2 boxin' software.

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 11:32 AM

I thought I might take the plunge and level another toon up and given my kids play occassionally I thought it might be fun to use 3 accounts and 2 box when they arnt playing.

The only problem is Im clueless on the best software to manage a seperate box (and the other compluter is literally in another room so playing both accounts manually at the same time is out of the question).

Any one got a suggestion on the best software to 2 box with vanguard?

Tia

P.S. Preferably nothing that comes with cheats - they really ruin a game :/

Loampounder · 05-01-2007, 11:33 AM

Sorry, no botting. Cute excuse, but botting is still illegal.

Daenof · 05-01-2007, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbandersnatch

I thought I might take the plunge and level another toon up and given my kids play occassionally I thought it might be fun to use 3 accounts and 2 box when they arnt playing.

The only problem is Im clueless on the best software to manage a seperate box (and the other compluter is literally in another room so playing both accounts manually at the same time is out of the question).

Any one got a suggestion on the best software to 2 box with vanguard?

Tia

P.S. Preferably nothing that comes with cheats - they really ruin a game :/

Unfortunately, I think the only way to 2 box is to manually control 2 Vanguard game sessions with 2 computers that are right next to each other...

There are various Remote Desktop control software, ie RDP, VNC, Gotomypc etc. etc. but they will not work within a game (I don't even want to imagine the performance you would get if it were possible anyways).

A KVM switch with long cables running to your other computer would work, but you would have to switch it to see the other screen if you only have 1 monitor.

**edit: I don't think you were reffering to botting? Just 2 boxing? Botting = bad.

Renfail · 05-01-2007, 11:41 AM

If you wanna box that's one thing...but software = botting and that's bad.

I 2-boxed an Illusionist + Warden in EQ2 for a long time. Prior to that I 3-boxed EQ1 Warrior+cleric+illusionist to my wife's druid. Boxing = manually switching and manually taking care of all the different toon swith no software...just twitchy fingers and a LOT Of alt_tabbing.

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Sorry, no botting. Cute excuse, but botting is still illegal.

Its neither illegal or unlawful I think youll find otherwise they would have to creat geek prisons

And I wasnt asking about botting - I was asking about TWO BOXING i.e. I WILL be at the computer playing Im just not physically able to play on both machines.

Korvix · 05-01-2007, 11:44 AM

i know theres a way to make it so you only have to use 1 keyboard and mouse, but your characters will be doing the exact same thing. try doing some searches, i think its software and a hardware thing though.

~HappyGaming

bigdogchris · 05-01-2007, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbandersnatch

And I wasnt asking about botting - I was asking about TWO BOXING i.e. I WILL be at the computer playing Im just not physically able to play on both machines.

Run VG in windowed mode then make sure your taskbar is 'on top' and you can easily click back and forth between both clients.

Daenof · 05-01-2007, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdogchris

Run VG in windowed mode then make sure your taskbar is 'on top' and you can easily click back and forth between both clients.

Hmm.. how would this work? Run two clients on the same PC? I would be shocked if anyone can get VG to run two instances - its the biggest resource hog. It's like trying to run 3D-Studio on a 386 without a Math Co-Processor :-p

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daenof

Unfortunately, I think the only way to 2 box is to manually control 2 Vanguard game sessions with 2 computers that are right next to each other...

There are various Remote Desktop control software, ie RDP, VNC, Gotomypc etc. etc. but they will not work within a game (I don't even want to imagine the performance you would get if it were possible anyways).

A KVM switch with long cables running to your other computer would work, but you would have to switch it to see the other screen if you only have 1 monitor.

**edit: I don't think you were reffering to botting? Just 2 boxing? Botting = bad.

Ive tried VNC....if you ever thought Vanguards performance was bad, believe me you aint seen nothing

Sadly athough I have a couple of KVMs and spare monitors the cable run would be about 30 metres which is impractical

I dont want a 100% scripted bot but I was thinking about something along the lines of running in windowed mode and having a seperate control strip via which I could send commands to my other box (e.g. heal me, attack my target, make me a cuppa).

I suppose thats technically botting so will generally be frowned upon but Im just trying to overcome the technical limitations of my systems locations and the game inadiquacies (e.g. Why cant I run 2 sessions if my machine is capable of it?)

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdogchris

Run VG in windowed mode then make sure your taskbar is 'on top' and you can easily click back and forth between both clients.

Have you tried this? Last time I checked Vanguard used a kernel level mutex to prevent running 2 sessions simultaniously......

Daenof · 05-01-2007, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbandersnatch

Ive tried VNC....if you ever thought Vanguards performance was bad, believe me you aint seen nothing

Sadly athough I have a couple of KVMs and spare monitors the cable run would be about 30 metres which is impractical

I dont want a 100% scripted bot but I was thinking about something along the lines of running in windowed mode and having a seperate control strip via which I could send commands to my other box (e.g. heal me, attack my target, make me a cuppa).

I suppose thats technically botting so will generally be frowned upon but Im just trying to overcome the technical limitations of my systems locations and the game inadiquacies (e.g. Why cant I run 2 sessions if my machine is capable of it?)

Yes that's botting, anything that does something for you ie "Cast heal" without use of the internal macro's. Any 3rd party software that plays the game for you is botting and against the EULA.

I suppose if your machine was capable of running VG x 2 it could work, but since people with even the most powerful PC's out there are having performance issues with 1 instance, I'm sure 2 would be unplayable.

The other thing is, a lot of programs do not allow two instances of the process to run (ie: vgclient.exe may only be launched once from 1 system).

The only other thing I can think of is trying to run VG from a Virtual Machine, but really, the overhead of another OS & another vgclient.exe running would be too much for any PC imo. Not to mention that I don't believe a VM has the video processing power to run any game (I hate vmware-tools!! :-p)

Padrick · 05-01-2007, 12:02 PM

Nope tried numerous times to run two instances of Vangaurd on my PC and it wont work...and I have a computer that could do it if Vanguard would let me. I also havent found any software that would allow it to work on one PC either.

What you could do is just bring the PC case into the other room with you and connect it with the switches so you wouldnt have to run the wires 30meters.

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Padrick

Nope tried numerous times to run two instances of Vangaurd on my PC and it wont work...and I have a computer that could do it if Vanguard would let me. I also havent found any software that would allow it to work on one PC either.

I thought as much. While it should be possible to change the mutex Ive no idea how to do that and its quite specialised so it would have to be something coded specifically for Vanguard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Padrick

What you could do is just bring the PC case into the other room with you and connect it with the switches so you wouldnt have to run the wires 30meters.

Too much hassle everytime I want to play for an hour

Korvix · 05-01-2007, 12:09 PM

put both comps next to each other, get a g15 or a n52, macro the shit out of the keys, and then put the 2nd character on follow and just hit the macro keys for targeting / healing / dps/ follow etc. Thats prolly the best way w/o going to into to much hassle imo.

~HappyGaming

Slyde_Rule · 05-01-2007, 12:18 PM

I two-boxed EQ for 6 years, using two computers side-by-side. I knew some in EQ who ran 3-4 accounts at the same time. Many ran 2 sessions of EQ in windowed mode on one PC. I tried that but it really affected performance and I hated switching windows. I have two VG accounts, but haven't activated the 2nd one yet. I plan to run them side-by-side. That's the best way to 2-box IMO.

Fuz · 05-01-2007, 12:21 PM

The simplest solution would be to get a USB macro keyboard (http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys.php), an USB extender or extension cord, and maybe a line cable for linking audio signals as well.

You already see both toons on your PC, so you don't really need to see the screen of the remote PC. Just make the appropriate ingame macros on your shortcut bars and configure the layout of the macro keyboard to your liking (assist, attack, follow, and so on).

With audio connection, you can also hear chains and PM's and have a "/reply Just a sec." type of macro while u run to the other room to reply.

You won't have mouse control - but you most likely don't need that.

miir · 05-01-2007, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuz

The simplest solution would be to get a USB macro keyboard (http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys.php), an USB extender or extension cord, and maybe a line cable for linking audio signals as well.

Quote:

I have a couple of KVMs and spare monitors the cable run would be about 30 metres which is impractical

The max cable length for USB 2.0 is 5m.
You'd have to buy six 5m cables and 5 hubs... which will probably run you between $100-$200... and you'd have a fugly mess of crap running from 1 room to abother.

The only feasable way to 2 box is with 2 computers side-by-side.... unless you resort to using 3rd party software and macros.... which would probably get you banned.

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 01:25 PM

Doesnt ANYONE else see the absurdity of macroing using a piece of hardware and computers side by side being acceptable; yet macroing using a piece of software to control the game where the other computer may be remote, yet still will just relay physical key presses, being frowned upon?

Its just SILLY!

Loampounder · 05-01-2007, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbandersnatch

Its neither illegal or unlawful I think youll find otherwise they would have to creat geek prisons

And I wasnt asking about botting - I was asking about TWO BOXING i.e. I WILL be at the computer playing Im just not physically able to play on both machines.

Illegal as against the EULA.

If you are not physically controlling the other machine, you will be botting it.

mrbandersnatch · 05-01-2007, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Illegal as against the EULA.

If you are not physically controlling the other machine, you will be botting it.

Thats just my point - I WILL be physically controlling it. e.g. if I have a piece of software that lets me press F1 on my keyboard and it sends that to another machine which causes e.g. the button 1 to be pressed on that machine which has a VANGUARD macro to /target me /cast "big heal" then thats NO different to if the machines are side by side and I just pressed 1 on the keyboard thats physically connected.

I dont want a botting script that I can run unattended. I just want something to let me control 2 machines at once without a ton of cables running 30 metres

As I said - silly.