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I Hear NPC People

Version: 1.10E (& 1.0S archived)
by: VagrantEsha [More]

What is this?

Are you visually impaired, and because of that (or for some other reason) do you have trouble reading in-game gossip & quest dialogues? This mod concept is designed to help you. The idea is that when you're presented with text, it'll be read out to you from an audio file.

What's with these E and S versions?

It's a difference between mod versions and this is important to know. Basically an E implies an experimental mod, whereas an S implies a stable mod. A stable mod has been confirmed as completely functional, whereas an experimental mod is an in-development version which could fall anywhere between completely functional or not at all.

I'm not playing World of Warcraft any longer, so I supply experimental versions to have them tested in game. I do as much as I can with a local Lua parser, but I can't get everything.

The bottom-line is that if you want a mod that just works, grab an S version, and if you want to help me out, grab an E version. If the current mod is showing an E version then check the archived tab, it'll have the latest stable version there. If the current mod is showing an S version then there are no experimental versions as of this time.

How do I use it?

For those who just want to put this to use, there's only one consideration: due to the nature of the way World of Warcraft plays files that can be halted at will, you'll need to keep your music enabled. If there's interest, I'll try and design a version that detects whether your music is enabled or not, and enable it only for the amount of time the file is playing.

Once the mod is in place, you'll need some sound files. The sound files will generally be a string of numbers with an mp3 extension, and these must be put in the 'Sound Files' folder that's inside the 'I Hear NPC People' folder. A download link for a compressed file containing all the files created thus far can be found below.

[Link to be added.]

How can I contribute?

If you wish to contribute, you'll need only a decent microphone and the ability to speak clearly. Here's my recommended procedure for creating the required file.

1. Start your favourite audio recording software.
2. Task-switch into World of Warcraft.
3. Open up the dialogue you wish to record voice for.
4. Enter: /gossipid
5. This will give you a filename, keep this in mind.
6. Task-switch away to your audio recording software.
7. Start recording and switch back*.
8. As clearly as you can, read all the text within the dialogue.
9. Switch back to your audio recording software*.
10. Stop the recording.
11. Save the file with the filename /gossipid gave you.
12. Put the file in the 'Sound Files' folder.
13. Restart World of Warcraft.
14. Open the relevant dialogue again to see if it plays.
15. Once you're satisfied, upload to the repository.

* I realise that this will create a delay at the start and end of the file, but this is perfectly acceptable for two reasons: It will give the NPC the time needed to speak their greeting, and it will provide a gap between looping (the sound will continue to loop until the dialogue is closed).

[Normally, a link to the repository upload page would be here.]

How should I bug report?

As of version 1.7E, there's a new debug command in the mod which should help you with tracking down the nature of a bug. When you report a bug, supply what you feel are the relevant debug lines and the error you received (if any), if there was no error then just provide those debug lines and a description of the problem.

I'll warn you that the debug prints are very verbose and frequent, but this is just to help determine any problems you may come across.

To activate debugging mode, type: /ihnpdebug

If you feel you know what the error is/how to fix it then please feel free to post that information! I know that there are many competent players out there who understand the inner-workings of a mod, and the debug messages along with any errors would probably be as illuminating for you as they are for me.

Once you've gotten your report together, just leave it as a comment as I read those often.

Thanks!

What is your mission statement?

Whenever I start a new project, I have two goals in mind for the mod I want to create:

1. It gets the job done, and just the job.
2. It's a mod one could be proud to have on their PC.

I realise that the second goal is lofty, and probably impossible, but that's what I set for myself as an attempted standard. I want a mod that works well, is small, and is human readable despite not being commented. I will do my best to achieve those goals.

I get this from my artistic side; I realise that I could never achieve perfection, but I should strive for it anyway.

I realise I'm particularly young in the scene, and there's a lot about Lua I just don't know, so I'm always happy to get help in any kind. Especially if it results in a better mod for everyone, because that's what I want, I'm not doing this for myself at the moment since I've already quit World of Warcraft.

If you have any advice, all that I ask is that you try not to be heavy-handed. I don't really have great levels of self-confidence/self-esteem, and I've had projects of mine (at least publically) killed in the past when people have laid into me and been a bit of a snarky bully.

I'll continue with this project until I feel it's 'done', that there really isn't anything else I can do with it, and that the attempt to do so would ruin its core functionality. And I'll do my best to leave the community with a fully bugfixed and stable version of my mod.

Should future versions of Warcraft break the core functionality, I'll pop back to try and fix it, but I'm leaving this mod open (as I do with all my mods) for others to continue with it should I be unable to do that.

<< Stable Releases >>

[ 1.0S ]

-- Confirmed working version. Hooray!

<< Experimental Releases >>

[ 1.10E ]

-- There are days where I can be very stupid, this is one of them.
-- Basically no events were being handled, I've sorted that now.
-- I'll make a post about this too to explain further.
-- With this, we might actually be ready for another stable release.

[ 1.9E ]

-- Hmm, I think I have the bug Otto found figured out! We'll see!

[ 1.8E ]

-- A new debug system has been introduced (toggle with /ihnpdebug).
-- The mod will now try to detect your music settings (for voice playback).
-- Regardless of your music settings, the mod should be able to play the voice files.
-- It should change your music settings and reset them when it's done.
-- A lot was changed in this version so you might want to be ready for a bugfest. >_>;
-- If you'd rather not help with bug-finding, please grab 1.0S instead. Thanks!

[ 1.7E ]

-- Bug fixed in print function.

[ 1.6E ]

-- Hmmm! Debug time!

[ 1.5E ]

-- Silly error because I'm rusty. Got the variables passed to SetScript mixed up.
-- This should see the line 5 ? bug fixed.
-- So basically, everything seems fine except for that.
-- Here's hoping!

[ 1.4E ]

-- I took apart the checksummer and tinkered with it, lots of fun!
-- Local tests with a Lua parser shows that it does return valid checksums.
-- Basically, I can get it to spit out something like "14992.mp3".
-- I also screwed up the events again last time, _CLOSED, blast it!
-- If I'm right, I've covered all my bases, this should be a working version.
-- If so, that experimental notice can be removed and we can start doing something with this!

[ 1.3E ]

-- I dropped the MD5 library all together, the mod is smaller now.
-- This has been replaced with a checksum algorithm I found on the net (eek!).
-- The mod is now less ambiguous with errors, and should report failed checksums.
-- Got no errors running this through a parser, but the checksummer is an unknown quantity.
-- Let me know your results if this works, as I must ensure it's not providing impossible filenames.

[ 1.2E ]

-- Attempt to fix an interesting bug.
-- Slightly more robust code.
-- Whee, firing in the dark here, but here's hoping!
-- Thanks to OttoDeFe for helping me to squash boogs.

[ 1.1E ]

-- Rusty, been a while. I got one event wrong, it's GOSSIP_CLOSED, not GOSSIP_HIDE, damn it.

[ 1.0E ]

-- First highly experimental release, which didn't work at all.
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Unread 03-13-10, 02:49 PM  
OttoDeFe
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Cool. Get some rest, too!
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Unread 03-13-10, 02:23 PM  
VagrantEsha
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I might have goofed up the upload, that or uploaded the wrong file, I was a bit tired though, I admit, so I'll look into that and get things sorted.

Also, something has occurred to me, something which might change the numbers slightly, you may or may not have to change some IDs. I'll explain once I've got the new version done.
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Unread 03-13-10, 08:32 AM  
OttoDeFe
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Thank you for the complement, tho I was just trying to be helpful. You're too kind.

1.10E appears to be the same as 1.9E - none of the fixes are there.

**edit**

The issue with Volumizer is the music volume reset. I commented out the volume reset code and no error. It seems to be an issue with the slider code in Volumizer...

By the by, modified Rave to use a music toggle and am using it again.
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Last edited by OttoDeFe : 03-13-10 at 09:40 AM.
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Unread 03-13-10, 12:48 AM  
VagrantEsha
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Got the fixes in the local version. I'm not satisfied with the Volumiser situation though if there are problems, there, so I'm going to grab that and see if I can figure anything out. If it does what I think it does, there might not be anything I can do, but I'll check, just in case!

Thanks again for the fixes, I've had you credited as a co-author in the toc for a bit, now, and you really deserve that, you've been a fantastic help, couldn't have done it without you.

Once I'm satisfied with this, I'll mark it as 1.1S and move on to making an LDB thinger. Having it update real-time with the latest ID shouldn't be a problem.
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Unread 03-12-10, 11:17 PM  
OttoDeFe
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It's working pretty sweet with a couple o' small changes..

on line 61 there's a missing obj: before UnregisterEvent and the CVar names should have a Sound_ (Sound_EnableMusic) in front of them - something that changed after you left I think.

The only other quirk is that the CVar reset doesn't play nice with Volumizer, but meh.. nothing fatal happens.

The LDB plugin might be handy, particularly if it only updated if you when a new checksum was calculated.

A weird ingame thing - behind Archmage Celindra in Dalaran there are two NPC with identical gossips. I've been trying to make the files sound somewhat individual, but that threw a kink in that plan.

Two more up, but not entirely happy with them:

Zidormi


Celindra

THanx again for your work!
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Unread 03-12-10, 10:26 PM  
VagrantEsha
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Dur.

I'm having a stupid day, which is more than likely because I've been working with other languages which don't work the same way as Lua, and I forgot how Lua 'reads' things.

Basically, no events were being handled at all, and I've now fixed that. I figured this out after I basically constructed the debugging environment locally, just altering a couple of things as necessary, and seeing it work there made me realise that if the problem isn't with the debugger then none of the debug/print functions are being fired at all. That would mean that none of the events are being handled.

Whoops!

I've sorted all that out with this version, and it should be good to go. With any luck, this'll turn into 1.1S.

I'm not sure whether I should call it quits with 1.1S or work on the last idea I had: A DataBroker entry for IDs, which would basically show the current ID number in a DataBroker display. I'm not sure how helpful that would be, though, but if that's a good idea I might go ahead and do it once 1.1S is out the door.
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Unread 03-12-10, 08:36 PM  
VagrantEsha
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Got a new version up.

If it just continues without either music or errors then I think I might have screwed up my handling of CVars. Toggle on debug and open a dialogue, if it fails to fetch the CVar values then it's set to just halt gracefully, to stop further errors from occurring (so CVar values don't get corrupted). And if it fails, the debug actually prints a message to say so. If you see that message, I'll know to investigate further.

I have tinkered with the code a bit though, so I might have unwittingly fixed it, regardless.
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Unread 03-12-10, 08:11 PM  
OttoDeFe
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Code:
1.8E gives:

I Hear NPC People-1.8E\I hear NPC People.lua:113: attempt to concatenate field 'sum' (a nil value)
Interface\FrameXML\ChatFrame.lua:3573: in function `ChatEdit_ParseText':
Interface\FrameXML\ChatFrame.lua:3221: in function `ChatEdit_SendText':
Interface\FrameXML\ChatFrame.lua:3245: in function `ChatEdit_OnEnterPressed':
<string>:"*:OnEnterPressed":1: in function <[string "*:OnEnterPressed"]:1>
and doesn't play.

Got the debug working (line 119 needs to be changed to obj.print from obj.Print) but it spits nothing past the toggle notification.
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Unread 03-12-10, 10:01 AM  
VagrantEsha
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@Otto

Thanks! Awesome that we've already got one reading.

@All

I contacted Cairenn and asked her for ideas, she's going to run it all by Dolby when he gets back. Until then, I'm just going to work on polishing up the mod and adding in features. So if you have a feature request, now is the time!

A new experimental version is up for those who wish to help with bug finding and squashing! There's a new debug system in (/ihnpdebug to toggle) and it uses CVars to change the music settings as suggested by Otto.

This is all well under way, eh?

(Edit: Proofreading is good, a lack of proofreading leads to hilariously bad typos.)
Last edited by VagrantEsha : 03-12-10 at 10:49 AM.
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Unread 03-12-10, 08:01 AM  
OttoDeFe
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I did a quick file to see how it sounded. I used a little bit of audio editing to try to make it sound like a female orc. It's a little quiet and I'm still working on it.

Uda the Beast
- enUS. She's the inn keeper in the Filthy Beast in Dalaran.

I think the music toggling is a great idea! Might try to hack it in meself this weekend. Should be just a CVar toggle statement or two...
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Unread 03-11-10, 08:47 PM  
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1.0S, everything is all nice and official now. We are go. Wheeee!

I sent a PM to Cairenn too, in regards to the repository, so this might actually get underway, soon! Then it's just a matter of getting the attention of capable and generous players to do some recording.
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Unread 03-11-10, 07:59 PM  
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No worries, Otto!

I'm going to clean this up then and call it gold. I'll rewrite the description too, and then follow up the next step in this insane scheme: finding a repository. I'll shoot the WoWI admin types a PM and see if they want to/are able to help out with this.

If we can get a repository set up where people can submit files based on language/area, we'll be good to go.
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Unread 03-11-10, 06:21 PM  
OttoDeFe
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Erm... I just caused you frustration for no reason... I'm sorry for that.

I had forgotten I had the music turned off. I re-enabled and it played no problem.

I apologize again...
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Unread 03-11-10, 01:44 PM  
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@dwang

Yup, found a bug in the print func that wasn't showing up with the normal parser (wrong type of bug). Sorry about that! There are only so many kinds of bugs I can check for, and some slip by me. I really appreciate having people to test these experimental versions in game.

1.7E (validated soon, I 'spect) will have this fixed.

(Looks like it's validated and up!)
Last edited by VagrantEsha : 03-11-10 at 01:45 PM.
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Unread 03-11-10, 01:34 PM  
dwang
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Hmm slash command won't let me enter it.
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