Ok, going from hardware boxing to software.......questions.

[Nisch]

Ok, so I've been watching a lot of videos and lurking reading posts and it seems like there is a lot that I've missed doing multiboxing my way. So.........I'm trying it out the way most others do it.

I got really discouraged when I DL'ed ISBoxer and went to launch 5 WoW's. It took about 3 minutes to load all 5 of them, and while my system isn't new, it isn't a slouch. (Quad Core, 4GB)

So I promptly quit and tried a few things to speed it up, but nothing worked. I then decided to start rounding up my computers to do hardware again, but thought I'd try going the SSD route.

I went and picked up a Corsair R120, nothing great, not the fastest read/write times, but 120GB of SSD would be enough for a few games and Windows 7.

Holy hell did that make a difference! I was able to get Win7 installed in no time flat from a USB flash drive, got WoW transferred insanely fast and was up and running in no time. NOW my 5 WoW's load (after character selection) in about 5-7 seconds! After testing it out a bit last night, I think I'll give it a good try.

Question is.......is FTL still the way to go in this case? I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around that whole thing but it seems quite possible with the instant "main" switching.

Anyone have a good article to point out explaining it in plain English?

Thanks,

[Ualaa]

If you're using IS Boxer, the default wizard will get you a pain free FTL system. If you're using something else, then the implementation of FTL could be a pain in the rear, which might make another assist system more attractive. Once you have an FTL up and running, it is the easily the best assist method available.



There's quite a bit of IS Boxer information in my signature. Haven't really covered FTL too much, as the software does it for you behind the scene. You need the IS Boxer addon enabled on all toons, and to pick unique modifiers for each slot (or leave the default modifiers, as is).

The idea is that when you're in window one, and press your Wrath key, it actually sends Shift and 1, instead of 1. If you were in window 2, it might send Left Alt and 1, instead. Because of the modifiers, the clients know which window the input came from, and automatically assist that character.

The IS Boxer version works slightly differently, but essentially works on this premise. IS Boxer has three FTL functions. FTL Assist Me (Slaves assist the active character), FTL Target Me (Slaves target the active character) and FTL Follow Me (Slaves follow the active character). Your hotkeys, for example pressing "1", run an FTL function, via a Mapped Key, in the background and then send "1" to all clients. So you can use modifiers on your "1" mapped key without issue.

The wizard gets you FTL functions, auto follow on a switch. Several pre-configured Mapped Keys, such as 1 through =, auto use the FTL Assist; all you have to do is drag Wrath, Lightning Bolt and Shadow Bolt to the "1" key, if your team was a Druid, Shaman and Warlock.

[Nisch]

so is that why the "1" key doesn't seem to work right on my alts if my Key Mapping is on?

[Lax]

With Key Maps on, it's first going to assist and then it's going to press the 1 key on all windows. With Key Maps off, 1 works as normal. If you're trying to type the number 1, you're going to want to turn Key Maps off in order to do it.

If by "doesn't seem to work right" you mean something else, explain away

[alcattle]

Lax, you said that key maps on, sends all keys or just 1 - =? I like to open things with the default WoW keys like "B"ags and "L" og for quests. I am doing something wrong?

[Kang]

Lax, you said that key maps on, sends all keys or just 1 - =? I like to open things with the default WoW keys like "B"ags and "L" og for quests. I am doing something wrong?

I had the same issue when I tried IS Boxer. Coming from Keyclone where everything is mapped, ISBoxer only has a limited number of keys pre-mapped. You would need to create key maps for those individual keys or do as Lax said and turn on key repeating, press the key, turn off key repeating.

[correct me if I'm wrong Lax ]

[Lax]

Umm.. with Key Maps on, it's going to do exactly what the Key Maps are configured to do. By default that's basically as outlined here: http://isboxer.com/index.php/guides/...guide-quickref

Usually if you want all your guys to open all of your bags or open the quest log, you would flip on Repeater for a moment and tap the key. Generally I would say you're going to use B and L for typing more than you need it to open every character's bag or quest log, so it'd be more of an inconvenience to have that mapped. It depends on your play style, obviously.

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, maybe you misread something I said. I was just answering Nisch's question as to why "1 doesn't work right"

[Nisch]

Yeah I was just confused. Going from a hardware boxing setup to software was quite an adjustment for me. I didn't know what the whole FTL thing really meant, and I was making it a lot harder than I thought.

ISBoxer is the most well thought out multiboxing related program I have seen to date.

[Ualaa]

The largest adjustment for Keyclone to IS Boxer (for me at least), was understanding the difference between Repeater and Keymaps.

IS Boxer has both.

In Keyclone, you effectively have Repeater on the whole time, but can blacklist certain keys to do nothing (or alternatively whitelist certain keys, so only those are broadcast). You could play exactly the same with IS Boxer if you wanted.
But the default is to play with Repeater off most of the time, and to created Mapped Keys for the stuff you want broadcast.

A mapped key is a very strong tool.
It can broadcast to every window but the current, meaning you can accomplish independent slave movement, while retaining the default keybindings in warcraft on all accounts.
You can target only your melee toons, for something like IWT.
A mapped key will mostly be keybinds (hotkeys) with a key or macro action within warcraft; but they can do a lot more such as turn on or off (or toggle) another mapped key, etc.

So, you'd ideally want to play with Key Maps (groups of mapped keys) on, but repeater off, for 95% of your play time.
You would enable Repeater (Keyboard/Mouse) when you wanted everyone to click the same thing at once.
You would disable Keymaps and enable Repeater when you wanted everyone to type and not have Mapped Keys get in the way (ie, entering your password on all screens at once).

Pretty much, once you get used to the separation of Keymaps from Repeater, it gives you a lot more power then straight Repeater (Broadcast) on all the time.


TLDR; You're correct, Kang.

[OzPhoenix]

The largest adjustment for Keyclone to IS Boxer (for me at least), was understanding the difference between Repeater and Keymaps.

Yeah, I remember tripping up over the same issue at first.

The advantage to ISBoxers use of Keymaps over an always-on Repeater, is that if you avoid using the alphabet keys within Keymaps you can freely talk in guild/trade/chat etc without having to disable/re-enable Keyamps. The only thing to avoid is the use of numbers, which I do, simply by replacing them with their word equivalent when chatting ("I had three runs at Tyrannus", rather than "I had 3 runs at Tyrannus").

It's so convenient to be able to do this.