I'm looking for a n00b sticky or something that can help me learn the basics of what I need to know to get scripts working in ACtool for FFXI. I would like to know what language I have to learn, what files I have to download, and what files I should not have running at the same time as ACtool.


What I've learned so far:
- The (crafting synth) scripts I'm trying to use work with the windower, or may even need the windower.

- One uses FFACT, the other uses FFXI_Info

- ACTool is working fine. It sends commands to the game when I tried the FFACT version.

-FFACT acts funny if you don't install it right. I had it working for a little while, and somehow broke it.

-The FFXI_Info one seems easier to use, but doesn't work for me. I assume this is what is meant when the author says "needs minor tweaking".


What I want to learn:

- How to read and understand the scripts, and edit them myself when they don't work. What code is it?

- What do I do with the FFXI_Info file? Does it just go in the folder with the script, or does it go with another application?

The language is just the scripting language used by AC Tool. You can look at other's code for a genearl idea and look up other stuff using the AC Tool help. If you've done any kind of programming, it's not that hard to pick up.

The FFXI_info file was written by rzn and contains fcns people used for their script. These fcns look up addresses in ffxi and return the dereferenced value. However, the memory offsets are no longer valid and need to be looked up.

Thank you, that helps.

Does FFACT2 work? Seems like everything has been scrambled a little bit at an update or something.
What tools do I need to look up memlocs, or addresses or whatever?
If so, as a beginner, am I more likely to get the FFACT version working, or the FFXI_Info version?

You basically only need ACTool and Artmoney.

If you check the ffxi_info thread, there's a post on the last page about how to find the base address in ACTool.

As for Artmoney, you look for known values in the memory that suit your need. So if you check some of the fish bots, you know what the variable is and what the value should be. Then just search for that value in Artmoney.

When it comes to which version you can get working easier, I don't think either of them will be easier than the other as both require you to find the offsets needed.

Tools for finding offsets = artmoney, or tsearch.

FFACT2 is as far as I know still working but I have not checked recently. It is faster at alot of things then ACTools by itself but you are subject to the limitations of what features they have up and running and by which they choose to include. It does not require hunting for offsets though(at least last time I checked) because they do all that for you and build it in. In that sense ffact2 may be easier to learn for a beginner.

The ffxi_info.dat should be still in a working form except that you have to replace the offsets it used to get from the website with offsets you have found. If you know how to find offsets this makes it very fast and easy(relatively) to fix and does not rely on waiting for others to go find the new offsets after a update. You just go get them yourself.

Personally myself I just use the same structures that ffxi_info.dat uses but do it inside my scripts rather then in a seperate file. This means I keep a file like ffxi_info.dat seperate with all the functions and their offsets and then when I want to use one I just cut and paste it into the script I am going to use it with.

If you are going to try to learn what is being done with the mem reads(which will hwlp you understand how to find the offsets and pointers) then I would suggest reading over any of the posted scripts that use mem reads on this forum. The grand daddy that got alot of us profficient was reading over Drewlt's code snippets he posted a while back. If you want a simpler strait forward example look at the summoning skill bot I posted Here . It uses mem reads to tell what your max MP and current MP are so it knows when to stop casting and rest. Likewise it uses that information to tell it when to get back up and start casting again. The mem functions in it are if I remember correctly strait out cut and pasted from Drewlt's mem read functions in his code snippets post so credit for those goes to him.