Elrena

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Today we are officially announcing the launch of MC-Net, albeit several weeks, if not months, late. But with that said, please feel free to start posting and sharing content as you normally would elsewhere. And be sure to let everyone know that we exist! Also, here's some context for those who are just now joining us: Our main purpose here will be to provide the modding community with what we believe is a better community platform. We also want to delve into Machinima since it pairs well with custom-made content. And on top of that, anything related to creativity in the Warcraft universe and other Blizzard games is greatly appreciated here. We predict the rest of 2015 to be really slow for us due to our lack of content and publicity, but you can change that by participating! Anyone who is interested in helping out even more by writing tutorials or advertising for us, please contact me or Skarn on here or via Skype. Thank you and happy modding

Greetings and Salutations. The Model Changing Network is now launching its effort to promote WoW modding for the betterment of our community. The more, the merrier, and the only person who can make that happen is you! By participating on our forum, sharing content, creating YouTube videos, writing tutorials, helping our members, and inviting new modders from all over the internet, you are helping to keep the candle burning bright on what has always been a very small and delicate community. What you can expect in return is gratitude, satisfaction, and the opportunity for the scene to grow and expand. This means theoretically more projects, more collaboration, more developers, more tools, more activity, and more shared knowledge. By helping others you help yourself! Another bonus that you might be interested in is the opportunity to have your project featured in a banner on our site slideshow, which is then displayed on all pages and can become a clickable link to your website or project blog. You promote us, and we will promote you Naturally, there will be criteria and procedures involved for the individuals seeking a featured project banner. Since we must be persistent in assuring the aesthetic integrity of our platform, the materials you provide for the creation of your banner (you cannot create your own) must abide by the following guidelines: You need to have 7 unique screenshots of your projectYour project must have a simple graphical logoAdditionally, the following requirements determine your eligibility: You must share to someone a link to our websiteYou must contribute in some way to our communityYou must have a project blog created on our siteYour project must be relevant and visually soundWe will work with you if necessary. And if you're interested in this opportunity, feel free to add us on Skype or message us here. In the end, your final banner will most likely look something like this: I would also like to call some other concerns to the table. It is my opinion that the WoW modding scene's dwindling activity has very little to do with Blizzard's subscriber-base. Many people claim this, yet most mods are on Wrath of the Lich King which has nothing to do with Warlords of Draenor and retail servers. As such, I think the real reason is the lack of advertising. And I don't mean that in a commercial marketing sense. What I'm really trying to say is, we need to spread the word! Think of it this way: If every person in WoW modding introduced one other person to our hobby, then the modding scene would double in size. So get out there and tell somebody! You have friends right? No? Well then tell mom and dad. Or maybe, if you're a part of a guild, and they have a Skype group or a website, then show them what WoW modding is! We will soon even be offering printable pamphlets for you to hand out to your neighbors and your neighbor's neighbors. Just knock on their door and be very polite. Don't worry, if they don't want to talk about the word of modding, we will play for them. But seriously... do something guys

Hi everyone, I hope you are well. I want to talk to you about my concerns and why I think we need change if we want the modding scene to survive. For those of us (myself included) who originally come from and have deep roots in Modcraft, you might wonder what's the point of creating a new website. I'm going to try my best to explain my point of view without pissing everyone off and causing a flame war. I'm also not very confident with that statement, but hey, I tried. Let's begin: First and foremost, the WoW Modding scene simply isn't as active as it used to be. With the decline of WoW's subscriber base, a lot of people have also been leaving the modding scene as well. Some of us might look at this and think of it as justification for Modcraft's inactivity, but let's take a closer look: The most recent census for World of Warcraft's subscriber count is 5.6 million, a far cry from what it used to be. Though how many of us have considered how big that number actually is, despite it being a huge decline? Think about it. How can we be struggling to keep the modding scene alive when there's still 5.6 million players who love Warcraft, most of which are young, creative, computer-literate people? Let's also consider the tens of thousands of people who know how to access and play on private servers, as well as the 5+ million who are sitting on the bench hoping that Legion will revive WoW and they can start playing again. Don't get me wrong when I insist that this is all because of lack of effort. I mean, Modcraft really is a great website to learn about modding and connect with other people who share the same passion, but it's still very lacking in several aspects. So, what's wrong all of a sudden? Nothing in particular, Modcraft is the same as it ever was and everyone seems just as satisfied as they ever were. But this mentality has led us to set our standards way too low. Still to this day, all you read are people complaining that there just isn't enough modders working on tools or collaborating on projects. Can we take just a few moments to wonder why there aren't people doing these things? Maybe it's because nobody knows about WoW Modding? Modcraft is running on some free web-hosting service, at least from what I've been told. Plus it has made no known effort to advertise. It also has a ".de" extension, which cripples its potential to reach audiences that aren't living in Germany. The domain name itself is also heavily obfuscated and hard to remember. Wouldn't we prefer a more desirable name such as "model-changing.net" to make us easier to find? And maybe we could also put more emphasis on making the users (especially newcomers) feel like they're getting a user experience that they deserve? To me, the most important aspect of any website that I'll be spending a lot of time staring at, is the color scheme and design. Though, it's easy to understand why some people prefer functionality. But ultimately Modcraft doesn't excel in either of these senses. The design is white on gray on gray on black on black, and it comes packed with an assortment of graphical glitches as well. It may be functionally sound but it's still an outdated phpBB forum which lacks basic modern features and a visual WYSIWYG post editor. And beyond these aspects, the only thing that Modcraft is really good at is content, albeit outdated with lots of broken links. At this point I hope you at least understand my concerns, even if you don't fully share them. But what can we do as mere users to help improve Modcraft? Well, me and Skarn started working on a new website in July as a surprise gift to the modding community. Before we finished it we requested Steff's involvement so that we could focus our efforts and use our website to help improve Modcraft. Steff was offended that we kept this project a secret, even though we were just trying to making a meaningful impression. He then declined our offer and explained that he was already working on a new website. and he didn't agree with our approach. These events occurred just a few days before the ambitious Modcraft Community post showed up, which inevitably never saw fruition. It has now been four months since Modcraft set its course towards a new website, yet we've only seen a few positive changes; new moderators, and some post pruning. The most significant change came off as very undesirable, as expressed by the majority of our users. That of course was the removal of the username ranks such as Advanced Artist, Contributor, etc., which a lot of people worked very hard for and didn't ask to be removed. With that being said, the only other major change within the past five years was the removal of the shoutbox; once again, an unwanted change. Nowadays Modcraft's activity is dwindling even further and the only moderator who is around anymore is schlumpf (praise his dedication), and Steff hasn't posted at all since October 19th. I believe it's safe to assume that this new "Modcraft.io" website isn't actually coming, especially with Maruum, Noggit 1.5, and other projects holding higher priority. We need to accept the fact that there won't be any progress if we sit around and wait for other people to do it for us. So... Let's start a new community! An organization that does not innovate cannot survive. So let's hold our own leash and walk ourselves outside. We've given Modcraft its chance, we've given feedback and made suggestions, asked for featured projects and a shoutbox. Mostly everything we've ever asked for has been ignored. The few things that have actually been implemented were done so in a way that suits higher opinions and not what was actually asked of them. My proposal is as follows: Let's bring back the shoutbox and the username ranks. Let's switch to a paid website host, better forum software (Invision Power), and a better domain name for search engine optimization. Let's cast aside what Steff literally referred to as a "good totalitary system" and start emphasizing the needs of our users; the people who have nurtured our community for years. Despite our instincts to be conservative, let's add new features, not because they're necessary, but because they're nice. Let's spend 800 € on our website design because I'm fucking insane. And let's finally stop talking like we haven't done these things already, because we have. Me, Skarn, and Prokion have worked many months to bring this website to you, and it is now finished. You need not ask what the difference is, see it for yourself. We understand that some people actually prefer phpBB over Invision Power, Modcraft over MC-Net, and this design over that design. But we fight for the greater good and I believe there's something positive here for everyone. You'll find many useful features that come pre-packaged with the IPS Suite on our website, as well as many plugins and custom modifications tailored to our purposes. All of these are improvements. We've also utilized the Invision Power modular applications to create different sections to our website, such as the Portal, the dedicated Releases section, an image Gallery, our Projects directory, and the Tutorials board. And of course, you can make use of the really cool social media tools such as user profiles and proper message inboxes as well. Remember, we did this all as an act of charity. There is nothing of value for us to gain here other than satisfaction. We don't have a Maruum agenda. We worked relentlessly for months to make this happen, and it was only to help improve the community that we love. Our community really deserves more than what it had. Unfortunately, our offer to merge our efforts with Modcraft and move forward as one was denied. But that won't stop us. WoW Modding is our passion, and we really want to see it thrive again--even if it has never truly thrived.

There are many situations where creating SQL queries for DBCs is to die for, so I finally decided to make it happen. SQL queries for DBCs is very useful for mass operations or combining DBC data. It's also useful for version updates. In this tutorial I will teach you how to convert your DBCs to SQL files, which can then be stored on MySQL servers. I will also show you how to export your DBC tables back to the CSV format so it can then be converted back to DBC. Things You Will Need:DBC Util HeidiSQL Server Step 1: Converting DBC to CSVFirst we must convert our desired DBC file to CSV, as there is no other way to reliably import it to MySQL. Simply drag and drop your DBC file onto the DBC Util tool and it will automatically convert to CSV. Step 2: Setting Up Your DBC Table Before we are able to import a CSV file into MySQL, we must first create a table with proper columns and datatypes. There are two methods to choose from here. We can either enter everything manually, or create an SQL file instead. :-:-:-:-: Method A - Manual Creation:Using HeidiSQL, right click your server at the top left and select Create New -> Database. I named mine "dbc". After that, right click your new database and select Create New -> Table. For example, I created "lightintband". Select your new table and navigate to the "Table: lightintband" tab. This is where we will create our columns. Depending on the DBC you're importing, you must make the correct amount of columns. This must be exactly the same. Then you can start adding columns with the green button. Name them whatever you want, but make sure the datatype is always set to VARCHAR due to the DBC files utilizing lots of hexadecimal values. Do this or it won't work. Make sure that the settings Unsigned, Allow NULL, and Zerofill are all unchecked. Also keep the Defaults at 0. :-:-:-:-: Method B - SQL File Creation:Since above I mentioned our Database name is "dbc" and our example table is called "lightintband" we'll run this: CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `dbc` USE `dbc`; CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `lightintband` ( `Field01` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field02` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field03` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field04` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field05` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field06` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field07` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field08` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field09` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field10` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field11` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field12` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field13` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field14` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field15` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field16` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field17` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field18` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field19` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field20` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field21` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field22` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field23` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field24` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field25` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field26` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field27` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field28` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field29` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field30` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field31` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field32` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field33` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', `Field34` varchar(50) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', PRIMARY KEY (`Field01`) ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8Please note that I have 34 columns entered. That's because LightIntBand.dbc has 34 columns, at least on Cataclysm. Your situation may vary depending on which version you're on and which DBC files you're using. Adjust accordingly. Step 3: Importing CSV into MySQL:Select your database table which should now be populated with columns, and select Tools -> Import CSV file... Browse to the CSV file that you converted with DBC Util earlier. Select INSERT under "Handling of duplicate rows". Press "Import!" You should now have a complete table for your DBC without error. Create queries and edit this however you see fit. Step 4: Exporting Back to CSV Format:With MySQL all you have to do is create a new query to export your database to CSV. This is what I prefer using: SELECT * FROM lightintband INTO OUTFILE 'C:\\LightIntBand.dbc.csv' FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' Step 5: Converting Back to DBC Format:Now you should be ready to convert CSV back to DBC, but there's one more thing you must do. I'm not sure what to call it, but there is important information at the top of the original CSV file that is lost when added to MySQL. Before you overwrite the original CSV file, open it up in a text editor and copy the first line. In my case it's: long,long,flags,long,long,long,flags,long,long,flags,flags,long,long,flags,flags, flags,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,long,flags, long,flags,flags, Make sure you copy this from the original CSV file and paste it into the new one exported from your MySQL. Then you should finally be ready to switch back to DBC. Just drag and drop the new CSV file onto DBC Util Note About Converting DB2 to SQL for Cata and Up:If you're looking to do these same methods for DB2 editing, you'll have to use two special programs for conversion. The DB2 to SQL was a little outdated (item-sparse.db2 conversion didn't work) so I made an adjustment and attached the updated version to this thread. For SQL to DB2, I've uploaded another program. Just remember that you can only edit Item.db2 and Item-sparse.db2. Others are not currently supported. DBC2ConverSQL.zip SQLtoDB2.zip

Speaking of which, that action camera in Legion makes me feel sick. Works great in other games though, just not in WoW imo. Really highly doubt you will ever get that working in 3.3.5a

Yet another "post farm" topic from me. I don't really advocate forum games here, but I like this one because I often use music as inspiration and background noise for when I'm working on something such as WoW mods. I would also be really interested in getting to know the music tastes of others. I personally like all kinds of music except for screaming unless it's Silverstein or Chiodos. The rest makes my ears bleed. Anyway, just post whatever you happen to be listening to. But don't post more than one song per day. I'll go first:

Welcome, Yasuno. Thanks for the help.

This is my new jam fam

If you're interested in learning how to make your own darker nights patch, you need a program called Lightmapper which will show you all the light sources in Azeroth. Each node that you see on Lightmapper refers to an entry in the Light.dbc. Use the WoW Dev Wiki to understand the structure of that dbc file, and you shall see that it refers to LightIntBand.dbc in two columns. One contains information for clear weather lighting and the other for rainy/snowy lighting. There are also entries for underwater lighting, use that if you wish. With the numbers you find in the Light.dbc columns you have to multiply them by 18 and subtract 17. That will be your starting row in LightIntBand.dbc. That row and the next 17 rows in LightIntBand.dbc all contain information regarding that specific locations light settings (the one you found on Lightmapper). You'll need to specify the time of day intervals as well as the color of the lighting using hex color codes. Black lights would make it extremely dark while brighter colors will make it brighter. It's a lot of copy and paste work. The WoW Dev Wiki should help you. There's another way of modifying the lights a little bit faster using Sharp WoW if I remember correctly. I've never done it myself though.

Not sure about the Orgrimmar thing. That might be one of the lights that doesn't appear on the Light Mapper. Maybe with enough fiddling you might be able to figure out which ID its using if you decide to make your own edits. However it does have its own lighting in some areas such as The Drag, which would not work well without knowledge of WMO editing. The weather problem is something I overlooked when I created Darker Nights. I'm not sure who else is making these patches now, as I've never made one for vanilla, but the reason it becomes brighter when it rains is because weather conditions have their very own Light.dbc entry. Clear weather and rainy weather use entirely different settings, but both can be changed if you have the time. With that being said, a patch like this easily takes a solid 2 weeks of hard work. So don't expect anyone to do it for free.

Knowing that someone from our community died with his mods being the last signs of his life... It creates a kind of feeling that I can't describe. I remember seeing Zim4ik's name around Modcraft all the time years ago, and now regret that I never got to know him. Thank you for sharing his work, I'm sure his friends here will really appreciate that. Now, word spreads fast so I hope everyone who wanted to contact his brother has already done so. I'm going to remove his email address from these posts to protect him from spam bots. If you still want to know it, contact Met@ and I'm sure he'll help you. Rest in peace Zim4ik...

Topic is in Random and is also non-abusive, so it stays.

The flaming situation has been handled. Please continue with posts relevant to the topic.

Kaev told Noggit to Noggit off. It Nogged it off. Nice work!

Hello everybody! Here is a thread I always like to make on forums because I feel like a person's desktop tells a lot about them and it shows what they're currently going through as far as hobbies and projects are concerned. Especially as gamers, taking periodical screenshots of our desktops can help us reflect on the past. It's also a pretty fun way to show others how unorganized we are (or aren't) and also share whatever half-naked chicks or cars we're into. So without further ado, commence the posting of the desktops! Also here's mine:

For future TrinityCore related issues, it might be best to post over there instead