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  1. #1

    NPC Scan and having to delete Cache...

    @Any coders out there, would you happen to have some way to change the coding (or if there's another NPC Scan addon TO the addon) of NPC Scan to scan stuff already cached? Gets really annoying to remember to delete it EVERY time I log off of WoW for the day :/
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  2. #2
    Given it's an equal issue for SilverDragon, doubtful.

    It scans based on the creaturecache.wdb file that WoW creates. If it scanned rares you already found... well, think how much of an issue it is already just seeing Hunters with rare beast (say, Loque'nahak) and then you goto Sholazar and the moment you cross in, it pops up. That is how the add-on works.

    If it scanned your cached log, it would pop up EVERY time you even enter the zone, despite the target NOT being up. Basically, what you want to happen is something that would involve changing how WoW loads creature information onto your local machine.
    Games are not necessarily "easier" today. You are just a better player.
    It takes more now to impress many gamers than it did 2-5 years ago, because so much has already been seen and done.
    Many players expect to be wow'd with every release of a beloved franchise.
    These are generally NOT the fault of the developers, but the fault of many players over-hyping and/or setting expectations too high.

  3. #3
    I think you'd need an entirely new addon for this. NPCscan is completely dependent on things not being cached.

  4. #4
    it's not possible to do that.

    just make a launch.bat file in your wow folder to automatically delete the cache when you start wow.. this is what i use:

    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\npccache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files (x86)"\"World of Warcraft"\"World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by k8e View Post
    it's not possible to do that.

    just make a launch.bat file in your wow folder to automatically delete the cache when you start wow.. this is what i use:

    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\npccache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files (x86)"\"World of Warcraft"\"World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"
    I love this. Do I just put it anywhere in the WoW folder, or just the main folder?

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Yeah, NPCScan, SilverDragon and friends already abuse a "loophole" in the client in that they check whether any model is displayed after calling PlayerModel:SetCreature(<npcid>) - this only happens if the NPC is cached. If a model that previous did not work suddently starts working, it knows that you got within vision range.

    ---------- Post added 2012-10-03 at 07:33 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Eon Drache View Post
    I love this. Do I just put it anywhere in the WoW folder, or just the main folder?
    Main WoW folder from the looks of it. Also make sure you correct the path in the third line to point to your actual WoW folder.

  7. #7
    Delete your creaturecahce file. Start a new game then exit. Make the new creaturecache file read-only. Fresh start every time.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by k8e View Post
    it's not possible to do that.

    just make a launch.bat file in your wow folder to automatically delete the cache when you start wow.. this is what i use:

    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\npccache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files (x86)"\"World of Warcraft"\"World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"
    Does it not need a " before the C:\ etc as the other lines do, or would the following (for EU) be fine:
    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enGB\creaturecache.wdb"
    @del "Cache\WDB\enGB\npccache.wdb"
    @start E:\World of Warcraft\World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"
    Oh, and do you need to delete the npccache, as usually you just delete the creaturecache as far as I know.
    Last edited by Soisoisoi; 2012-10-03 at 05:58 PM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by k8e View Post
    it's not possible to do that.

    just make a launch.bat file in your wow folder to automatically delete the cache when you start wow.. this is what i use:

    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\npccache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files (x86)"\"World of Warcraft"\"World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"
    Would you mind going a bit more in-depth with this one for coder-tarded people like me?
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Dragon9870 View Post
    Would you mind going a bit more in-depth with this one for coder-tarded people like me?
    Gonna presume you're on windows.

    Open Notepad

    Copy and paste that into Notepad and edit the third line if necessary (it needs to point to where you have WoW).

    Go to File -> Save as

    Change the drop down box to "All Files" and save it as Whateveryouwannacallit.bat (the .bat is important, don't save it as .txt).

    Put it in your WoW folder and use it to start WoW every time.

  11. #11
    The solutions in this thread beg the question of whether there is a downside to either marking the cache file read only, or automatically deleting it every time on startup.

    Is there a performance tradeoff that reveals why creatures are cached in the first place?

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Matchu View Post
    Gonna presume you're on windows.

    Open Notepad

    Copy and paste that into Notepad and edit the third line if necessary (it needs to point to where you have WoW).

    Go to File -> Save as

    Change the drop down box to "All Files" and save it as Whateveryouwannacallit.bat (the .bat is important, don't save it as .txt).

    Put it in your WoW folder and use it to start WoW every time.
    Yeah on Windows. I can use Notepad++ if needed at all (if it'd make my life easier at all lol)

    Just in the C:/Program Files (x86)/WoW folder?
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by underdogba View Post
    The solutions in this thread beg the question of whether there is a downside to either marking the cache file read only, or automatically deleting it every time on startup.

    Is there a performance tradeoff that reveals why creatures are cached in the first place?
    Well, whenever you meet an NPC isn't cached, your client has to retrieve its data from the server (such as its model and stats). Once cached, all data related to that NPC will be stored and run client-side, which in turn frees the communications channel of an unnecessary load.

    When we talk about a single rare-spawn, there doesn't seem to be much point to it - but keep in mind that most NPCs aren't unique. For example, in a questing area or a dungeon where multiple instances of the same NPC might be present, the number of requests increases exponentially, and the performance drops dramatically. Imagine a boss that spawns 40 spiders - is it easier to download "one" spider, and generate 39 more copies; or download 40 spiders one by one?

    Caching improves the performance both on your client, and on the server; by removing the need to send lots of requests.
    Last edited by Zardi; 2012-10-03 at 10:06 PM.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Dragon9870 View Post
    Yeah on Windows. I can use Notepad++ if needed at all (if it'd make my life easier at all lol)

    Just in the C:/Program Files (x86)/WoW folder?
    If you're using Notepad++ you can change the Save-As dropdown box (Which read "save as type") to "Batch File (*.bat; *.cmd; *.nt)"

    And yes, just in the main WoW folder.

    You can also use the read-only 'trick' if you don't want to make a bat file.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Matchu View Post
    If you're using Notepad++ you can change the Save-As dropdown box (Which read "save as type") to "Batch File (*.bat; *.cmd; *.nt)"

    And yes, just in the main WoW folder.

    You can also use the read-only 'trick' if you don't want to make a bat file.
    No idea what the read only 'trick' is, so unless you'd like to explain it, I'll go with this weird bat file that for some reason reminds me of how much I hat ZuBATs in caves.

    Either way, thanks much for the help
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  16. #16
    Don't worry, it's really simple.

    Close WoW and go to the creaturecache file, this is probably in:
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\Cache\WDB\enGB\"
    Yours might be slightly different. It'll say enUS if you're in America for example.

    Delete creaturecache.wdb.

    Login to WoW, ideally not in a city (because you'll start caching rare pets). But anyway, once you've logged in somewhere, close WoW again.

    You should see creaturecache.wdb is back, but it's a lot smaller in filesize (probably around 70kb). Right click on it, go to properties, tick "read-only" and hit Apply.

    Now WoW can't write to that file when it caches any mobs, so your NPCScan won't need resetting. You may need to do the above steps again when WoW patches, haven't tested that yet.

    Either method will achieve what you want, so go with whatever you think works best for you :-)
    Last edited by Matchu; 2012-10-04 at 12:16 AM.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Matchu View Post
    Don't worry, it's really simple.

    Close WoW and go to the creaturecache file, this is probably in:
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\Cache\WDB\enGB\"
    Yours might be slightly different. It'll say enUS if you're in America for example.

    Delete creaturecache.wdb.

    Login to WoW, ideally not in a city (because you'll start caching rare pets). But anyway, once you've logged in somewhere, close WoW again.

    You should see creaturecache.wdb is back, but it's a lot smaller in filesize (probably around 70kb). Right click on it, go to properties, tick "read-only" and hit Apply.

    Now WoW can't write to that file when it caches any mobs, so your NPCScan won't need resetting. You may need to do the above steps again when WoW patches, haven't tested that yet.

    Either method will achieve what you want, so go with whatever you think works best for you :-)
    Awesome! Thanks so much

    But lets say I find the same rare twice in one game session (Unlikely, I know, but just curious); it won't DING! on the second, right?
    Still wondering why I play this game.
    I'm a Rogue and I also made a spreadsheet for the Order Hall that is updated for BfA.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    I'm not sure. Depends on how WoW caches - persistent file I/O vs on shutdown file I/O.

  19. #19
    I don't think it will. Brief testing with a rare seems to show NPCScan thinks the rare is now cached, so it wouldn't flag it a second time while you're still logged in.

    That may just be a display thing, but I'm guessing WoW has cached it, it just won't be able to write it to the permanent creaturecache.wdb because of the read-only flag.

  20. #20
    There's an additional step you can take to make it look like a regular Wow shortcut if you don't want it getting lost among your other icons on your desktop/start menu lol. This is purely cosmetic as double clicking the .bat will perform the exact same task as this shortcut.

    As said before, presumably you're running windows, this is what I do:

    1. Open notepad and paste the following (if you want to include the regular npc cache as well feel free to)
    If you wish to open the Launcher
    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files"\"World of Warcraft"\"World of Warcraft Launcher.exe"
    If you wish to open straight to the game
    Code:
    @del "Cache\WDB\enUS\creaturecache.wdb"
    @start C:\"Program Files"\"World of Warcraft"\"WoW.exe"

    2. Save it "name.bat" into where ever your game is installed

    3. Right click on an empty space in your Wow folder > New > Shortcut

    4. The wizard will ask you what file you want to set as a destination for your shortcut. Navigate to your "name.bat" notepad file you just made in your Wow folder and name this shortcut whatever you want and click Finish.

    5. Right click your shortcut you just made > Properties > Shortcut tab > Change Icon > OK > Browse > pick either the game.exe or launcher.exe for the icon image > Open > OK > Apply

    You now have a shortcut to the game, as you probably would have already, that performs that npccache code AND looks like wow to boot. I've been using this same method at least since the beginning of Cata when I started going rare crazy and it still works just fine.
    Last edited by Ivirus; 2012-10-04 at 07:34 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Caiada View Post
    Tanks are bowls. Healers are milk. DPS is the cereal. If you don't have a bowl, nothing's going anywhere but where you don't want it. If your milk's bad, the whole meal is instantly ruined. If there is not enough cereal, the whole meal is a failure and you aren't satisfied.
    Originally Posted by Ghostcrawler
    If you are trying to AE tank and a bad dps is attacking the wrong target and dies, we call that justice.

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