Boss Notes AddOn

Bethink · 05/08/09, 12:42 PM

Download Links

WoWInterface
Curse.com

What is it?

Boss Notes provides shareable notes for raid encounters. The add-on lets you take notes from your boss encounter learnings and share this information with other players. In addition, Boss Notes records trash and boss abilities and provides a collection of short encounter tactics.

Why should I use it?

If you tend to keep paper notes on boss encounters, such as personal learnings for your character or notes on encounter specific raid setup, then Boss Notes provides a neat way of moving those notes in-game.

Boss Notes is really about sharing. If multiple players in your guild or raid use Boss Notes, they can browse the encounter notes of each other. I believe that this is a good way of enhancing the understanding of encounter mechanics. The sharing of personal encounter notes happens transparently in the background. Notes can also be broadcast to various channels.

Then, there is an abbilities module which automatically records the abilities of trash and boss encounter NPCs. This module makes it easy to find individual boss abilities in-game and link them as required.

Last but not least, there is a collection of short, textual encounter tractics that are maintained by DrKaza. Admittedly, this is probably of least use to people who frequent these boards as they know that stuff anyway

Boss Notes is based on a modular design and can be extended with additional provider modules. An API Documentation is available.

Screenshots

I hope that some of you raid players find Boss Notes useful and welcome all feedback.

Furion · 05/16/09, 11:15 AM

I found this addon a couple of days ago when I was looking for an updated version of mobnotes (MobNotes : WoWInterface Downloads : Data Mods) and I think it's useful for writing up your own tactics and always having them accessible ingame is nice.
I'll add some criticism, though:
It can't replace mobnotes in every regard as you have to click through menus to actually get to the info (instead of showing them as tooltip) and it would be really clumsy if you'd ever want to have notes for trash.
Additionally the amount of characters you can use per note is VERY limited and I never seemed to have enough space. And this is despite me being someone who tries to summarize most boss tactics in a few sentences as I think the shorter an explanation is the easier it is to execute.
I find it very annoying that whenever you announce your note it also announces the headline (like "Bethink - Additional info"). There should be an option to leave headlines out when announcing and this might even open up some space for additional tactics.
On top I found the standard tactics for Ulduar Bosses included in the addon quite lacking and as such not really useable for anything. I dont think those can currently replace reading an actual strategy guide and going through the effort of making your own notes. Haven't found much use in the notes sharing as currently nobody else in my guild is using this addon and although that functionality potentially could be nice I'm not sure if there are many guilds where the majority of raiders would actually take the effort to write up those notes ingame.
Maybe I just want the addon to do something which it wasn't made for and I'm actually just looking for an updated version of mobnotes

Bethink · 05/16/09, 7:25 PM

Thanks for your feedback.

Originally Posted by Furion

Additionally the amount of characters you can use per note is VERY limited and I never seemed to have enough space. And this is despite me being someone who tries to summarize most boss tactics in a few sentences as I think the shorter an explanation is the easier it is to execute.

The size limit on public notes is currently 1'000 bytes. This limit is due to the transparent sharing of those notes. It is there to prevent excessive broadcast traffic on the game data channels. If you use private notes (which are not shared), the current limit is 10'000 bytes which should be of no concern.

Originally Posted by Furion

I find it very annoying that whenever you announce your note it also announces the headline (like "Bethink - Additional info"). There should be an option to leave headlines out when announcing and this might even open up some space for additional tactics.

Good point. I am going to add that option.

Mordekhuul · 05/18/09, 9:24 AM

I noted that on Mimiron the addon doesn't seem to remember any of the actual vehicles. It just shows the little guy himself, who has no abilities other than mounting a vehicle.

I also concur that some kind of non-menu-driven ability reporting capability, including trash mobs, would be very nice. Perhaps that is outside the scope and the addon is intended for use paired with MobNotes though.

Bethink · 05/19/09, 7:28 AM

Originally Posted by Mordekhuul

I noted that on Mimiron the addon doesn't seem to remember any of the actual vehicles. It just shows the little guy himself, who has no abilities other than mounting a vehicle.

The encounter database in 1.0.1 does not yet include Mimiron. That why the verhicles are missing. Mimiron will be in 1.0.2 to be released this weekend. For the time being, you may want to do /bn abilities learn during the boss fight to learn the missing NPCs. Make sure the Mimiron encounter is selected in Boss Notes as unknown NPCs are always learned on the currently selected encounter. If anything is miss-recorded, doing /bn abilities clear will unlearn everything.

Originally Posted by Mordekhuul

I also concur that some kind of non-menu-driven ability reporting capability, including trash mobs, would be very nice. Perhaps that is outside the scope and the addon is intended for use paired with MobNotes though.

There is indeed a difference as Mob Notes is designed with mobs in mind whereas Boss Notes is designed with entire encounters in mind.

As for the encounter notes, these are directly accessible from the Boss Notes tooltip. (That's if you use an LDB container add-on with support for tooltips, such as Titan Panel.) This mostly eliminates the need to go by menus if you just want to browse your current notes before beginning the encounter.

As for the trash, I am currently working on some extensions to the Abilities module. One extension is that a short summary of the NPC abilities can optionally be shown directly in the NPC tooltip. For trash, this should remove the need to take manual notes such as "Cleaves!", as this will be obvious from the abilities summary.

Of course, I could also add support for taking manual notes on a mob-by-mob basis. But then again, this is exactly what Mob Notes is very good at and I see little point in repeating work that has already been done.

Furion · 05/27/09, 2:12 PM

I just noticed that my notes are limited to each character... is there an option to have your own notes shared among all your characters?

zork · 06/02/09, 6:41 AM

Regardings boss notes. I wrote myself a mod for boss and npcs emotes. The tiny mod filters specific chat events and puts the content to the raidwarnig or the default scrolling combattext. The mod is called rEmote.

trunk - rothui - Google Code

Lua code:

  --helper frame
  local a = CreateFrame("Frame")
  
  --register events
  a:RegisterEvent("CHAT_MSG_RAID_BOSS_EMOTE")
  a:RegisterEvent("CHAT_MSG_MONSTER_EMOTE")
  --a:RegisterEvent("CHAT_MSG_MONSTER_SAY")
  --a:RegisterEvent("CHAT_MSG_MONSTER_WHISPER")
  --a:RegisterEvent("CHAT_MSG_MONSTER_YELL")
  
  --setscript
  a:SetScript("OnEvent", function (self,event,arg1,arg2)    
    
    --format the string (in case %s is used inside arg1 it will be replaced with value of arg2)
    local string = format(arg1, arg2)
    
    -- choose chattype
    --post to blizzard combat text
    CombatText_AddMessage(string, COMBAT_TEXT_SCROLL_FUNCTION, 1, 0, 0, "crit", nil)
    --post to boss emote frame
    --RaidNotice_AddMessage(RaidBossEmoteFrame, string, ChatTypeInfo["RAID_WARNING"]) 
    --post to raidwarningframe
    --RaidNotice_AddMessage(RaidWarningFrame, string, ChatTypeInfo["RAID_WARNING"])    
    
    --play a sound...DING
    PlaySoundFile("Interface\\AddOns\\rEmote\\Alarm.mp3")

  end)

Good read:
API MessageFrame AddMessage - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft
API ScrollingMessageFrame AddMessage - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft
Events/C - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft
http://wowcompares.com/3129901/FrameXML/RaidWarning.lua
http://wowcompares.com/3129901/AddOn...CombatText.lua

Maybe this can be used to automatically add boss emotes to the note addon. Most of the boss emotes are used for something special. (Plasma gun in Mimiron fight for example.)

Bethink · 06/02/09, 5:01 PM

Boss Notes 1.0.2 is out. This new version includes some of the elements suggested in this thread.

- The printing of the header is now a configurable option.

- The NPC tooltip can now show a textual summary of NPC abilities. This is a configurable option. It is not the same function that mob notes provides, but it is one step in the direction of requiring less menu navigation and it removes the need for simple notes such as "Cleaves".

- The encounter database has been extended and is now fairly complete for Ulduar. What is still missing are some NPCs associated with the Yogg-Saron encounter and all NPCs associated with the Algalon the Observer encounter.

Originally Posted by Furion

I just noticed that my notes are limited to each character... is there an option to have your own notes shared among all your characters?

Good idea. I'll add this to my list of things to do.

Originally Posted by zork

Regardings boss notes. I wrote myself a mod for boss and npcs emotes. The tiny mod filters specific chat events and puts the content to the raidwarnig or the default scrolling combattext. The mod is called rEmote.

[...]

Maybe this can be used to automatically add boss emotes to the note addon. Most of the boss emotes are used for something special. (Plasma gun in Mimiron fight for example.)

Thanks for the suggestion. What could be done is having a separate category entry (similar to the Abilities one) that tracks these emotes. This would be accomplished by a new provider module. As Boss Notes is exensible, you could actually add this functionality to rEmote yourself (and make Boss Notes an optional dependency.) I have linked the provider module API specification in the top post. Otherwise, I'll add this to my list of things to do - but it won't be a high-priority item.

azrale · 06/28/09, 6:32 PM

You can read and share notes, but more specifically is it only those entered by other raid and/or guild members? Or does it work with people in other guilds as well, say they could send the note.

robm78 · 06/30/09, 2:34 PM

This is a sick and useful addon

Bethink · 07/20/09, 9:49 AM

Originally Posted by azrale

You can read and share notes, but more specifically is it only those entered by other raid and/or guild members? Or does it work with people in other guilds as well, say they could send the note.

Sharing is supported within the guild, party and raid only.

I have just released version 1.0.3 of the add-on. The most important changes and enhancements are as follows:

The abilities view now only displays abilities matching the current dungeon and raid difficulty.
The usage of each ability (cast, buff, debuff) is now recorded and shown.
Most of the bosses of the upcomming Trial of the Champion dungeon and Trial of the Crusader raid have been added to the encounter database.
A bug which inadvertently limited personal notes to 255 characters has been fixed.

♦ arison · 07/31/09, 10:40 PM

I find this addon quite helpful in setting up assignments week to week (for example, Flame Leviathan etc). One thing that would really help is if it would automatically highlight player names in the note for those players currently in the raid. This would make it possible to know at a glance if someone referenced in the note is or isn't in the raid (optionally, groups 1-5), make quick adjustments, etc. Perhaps my use case is different than others but the custom notes definitely are the big win for me, anyway.

Bethink · 12/11/09, 9:24 AM

Boss Notes 1.0.8 has been released. It includes patch 3.3 compatibility and an encounter database update for the Icecrown dungeons and raid.

Originally Posted by zork

Maybe this can be used to automatically add boss emotes to the note addon. Most of the boss emotes are used for something special. (Plasma gun in Mimiron fight for example.)

This has now been implemented. As of release 1.0.8, Boss Notes includes an Emotes module which tracks encounter emotes and yells.

Bethink · 12/23/09, 3:31 PM

I am looking for some beta testers and feedback for a new extension to Boss Notes called Rules. In a nutshell, the Rules module provides completely in-game generic roll-your-own boss mod functionality that is integrated with existing boss mods.

What is it about?

Boss Notes is a modular add-on. As of version 1.1.0 Beta 1, the add-on includes a new module called Rules. The Rules module provides generic boss mod functionality. This means that functions such as notifications, timers, raid target icons and yells can be defined in-game by the individual player. To that end, the Rules module supports so called Event Condition Action (ECA) rules:

Event: An event occurs. Example: Someone casts Hand of Protection.
Condition: A series of conditions is checked. Example: You are yourself the target of the cast.
Action: An action is executed. Example: A 10 seconds timer is started.

Let me give another example illustrated with in-game screen shots from the rule editor. This example is for the Disrupting Shout cast by the big trash mobs in the ICC entrance area.

Event:

Action:

Pleaes note that these are rather simple usage examples.

Why should I be interested in this? I am quite happy with my current boss mod.

If you engage content early, it may happen that your prefered boss mod includes only limited support for an encounter. Further, it may happen that a specific tactic used by your guild or a specific task assigned to you makes specific boss mod functions desirable that are not supported by your current boss mod.

The goal of Boss Notes Rules is not to replace your boss mod. Rather, you can extend your current boss mod with additional rules. To that end, the Rules module includes bridges to Deadly Boss Mods (DBM), Big Wigs and Deus Vox Encounter (DXE). When a bridge is active, notifications and timers from the Rules module are integrated with the regular display of your boss mod.

What else can Boss Notes Rules do?

Distributed Raid Target Icon Assignements. A generic implementations ensures that raid targets are set by all raid members with leader or assist status if they have Boss Notes Rules installed. This is useful for targets that are only found by mouseover (such as in the Yogg-Saron +0 encounter.) A transparent tie breaking algorithm ensures that all raid members assign the same icons to the same units - and this is independent of how many players have configured a respective raid target assignement rule.
Rule Broadcasting. Rules can be exchanged within a party or raid.

Where can I get Boss Notes Rules?

I recommend a manual download from:
Boss Notes - Addons - Curse

Boss Notes Rules is only included in the 1.1.x beta trail (currently at 1.1.0 Beta 1). The 1.0.x release trail (currently at 1.0.9) does not include the Rules module. This is why I recommend a manual download.

What else is there to know?

It is an early beta. Bugs are likely. The user interface has not yet evolved beyond all shadows of a doubt. And I would not call Boss Notes Rules function complete at this time. All feedback is welcome, be it with regard to bugs that you have found or ideas on how to improve the module.
Boss Notes must first learn boss abilities. If you have not yet used Boss Notes, you will have little joy with rule editor until you have actually played the encounter or trash for which you want to define a rule. This is because Boss Notes learns emotes and boss abilities while you are playing an encounter when each ability is used for the first time. Consequently, the abilities database is empty on a fresh installation. This makes the definition of rules ineffective.
Bridges. Go to the add on settings, deactivate the display Simple and activate the bridge for the boss mod of your choice instead. The display Simple, which is enabled by default, is really aptly named: it is simple. You will not have much joy with it.