Dirkee's path in blue on the Minimap, with a circle showing where he probably is.
Three mob paths drawn onto the World Map of Netherstorm.
Paths drawn onto a zoomed-in Carbonite window of Sholazar Basin.
Zul'drak's patrols on the Battlefield Minimap.
The options sub-panel, under _NPCScan's main options panel.
NPCScan.Overlay
_NPCScan.Overlay is an addition to _NPCScan that adds map overlays for rare mob patrols. When you search for a rare in _NPCScan, _NPCScan.Overlay will show where it patrols until you find it. It works similarly to keithgabryelski's Rare Spawn Overlay, but supports the minimap and has a much smaller download size, along with a few new features.
Special thanks to Rare Spawn Overlay's patrol paths and Routes' minimap drawing code for inspiration!
Note: _NPCScan.Overlay works hand in hand with _NPCScan. Please install both, and keep both up to date!
Details
World Map
In addition to drawing paths on the World Map, _NPCScan.Overlay adds a key to a corner of the window with each rare's name. It only appears in zones that have rare maps, like Netherstorm as seen in the screenshot. If you need to read something under the key, just move your mouse over top of it and the key will jump to a different corner.
Most map mods like Atlas and Cartographer3 will inherit the key and overlays from this module. Even Carbonite's map display will show them.
Battlefield Minimap
The small “Battlefield Minimap” (AKA the “Zone Map”) also shows mob paths.
Minimap
All shapes and sizes of minimaps are supported. Rotating minimaps work fine as well.
Also shown in the minimap's screenshot is the “found” range ring highlighting where Dirkee probably was when the alert went off. That is, Dirkee was seen at the middle of that ring, and he could have been anywhere within the 100 yard ring around that point.
One feature not shown in the screenshot is a thinner 100 yard range ring around your character. It helps you gauge _NPCScan's detection range, so you can sweep through zones more effectively. This option can be found in the Minimap subsection of the options panel, detailed below.
Options
_NPCScan.Overlay's options can be found under _NPCScan's main options menu, under _NPCScan > Overlay. From there, you can enable/disable each map display, and configure settings specific to each.
Each map display can have its overall transparency set independently with the “Alpha” slider, so that it doesn't obscure the maps themselves.
Added optional support for LibRareSpawns to show portraits in _NPCScan's mob list.
The key frame now only appears in Carbonite when its map frame is in “maximized” mode.
Reduced the appearance of lines inside of drawn paths.
3.2.0.2: Now draws a 100 yard ring on maps indicating where found mobs probably are. Putridus is excluded from this, since his detection range is as wide as Icecrown.
Originally posted by DroppedAtBirth I have both NPCScan and NPCScan.Overaly installed, and both work great, help me find gondria. My question is it appears when you find/cache a npc it remove the npcs path/spawn points from the overlay. Is there anyway to always show the npcs paths/spawn poitns even if the npc is cached?
Currently there's no option for that, but I'll think about adding one in for a later version.
I have both NPCScan and NPCScan.Overaly installed, and both work great, help me find gondria. My question is it appears when you find/cache a npc it remove the npcs path/spawn points from the overlay. Is there anyway to always show the npcs paths/spawn poitns even if the npc is cached?
Originally posted by Zelgoddess I don't get 4 but 6 says missing.
Ah, well in that case, WoW can't find the addon. If you had put it in your addons folder while WoW was running, make sure to restart the game so it can detect the new mod. Otherwise, it's in the wrong folder. Double check to make sure you unzipped it right alongside _NPCScan (not inside the _NPCScan folder), and you should be set.
Originally posted by Saiket Do you have both _NPCScan and _NPCScan.Overlay installed and enabled at the same time? Can you at least see the "Search" title under "_NPCScan" in the Interface Options menu?
Yes I have both Npcscan and Npcscan Overlay installed and enabled. I can see the search option but no overlay option.
Last edited by Zelgoddess : 10-27-2009 at 03:01 PM.
Originally posted by Zelgoddess I cannot get the option for the overlay to show up in my npcscan options. Am I doing something wrong? Someone plz help.
Do you have both _NPCScan and _NPCScan.Overlay installed and enabled at the same time? Can you at least see the "Search" title under "_NPCScan" in the Interface Options menu?
Originally posted by Saiket The key only appears when Carbonite's map is "maximized" or if you open up the default UI's worldmap while Carbonite is running. Carbonite's settings are a little too flexible for me to describe exactly how to show the maximized map, but for my setup, the M key toggles between a small and large Carbonite map, and ALT+M opens the default UI's map.
Ahh, not sure why I wasn't seeing that ~ Thank you !
Originally posted by zaaephod Hello, I've been trying to get the overlay working in Carbonite, I see the colors on the map, but no key or any way I can see to tell which color belongs to which mobs path. I have the most recent version of NPCScan, Overlay, LibRareSpawns and Carbonite installed.
Any ideas? Thanks!
The key only appears when Carbonite's map is "maximized" or if you open up the default UI's worldmap while Carbonite is running. Carbonite's settings are a little too flexible for me to describe exactly how to show the maximized map, but for my setup, the M key toggles between a small and large Carbonite map, and ALT+M opens the default UI's map.
Hello, I've been trying to get the overlay working in Carbonite, I see the colors on the map, but no key or any way I can see to tell which color belongs to which mobs path. I have the most recent version of NPCScan, Overlay, LibRareSpawns and Carbonite installed.
You have just downloaded by the author . If you like this AddOn why not consider supporting the author? This author has set up a donation account. Donations ensure that authors can continue to develop useful tools for everyone.
*Clicking the donate button above will take you to PayPal.com
*Clicking the donate button above will take you to Pledgie.com
