Hello, it's pretty simple.
got to
http://www.eqcollector.com
download the latest version. i believe 0.3.13b
edit eqcconfig.dat and change
EverquestDir=C:\\Program Files\\Everquest
to your current eq directory... *note the double slashes
Then run StartEQC.bat to start the program.
Choose Tools > Collector
in the new window hold down ctrl and select "Item collector", "Mob collector", and "Zone Collector"
Now make sure the zone checkbox is checked and the world checkbox is NOT checked.
You are ready to collect. leave this open.
Run everquest.
Any zone you go in will be collected now.
Here's a quick rundown of how to collect and what you need to do.
For most zones we need 2 different kinds of logs. (Technically they are the same type of logs!! nothing different is required to do it, except the way you treat it. We simply parse them as whichever log you tell us)
**
NOTE: For spawn and pathing logs, you do not have to move anywhere, simply zone in find somewhere safe and sit still )
Pathing logs:
For best collect zone should be empty. This collects the movements of mobs in the zone. You should stay in the zone a full 30 minutes to insure all mobs have run their full paths.
Players aggroing in the zone during your collect CAN screw it up. If a player aggros a mob and zones. the mobs movement chasing the player will be recorded =( unless the creature dies. then it's nullified.
So players hunting in a zone you are collecting isn't necessarily cause to stop your collecting. it can turn out ok as long as its a good group and they kill EVERYTHING they aggro.
Spawn logs:
These can be added on top of pathing logs to insert named mobs that were missing during the initial pathing collect. If you zone in and see that lets say "King Tormax" is up. you can zone in. Wait like 5 minutes or so, to insure that all non-static spawns move at least once then zone out again. That is all you need to do for a spawn log.
There are some other logs too. here's the remaining.
Merchant logs:
Visit every vendor in the zone, right clicking them to open their inventory. That simple. ) Do not hail them for that makes them turn and face you and creates a pathing grid.
You *can* collect a vendor log at the same time as a pathing log. And in essence use the same log for 2 purposes. I've done this for a number of zones. Collect pathing for 30 mins, in that 30 mins visit every vendor in the zone.
Raid logs:
While on a raid. simply have the collector running the duration. In close proximity of the raid (Actually in the raid right up in all the battles) These help us with information about scripted events, bertoxx, etc. We'll need these to reproduce any scripted events in the future.
Now. after you are done collecting for the night. Yes you can visit multiple zones, collect multiple things. just keep a mental record of what order you visited which zones so youdont get logs mixedup.
Exit eq and return to the open collector program. Highlight all the logs in the window.
Look at the checkboxes on the bottom of the program. Check the option Rename. UNCHECK the other options.
Click process.
This should rename all the logs with their proper names.
go through the zones and pick the ones that are proper collects. passing up the various zones you entered or passed through on your way.
when you have all the proper collects selected (hold down ctl to select multiple) Now click text dump option. Click process
it will take a few minutes. and you are almost done.
Now go into your eqcollector directory and into the logs directory. Arrange files by modified and find your newly made text files.
rename all these logs to this format.
yourname-zoneshortname-typeoflog(spawn,pathing,raid,vendor)-anyotherspecialcomments(tormaxup,etc).txt
Now zip this up into a zip with the same name. And you are done!!!
go to
http://www.peqserver.com
create an account. and upload your logs.
If you take multiple logs of the same zone on the same day you can put for instance a pathing log + 2 spawn logs + vendor log all in a single zip file. ONLY if it's the same zone. Each different zone MUST be its own zip file.
The upload form is pretty self explanatory. browse for log file, select the zone it's for. brief description. and check the checkboxes for everything the log or zipfile contains.
Thanks for your help!