Any good guides for GINA?

[dekova]

Originally Posted by Mblake81 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes, I agree. There should be more than one guy stepping forward making the claim that not only did he use one but he also wrote one and used it on a second computer (after someone asked how they displayed it since EQ could not be windowed..)

There are plenty of in era players on this forum, he shouldn't be the only one saying he did. Not just a vague "well those things existed and GINA could have been used".

For what it's worth, I mentioned using a log parser with a UI "back in the day" in a post before this thread was created.
https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...83#post2987383

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm fine with people using Gina. Not that much different from the log parser I used back in the day. The UI is much prettier though.

And... I'm pretty sure that I mentioned using two computers before he did. Happy to be proven wrong on this though.

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I was one of those guys who had a really crappy log reader setup. Two computers, a shared directory, and my really shity attempt at programming something in Java Swing.

[Mblake81]

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

For what it's worth, I mentioned using a log parser with a UI "back in the day" in a post before this thread was created.
https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...83#post2987383

The one guy making the claim has quoted himself saying it doesn't bother him.

Which server did you play on and what kind of computer was the second one that you used to display the information?

How did you use this and how did it help you to manage your mezzes? I ask because playing the game was keeping a mental track of them. The game itself didn't provide the information for the player, if that was the intention then it would have been displayed by the developers. The game didn't have this information displayed so it was up to the player to remember.

[Mblake81]

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Essentially I'm trying to show you that I wasn't just making stuff up to argue with you.

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm fine with people using Gina. Not that much different from the log parser I used back in the day. The UI is much prettier though.

What did the UI look like on your second computer monitor?

[dekova]

I quoted myself to show I was talking about log parsing and UI rendering before this thread was created. Essentially I'm trying to show you that I wasn't just making stuff up to argue with you.

I played on multiple servers. Don't remember which. As they launched new servers I tended to restart.

How did I use it? It read logs and displayed timers.



So is any of this innacurate?

For what it's worth, I mentioned using a log parser with a UI "back in the day" in a post before this thread was created.
https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...83#post2987383

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm fine with people using Gina. Not that much different from the log parser I used back in the day. The UI is much prettier though.

And... I'm pretty sure that I mentioned using two computers before he did. Happy to be proven wrong on this though.

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I was one of those guys who had a really crappy log reader setup. Two computers, a shared directory, and my really shity attempt at programming something in Java Swing.

[Mblake81]

I screwed up the original post, too many tabs open and edited the wrong post.

Originally Posted by dekova [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And... I'm pretty sure that I mentioned using two computers before he did. Happy to be proven wrong on this though.

Originally Posted by Mblake81 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You weren't tabbing in and out of the game and with single core cpu the game took up your processing power. Some guys might've had a second computer to run a voice chat program but it wasn't the norm. My roommate eventually did get a second computer when he upgraded so he had two to run eq. No one in my guild used voice. Ring of Valor would take over /auc /shout and /ooc to do raids on Lady Vox..

That was me. Although it was about voice chat in this same thread. It was after that when people brought up second computers. It was a way out to explain things.

Still interested in which kind of comp it was. Recall any specs/brand?

[Vexenu]

From what I understand it seems that dekova would run EQ on PC1, where the game was installed, then read the logs being generated via the use of a shared drive and display the data generated from them separately on PC2. So even if this was technically possible back then, it was limited (by virture of EQ being locked to fullscreen) to those who had two computers side by side, utilizing a shared drive. Such a program would also be unable to overlay a UI element onto the play screen, which is really the main issue here.

So even if such a program existed it had several practical barriers to adoption that GINA does not:

1) Required an entire additional computer and monitor (not common or cheap in 1999)
2) Required the technical savvy to set up a shared drive
3) Of only marginal usefulness since the information could not be displayed on the actual game screen, but only on the monitor of the second PC

So even if dekova did have something like that working, it really wouldn't even be comparable to what GINA is like today, the main advantage of which is the fact that it essentially augments the existing UI with features and information that are otherwise unavailable to the player.

So basically dekova's homebrewed GINA-like program had similar barriers of entry to boxing. And boxing was heavily discussed back in the day and is well-documented and remembered. But we still have no evidence for the existence, much less widespread use of GINA-like programs.

[kylok]

Originally Posted by Vexenu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

From what I understand it seems that dekova would run EQ on PC1, where the game was installed, then read the logs being generated via the use of a shared drive and display the data generated from them separately on PC2. So even if this was technically possible back then, it was limited (by virture of EQ being locked to fullscreen) to those who had two computers side by side, utilizing a shared drive. Such a program would also be unable to overlay a UI element onto the play screen, which is really the main issue here.

So even if such a program existed it had several practical barriers to adoption that GINA does not:

1) Required an entire additional computer and monitor (not common or cheap in 1999)
2) Required the technical savvy to set up a shared drive
3) Of only marginal usefulness since the information could not be displayed on the actual game screen, but only on the monitor of the second PC

So even if dekova did have something like that working, it really wouldn't even be comparable to what GINA is like today, the main advantage of which is the fact that it essentially augments the existing UI with features and information that are otherwise unavailable to the player.

So basically dekova's homebrewed GINA-like program had similar barriers of entry to boxing. And boxing was heavily discussed back in the day and is well-documented and remembered. But we still have no evidence for the existence, much less widespread use of GINA-like programs.

1) I had more than one person playing EQ in my house, and had 2 computers with 2 monitors
2) It's really, really easy to share a folder on Windows - even back in 99
3) Whenever the other computer in my house were not being used I always used it to look up relevant information. If I had access to a log parser back then I definitely would have used it for that as well.

[Mblake81]

Originally Posted by kylok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

1) I had one than one person playing EQ in my house, and had 2 computers with 2 monitors
2) It's really, really easy to share a folder on Windows - even back in 99
3) Whenever the other computer in my house were not being used I always used it to look up relevant information. If I had access to a log parser back then I definitely would have used it for that as well.

1. Did you have them side by side with a log parser that displayed a UI giving real time additional information, that despite if the original developers would have liked to put it the fact is that it wasn't?

2. Share a folder, sure. But would it do what is being described?

3. Sure, I used a roommates computer to look up wiki maps that I had not printed out yet. There are no arguments about that. If you had access to a log parser you for sure would have used it? why didn't you have one?

[Izmael]

Back then, the amount of software available for EQ (or even gaming generally), was orders of magnitude lower than what is available today.

People who played EQ relatively seriously - raiding guild members etc, usually were aware of the available software and people often knew who used what. I don't remember ever hearing of GINA at all back then, before I quit in 2002.

[kylok]

They were indeed side by side. I didn't have a log parser because I was a child in 1999, I didn't even know there was a log command.