Secrets's cool tweaked client

I have a mod to eqmule's client mods for testing if anyone wants to test it. Its mostly his work still. It has a built in framerate limiter so you dont have to run dxtory or something like that.

Save a copy of your eqgame.dll before testing.

The only additions are the framerate limiter, and it bypasses a big data packet client sends when you zone. Its a save data packet that we dont use. So dropping it will help with going LD zoning.

H

 

Cool! I never LD on zoning (and rarely LD at all) but I will check that out asap. I'll just put it in another folder.

 

This dll has been fantastic for zoning lds. zoned over a hundred times, no ld. just the occasional lag spike on zone load. i assume that spike is when i would of ld normally.

 

Very excited to get in and give this a whirl. Looking forward to making a shaman or maybe a monk. Thanks for all the time and hard work!

 

Yeah the new dll is compatible and seems to reduce (maybe even remove) LD on zoning.

 

anyway to adjust what frame rate the DLL is set too?

 

Not currently.

 

what is the fps set to?

will this work on top of secret's client or only with eqw.exe?

 

works with secrets client, seems to be set at 40fps

 

I've been out of the loop for awhile, and I haven't changed any of my files beyond the eqhost one since Al'Kabor was shutdown.

I see a lot of different updates, is there a good list of what all has been fixed with the client from these recent updates?

The autoclosing spell books/bags or losing target one when alt tabbing really bothers me (as though you hit ESC when entering that client).

The one that puts you in a 3rd person F10 view and takes a screenshot when alt tabbing is also super annoying.

I seem to recall one that would also force your character into an auto run when alt tabbing, can't say I've seen that since server shut down but I know that wiped me once or twice.

 

i have a fix i am working for for alt tabbing with eqw, so it doesnt change stuff. Its super annoying doing dev work

H

 

I'm getting some quite bad hitching since the new dll. It only happens about once every 10 mins or so, but everything freezes for a few seconds. Lots of little micro hitches too. Also there are periods where lag happens, and rubber banding with mobs, but I think that is more related to the new patch not the dll tweak.

edit: I left filezilla running in the background, it might be that. I will test more tomorrow.

 

pretty sure everything you've mentioned is eqw.exe, although i've never experienced the screenshot problem

there are only 2 clients. the eqw.exe + eqmules patch 2.2 (eqgame.dll) which is what the latest client on Al`kabor was

and then

secret's updated client, which uses eqgame.exe

Haynar is just building on eqmules patch (eqgame.dll) which works with both clients... Secrets in chat said Haynar is incorporating his changes into this new patch. So I believe we will phase out secret's client? (speculative) and then just use eqw.exe + eqgame.dll

 

It would be great if we could have one consolidated PC client instead of a standard/optional setup.

 

So for now I should wait and allow Haynar to do his magic and eventually download whatever changes he has to eqw.exe

Got it! Thanks as always Haynar.

 

Don't wait on me. I am doing a little at a time. My changes to dll so far just add a framerate limiter, and block client sending this huge save packet to the server when zoning.

Would it be neat to have everything all in one? Yes. Ultimately it would be best to not need eqw.exe at all. But it needs to function totally normal. Even allowing entering and exiting full screen using alt-enter.

I am not actively working on the dll right now. Its a good start and it helps zoning and prevents needing external software like dxtory. A couple of the big complaints about the old client.

Everyones experience is different. And thats a major problem. What works best for one person, may not for another. Secrets client mods work horribly for me. Thats why I did work on dll. To get me something that helps me. Yep. It was totally self serving. But I am sharing.

There are concerns that eqgame.dll could turn into some elaborate hack detection utility like p99. I guess it could. But its not in the works or even being discussed at this point. And I am not gonna do it. Keeping ahead of the script kiddies is a royal pain in the ass. There are more important things to work on.

The community needs to do some self-policing. If you see someone hacking, cheating, warping, or any of that crap, then report them. If the community helps with that stuff, the needs for elaborate hack detection in a dll wont be a priority.

We will try our best to prevent hacks from working. It takes mad skills to make some of these hacks. And it takes some serious programming skills to prevent too.

H

 

Just a heads up on the new DLL. I finally tried this and it appears as the frame limiter is not functioning on my system. Mouselook responded smoothly, but I got odd turning lag (arrow keys would stick for a second) and one of my three windows always looked like it was running at low fps. I loaded Dxtory and turned off the fps limiter to view the framerate and they clock in around 180. Detailed my computer specs below if it helps:

Windows 7 64bit with sp1 and all current security and critical updates
Intel i7-3770 @3.4GHz
16GB RAM
ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5700 (driver version 15.20.1062, latest I believe for this legacy device)
Maybe its the overdrive in the driver. I'll mess with that.

Edit: Yup, this doesn't work with AMD overdrive. Disabling it brings the fps down to 40. However, only the active window will be set to 40 it seems. Inactive windows drop to 20.

 

Is there a work around to force 40 fps to all windows? Or would it be possible to get the dll with just the network packet change? Lovin the 5-10 second zone times.

 

I personally like 30 fps.

Here is my fixed 30 fps version, background and foreground. I have also added stuff to help with using alt-tab so keys don't get stuck. I did this different, by using a function already in the client, rather than setting certain key flags.


H

 

Thanks Haynar. I'll check it out.

I found that with the original EQW client, the main reason alt-tab would get stuck would be if I alt-tabbed on one of my windows while zoning. So, I would just zone my characters one at a time (autofollow for the win) completely before switching to another window. After following that habit alt-tab sticking is extremely rare for me. Of course, everyone's mileage may vary, but in case it helps coding a fix in, I thought I'd mention that.

 

Workin good Haynar, thanks! One thing I noticed as well is that /camp desktop actually works now more consistently. In the past, it seemed to work on the first window but not the other two when I would initiate /camp desktop from each client at the same time.

 

Interesting. I quit using desktop, since it rarely worked. Might have stumbled on something there. I like to use /camp desktop and walk away. But thats a sure fire way to come back to a naked char.

 

I survived a fairly long zone-in that normally would've usually resulted in an LD with the latest eqgame.dll so that's working very well so far

But, I still have fairly frequent LDs in Hate (haven't been to Fear recently, but those 2 seem to be the worst for me) and occational LDs on raid mob AoEs using Secrets's Client and a wired internet connection

 

I remember at some point on PC, /camp desktop wouldn't work correctly unless you had your spell book open.

That's how I camp to this day, no problems

 

Spell book open, good info. I will try to see what client is doing different while spellbook is open.

 

can we get a 60 front and back ground fps DLL?

 

Or 50, I actually prefer that.

 

I am trying a fix for clicking on inactive window, so it doesn't send that as a mouse click in game. Then I will put up a variety, so ppl can use what works best for them.

 

Would it be difficult to tie the DLL to a simple ini file to adjust the FPS? e.g.

[Game Settings]
FPS=40