Hardware 5-PC multiboxing setup questions
So I'm curious what everyone else is doing in WotLK. Specifically, I'd love to hear from Vyndree and Suvega (and any other active 5-PC multiboxers). Have you changed your setups at all? Any new addons, software that you're using?
So my questions are primarily this:
1. Doing anything different from when you started?
2. How do you handle selecting flightmasters, quest NPCs, looting quest items, etc. I find this to be a near total pain in the ass. I use the KVM to switch control to 1 PC at a time. RAWR!
3. Do you use an 'everyone does something' button that you mash or do you control each action separately? For example, pressing 'ALT-2' might be bound to a castsequence on all toons (or all DPSers + tank rotation).
4. What software + addons do you use?
My current setup:
Hardware:
- 5x PCs + 5x monitors
- X-Keys Pro
- X-Keys Stick
- Vetra KM and KVM (all PS/2 - thanks Xzin!)
Software:
- (currently none on the 5-PC setup)
Addons:
- Action Bars - Macaroon (Trinity replacement)
- Unit Frames - PitBull
- Jamba (makes some things a little easier)
Misc:
- I play PvE only with a paladin tank (might switch to a DK just for kicks), 1 priest, 1 mage, 2 warlocks
- using /assist with explicit keybind for slave targeting
- using /focus party1target for setting CC on individual slaves
- I've experimented with both single PC (keyclone) and 5 PC multiboxing
- I setup the 'main' char to use keybinds {1, ..., =} and SHIFT {1, ..., =}. All slaves have those mapped to a NOP macro (no-operation, does nothing).
- I setup most slave actions to macros bound to LALT {1, ..., =} and RCTRL RALT {1, ..., =}, etc.. These are all activated via X-Keys Pro
- I handle healing via NUMPAD (0, ., 1, 2, 3) are bound to healer targeting. NUMPAD (4,5,6,7,8,9) are bound to different healer spells.
Issues:
- Clicking over to individual PC control via KVM is such a PITA.
- Switching from mbox to solo play (e.g., go raid on my priest with friends) requires changing my keybinds. I'm hoping that Macaroon's profiles work ok for me here (last time I tested, they did not seem to function properly but I need to check again with the new build). I could switch to using /focus for targeting and set myself as focus when soloing, but I'd rather not do this unless I have to.
Possible fixes/changes:
- Use Synergy + Multibox software instead of switching to PCs via the KVM (might make it faster to select flightmasters/NPCs?)
- Could switch to /cast [target=focustarget] instead of explicit /assist, but I'd prefer not to. This would make soloing easier.
Thanks for any input!
RE: Hardware 5-PC multiboxing setup questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Cernunnos',index.php?page=Thread&postID=149195#po st149195
I use the KVM to switch control to 1 PC at a time. RAWR!
Sounds like you need seamless software switching, this is what I use: http://www.kavoom.biz/km/km_overview.html
As for addons Jamba and KeepFollowing, my two fav addons.
RE: Hardware 5-PC multiboxing setup questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Cernunnos',index.php?page=Thread&postID=149195#po st149195
So I'm curious what everyone else is doing in WotLK. Specifically, I'd love to hear from Vyndree and Suvega (and any other active 5-PC multiboxers). Have you changed your setups at all? Any new addons, software that you're using?
So my questions are primarily this:
1. Doing anything different from when you started?
2. How do you handle selecting flightmasters, quest NPCs, looting quest items, etc. I find this to be a near total pain in the ass. I use the KVM to switch control to 1 PC at a time. RAWR!
3. Do you use an 'everyone does something' button that you mash or do you control each action separately? For example, pressing 'ALT-2' might be bound to a castsequence on all toons (or all DPSers + tank rotation).
4. What software + addons do you use?
Issues:
- Clicking over to individual PC control via KVM is such a PITA.
- Switching from mbox to solo play (e.g., go raid on my priest with friends) requires changing my keybinds. I'm hoping that Macaroon's profiles work ok for me here (last time I tested, they did not seem to function properly but I need to check again with the new build). I could switch to using /focus for targeting and set myself as focus when soloing, but I'd rather not do this unless I have to.
I switched to all-hardware about 2 months ago, and it's a huge improvement over trying to run all clients on one machine. Here's my setup:
1 Mac Pro (main machine with overkill specs)
4 Macs for the followers (which vary from overkill to just good enough)
Mods: SimpleMiniMap, Jamba, fubar with Questsfu, x-perl (main only), a few others
The only other piece of software in the loop is Synergy, which isn't vital but I find it far more convenient than using a KVM.
I do the wireless keyboard setup; one wireless keyboard, 5 receivers, all tuned to the same frequency. I also have a wired keyboard plugged into the main machine (for chat etc).
Now, as to dealing with looting etc, it's all about the spacial setup for me. My monitors are set up in a sort of U formation:
box3 ...... box4
box1 main box2
I have one mouse connected to the main machine, and a trackball connected to a KVM that feeds boxes 3 & 4 only. I use Synergy, hosted from the main machine, with boxes 1-4 as clients (this does require running my main in windowed mode, but followers can be full screen). Synergy is a little bare-bones and requires hand-editing a config file to set up, but I didn't find it particularly hard to do. Note that synergy not only moves the mouse to the other screens but moves keyboard focus to them as well, which comes in handy sometimes.
Box1 is always my herbalist. Box2 is always my miner. Box3 is always my skinner (though that one doesn't matter cause you can macro skinning). Mini maps on boxes 1 & 2 are scaled to 200% using SimpleMiniMap and placed as close to my main display as I can get them (so box2 has the mini map on the left side). When I see a node to grab, I roll up with my posse and just move the mouse over to the appropriate box to tap them. Same for looting quests; for looting on box3 & 4 I use the trackball, as they're farther away from the main monitor and thus more annoying to use Synergy to get to. When done with toon 3 I switch the KVM and start looting with toon 4. I don't bother with the trackball for quest pickups or flight masters, just for setting up for repeated looting for quests.
For fly points and talking to quest guys there's nothing for it, you have to right-click them on all toons. Jamba helps immensely with this though with its ability to have all your followers select the same options as the lead -- I highly recommend it (as well as donating a little sumthin' to the author if you like it too). I also heavily rely on questsfu to track quest progress, tho it hasn't been updated for 3.x and causes error text to disappear. I find I can live with that, I can't live without "work complete." I plan to dig in and fix this bug myself if there's not a new version by the weekend.
My boxing experience is mostly single-class with shammies, I've done a little bit of mixed-class in levelling a warrior + 4xdruid group (they're pushing 50 but world questing only, which let's face it is trivial). I find clicking buttons on the tank while key-mashing for dps/heals works for me, tho i'm a keybinder at heart so were I do to it more seriously I'd probably find a way to make it all work with keybinds.
I use the typical /assist macros, also have one that someone here posted to pickup and turn in quests, another accept trades etc, and one for skinning:
/assist party1
/cast skinning
If anyone knows the spell to cast for 'skinning' via herbalism or engineering I'd love to hear what it is.
As an aside, I find using Macs avoids some problems a friend is having using a PC as his follower machine, notably it getting very confused by the numlock and Capslock keys. YMMV.
Hope some of that helps!
