Wizard (front end)
| The Wizard is an official front end for GemStone IV primarily used during the 1997 through 2005 timeframe, although it retains a following of dedicated users even today.
The Wizard was initially designed to operate with GemStone IV, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi, and Alliance of Heroes. Some specific screen displays and functions may not operate in all games, or they may operate slightly different. This is because the rules and game mechanics for each of the games is different. Where possible, similar functions have been grouped together. |
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About the Wizard
The Wizard is a front end program that greatly enhances your game play in GemStone IV, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi, and Alliance of Heroes.
- Multiple Window Interface allows text from the game to be sent to different windows
- Command Line Recall allows you to recall up to 64 commands using the up and down arrows
- Programmable Keyboard Macros allow you to "script" complex actions as simple keystroke commands
- User-definable colors for text allow you to highlight text from the game in a variety of colors
- Direction Keys for movement in all compass directions using the keyboard's numeric keypad
- Graphical Status Displays of your current battle stance, health status, spell effects, experience, and other important game data
- User-definable settings for background color, foreground color, and font for each individual window
- Quick Access Buttons to automate common in-game tasks that you do frequently
- Magic Popup Menu for quick access to the spells your character knows
Frequently Asked Questions
- A front end (FE) is a program that is specially designed to give you access to programs that are running on another computer.
The games GemStone IV, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi, and Alliance of Heroes all run on computers that are hidden deep in the bowels of Simutronics Corporation's computer center. The Wizard FE allows your computer to communicate with the Simutronics computer so you can play your favorite game. You can get generic front end programs to play many of the games of that are available through the Internet. However, by using a front end that is specially designed to work with the game, you are able to use features in the game that other programs cannot use. The Wizard FE and Simutronics games talk to each other in ways that you cannot see. This allows the Wizard FE to pick up information such as your current health status, what items you are carrying, what graphic, if any, should be displayed for the current room, and a host of other things.
- A macro is simply a string of text that gets placed into the game command line when you press only one key.
For example, if you set the Alt-A macro to be "attack ", and then pressed Alt-A, the string "attack " would be placed in the input command area. However, there are some "special" tokens that you can use within these macro definitions to make them much more powerful. In this section, we will cover these special tokens, as well as write some macros that you may want to use in your own setup. For more help, see Defining and Using Macros.
- A script is simply a series of commands that get placed into the game command line when you execute that script.
Scripts can contain some basic logic, such as watching for a particular response to occur from the game, and using logic to decide what to do when that response is received. Scripts can be run for entire tasks or collections of commands, such as making shoes, or moving from one city to the next. Scripts help make the game easier to play. For more help, see Scripting for the Wizard.
- Using string highlights to change the color of the text font, or background of the text font is a great way to draw your attention to a particular line or series of lines in game, so you don't miss anything.
The Wizard provides robust text highlighting capabilities, allowing you to turn font red for strings that might lead to danger, or yellow if of importance. You can even change the background of names, so you can easily recall which profession they belong to. You can also assign a sound to play when one of your highlighted strings is detected. For more information, see Highlighting Strings.
Running the Wizard
Before you can use the Wizard to play GemStone IV, you must download the launcher software.
Once you have installed the Simutronics Launcher Application, things become automatic. Be sure that you have installed the Launcher. If all you did was download it, then go back to the web page and follow the instructions for installing it. Once the Launcher is properly installed, just click on the web page option to play using the Wizard FE.
The web site will send a message to the Launcher to make sure that you have the latest version of the Wizard FE software. If you do not have the latest version, then it will be downloaded to you automatically at this time. You can cancel this download if you wish, but you will not be able to play using the Wizard FE until you have the latest version. If you are using Windows 95, then the launcher will automatically install the Wizard FE software. If you are using Windows 3.1 then the Launcher will attempt to install the software, but it may be unable to do so depending on your system configuration. If the launcher is unable to install the software, then follow the instructions that are on the web page for installing the Windows 3.1 version.
Once you have the latest version of the Wizard FE, it will automatically start up when you select the option to play using the Wizard FE. You do not have to start the program yourself. Simply click on the option that appears on the web page, and the Launcher will automatically start the Wizard FE for you. You cannot start the Wizard FE on your own. If you attempt to do so, you will get an error message and the Wizard will not start. The only way to start the Wizard FE is for the web page to tell the Launcher to start it.
Features of the Wizard
The Wizard Screen
The Game Window
- This is the main window where all game text is normally displayed. This is the only window that you must have open in order to play.
Thoughts
- With this window open, all of the messages that come across via ESP (or COM messages in Modus Operandi) appear here instead of in the Game window.
Death
- When the Death window is open, death messages appear here.
Familiar
- When the Familiar windows is open, any messages you get through your familiar are displayed here.
Arrivals
- When the Arrivals window is open, the messages about people arriving in the room appear here instead of in the Game window.
Wounds
- This window provides a special graphical representation of your character. Marks on the various body areas indicate wounds and bleeding.
Pictures
- Some areas of the game are supported by artwork that illustrates the area. If there is artwork for the room you are in, it will be displayed here.
Opening and Arranging Windows
- You can open as many or as few of the windows as you like. Open windows by selecting the window name from the WINDOW menu at the top of the screen. You can resize windows and arrange them on the screen however you like using standard Windows mouse controls. You can even "hide" windows behind other windows. For example, if you do not want to be bothered with Arrival messages at all, then simply open the Arrivals window and them move the Game window to be on top of it.
Changing the Appearance of Windows
- You can change the appearance of each of the windows. You can modify the background color, the foreground color, and modify the font style. To do this, either left-click on the small diamond that appears in the upper left corner of the window, or right-click anywhere inside the body of the window. This also allows you to minimize or close windows, and you can also copy the contents of the window to the clipboard.
Other Features on the Screen
- There are some other important features on the screen. These features give you information about your character and your surroundings.
The Hands Display
- The Hands Display shows what is in your left hand and right hand, and what spell if you have prepared, if any.
The Direction Display
- The Direction Display shows what compass directions lead out of the room. On the left are arrows pointing up and down with a dot between them. These indicate the directions up, down and out. On the right is a compass rose. This indicates the eight cardinal compass directions. A exit is indicated by a bright yellow arrowhead.
The Health Display
- This display shows your current levels of Health, Mana, and Spirit Points. Below that is a small graphical image of a body that displays either current wounds or scars. This display is less detailed that the full display you can get from the Wounds window.
The Status Display
- The Status Display shows the current state of your mind in regards to Field Experience saturation. As you become saturated with Field Experience, the indicator moves up. Next to the Mind indicator is a graphical depiction of your current defense stance. Below these is a box that may contain a variety of icons depending on what spells or other effects are on your character. Not all spells and effects will show an icon.
The Roundtime Display
- This display shows your current roundtime, and spell casting roundtime. Be aware that this display may get out of sync with your real roundtime. The only absolute measure of roundtime is the message that you get in the Game window. This display is just an aid to help you manage roundtime.
The Mana Pulse Timer
- This is simply a 2 minute clock that may help you time Mana pulses. Again, have caution when using this timer. It may not be in sync with the game.
The Command Buffer
- At the bottom of the screen is the Command Buffer. This is where you type in game commands.
Quick Action Buttons
- Next to the Command Buffer is a collection of Quick Action Buttons. They have the default function of:
- Equip Your Weapon
- Equip Your Shield
- Look in Your Container
- Un-equip Your Weapon
- Un-equip Your Shield
- You can change the details of these commands by pulling down the CONFIGURATION menu and selection OPTIONS. Select the "Inventory Names" tab, and then type in whatever commands you want to have controlled by these buttons.
Options from the Menu Bar
The FILE menu
- Open Log File
- This option allows you open a log file which records what happens in the game. The log file that is created is a simple text file.
- Close Log File
- This option closes a log file that is currently open.
- Auto-Log Each Session
- Selecting the option causes the Wizard to automatically log everything each time you play. Caution: If you play a lot, log files can become very large.
- Run Notepad
- This option runs Windows Notepad.
- Resync Communications
- If your Wizard gets out of sync with the game, then select this option. Under most circumstances this will fix the synchronization problem.
- Exit
- Select this option to quit playing and close the Wizard.
The EDIT menu
- Cut
- Copy
- Clear
- Paste
These are the standard Windows editing tools.
The CONFIGURATION menu
- Options
- Settings
- This tab allows you to modify a variety of Wizard settings. Mark the ones you want to have active by placing a check in the box next to that setting.
- Echo Commands Locally:
- Will echo any command you enter back to your Game window.
- Compress Incoming Linefeeds:
- If this option is checked, Wizard will try to compress the screen display as much as possible by removing blank lines. For example, with this checked:
- >
- So-and-so just coughed.
- Someone else just went east.
- >
- would instead display as:
- >So-and-so just coughed.
- Someone else just went east.
- >
- Show Status Prompt:
- If on, this switch tells Wizard to emulate the game's "status" prompt, with the following indicators used:
- ! bleeding
- W webbed
- I invisible
- K kneeling
- P lying down
- s sitting
- S stunned
- H hidden
- J joined (following someone)
- U unconscious
- D diseased
- P poisoned
- R in a round time
- For example, if your prompt looked like this:
- !JD>
- it would mean you are bleeding, following someone, and diseased. Hopefully you won't soon see the other possible prompt, which is:
- DEAD>
- Show Cursor in Game Screen:
- If this option is checked, the Wizard will always display a '_' character at the end of the last line displayed to the Game window (only).
- Only Show Arrivals of Players in my Highlight List
- If you turn this option on, and then tell Gemstone to show you player logons with the "set logon" and "set logoff" commands, the Wizard will then filter out (that is, not display) any logon/logoff event message unless the name in the message is in your "User-Defined Names" highlight list.
- In other words, you can use this option and the User-Defined Names list to create sort of a "buddy list" - you will only see the comings and goings of those people you have specified.
- Only Check for Highlights In Game Window
- Normally, the Wizard checks your "User-Defined Highlights List" (and Names) for text that goes to ANY window. If this checkbox is turned on, Wizard will not color any message that goes to another window.
- Use Script Selection Dialog
- When you select the "Edit (or Execute) a Script" command, the Wizard normally displays the standard Windows "Open a File" dialog box, since the Wizard fully supports the use of long filenames.
- However, if you turn this option on, the Wizard will instead use its own dialog box to show what scripts are available, along with showing the script's "description" that can appear on the first line of the script. (eg: #Script for walking from Hearthstone Manor to Warfs)
- Squelch Sounds:
- If this option is checked, the Wizard will not play any sounds. This is nice for when you're ..umm.. "testing" things at work or anywhere else you don't want sounds to be played.
- Ignore Yells:
- If selected, the Wizard will filter out any "so and so yells" messages.
- Compress Thoughts:
- If you turn this on, and you don't have a "Thought Window" open, the Wizard will compress the normally 2-line thought messages in the Game window to a single line message.
- Honor NumLock:
- If you turn this flag on, and NumLock is currently on, the keypad keys will act as a normal number pad. In other words, you can then use the NumLock key to toggle between numeric keypad and directional movement.
- Inventory Names
- This tab controls the function of the Quick Action Buttons in the lower right corner of the screen.
- Paths
- This tab records where other Wizard component files are located on your computer.
- Macro Keys
- This option allows you to define macros. Macros are simply a short line of text that you can activate with a single keystroke. Simply select the text box for the key that you wish to define a macro for, and enter the text that you want to have typed for you when you press that key. See: WizardFE link to Defining and Using Macros.
- Highlight Strings
- The Wizard allows you to highlight or color incoming text. You can add to, delete, or modify those settings here. See: WizardFE link to Highlighting Text.
- Default Strings
- These are the settings for the various text that the Wizard must display. You can change the color of these strings, but you cannot add to or delete them.
- User-Defined Strings
- These are strings that you want to have specially marked. For example, you may want every line that contains the phrase "just bit the dust" to be highlighted in red.
- User-Defined Names
- These are the names of other characters. By highlighting their names, you can more easily keep track of friends, and enemies.
- Graphic Displays
- This option allows you to shift the graphical displays from the left side of the screen to the right and back. You can also turn the graphical displays off if you do not want them.
- Characters
- Many players have more than one character, or play more then one game. You can define a unique set-up for the Wizard for each character. Simply enter a name for the "Character Profile" and then adjust the Wizard settings to be what you want them to be while using that profile. You can switch between profiles simply by selecting a different profile from this list. These profiles only determine the appearance of the Wizard FE. They do not affect the function or abilities of your character(s). You may have as many different profiles as you want you have, regardless of the number of character you play.
The STANCE menu
- This menu allows you select the defensive stance for your character. Using this menu is the same as typing the stance command in the Command Buffer.
The MAGIC menu
- This menu gives you a quick reference of all the different spells in the game. You can prepare a spell by selecting it from this menu. This is the same as typing the prepare command in the Command Buffer.
The DRAGGING menu
- You may get into situations where you need to drag an object or another character for a long distance. Use this menu to enter the name of the object or character. Then, when you move using the number keypad, you will drag instead of just moving.
The SCRIPTS menu
- This menu allows you to create, modify and execute scripts written for the Wizard FE. See the help section on Scripting for the WizardScripting_for_the_Wizard .
The WINDOW menu
- This menu allows you top open, close and arrange the Wizard windows.
The HELP menu This is the standard Help menu for the Wizard. The file content will be very similar to the information here.
Built-in Keyboard Commands
The Wizard FE has some built in keystroke commands that perform special functions
| Control-Enter | This repeats the last command you typed in. |
| ALT-Enter | This repeats the second to last command you typed in. |
| Keypad-Enter | This is the same as Control-Enter, and repeats the last command you typed in. |
| Up Arrow | This recalls the command history and allows you to scroll back (up) through that history. You can scroll back through up to 64 previous commands. |
| Down Arrow | This recalls the next command in the command history, so if you scrolled up too far, you can use the down arrow to scroll down. |
| Page Up | This scrolls the active window back one line. |
| Page Down | This scrolls the active window down one line. |
| Shift-Page Up | This scrolls the active window back one page. |
| Shift-Page Down | This scrolls the active window down one page. |
| Escape | This clears the input line, and takes all windows out of scroll-back mode. |
| Tab | This toggles the game window between full screen mode and normal mode. Pressing tab once causes the game screen to be maximized. Pressing tab again returns the game screen window to its previous size. |
| Control-Tab | This steps through the open windows, selecting each one in turn as the active window. |
The keys on the numeric keypad also have special functions that are built in.
- In games that support the RETREAT command, pressing the ALT key and a direction key causes your character to RETREAT in that direction.
- In games that support the GLANCE command, pressing the Control key and a direction key causes your character to GLANCE in that direction.
Scripting for the Wizard
- Requires heavy format editing
The Wizard allows you to script actions with two types of script files. The first type, which has a ".Wiz" filename extension, is always executed from the Wizard's "Scripts/Execute a Script" menu selection. The second type, which has the ".Cmd" filename extension, is invoked from the Wizard's "command line" area (ie: the text input box). The difference between these two types of scripts is that "command" scripts can take parameters from the command line, just like DOS batch files.
The parameters are accessed as %0 (the entire line) through %9. In normal usage, you'll only use %1 through %9. So, if you typed the following into Wizard's text input area:
.find jim joe bob stacy kim
in your script %1 would be replaced with "jim", %2 with "joe", %3 with "bob", %4 with "stacy", and %5 with "kim". A discussion of easy ways to loop through these command parameters is in the following section, which lists all of the available scripting commands:
put <text> The PUT command is used to send commands to the game. Example: put get sword from my backpack put remove my shield put 'Off to battle!
echo <text> The echo command is used to display text in the Wizard's game window. This text does NOT get sent to the game; it's simply there for you to display a message to yourself. For example: echo Starting up so-and-so script. Note: echo with no string after it will simply display an empty line.
if_0 through if_9 These commands allow you to check for the presence of a command line parameter. For example, let's say you write a script named HEAL that expects a name to be present on the command line. You could accomplish this with the following code: if_1 goto nameThere echo Usage is HEAL <player name> exit
nameThere: do your stuff here to heal them. Note: if_0 is the entire command line.
NextRoom The NextRoom command pauses until a room description is received (that is, the user moved to a new room). For example: put north NextRoom
Move <direction> The Move command is similar to a PUT command, except it automatically does a "NextRoom" command for you. In other words, these two code fragments will do exactly the same thing: 1) put north nextroom
2) move north
Wait WaitFor <text> These commands allow you to pause the script, waiting for data to be returned to you from the game. WAIT does a pause until a new command prompt is received: put get sword from my backpack wait put remove my shield Note: it is important to remember that it is sometimes possible for the game to give you another prompt WITHOUT that prompt being a result of your last action (ie: someone enters the room, etc).
The WAITFOR command waits for the string you specify to come back to you. This is the PREFERRED way to make sure that your command has been accepted and processed by the game. The WaitFor command works with both a "partial" string specified, or a "full" string, as seen in this example: put prep 401 waitfor Your spell put cast put prep 406 waitfor Your spell is ready. put cast
goto <label> The GOTO command is what you use to branch to a different place in the script. You must specify a label to go to, and that label must be defined elsewhere, on a line by itself and with a ':' at the end of it: ..do something here.. goto NextLabel
...code...
NextLabel: ...code... Note: you may jump to a label in either direction; that is, below or above the current execution point in the script.
pause <amount> The PAUSE command pauses the script for the number of seconds specified.
exit The EXIT command ends the current script immediately.
save The SAVE command saves the specified parameter (ie: %1 through %9) into a variable that can be used at any time in the script. This is normally only needed in scripts where you are looping through the command line parameters (see the "shift" example below)
Shift The SHIFT command shifts the command line parameters to the left. For example, let's say you entered the following to run the HEAL.CMD file: .HEAL name1 name2 name3 Initially, the parameter %1 would be "name1", %2 would be "name2", and %3 would be "name3".
After one SHIFT command, the parameter %1 would be "name2", and %2 would be "name3" (%3 would be non-existant). The power of this is that you can "loop through" all of the parameters passed on the command line, operating on them one at a time. As an example, let's create a SELL.CMD file that gets all of the items specified out of your backpack and sells them, as in: .sell gem gem armor sapphire diamond
SELL.CMD: MainLoop:
- first, see if we have a %1 name to work on.
- If not, we're done so we just exit.
if_1 goto doIt exit
doIt: put get %1 from my backpack waitfor You remove put sell %1 waitfor hands you
- Now, shift the parms to get the next name on the line
Shift goto MainLoop
The SAVE command (mentioned above) is also useful for saving a parameter that you want to apply to all of the other parameters. For example, let's write a DO.CMD file that has the following syntax: .do <what to do> <player1> <player2> .... <player n> which you could invoke with a command line like this to wave to four players you see in your room: .do wave Kodos Kyrion Milo Arwen Here, %1 ("wave") is the action we want to do to everyone. So what we do is save its value for later use, then SHIFT to get rid of it, and then start our normal looping process:
DO.CMD: if_1 goto Parm1Present echo Usage is: DO <what to do> <player> ... <player> exit
Parm1Present:
- save %1 into the %s variable (%s == saved)
save %1
- then, SHIFT the command line to get to the first name
Shift
MainLoop:
- first, see if we have a %1 name to work on.
- If not, we're done so we just exit.
if_1 goto doIt exit
doIt:
- this will expand to "put wave Kodos",
- then "put wave Kyrion", etc.
put %s %1 wait
- Now, shift the parms to get the next name on the line
Shift goto MainLoop
Highlighting Strings
- Requires some editing
From the Configuration->Highlight Strings menu option, you can get to one of the most popular features of the Wizard. This is the dialog where you can control the game's colors and define your own strings that you want to be highlighted. On this screen you will see three Tabs for "Default Strings", "User-Defined Strings", and "User-Defined Names".
On the "Default Strings" page, you can set the colors that the game specifies for its text display to the colors that you prefer. To change a color, simply select an item in the list box, and then Left-click on a color box to set the foreground color, and right-click on a color box to set the background color.
On the "User-Defined.." pages, you can specify your own strings that you want the Wizard to highlight. For example, if you wanted to make the text telling you that you're now in a defensive stance really stick out on the screen, you would do the following steps: 1) Click the "New" button 2) Key in "You are now in a defensive stance." (with no quotes) 3) press the OK button 4) Right-click the Brown color box 5) Left-click the White color box 6) Left-click on the "Highlight Entire Line" checkbox. Now, when this message appears, it will show up in white text on a brown background.
You can also assign a sound to play when one of your highlighted strings is detected. Using our above example, select the "You are now.." line in the list box, and then click on the "Sounds" list. This will cause the Sounds area to "drop down" a list showing all sounds (.WAV files) available in your Sounds Directory. Simply select a sound from the list, and it will play whenever you enter defensive stance. To remove the sound, you would do the same steps as above, but select "No Sound" from the list.
The "Highlight Entire Line" checkbox, when turned on, highlights the entire incoming line in which the specified string appears.
The "Not on Word Boundary" checkbox, when turned on, tells the Wizard to not require that this highlighted string be bounded by a "word break" on either side of it. For example, if you've specified a highlight string of "John", here's what would happen depending on the setting of the "Not on Word Boundary" setting:
| Incoming Text | Word Boundary CHECKED | Word Boundary NOT Checked |
|---|---|---|
| see John go | John highlighted | John highlighted |
| see Johnny go | John highlighted | John not highlighted |
This is an important setting if you specify a string which will never be bounded by spaces (or periods, commas, etc.) on each side. For example, if you wanted to highlight the entire line of any SEND messages that a GM may send to you, you could enter the following highlight string: "SEND[", click on "Highlight entire line".
Now, if you did this as is, the highlight string would NOT work, since this string will ALWAYS be followed immediately by a GM's name (eg: SEND[BigWizard] hi there..may I help you?), you MUST click on the "Not on word boundary" box.
The "Case Sensitive" checkbox, when turned on, tells the Wizard to only match with this string if the incoming text matches exactly. That is, the string "you see" will *not* match "You see" (since the 'Y' in one string is upper case, and the other one isn't).
Getting Help with the Game
There are many different ways to get help with Gemstone IV.
Section requires heavy editing, needs to include GSWiki (point out new players guides!), Officials, Lore Masters, friendly players, and how to use the in-game assistance.
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