, when you saw it last, as well as a few other bits of info about the creature all on its own.

[Marthisdil]

NPC Scan IS great because of the way it uses the cache. You've already listed it's downfall.

Silver Dragon, the nUI system, etc, are ok, but you have to be within range, etc, etc, and it doesn't work near as well.

It's a shame there's no way to delete info from the cache via an addon.

[loogielv]

never heard of silver dragon, you say it also uses the cache? if that's the case, why have the nameplates?

[Nightmare_Lord]

true not an addon I know of but a work around:

1) open notepad: add following code:

@echo off
cd /d "C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft" This is the location of your wow
start /Normal WoW.exe
del "C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft\Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb" (this is the file path to your creaturecache.wdb file, when you click on this file a cmd window will pop up and go away, than the game with your createcache being deleted)

DO NOT ADD BOLD PART

2) save it as WOW with out launcher.bat (this code turn the launcher off) make sure you select all files under save time, and make sure to include .bat

3) save it in the main wow loctaion(same location where your wtf, interface folder is etc..)

4) send a copy of it to your desktop, change icon look to wow if you want, and than put it in your quick launch, start bar, or leave it on desktop. now when you go to launch the game just lauch it through this and there you go. now you can just use NPCScnaer and not have to worrie about rares.

*everytime to launch the game this way it will delete that creaturecache.wdb file which is the only one needed to make the addon work again and spot that rare again.


Also I use both Silverdragon and npcscaner since sometimes one picks rare up before other does.

Originally Posted by Marthisdil NPC Scan IS great because of the way it uses the cache. You've already listed it's downfall. Silver Dragon, the nUI system, etc, are ok, but you have to be within range, etc, etc, and it doesn't work near as well. Also note with the launch off updates will still happen, just the game will have to be closed 1st. I like to launch wow the normal way with out this code when I know there an update or when someone tells me an update happen, than after update close wow and relaunch the bat file It's a shame there's no way to delete info from the cache via an addon.