[Test] Honorbuddy 2.0.0.4877 - New GUI

[Apoc]

Yes of course !

Here you go:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/465919/old_hb_2.png

Thanks for the info.

Doing some research; it seems that is a 'misleading' number. (The UI framework allocates a bunch of memory 'just in case'. It's not actively using all 90mb, and should release any unused memory if your overall memory usage is beginning to starve itself.)

Also note; it uses hardware-acceleration when possible. (This also means pushing some graphical memory to the graphics card, which again, is a bit misleading.)

With that said, until we get reports of HB causing the OS to memory-starve itself, we'll just have to live with the 90mb. (I'll be having Bossland run his little army later, to see what the memory usages look like with a ton of the bots running. If it becomes a problem, we'll definitely look into it.)

 

[Lister]

Guys I am on my Way to Buying Duke Nukem Forever - Balls of Steel Edition so I can wait now!

 

[mezz0]

My main rig has 12gb, so that won't be a problem, but on pc's with minimal specs and a lot of bots this might cause problems.
So yes, perhaps bossland should have his army run some tests

Anyway, thanks for the reply.

 

[Zacharybinx34]

The title of the thread has been changed to reflect the release type. (Not sure how they missed putting [TEST] in the title, must have been a bad bowl of copy/pasta)

Stuff fixed for the next test release;

• Tray Icon (including context menu for start/stop/exit) has been added.
• A 4th tab on the main window has been added, showing the old "Info Panel" data. (XPHR, Honor/hr, deaths, loots, etc.) Currently not showing BG wins/losses. This may be added again if the demand is high enough, but it was just way too much info, that nobody really even reads anyway.
• Current 'Goal' has been added the the aforementioned tab.
• Dev Tools Window
  • The quest order list has a "Refresh" button now.
  • The quest order list has a "Copy All" button. (Please give it time to retrieve the info from WoWhead if you have a lot of quests!)
  • Double-click to copy should actually work now. (This was non-implemented at the time of release)
  • The window shouldn't go bonkers if you're at a loading screen, or not logged in game.
• Settings Window
  • Advanced mode is saved.
  • Food/Drink amount settings have been added
  • Mount Distance added
  • Pull Distance added
  • Max size requirement has been removed. (This was left in from design stages)

Now, assuming you even read this far... I'll address some other issues brought up.

1) We've had plans to redo the UI for some time now. Mainly for localization (so users can use HB in their native language, making it easier to use overall), and removing the 'clunky' aspects of the old UI. It was big, annoying, and not quite fun to look at for developers (or end-users).
2) We moved to a newer UI framework to give a drastic increase in performance, as well as... well... not using something from 10 years ago. Those of you with a PC from the last 3-4 years, will see a very large increase in UI speed and responsiveness. (Those on older PCs will be roughly the same speed, maybe a bit faster depending on CPUs). The tradeoff for this performance, is some memory usage. While it isn't quite as drastic as some people have claimed (90mb difference), it does edge somewhere in the 5-20mb neck of the woods.
3) BGBot has some known issues, which are being addressed as we speak, so I won't even bother commenting on current bugs.

@fpsware; its an issue I'm aware of. I'll be fixing it within the hour or so.

BG win losses is very nice, why would you take that out? Please reconsider.

While your post addresses a lot of the information, that's great, however, the point many have made throughout the past several pages rings true. Once you get the bugs you listed fixed, stop developing "New' features - though implementing an auto-update program for HB would be a very smart decision. But by far, start fixing the features that are already there. Instance buddy needs work, the Grind/Party/RAF (not even sure why there are two option) needs attention. Quest buddy is average, but Kick will be the first one to tell you what needs fixed/updated/added in order to make his life and questing easier. The features I just listed are THE reason I switched from Pirox to Honor Buddy in the last month and a half. It's why I dropped 90+$.

So if you want to make Honor Buddy have more selling points, fix what you have. Has the EYE OF THE STORM pre-game start problem even been addressed yet? Issues that like are what get people banned, and all future development should be halted IMMEDIATELY to fix things like that.

Don't get me wrong, we are thankful for the work you guys do - which is why we paid for your program, but read the posts here - I highly suggest listening to your customer base on this one.

 

[Apoc]

BG win losses is very nice, why would you take that out? Please reconsider.

While your post addresses a lot of the information, that's great, however, the point many have made throughout the past several pages rings true. Once you get the bugs you listed fixed, stop developing "New' features - though implementing an auto-update program for HB would be a very smart decision. But by far, start fixing the features that are already there. Instance buddy needs work, the Grind/Party/RAF (not even sure why there are two option) needs attention. Quest buddy is average, but Kick will be the first one to tell you what needs fixed/updated/added in order to make his life and questing easier. The features I just listed are THE reason I switched from Pirox to Honor Buddy in the last month and a half. It's why I dropped 90+$.

So if you want to make Honor Buddy have more selling points, fix what you have. Has the EYE OF THE STORM pre-game start problem even been addressed yet? Issues that like are what get people banned, and all future development should be halted IMMEDIATELY to fix things like that.

Don't get me wrong, we are thankful for the work you guys do - which is why we paid for your program, but read the posts here - I highly suggest listening to your customer base on this one.

I personally try to avoid addressing posts concerning "do this, do that, here's why" from customers. (I do take such posts seriously, I just try to avoid replying to them, as it causes the "band wagon" effect to occur, which is never a good thing.)

The reason we even started working on the new UI when we did, is because HB was at a point where it was stable, with very very few reported bugs. (The EOTS starting issue has been on the back burner; as it really only makes you look like just another itchy retard at the start of a BG. I believe I just fixed it now however, have to wait on the next queue to actually find out though, so take this claim with a grain of salt.)

IB will be seeing quite an overhaul in the upcoming weeks, so not much I can say about it at this time.

Questing relies heavily on profiles. While usually 'bad profiles' get put on the bot itself, in most cases its the fault of the profile writer. I'm not trying to pass the blame, there are some bugs, and inherent flaws in the way HB handles questing. The bugs that are actually in the bot itself (and not in the profile) are actively fixed as we find them, or are informed about them. Also, when it comes to questing, Blizzard has one of the widest assortments of quests of any game. This also means, HB has to handle all those different quests. While its impossible for us to deal with every single quest type, and every little special mechanic, we do provide a way to handle them yourselves, and we're always willing to assist with custom behaviors, etc, if need be. (Though, we do need a toon to test it on, and all the other requirements to ensure it works properly. Often we have people asking us to write a custom behavior to complete some obscure quest, that requires us to level a toon to some random level, complete a fairly long quest chain, and then hope we can even write the behavior for it. Worse still, are quests that are class specific. This obviously isn't a very good use of our time.)

I'm not trying to beat back your opinion, but we do have a method to our madness! I swear!

Lastly; we're looking into an auto-updater, once we can decide on how we want to go about it at least. (No, we don't need ideas from people, we're grown up enough to decide how to do it ourselves!)

 

[stevenr]

I will love an auto-updater ....

 

[Kickazz006]

I will love an auto-updater ....

i believe there was a plugin for that (currently). Dunno what the bot devs are gonna do. I just hope that there is a 'disable' button - as I don't mind being warned that there's an update... but I don't always want the most update version

 

[mrcrabs]

AUTO updater ftw and btw is it possible to morph the exe?

 

[stevenr]

i believe there was a plugin for that (currently). Dunno what the bot devs are gonna do. I just hope that there is a 'disable' button - as I don't mind being warned that there's an update... but I don't always want the most update version

True, we need more a "auto-downloader"...

 

[florienb]

Lastly; we're looking into an auto-updater, once we can decide on how we want to go about it at least. (No, we don't need ideas from people, we're grown up enough to decide how to do it ourselves!)
------------------
hell it's about time!

 

[meistermonty]

But where is my status window ?
I think the new style is diffrent but nice more... Win7 style
And where is the window which tell me which quest he "turnin" or "solve" ....?

 

[antareja]

Nice GUI, but.. I think it will be more good if you display name of character and server that HB attached to instead of "Honorbuddy - Attached to WoW woth ID 0000"

 

[15outland]

The title of the thread has been changed to reflect the release type. (Not sure how they missed putting [TEST] in the title, must have been a bad bowl of copy/pasta)

Stuff fixed for the next test release;

• Tray Icon (including context menu for start/stop/exit) has been added.
• A 4th tab on the main window has been added, showing the old "Info Panel" data. (XPHR, Honor/hr, deaths, loots, etc.) Currently not showing BG wins/losses. This may be added again if the demand is high enough, but it was just way too much info, that nobody really even reads anyway.
• Current 'Goal' has been added the the aforementioned tab.
• Dev Tools Window
  • The quest order list has a "Refresh" button now.
  • The quest order list has a "Copy All" button. (Please give it time to retrieve the info from WoWhead if you have a lot of quests!)
  • Double-click to copy should actually work now. (This was non-implemented at the time of release)
  • The window shouldn't go bonkers if you're at a loading screen, or not logged in game.
• Settings Window
  • Advanced mode is saved.
  • Food/Drink amount settings have been added
  • Mount Distance added
  • Pull Distance added
  • Max size requirement has been removed. (This was left in from design stages)

Now, assuming you even read this far... I'll address some other issues brought up.

1) We've had plans to redo the UI for some time now. Mainly for localization (so users can use HB in their native language, making it easier to use overall), and removing the 'clunky' aspects of the old UI. It was big, annoying, and not quite fun to look at for developers (or end-users).
2) We moved to a newer UI framework to give a drastic increase in performance, as well as... well... not using something from 10 years ago. Those of you with a PC from the last 3-4 years, will see a very large increase in UI speed and responsiveness. (Those on older PCs will be roughly the same speed, maybe a bit faster depending on CPUs). The tradeoff for this performance, is some memory usage. While it isn't quite as drastic as some people have claimed (90mb difference), it does edge somewhere in the 5-20mb neck of the woods.
3) BGBot has some known issues, which are being addressed as we speak, so I won't even bother commenting on current bugs.

@fpsware; its an issue I'm aware of. I'll be fixing it within the hour or so.

I like your style Mr.

Look forward 2 it.

 

[Deathsenemy]

Did you guys not hire new developers for the RIFT bot? If not, you should have. You cant or shouldnt have the same devs working on two projects.

Also, the general community is not what test products are for. What if Microsoft or Apple releases software the way this is being released? Hell any software at that. And on top of that, you paid full price for it. So basiclly we pay to be for an unfinished product. Ill be honest, Before you added the quest bot I was really happy with this product, since then, its been issue after issue. I dont mean to be harsh as I really like Hawker and the other devs. Its just this business model is somewhat....... off.

 

[idx3]

Nice GUI, but.. I think it will be more good if you display name of character and server that HB attached to instead of "Honorbuddy - Attached to WoW woth ID 0000"

A very uncomfortable that does not show the name of the character on whom attach this bot

 

[snoweey]

Did you guys not hire new developers for the RIFT bot? If not, you should have. You cant or shouldnt have the same devs working on two projects.

Also, the general community is not what test products are for. What if Microsoft or Apple releases software the way this is being released? Hell any software at that. And on top of that, you paid full price for it. So basiclly we pay to be for an unfinished product. Ill be honest, Before you added the quest bot I was really happy with this product, since then, its been issue after issue. I dont mean to be harsh as I really like Hawker and the other devs. Its just this business model is somewhat....... off.

they did leave 4620 as working and it is pretty damn stable. Also how is this any diffrent then the Beta model almost any major game developer/software maker uses including Blizzard the maker of the game we all love to bot opperates?

 

[Kickazz006]

Did you guys not hire new developers for the RIFT bot? If not, you should have. You cant or shouldnt have the same devs working on two projects.

Also, the general community is not what test products are for. What if Microsoft or Apple releases software the way this is being released? Hell any software at that. And on top of that, you paid full price for it. So basiclly we pay to be for an unfinished product. Ill be honest, Before you added the quest bot I was really happy with this product, since then, its been issue after issue. I dont mean to be harsh as I really like Hawker and the other devs. Its just this business model is somewhat....... off.

Sure they can. go ahead and pay $150-300 per session and i'm sure the gang will be more than happy to hire more devs

And before the quest bot... where people had to make their own meshes and it only grinded and nothing else?

<hrmm>

I believe my grinding profiles are near flawless

 

[Deathsenemy]

they did leave 4620 as working and it is pretty damn stable. Also how is this any diffrent then the Beta model almost any major game developer/software maker uses including Blizzard the maker of the game we all love to bot opperates?

I agree that 4620 was stable, as I am still using it at this moment. I was making a general statement about the past year or so. We had a stable release for what "I" use it for. Others had problems with different parts. The idea is to fix all the issues before you move on to new things.

Beta release are optional, yesterday when this was released, it was not a test but a release. They have since put 4620 back up and called this a test.

My main grief is the fact there has never been a release that had 95% of the problems fixed before they change or add something. Eitherway, as long as 4620 does what I need, I dont really give a pooh, I am just making an observation as a business in general.

Sure they can. go ahead and pay $150-300 per session and i'm sure the gang will be more than happy to hire more devs

And before the quest bot... where people had to make their own meshes and it only grinded and nothing else?

<hrmm>

I believe my grinding profiles are near flawless

I loved the grinding and nothing else. Did it for 5 years with glider just fine. Simplicity keeps things smooth. Im actually using 4620 and your Quest bot in 58-70 one off svn and its working pretty damn well.

 

[benjamin123]

Love the new update the bot lock more awesome and its working fine for me


Great Work

 

[Apoc]

Did you guys not hire new developers for the RIFT bot? If not, you should have. You cant or shouldnt have the same devs working on two projects.

Also, the general community is not what test products are for. What if Microsoft or Apple releases software the way this is being released? Hell any software at that. And on top of that, you paid full price for it. So basiclly we pay to be for an unfinished product. Ill be honest, Before you added the quest bot I was really happy with this product, since then, its been issue after issue. I dont mean to be harsh as I really like Hawker and the other devs. Its just this business model is somewhat....... off.

I believe MS calls them "CTP"s, or "Betas", or "Alphas", or "Pre-RTM" depending on what product it is.
Blizzard calls them "Beta", "PTR", and the others.
Almost all companies have some form of public test period, why are we not allowed the same?

Being a small company, means we have a limited amount of possible testing. Pushing "beta" or "test" releases, allows us to get better exposure, and hopefully find issues quicker, and have them resolved for releases. (We've gotten much better with not slapping "Release" on buggy builds, and all that nonsense. The last 3 being the big ones.)