Multi-boxing Part 1: Getting Started

[Syro]

This is a repost from my guild forums since everyone is so curious about multi boxing. I figure I'd repost it here in case it might help any one out. Enjoy....

I've been multiboxing now for about a month. It started out as something I wanted to try and see if it was any fun, and after running my three warlocks, I soon came to realize how awesome it can be. It really breathed new life into the game for me, however, it can be really confusing and take a lot of setup. But once you get through that, it's a breeze, and hopefully this post will make things easy.

First off, hardware. There's two ways to go about this, one huge beefy machine to handle all the instances of WoW you want, or multiple machines, one for each instance. If all you want to do is PvE one machine will do, and one machine can decently handle PvP situations. But if you're super hardcore about PvP, then separate machines may be your option. This post will concentrate on a single machine, go here ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Board&boardID=6') for hardware info on multiple boxes. This setup will assume five instances of the game.

My Hardware:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Kingston 4gb (2x2gb) DDR2 800 PC2 6400 (soon to be 8gb)
MSI 8800GTS 512mb video card
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 250gb SATA
BenQ G2400WD 24" LCD

My Software:
5 copies of WoW (Each needs their own folder on the HD, this is important)
Octopus MB Software ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=8785')
Bome's Midi Translator Classic

AddOns: (Only going to list essential MB addons)
AutoBar
Autoprofit
EQCompare
FuBar (DuraTek, Money, QuestsFu)
Grid
Healbot
JasonQuest
Multiboxer
SimpleMiniMap
SmartBuff
XLoot (looting is a bitch, so this helps a ton)

The important pieces of your hardware will be the RAM and CPU. WoW isn't a graphics intensive game, however a good GPU is helpful, but RAM and CPU are IMO most important. Particularly having a quad core CPU since you can tell WoW to use specific core (WoW uses two at all times, never just one). My setup has instances 1 and 2 using the first two core, then 3, 4, and 5 using the second two (which you can setup in config.wtf and Octopus). Obviously having gobs of RAM will help especially in major cities since you can get some stuttering action going on, so 4gb is minimum for five instances, of course, more is better.

It is important that you have separate WoW directories, one for each instances. If you don't, each instance will try to write to the exact same files, and you'll start noticing stuttering in your game, even if you have great FPS. It sucks to have to maintain multiple AddOn directories, but you get used to it. A neat trick is in WowAceUpdater, just change the WoW directory it points to by hitting F8, change dir, OK, then F10. Repeat for each directory. Here ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=8721') is a batch file to make it easy as well, also in Vista there's a way you can have multiple executables point to the same files with only one copy existing, I'll post that later.

Octopus is a keyboard/mouse p2p broadcaster for multiple instances of any executeable (you can use it for other games) regardless of what machine they exist on. Keyclone is another type of software that a lot of people use, but when I started I didn't want to make any financial commitment yet so I chose Octopus since it was free, and I've been using it since.

Octopus takes a bit of setting up, so here's ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/index.php/Octopus_Tutorial') a tutrorial and I'll post my setup.

In the Client tab and Games section, I have five tags, each pointing to my copy of WoW
http://lh6.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEqkAPESQI/AAAAAAAADv4/GpxOMS0iac4/s800/octo1.jpg

On the Server tab, my Keys setup is to pass only the keys I want. It defaults to blacklist, but I found it easier to make a whitelist and just pass the ones I want.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHErW-hSPII/AAAAAAAADwE/P16LrA5PIEw/s800/octo2.jpg

For Passthru I have the Windows key in there.

Maximize is one of the great features of this program, it lets me do things like this....
http://lh6.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEU8D4g9yI/AAAAAAAADr4/K589XSaiEOM/s800/IMG_0512.jpg

To set this up, you have to define the zones you want (don't worry about tying them to a specific instance, we'll do that later), one for each toon you plan on having. In that picture you'll see the Motions(my PvE team name is Sparkle Motion, you get a cookie if you get the reference :) ) and their settings. You define the position of the screen and then the resolution.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEsjivzPhI/AAAAAAAADwk/I8IV5uwd9pk/s800/octo3.jpg

In the Options section I have broadcasting turned off on Alt+tab. Very handy so you're not casting crap when browsing WoWhead.

Now in the Status tab, create a new profile for your team. Each item you make will have to have their own settings. Here's the setting for MotionA, the others are similar except for processAffinityMask key (click here ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778017311') for key values and what they mean).
http://lh5.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHSo5ngaH3I/AAAAAAAADzw/OwtLQgB85lo/s800/octo4.jpg

Once you're set, Start the server, and the click the instance button to run your copies of WoW. You'll want to wait until they're all loaded before entering your user/pass.

[Syro]

Now that we have Octopus up and running, here's my warlock setup from my MB trial phase

http://lh6.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEgZ6b5e6I/AAAAAAAADus/LYVDIJGYHok/s800/IMG_0484_note.jpg

Two seperate boxes and Octopus could broadcast to both. The character setup wasn't too hard since I could copy the WTF contents for DotOne over to the other three and the abilities are all in the same area. Basically, I'm playing one Warlock that's three times as powerful. I definitely pissed off some Alliance in Stonetalon. :)

I'm going to take a moment to say this....ALL ACCOUNTS MUST BE IN YOUR NAME! Account sharing is against the ToS, so if you want to multi-box, each account must be in your name, because I guarantee you that someone will report you. The account you shared will get banned and so will the other ones you were using at the time. So save yourself the headache and if you decide to do this, get the accounts in your name. Also, don't forget to use "Refer-a-Friend" and get a free month for yourself.

Since I use the keyboard to broadcast most of my key strokes, I needed an additional set to control characters individually. For example, my shaman team, my 5th shaman is my healer and I have macros that'll target a specific player, stop casting if he is, and then I can cast a healing spell on him. The reason I use stop casting is because I'll always want him to heal right when I hit the button. Since I didn't want to buy an XKeys setup (www.xkeys.com) I'm using a MIDI controller from my DJ setup and Bome's MIDI translator to accomplish this. Using a MIDI controller isn't very common for multi-boxers, but I figured I can use what I have without spending more money.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEgcd0ktuI/AAAAAAAADvE/jM955uSYZgE/s800/IMG_0510_note.jpg

I only use the big black buttons and the top 8 are set to Ctrl+F1-F8 and the bottom 8 are Shift+F1-F8. Once I get that setup in Bome, I hope over to the instance of WoW I want to keybind, and whatever boxes I want bound I just hit the key in the "Key Bindings" section.

In this screenshot, you'll see my priest has 2x4 grid setup in Bartender3 with 5 macros leaving me three spots for Heal, Renew, and Shield. Also, I have the healbot addon so I can setup click gestures for the boxes to do heals and stuff. I only use it when I'm busy lazy or when I want a different toon to heal.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHEgbXcMnrI/AAAAAAAADu4/jOvq7lve8nk/s800/IMG_0512_note.JPG

So when I'm playing and my tank needs a heal, I hit button 9 on the midi controller to target him, and then button 12 to start casting the heal. The buttons only go to that instance since they're only bound there. I haven't found a use for the other buttons yet, but I'm sure I will.

[Syro]

Here's a short, six minute video going over some of the things I've talked about here, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4ReXCJQOuI

[Drizzit]

wiki vote

[Apollo127]

Nice work. The video was great too, I'd love to watch more :)

[Drizzit]

wiki vote

what do you mean i did say wiki :whistling:

[keyclone]

Lies!Oh the huge manatee !

[Drizzit]

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Drizzit" (Today, 8:59am)

Lies!LMAO :thumbup:

(I hope you know i was joking about it)

[Vyndree]

I'm also voting for wiki, though sadly we don't have image capability in the wiki yet (but you can link the image URLs as standard hyperlinks).

Until then I'll make sure this is stickied.

[Syro]

Sweet! I feel so proud!

I originally thought posting this might get a, "We already have a wiki and threads like this!"

But I'm a pessimist. :p

[Apollo127]

You should, thats a great write up.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Dude. Delete your account names out of the Octopus config screens. :P Seriously. Unless those are faked. No need to borrow trouble.

[Thulos]

Great writeup! 4x Kudos!

[Drizzit]

Dude. Delete your account names out of the Octopus config screens. :P Seriously. Unless those are faked. No need to borrow trouble.Good catch... Maybe you should put something in there like account1, accoun2, etc...

[tusic]

Thanks for the great guide! I'm thinking about trying dual-boxing right now and your article and video cleared some things up for me!

I'm looking forward to the next instalment!

[lans83]

OMG this was a great post...I grabbed this app and about to set it all up now...I've got people in my guild trying to set theirs up too and i'll point them straight to this thread...you might want to add the little tidbit on /console masfps commands in ther as well..i had search around to make sure i put in the right command without running keyclone....another thing..the way you've got your 5 setup...are they set to PiP or do you have all 5 set to wiindowed mode in the settings? i ask because i don't see any borders on the frames

ps.

the following is my setup...i'm wanting to box no more than 4 accounts (i run with a friend alot) i'll be experimenting with different class setups with my g11 keyboard using the macro keys (very helpfull btw)....my main question here is how do i setup the .exe files to run on the cores without burning out my processor? do i set each .exe to a specific core (1/2), does it automaticallly do that for me on a dual core? should i mess with that? i can't find a deffenate answer on this here (might be phrasing the searches wrong, idk) please let me know....when i first tried this, i had a single core p4 3.0ghz/2gigs ram/8xagp ati card....comp crashed on me (might've done something wrong)

ty anyways for your answers

Acer Aspire AS8920-6746 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9300(2.50GHz) 18.4" Wide UXGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 320GB HDD Blu-ray Disc / Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS
Vista Ultimate 64bit

[Guiver]

I just recently decided that it would be interesting to try duo boxing :thumbsup: ... so after doing everything as you and the wiki instructed, I have an issue maybe you guys can help with :?: . I can't get maximize to work right ?( . It will change the size of my screen fine but refuses to move it away from the 0,0 position. :thumbdown: Basically, it's super glued to the left side of my screen. Also, it auto converts itself to 800x600 :cursing: [I normally run at 1280x800.] Any thoughts?

[Syro]

lans83: I mention the core thing middle of my first post, it's called proccessAffinityMask, and you can read more about it here ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778017311').

guiverusa: Did you make sure you're saving your change in the maximize option? Sometimes when I'd change a value, I would need to click out of it before switching to a different tab otherwise it wouldn't take my change. Make sure in your profiles section that you've set that one instance to that specific maximizer. Like in this screenshot, you can see MotionA is tied to the maximizer "MotionA" http://lh5.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHSo5ngaH3I/AAAAAAAADzw/OwtLQgB85lo/s800/octo4.jpg

[Sethanie]

(my PvE team name is Sparkle Motion, you get a cookie if you get the reference :) ) Donnie Darko?


Thanks for this! I'm new to this but always wanted to try it out. Now with my new priest, I have a reason.

Thanks!

[Syro]

You win!

But.....

http://lh6.ggpht.com/celeslie/SHucUr7o7YI/AAAAAAAAD4E/QdHRE7nOmQ0/s800/ButIEatedIt.jpg

[fantasypants]

omg midi controller! yes! ty, i didnt even consider that...i been eyeing xkeys, but this is perfect...now i dont feel so bad about my mpc not gettin used so much! :love:

[fantasypants]

nice midi!...never thought of that option,,i been eyeing xkeys, but this..this is awesome..

ima mac user, and i found midiStroke ('http://www.macmusic.org/software/view.php/lang/en/id/3745/') to be working great


anyone know if there is a macro player for mac that replays keystrokes in realtime,,not just mashed together


is there a mac section on this site i missed? or are we just the minority here? ? :pinch:

[Sethanie]

It worked!!!

no more afking out on my 2nd. set her to heal my 1st. :) you are AMAZING for making this so simple that even I could do it!

Thank You!

[Syro]

Sethanie: What were you trying to do?

[Sethanie]

oh i've been having account two run account one thru instances for loot and such for a while now, but i've always had troubles with afking out, plus the switching back and forth to loot was a pain. Trying to quest like that was just a waste of time to me. But, with Octopus, i can set my main to follow my noob around and keep her healed as she quests. hopefully once expansion comes out, i'll have two that can level together to 80. Plus the idea to have two different wow directories seems to have eliminated the lag i experience, but the real test will be having them both in the capital city at the same time.

The little i had read before on dual boxing seemed such a hassle and not well explained, so i gave up quick. But this seemed quick and simple . . and it was. I really expected for this to not work without a lot of tweaking and editing and general headaches. I was pleasantly surprised and quite ecstatic!

[Syro]

Excellent, glad I could be of help to you :)

[Guiver]

That worked out well. One other issue I've been having, minor, more of an annoyance. I'm using multi boxer, but I notice whenever I invite my alt to party, the main switches to bar two and the alt doesn't. Then if I switch my alt to hot bar two, and get into combat, once combat exits, it switches back to one. You had this issue any? Know of a fix? :thumbup: Thanks.

[Stormweasel]

Thanks very much for this guide Syro. I´m doing all of my research on this before I return to the UK and can start getting hands-on with my multiboxing project.

This has made a lot of things very clear for starting up and you are one of those people who are good at explaining things clearly which is a big talent - if you have the time, please keep us updated on your progress as I reckon you will end up with a very valuable guide for anyone getting started.

Cheers! :D

[Syro]

Guiver, are you talking about your action bar switching? If so, I haven't had a problem with that.

Are you using the stock UI for your action bars?

[Guiver]

Yeah pretty much, I've been playing too long and I'm stuck in my ways. :S Which UI are you using? 8|

[Syro]

Weird....

Have you tried disabling Multiboxer and seeing if it still does it? Or maybe disable other addons that could possibly be conflicting with MB?

[Guiver]

Well I know multiboxer is what is supposed to make all of the alts go to HB2, with the leader staying at HB1, but for some reason the leader goes to HB2 and the rest stay at HB1, even switching to HB1 after combat. I've just been working with it backwards to make up for it, but it's weird.

One more thing though. How do you deal with facing issues? Like let's say we're talking mages and you frost nova > blink. On the leader, it's nothing to quickly turn around because I am controlling him. But what about the other members? Like if you are 5 boxing your shamman and say a rogue pops up behind one of the alts, same thing really, how do you make them all target quickly/effectively in pvp? :rolleyes:

[Syro]

I'll be going more in depth about movement in my next video. I haven't gotten into many tricky situations yet, however, I have been practicing some movements and doing some tests.

I bind the cluster of Insert/Delete, Home/End, and Page Up/down keys to movement. They act just like WASD do yet they move all my slaves at once, so if my tank is standing there, I can have my slaves move in any way I want to by pressing those keys.

But really, I don't get jumped much in PvP, because I can usually two shot anyone. It's funny to see them try :p

[oll-e]

HOW!? I just started using AHK with a single computer all the keys are working and my characters can cast spells at the same time

but what i need to know is how i can move at the same time without using /follow?

there must be a script for using the mouse with x and y axis. what i want to do exactly, is be able to move forward, select characters and change the view similtaneously on both of my characters, right now one is the master and one is the slave i want the slave screen to do exactly what the master screen does.

i have tried writing the script as :

------ #IfWinActive, World of Warcraft
Lbutton::
{
ControlSend,,{Lbutton down}{Lbutton up}, ahk_id %wowid1%
ControlSend,,{Lbutton down}{Lbutton up}, ahk_id %wowid2%
}
return

#IfWinActive, World of Warcraft
MouseWheelUp::
{
ControlSend,,{MouseWheelUp down}{MouseWheelUp up}, ahk_id %wowid1%
ControlSend,,{MouseWheelUp down}{MouseWheelUp up}, ahk_id %wowid2%
}
return ----

but the problem is, when i bring up the wow boxes the mouse becomes ineffective and there is no responce when buttons are pressed, however the icon (that little hand) stays visible and moveable.

I cannot understand the script needed to define the movement of the mouse and duplicate it for slave if anyone could help i would be very gratefull.

[ultimatul]

heya im new in taht kind of things can any one tell me how I can download and from where that bos please :thumbsup: ?

[Grimbo]

Some part of this tutorial was easy to understand ( kinda ) but the rest got way to advanced for a noob like me. I've been dying to try multiboxing for quite some time now, but I just don't understand all that has to be done in order to get things working :(

Is there anyone out there who could give me a helping hand in this? If need be we could go through everything via msn?

[Guiver]

I dunno a lot of this stuff was pretty direct. If you just goggle the mods he mentioned and so forth you shouldn't have any issue finding everything [it's not ALL on curse.com]

As for figuring anything out the tutorial for octopus tells you step by step exactly what to do, so you shouldn't have too much issue. Just make sure the 'keys' checkbox at the bottom of octopus is checked, that one got me good one night :D

[Syro]

Yes, this thread is mainly for the people that have the accounts, software downloaded, and they're ready to use it. It helps them have a practical setup to get things going.

I didn't ask many questions because I like figuring things out for myself and exhaust any resource before I'll ask a question.

You should start reading other threads and forums, and definitely read the wiki. There's a ton of information out there, and like educating yourself with anything, it can be overwhelming at first, but give it time and you'll start to figure things out.

[Grimbo]

I really appreciate such quick response. I've tried to follow the guide line step by step, but for some reason I keep having the fealing that I am doing something wrong. I've downloaded the programs recommended, but it's the actual setup that confuses me

[Dermond]

I was worried that Octopus wasn't used much anymore. I'm glad this guide exists.

Now, I have a single, nagging question.

I want to move my cursor from one WoW instance (occupying the left side of my screen) to the WoW instance on the right side. AS it is now, I have to first click on the other WoW window before I can interact with it. I don't like that. Is there a way to just have that second WoW window automatically receive KB/Mouse input without installing a separate utility?

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not talking about broadcasting. I just want WoW window #2 to capture mouse and keyboard input as soon as I mouse over the input.

Anyway, yeah, I just want it to behave like it would if I were moving the cursor onto a second physical machine. NO EXTRA CLICKY CLICKY! :)

If anyone could let me know, that'd be swell.

Also... lesser question: Any way to broadcast mousewheel input? My control scheme uses the mouse to its fullest potential. The wheel, M3 M4 and M5, in combinations using SHIFT CTRL and ALT. That's plenty of action just on my mouse. So far though, the Mouse button broadcasting has been very odd. And no mousewheel support what-so-ever.

[Syro]

Dermond: That's a Window's setting. I can't remember where, but you can set it to have windows change focus on mouse over. I have it set in Vista, but like I said, I can't remember. However, this changes it for everything, so it's great in WoW, but can be annoying when not playing.

Here's how to in Vista, http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/switch-windows-by-hovering-the-mouse-over-a-window-in-windows-vista/

[Dermond]

Dermond: That's a Window's setting. I can't remember where, but you can set it to have windows change focus on mouse over. I have it set in Vista, but like I said, I can't remember. However, this changes it for everything, so it's great in WoW, but can be annoying when not playing.

Here's how to in Vista, http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/switch-windows-by-hovering-the-mouse-over-a-window-in-windows-vista/

Thanks. Just wanted to verify if it was possible in Octupus itself or not.

For XP users, grab the TweakUI powertoy to enable X-mouse style window activation (on MouseOver, in other words)

[oslofreak]

Great guide, been of plenty help.

However, I'm brand new to this and having a hard time understanding how to setup Maximize. Running on 1 computer with 1 monitor, going to 4box. 1920 x 1200 resolution.

Having a wee bit trouble of setting it up (and understanding it completely)... :P

[Oswyn]

Great guide, been of plenty help.

However, I'm brand new to this and having a hard time understanding how to setup Maximize. Running on 1 computer with 1 monitor, going to 4box. 1920 x 1200 resolution.

Having a wee bit trouble of setting it up (and understanding it completely)... :P

Check out HOWTo - Set up Maximizer (Updated PiP) ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=78266#post78266')

[RogueLover]

Great guide! Really helpful to figure things out, especially the Screenshots of Octopus. REALLY helpful!!!

uRock!

Now I can't wait to buy a battlechest and get started for real!

[CoreL]

Syro thanks for all the information to setup octopus, im just having one problem...

I used the wiki link to setup Octopus, i extracted my octopus folder to a location on my computer, ran the exe and it comes up with this error

System.ApplicationException: Cannot find type 'Octopus.MainWindow'. The assembly used when compiling might be different than that used when loading and the type is missing.
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlMapTable.ThrowException( SRID id, String parameter)
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlMapTable.GetTypeFromId(I nt16 id)
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlRecordReader.GetElementA ndFlags(BamlElementStartRecord bamlElementStartRecord, Object& element, ReaderFlags& flags, Type& delayCreatedType, Int16& delayCreatedTypeId)
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlRecordReader.BaseReadEle mentStartRecord(BamlElementStartRecord bamlElementRecord)
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlRecordReader.ReadElement StartRecord(BamlElementStartRecord bamlElementRecord)
at System.Windows.Markup.BamlRecordReader.ReadRecord( BamlRecord bamlRecord)

ive downloaded the files CSS and the net framework, only CSS was 64 bit version as i am running Vista 64 bit.

Please help :D

[CoreL]

I for 1 are an idiot, i deleted the dll file . I have no idea why? *Sigh*

redownloaded the octopus client and unzipped the file ... now running like it should be.

Sorry haha

[Gunner1236]

Syro, great guide. I am trying to use Keyclone instead of Octopus. I have yet to find a really good guide anout setting up the macros. Currently trying to two box a couple of hunter toons. Can get them to follow and such but haven't been able to get the targeting and attacking to work. From what i understand, things such as the attack button (being the same on both toons) does not fire. only one does. Do you know of a good guide for setting that kind of stuff up? wiki had some stuff but I didn't see anything to help un-confuse me. ?(