IRL - Newbie question

[MindBlayde]

So I've read a lot, watched the intro guides - great work btw - a whole lot of times and figured out how to launch multiple instances of EQ. BUT I feel like I'm missing something completely.
Namely how do I effectively run all the "background" instances of EQ in such a way that they don't tax my nearly 10 year old Windows 10 system. Running everything from one EQ directory I've been able to get 4 instances going at 1920x1080 windowed, however that is the limit.
It seems to me that the optimum way to do more might be to have my Foreground character (i.e. the character I actively play) run from one EQ directory, in which the settings for EQ are turned to a decent level, and have all the Background characters run from another EQ directory in which as much as possible is turned down as low as possible and sound is turned completely off. Does that sound feasible?
If I've missed something please let me know.

 

[Sic]

You want framelimiter.

You don't *Need* to do anything else (other than turning off news new UI engine)

 

[MindBlayde]

Thank you Sic. After watching your linked video I found the /mqsettings command and implemented Background Frame Limiting - does this do anything with the sound settings for the background instances?
Also, pardon my dumbness, what is the New UI Engine you mentioned? I feel Like I've seen that somewhere but cannot recall where. [EDIT] Never mind, I found it in Options / display "Use new UI Engine" checkbox.

 

[an_image]

So I've read a lot, watched the intro guides - great work btw - a whole lot of times and figured out how to launch multiple instances of EQ. BUT I feel like I'm missing something completely.
Namely how do I effectively run all the "background" instances of EQ in such a way that they don't tax my nearly 10 year old Windows 10 system. Running everything from one EQ directory I've been able to get 4 instances going at 1920x1080 windowed, however that is the limit.
It seems to me that the optimum way to do more might be to have my Foreground character (i.e. the character I actively play) run from one EQ directory, in which the settings for EQ are turned to a decent level, and have all the Background characters run from another EQ directory in which as much as possible is turned down as low as possible and sound is turned completely off. Does that sound feasible?
If I've missed something please let me know.

Framelimiter, kill your clip plane and shiny shit in eq, etc. i routinely used to run 4-6 teams of 6…24-36 instances on lenovo t420’s (Yes the big brick laptops) with no video card and 12-16 ram). Ran a little hot but still works great. Was running 3-4 machines of those at different points in time…so you can do plenty with very little if tou set-up right.

Why you ask? Because they were free or inexpensive…about $40-$60 bucks each and a little mote for ram…and they’re bulletproof. Thinkpads are hard to kill….and not for lack of trying

 

[ArcaneProphet]

Thank you Sic. After watching your linked video I found the /mqsettings command and implemented Background Frame Limiting - does this do anything with the sound settings for the background instances?
Also, pardon my dumbness, what is the New UI Engine you mentioned? I feel Like I've seen that somewhere but cannot recall where. [EDIT] Never mind, I found it in Options / display "Use new UI Engine" checkbox.

famelimiter won't do anything with audio. I believe that's going to be something controlled by each character settings, and if you are sharing the same install directory, the last character to logout will be the ini file each will use the next time they login. So either they will all be muted or all have audio on.

I also share the same install directory for my group because frankly I'm not motivated to take the steps to fix that. Instead I used Windows built-in Sound Mixer. When all instances are loaded, right click Speaker on your task bar and select Open Volume Mixer, then you can choose which executable to mute.

Maybe others have better recommendations for managing background audio.

 

[Lord Sivion]

I forget how to do this because it's been so long, but there is a way you can run the graphics as stick figures as well. I heard that makes life easier especially when running raid crews.

 

[Psy]

I forget how to do this because it's been so long, but there is a way you can run the graphics as stick figures as well. I heard that makes life easier especially when running raid crews.

From an older post

1. Locate and Open \\Everquest\eqclient.ini
2. Under [Defaults], Locate line StickFigures=[0 or 1]
   1. If this line does not exist, create it.
3. Change value as desired:
   1. Bool Turn Stick Figures OFF -- StickFigures=0
   2. Bool Turn Stick Figures ON -- StickFigures=1

 

[an_image]

@ArcaneProphet you’ve obviously not yet learned to enjoy the akanon or rivervale music going off on 24-36 i stances all at once my friend…you haven’t lived until you’ve hunted through 4-5 teams worth of chars trying to figure which one you forgot to silence on the last logout and now fucked your ini to cause you to have to manually silence them all…

And its of course going to happen late at night when the babies or kids finally went to sleep causing your wife to go…

 

[Algar]

I keep sound volume lowered to 0 and then use a macro to raise the volume on my driver (by loading the macro in his character config)
Later i may be able to post the specifics of how, but i'm pretty sure it is just directions and information i found searching this forum.

 

[MindBlayde]

famelimiter won't do anything with audio. I believe that's going to be something controlled by each character settings, and if you are sharing the same install directory, the last character to logout will be the ini file each will use the next time they login. So either they will all be muted or all have audio on.

I also share the same install directory for my group because frankly I'm not motivated to take the steps to fix that. Instead I used Windows built-in Sound Mixer. When all instances are loaded, right click Speaker on your task bar and select Open Volume Mixer, then you can choose which executable to mute.

Maybe others have better recommendations for managing background audio.

I've decided to just do without audio on all characters as I'm unaware of anything in the game that requires it. If this assumption is incorrect please let me know.
I don't think I'll miss it is much, except maybe the sound of some mob breaking all my fragile bones while I'm afk

I keep sound volume lowered to 0 and then use a macro to raise the volume on my driver (by loading the macro in his character config)
Later i may be able to post the specifics of how, but i'm pretty sure it is just directions and information i found searching this forum.

If you find the time to post how you do this I'd be interested, I'm sure others will as well. If it's in a macro then I think turning the sound back down to zero should also be possible when it's time to logout of the game.

 

[ArcaneProphet]

I've decided to just do without audio on all characters as I'm unaware of anything in the game that requires it. If this assumption is incorrect please let me know.
I don't think I'll miss it is much, except maybe the sound of some mob breaking all my fragile bones while I'm afk

I get it, but I love the EQ soundtrack too much to not hear it.

 

[ArcaneProphet]

@ArcaneProphet you’ve obviously not yet learned to enjoy the akanon or rivervale music going off on 24-36 i stances all at once my friend…you haven’t lived until you’ve hunted through 4-5 teams worth of chars trying to figure which one you forgot to silence on the last logout and now fucked your ini to cause you to have to manually silence them all…

Ahh, the great Rivervale orchestra!!

 

[Algar]

I've decided to just do without audio on all characters as I'm unaware of anything in the game that requires it. If this assumption is incorrect please let me know.
I don't think I'll miss it is much, except maybe the sound of some mob breaking all my fragile bones while I'm afk


If you find the time to post how you do this I'd be interested, I'm sure others will as well. If it's in a macro then I think turning the sound back down to zero should also be possible when it's time to logout of the game.

Question - - Audio On Focused Window Only?

Is there any automated way to have audio turn off on background EQ windows and only give audio to the focused window? That way when I switch to different characters in the foreground I don't have to fiddle with their settings to get sound on/off?

www.redguides.com

A search away

 

[MindBlayde]

Question - - Audio On Focused Window Only?

Is there any automated way to have audio turn off on background EQ windows and only give audio to the focused window? That way when I switch to different characters in the foreground I don't have to fiddle with their settings to get sound on/off?

www.redguides.com

A search away

I used to be able to do this stuff almost without trying. We take so much for granted, then miss it equally when we lose it.

Thank you for the pointer.

 

[Algar]

I used to be able to do this stuff almost without trying. We take so much for granted, then miss it equally when we lose it.

Thank you for the pointer.

I meant for me, not you; I knew (exactly) what to search for XD
I needed the reminder.

 

[Smartiez]

This game has audio? /faint

 

[rojadruid]

nosound.txt in the main eq folder for the win.

 

[Algar]

nosound.txt in the main eq folder for the win.

That doesn't help you at all if you want only one instance to have sound, unless you are using multiple installs.
But yeah, if he wants no sound at all, that'll do it!

 

[Lord Sivion]

Just turn off your monitor and speakers and play by feel.

The matrix has you....

 

[MindBlayde]

That doesn't help you at all if you want only one instance to have sound, unless you are using multiple installs.
But yeah, if he wants no sound at all, that'll do it!

So I followed the path you previously sent me, created the macros and am now able to turn off sound on all the background instances. I also adjusted the soundon macro to set the volumes at the levels I prefer , this made me feel quite accomplished! I also ensure that I turn it off for the "foreground instance" when I logout out or I am bombarded with multiple out of sync soundtracks as the clients launch.

I've also switched to using the endearing old models, that made a huge difference in performance. In step with frame limiter in mqsettings I am now able to run 6 instances of EQ, a browser, word and excel and my PC is still down below 50% utilization.

I do have another question though. In all the videos the "Group" window shown has space for six hotkey-able buttons directly above "Invite" and "Disband". Mine does not. Is this version of the Group window available somewhere, or perhaps there is a way I can modify mine?

 

[Algar]

So I followed the path you previously sent me, created the macros and am now able to turn off sound on all the background instances. I also adjusted the soundon macro to set the volumes at the levels I prefer , this made me feel quite accomplished! I also ensure that I turn it off for the "foreground instance" when I logout out or I am bombarded with multiple out of sync soundtracks as the clients launch.

I've also switched to using the endearing old models, that made a huge difference in performance. In step with frame limiter in mqsettings I am now able to run 6 instances of EQ, a browser, word and excel and my PC is still down below 50% utilization.

I do have another question though. In all the videos the "Group" window shown has space for six hotkey-able buttons directly above "Invite" and "Disband". Mine does not. Is this version of the Group window available somewhere, or perhaps there is a way I can modify mine?

Mq2groupinfo
Is the plugin that shows the range numbers and the hotkey box there.
I would first ensure that it is loaded.

Sometimes, it is just a matter of making your group window larger.
Depending on your UI, you may need to either adjust your UI window or the group info ini settings. It can be quite troubling.

If it is loaded and still not displaying, the discussion for that plugin is likely the best place to take your issue, with details about your UI etc(if not default)

 

[YeahCopyMate]

I forget how to do this because it's been so long, but there is a way you can run the graphics as stick figures as well. I heard that makes life easier especially when running raid crews.

/hidemodels

 

[Redmonkey]

This?

I don't find stickfigures having much impact these days due to the awesomeness of framelimiter

 

[Sic]

This?

I don't find stickfigures having much impact these days due to the awesomeness of framelimiter

In theory it lowers the amount of memory usage due to models and what's loaded - but no real discernable impact compared to what it would be without framelimiter