Ion Alpha

Maul · 07-01-12, 09:29 AM

The new version of Macaroon (named Ion) is now in alpha testing on the MoP beta.

If you wish to have access to the google group for the alpha, please email me at [email protected].

Please note that due to changes in Mists, the Ion Alpha will not work on the live version of the game.

Thanks!

Phanx · 07-02-12, 07:09 PM

Emailed. Looking forward to it... Macaroon is probably the most important addon in my UI.

Aanson · 08-30-12, 10:34 PM

Couldn't agree more Phanx, same here. Maul, I read a post from you a good while ago when you were saying that Macaroon wasn't going to receive any more TLC, just band-aids to help it limp along. You'd mentioned then that you were working on it's successor, but I still couldn't help but feel a bit gutted about Macaroon.

I always loved how Macaroon offers everything that other similar mods don't. It's complexity was amazing coupled with the fact that it was so easy to use (after a few weeks of head scratching lol).

I can't wait to use Ion. Unfortunately, I'll need to wait for the release of MoP, as I'm not on the test realms.

Thanks so much for such a mind blowing addon; without it I'd still be a clicker. I'll buy you a coke one day soon. Promise! Keep up the great work m8!

I can best sum it up by saying that if I'd lost Macaroon at one point during the last couple of years, the game wouldn't have been worth playing any more.

Phanx · 08-31-12, 06:28 AM

"MoP" in this context means Patch 5.0.4, so unless you're in a region that hasn't updated yet, you can use Ion right now, and Macaroon shouldn't be working.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck using Bartender for now, as Ion isn't really usable for me in its current state, with no support for custom state definitions, dual spec swapping, or even different bar layouts/keybindings for different characters. The loss of Macaroon_Bound is pretty painful, too. I couldn't find an up-to-date direct-binding addon for spells/macros, so I've had to resort to filling up a Lua file with class checks and tons of SetOverrideBinding lines.

Ion's completion is probably the most-anticipated addon event of my life.

Maul · 08-31-12, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Phanx

Unfortunately, I'm stuck using Bartender for now, as Ion isn't really usable for me in its current state, with no support for custom state definitions, dual spec swapping, or even different bar layouts/keybindings for different characters. The loss of Macaroon_Bound is pretty painful, too. I couldn't find an up-to-date direct-binding addon for spells/macros, so I've had to resort to filling up a Lua file with class checks and tons of SetOverrideBinding lines.

Ion's completion is probably the most-anticipated addon event of my life.

I plan to get the custom stuff in very soon. Since the plan is to introduce custom visibility, I wanted to get the GUI for visibility done first before I got the custom action states working.

The layouts and profiles really need to wait until I can get the whole bar group feature established and solid. Bar groups are essentially what Macaroon did natively with unique buttons in each state, but with the approach of Ion I took (simple if you want it simple), I have to build up to that functionality, which has been a complex process.

Phanx · 08-31-12, 06:32 PM

Yeah, unfortunately for me, separate settings for characters, and bar groups, are the most important parts of my bar setup. Based on your earlier description of how bar grouping will work in Ion -- creating separate bars by hand, setting up visibility so that each was visible in a different state and hidden in all others by hand, and then placing them in the same location on the screen by hand -- it's going to be a LOT more work than it was in Macaroon, but I guess I'll live.

Maul · 08-31-12, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Phanx

Yeah, unfortunately for me, separate settings for characters, and bar groups, are the most important parts of my bar setup. Based on your earlier description of how bar grouping will work in Ion -- creating separate bars by hand, setting up visibility so that each was visible in a different state and hidden in all others by hand, and then placing them in the same location on the screen by hand -- it's going to be a LOT more work than it was in Macaroon, but I guess I'll live.

Well, I hope to make the Bar Group creation process easy and not a whole lot of "making things by hand first". In addition, placement of all bars in a group will be as simple as telling how you want the bars in a group to be aligned. You can have the bars justified left or right, top or bottom. Ion will take care of the placement.

In fact, with the way it is going, it will almost be like two addons in one. The "simple" Ion addon, with simple bars. And the Trinity/Macaroon style addon. All based on if a bar is a stand alone or a actually a bar group.

I am trying to adopt Blizzard's own philosophy, "Easy to learn, difficult to master". In this context, many new users can start using Ion with ease without needed "Customer Service" just to get up to speed. And then for the users that want to take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole can go in custom bar addons, I hope to sate those needs as well

Maul · 08-31-12, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Aanson

Couldn't agree more Phanx, same here. Maul, I read a post from you a good while ago when you were saying that Macaroon wasn't going to receive any more TLC, just band-aids to help it limp along. You'd mentioned then that you were working on it's successor, but I still couldn't help but feel a bit gutted about Macaroon.

I always loved how Macaroon offers everything that other similar mods don't. It's complexity was amazing coupled with the fact that it was so easy to use (after a few weeks of head scratching lol).

Ion will have all of the complexity of Macaroon, and even more so. And while Ion is a new name, really it is the continuation of Macaroon, and Macaroon was a continuation of Trinity Bars (which was a continuation of Trinity Buttons)

If there one personality quirk I have, it is that I seek change. Ion was a complete re-thinking of how I approach the problem of a complex macro/action bar addon and I wanted to reflect that in the name.

I can best sum it up by saying that if I'd lost Macaroon at one point during the last couple of years, the game wouldn't have been worth playing any more.

Things like this are often that what drives me to continue to make addons