Hello, and welcome to the world of MySEQ! For those that do not know what MySEQ is, here is a little introduction.
In a Nutshell
MySEQ is a program that runs on Windows alongside of the popular game called Everquest, which is owned and operated by Sony. The program allows a player to view a map of the entire zone they are currently in, along with all the spawns (mobs, players, objects, etc) that are currently in that zone. As of the LoY expansion, there is already an in-game map (for most zones), however, there is no spawn information displayed.
Warning
If you decide to use MySEQ, please be forewarned that you run the risk of having your account banned. It is considered an illegal tool to use that violates the agreement between you and Sony regarding third party programs. If you do not want to risk having your account banned, then we suggest you not use this program.
Running the Risk
If you decide you want to run the risk of trying out MySEQ, then we offer the following suggestions:
- Never mention the terms MySEQ, SEQ or ShowEQ while in the game. Not in private tells, channels, guild chat, /ooc, or anything else. If you do, and someone reports you, you could be in trouble.
- Never mention any of the above terms on any official Sony/EQ website where your username can be traced back to your account.
- Never brag or even hint that you are running it.
- Do not be too obvious. If you are waiting for a spawn to pop for three hours, and when it finally pops on the other side of a zone, don't get up and make a bee-line for the spawn. If you have a tracking skilled character, wait a minute or so, then wander in the general direction of the spawn until tracking locks in, and use tracking to hone in on the mob.
- Do not shout out things that make it obvious you are using MySEQ. For example, if you are on one end of a zone, and a rare spawn pops on the other side of the zone, don't /shout to the zone that the mob is up. If you can pull it up on track, or see the mob directly, then it is probably okay.
- Be nervous. Be cautious.
- Never admit you are using MySEQ. If you do not want to lie, then just abstain from answering.
It is very easy to Sony to detect that you are running MySEQ. The problem is that it borders on a trust/legality issues. I do not know if it is illegal for Sony to scan the processes on your machine and report that information back to their databases. It would certainly seem like a privacy violation, but I am not a lawyer. From a programming standpoint, it is *very* easy to do. So if you are wondering "Can they detect that I am running the MySEQ server?", I am telling you right here and now, they CAN. Whether or not they can LEGALLY, I do not know. Whether or not they DO, I am not sure, although there is evidence to suggest that (at least at one time), they did.
The Program
The program consists primarily of two separate halves. One half is called the server, and the other half is called the client. The server must run on the same computer that Everquest is running on. The client has the option of running on the same computer or a different computer. If the client is running on a different computer, then THAT computer must be running Windows and it must be on the same network as the first computer.
Server: A basic Win32 application.
The server requires proper settings which are located a file called myseqserver.ini. These values are commonly referred to as 'offsets'. If the offsets are incorrect, the client may not work at all.
Usually after a patch, the offsets change. You can try the offset finder to update the primary offsets. But you may need to re-visit these forums to obtain the new offset information. Once you obtain the new offsets, simply edit the myseqserver.ini file in any text editor (like notepad), make the changes, and save the file. On occasion, we may just post the whole file as an attachment, in which case you could download it and replace the old one with the new one. This INI/offsets file is located in the same directory that the server is in.
Client: A graphical C# application.
The client is a GDI+ Windows application with menus, buttons, mouse pointer and all that good stuff. The main window is a large map of the zone you are currently in, with little colored dots representing each spawn in the zone. By moving you mouse over each dot, you can see detailed information about each spawn. As the spawns move around the zone, you can see their movement. There are lots of nice features that allow you to see or monitor information about the spawns, such as:
- Spawnlist - this is a table like display of all spawns in the zone and their information. At a glance you can see all the information at once, if you desire. There is information on each spawn, like race, level, name, etc., each in it's own column. You can sort the spawnlist on any of the column headings.
- Alerts - if you are hunting a particular spawn, you can add it to the 'alert' file. Doing so will apply special effects to that spawn, if it should appear in the current spawnlist. The dot on the map may be highlighted with a flashing circle, and the entry in the spawnlist will be moved to the top of the list and prefixed with a special character. There are different alert levels, like Hunt, Caution or Rare, each will apply slightly different effects. You may also apply sound alerts.
- Depth Filter - in some zones, the passageways overlap each other in many places. So much in fact, that if you are looking at a map of the zone, all the passageways muck together to make the map look like a big mess. Depth Filtering allows one to highlight only the map lines (and spawns) that are closer to the player, while filtering out the ones that are farther from the player. A recent addition to the client, called Dynamic Alpha, is a much more powerful depth filter. The normal depth filter only relies on the Z-axis values, whereas Dynamic Alpha uses a true 3D 'sphere' around the player.
- Spawn Timers - some spawns will repop at nearly fixed time intervals and at the same location. If this type of spawn is detected, the client will mark the location and will keep track of when the next spawn is expected to occur. The spawn timer mark will blink yellow and then red as the expected 'repop' time approaches.
- Mob Trails - this option is very cpu/memory intensive, and it is not recommended that it be used normally. However, if you are experiencing a new zone, and you want to see where the safe 'camp' areas are, you can enable collection of mob trails. Everywhere an NPC spawn moves to will leave a dot behind on the map. After awhile, the 'roaming' areas will start to fill in with these dots. The areas with no dots are likely candidates for safe camps.
There are no 'offsets' that you need to worry about with the client. All your preferences are saved in a special file for you, and loaded the next time you start the client. The only real thing you need to set in the client, is the IP address of the server (located under Options->General). To determine that, on the machine that runs the server, run Start->Run and enter "cmd /k ipconfig". You should see an entry called "IP Address" that looks something like "192.123.0.100", "10.10.0.5" or something of that nature. Use this value, including the dots, inside the client. The IP Address is basically like a phone number. You are telling the client "Hey, this is the server's phone number, go call him". The client will call and connect to the server, and the two start communicating with each other. If you tell the client the wrong number, he can never get through to the server.
Updates
If MySEQ stops working, please visit the forums here and look for new posts regarding new offsets. They should be located here in the HELP forums.
From time to time, you may want to visit us to look for new updates to the client and/or server. These updates may provide performance enhancements or new features. Always keep your old client and server just in case something goes wrong.
Forums
We welcome you to participate in the forums. Provide feedback, help with finding offsets, spread the word. We would like people to know that there is an open source alternative, that will always remain free. If this project dies, then I can almost promise you you will eventually need to pay to use the commercial version.
MySEQ vs. ShowEQ
ShowEQ, also known as SEQ, is the original tool that was created way back before the in-game maps existed. SEQ differs from MySEQ in a few ways:
- SEQ runs on Linux and MySEQ runs Windows
- There is no 'server' for SEQ. It sniffs network traffic and decodes information being passed along to the machine that is running Everquest.
- Although SEQ is physically undetectable, in game behavior while using it is detectable.
- SEQ has more information about spawns
- Being a Linux tool, you generally need to build it yourself unless someone makes a binary release
Other than that, it provides similiar features that MySEQ does (ie: map with spawn information).