Difference between revisions of "Getting Started"

Revision as of 14:37, 1 February 2016

This guide is for playing on the official TAKP server.

Creating Your Account

Create a forum account at The Al'Kabor Project Forums. Game accounts are linked to forum accounts, so a forum account is required.

Create your game accounts by clicking Game Accounts at the top of the page.

Click "Create Login Server Account" and create a game account. Your forum account may have up to 10 game accounts, but you are limited to having three game accounts simultaneously logged in.

Obtaining the Client

This server has both a Windows and Macintosh client available. The public downloads for these clients are on a Google Drive that Sketchy currently maintains.

The Windows client has some quirks that the Macintosh client does not. If you have the choice between the two, the Mac client is recommended; however the Windows client is fully functional and is used by the majority of players.

The Preconfigured Windows Client

The preconfigured client linked above requires almost no setup-- you need merely unzip it and run EQW.exe. From here you log in with one of your game accounts after the client asks for some graphics configuration settings. If you get errors, try running EQW.exe as administrator.

A MD5 hash list of the client files is available.

This client is configured in the following way: (don't worry if you don't understand some of this)

Virtually all unnecessary files removed. No zones beyond PoP. Client size is 2.06 GB.
All character files, logs and client settings deleted. Client is about as clean as it gets.
EQMule patch v2.2. (nVidia glitch fix)
msvcp100.dll and msvcr100.dll included from the Visual Studio 2010 x86 redistributable package. (required for EQMule patch)
UIs included: Luclin Default, Power of Two, Vert.
All UIs made fully compatible; no more red UI error text when zoning.
Missing strings added to eqstr_en.txt.
readonce.txt edited.
eqhost.txt points to TAKP.
DataRate.txt set to 9.0.

eqclient.ini is completely default save for:

Velious armor textures enabled.
Alliance chat autojoin.
Keymaps for WASD, auto attack = q, duck = x.
Target Group Buffs turned on.
ShowAlarmWindow set to false.

Limiting Your Frame Rate In Windows

Once you have a functional client, there is one last important step Windows users must do: you need a frame rate limiter, otherwise you'll have an unacceptable experience in the game.

TAKP's client is so old that it has no built-in means to limit the frame rate, which leads to frame rates of many hundreds on modern hardware. This will not only needlessly overutilize your graphics card, it will also cause the mouselook to be very slow and make the Y axis mouselook slower than the X axis.

To fix this, you need to download one of three programs:

MSI Afterburner - Works for non-MSI and AMD cards too. Run the On-Screen Display Server and click the wrench.
Dxtory - (Use this) A Fraps-like program; not free, but the trial doesn't end. Click the Advanced tab, and check 'Limit Video FPS'.
nVidia Inspector - For nVidia graphics adapters only. (video)

The recommended frame rate is 60 to avoid mouselook issues.

(Optional - Recommended) Using Secret's Updated Client

Download https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/9x55ev v15 (as of 1/26/2016)
(new releases may be published here before link is updated http://www.rerolled.org/showthread.php?6477-The-Al-kabor-Project-(EQMac)
Chrome may think its a virus
Extract it into your EQ directory
Download https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/3/F/93FCF1E7-E6A4-478B-96E7-D4B285925B00/vc_redist.x86.exe and run as admin
Right click eqgame.exe send to desktop and click create shortcut
Right click that new shortcut and click the Shortcut tab and in the Target field type "C:\EQMac\eqgame.exe" patchme with the quotes
Double click your new eqgame.exe shortcut instead of using eqw.exe

Bonus HotkeyNet If You Plan on Boxing
The link above contains hotkeynet.exe and a Script.txt
This program will map your client windows to the hotkeys in the Script.txt file for instant window switch (no alt-tab)
Open Script.txt and edit it appropriately

Change each occurrence of

<Open "F:\TAKP PC\eqgame">

to

"<Open C:\YourEQMacDir\eqgame.exe" patchme>

Close and Save the Script
Start HotkeyNet.exe (You no longer use eqgame.exe shortcut)
Click Load Script button and make sure the one you edited is selected and loaded
Press Left Ctrl+F12 to open up 3 clients
Use the default hotkeys NumPadEnd, NumPadDown, NumPadPgDwn to switch between Client windows

Building Your Own Windows Client From Install Media

It is recommended that you download the preconfigured client, but it is also possible to make a TAKP client from old EverQuest installation CDs.

To do this you will need a copy of EverQuest from Planes of Power to Titanium. The best client to install from is EverQuest Gold version 2 (the gold version with Planes of Power) released in November 2002. Gold and Titanium should include all the necessary zone files-- not every boxed client will include them all, as they were often sold as upgrades to an existing install. If you get your files from a client other than Gold or Titanium, then you may need to copy the missing zone files from another source.

Note that you will still likely need to obtain some files from other users; see below.

Copy all of the files from a clean EverQuest install into a new directory. Then download EQMule's Al'Kabor Patch and unzip all of the files into the folder, overwriting any files already there.

Edit the eqhost.txt file to point to the TAKP server:

[Login Servers]
{
"loginserver.takproject.net:6000"
}

The EQMule patch requires that your machine have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86) installed. If you get the error "Exception Processing Message 0xc0000135" when you run the client, then the cause is that you do not have the package installed. You may already have this.

From here you need a working default UI. If the game fails to load after server select, then it's likely because the UI from your install media is not compatible. (in the uifiles\default folder) You will need to ask a TAKP user for a compatible default UI. The Titanium default UI will not work. The Gold UI is also not fully compatible because Al'Kabor was in a state between releases, so a few files will need to be replaced from a later client.

Launching the Game in OS X

TAKP cannot be launched by simply running EverQuest.app. You will need to choose from a variety of scripts or applications the community has created with the intent to simplify not only running the game, but also running multiple instances of it (boxing up to 3):

Each launcher has its own pros, cons, and instructions. Please review all options and choose the one that looks best for you. Once you’ve chosen a launcher you’ll be able to login and join us!

Installing TAKP EverQuest in Linux

This is a work in progress. Please send questions or comments to krakmojo via a Conversation in the forums.

Install Wine and PlayOnLinux
- Arch: From Console: "sudo pacman -S wine playonlinux"
- Debian: From Console: "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wine playonlinux"
- RHEL/CentoS/Fedora
1. - Install Windows Games and Applications on Fedora Linux 20
Open PlayOnLinux
1. Tools
  1. Manage Wine Versions
  2. Install 1.7.50 (x86) or newer
2. Configure
  1. New→ Next
  2. 32 bits Windows installation
  3. Select Ver 1.7.50
    1. Name this WINE instance. I named mine TAKP
3. Highlight TAKP
  1. Install Components
    - Install D3Dx9,
    - Install Dinput 8
    - Install vcrun2010
Alt Tab to file manager.
1. Copy TAKP Folder from Pre-Configured Windows client to ~/PlayOnLinux's virtual drives/TAKP/drive_c/
2. Replace ~/PlayOnLinux's virtual drives/TAKP/drive_c/windows/system32/dinput8.dll with the 32bit version 6.0.6001.18000 dinput8.dll
  - This file can be downloaded at http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?dinput8 (v6.0.6001.18000)
Go back to PlayOnLinux Configuration
1. Select TAKP
  1. Make New shortcut
  2. eqw.exe→ next
  3. Name it whatever you want, I named mine TAKP
  4. Select "I don't want to make another shortcut"
Under Configure→ select wine→ configure wine.
1. Graphics tab
  1. Check Auto capture
  2. Deselect decorate windows
  3. Check emulate virtual desktop to match the resolution that you will be running EQ
Close PlayOnLinux Configuration
Select TAKP and hit run
Browse to change path from z: to C:\TAKP\eqgame.exe

Linux Troubleshooting

If mouse gets a little stuck

1. Center your software mouse
2. Ctrl+alt+r
3. Center the Hardware mouse over the software mouse
4. Ctrl+alt+r

Optional Steps

The preconfigured client comes with two custom UIs: poweroftwo, and vert. To switch to one of these, run the slash command /loadskin <ui> 1. The 1 is optional-- it will keep your current window positions. Loading UIs via the options window will not work.

To move the Windows client window, hit ctrl-alt-r to release the mouse cursor then click drag the window titlebar.

EQClient.ini settings

The eqclient.ini file contains a list of settings that can be changed to suit your preferences, many of which cannot be changed in-game through the options window.

In Windows, the eqclient.ini is located within your EverQuest directory, wherever eqgame.exe or eqw.exe reside.

In OS X, the eqclient.ini file is located in your user's ~/Library/Application Support/EverQuest/ directory. The Library directory is hidden by default, and is most easily accessed by having Finder active, hold OPTION and click on the 'Go' menu item, then down to Library.

Some commonly changed settings include:

WindowedMode=TRUE/FALSE - This line must be typed out at the top but below [Defaults].
NewUI=TRUE/FALSE - Our client still has the old pre-Luclin UI for nostalgia mode.
Log=TRUE/FALSE - Setting this true will automatically turn your log file on when entering the game.
CombatMusic=TRUE/FALSE - Enable or disable melee combat music.
ChannelAutoJoin=alliance - The Alliance channel is used as the global chat channel for the server.
TargetGroupBuff=1 - This will allow you to buff groups with group buff spells from outside the group by targeting a member of the group.
Velious armor textures:

LoadVeliousArmorsWithLuclin=TRUE
LoadArmor17=TRUE
LoadArmor18=TRUE
LoadArmor19=TRUE
LoadArmor20=TRUE
LoadArmor21=TRUE
LoadArmor22=TRUE
LoadArmor23=TRUE

Velious armor textures are not enabled by default unless you download the preconfigured client.

Known Issues and Troubleshooting

Windows Client Issues

"My mouse cursor won't leave my EQ window."

This is because the client we use is so old that it was from the days when EQ would not allow alt-tabbing out of the application. The mouse cursor is handled by the client software instead of using the OS level hardware cursor. This is something Windows users will have to live with until somebody can come up with a EQW replacement.

"Sometimes when I tab out of the client to my desktop, my left mouse button doesn't work."

This is an issue with EQW. Right click somewhere (anywhere) and the left mouse button should work again.

"Sometimes when I alt-tab, the alt key gets stuck."

This is another problem caused by EQW. You can use EQW's built-in key combination to swap window instances, or you can use a third party tool to swap window instances, which is generally the better option as you can map character specific client windows to specific keys.

There are many programs that can switch window focus. Two of the more commonly used ones are Surron's PC Boxing Hotkey Program and HotKeyNet.

"The client crashes when the UAC box pops up."

You can prevent client crashes resulting from the UAC popup dialog by reducing the security setting on UAC by 1 notch. This will still pop up the dialog, just without the dimming.

Connectivity Issues

"Sometimes my character's spell gems stay greyed out and the server stops responding to my client."

This is what is commonly referred to as 'desyncing'. The precise cause(s) of the problem are unknown (else they would get fixed up) but there are things that can be done to reduce the chance of this occurring.

Ensure that your internet connection is uncongested. Try using a wired connection to your router instead of wifi.
Make sure your firewall isn't blocking client ports.
Make sure your frame rate is limited if running the Windows client.
Use one of the clients linked above if you're using a different one.
Try connecting over a VPN. Some users claim this helps.

Reports from users experiencing this issue are important in order for developers to identify the cause. If you experience this issue, please report it on the forum and explain what you were doing at the time it occurred.

See also this post summarizing connection issues:
Connection Issues for TAKP

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 * Download https://download.microsoft.com/download/9/3/F/93FCF1E7-E6A4-478B-96E7-D4B285925B00/vc_redist.x86.exe and run as admin
 * Right click eqgame.exe send to desktop and click create shortcut
-* Right click that new shortcut and click the Shortcut tab and in the Target field type "C:\EQMac\eqgame.exe patchme" with the quotes
+* Right click that new shortcut and click the Shortcut tab and in the Target field type ''"C:\EQMac\eqgame.exe" patchme'' with the quotes
 * Double click your new eqgame.exe shortcut instead of using eqw.exe