Remote control of a friends char

OrangeMan · 06-19-05, 02:08 PM

I play alot with my brother and occasionally one of us has to go AFK for a while be it phone food or nature. Since we are in the same room then it usualy ends up having one person run back and forth and controlling both of us for 5 minutes. Problem is I dont like running across a room ever 3 seconds. So.

I was thinking and as far as I can tell it wouldnt be that hard to design a mod that requires a server and client mode. When enabled then you can control basic char functions through tells or a random channel. How it would work:

Client sets a password in their setup, when they go /afk or /dnd then the server can enter their name and password. For simplicity then you could set it to use a channel based on the client name and using the password as the channel password. so Fred is the client, the channel would be /join fred002sq or something. When both users are in the client then the server can control basic functions. Say holding shift and doing an operation will send a message to the client to preform that function.

Really wouldnt need that much functionallity, limit it to autowalk, follow, force accept on trade-rez-summon-invite, force roll, attack/assist target, cast spell by name. What it couldnt do is open trade window, loot, use gyrphon, log off.

Some people have said that Blizz might not like it cause its "automation" but its not automation, its letting a trusted friend take over for a sec while your gone. It does nothing on its own.

***Cairenn*** · 06-19-05, 02:09 PM

While I'm not Blizzard, and thus can't answer definitively, I would say this wouldn't be allowed. Much too easy to "bot" a character that way.

OrangeMan · 06-19-05, 02:20 PM

Thats what most people have said, and while you could abuse it then I dont really see the advantage of it long term. Only really feasable for 5 minute stints afk so you dont get to far behind. Be rather cumbersome to try and actually play like that the entire time.

***Cairenn*** · 06-19-05, 02:24 PM

/nod, I can see where you are coming from, but I'm sure you can also see exactly how it could be abused, which is why I (virturally) certain Blizz isn't going to allow something like this.

Kaelten · 06-19-05, 04:28 PM

there would be alot thats not even possible about the most use I could see out of this would be to make your mate autofollow you.

Gello · 06-19-05, 05:10 PM

While it would be sort of limited (ie, no way at all to cast spells), it's doable and it can be done easily. But blizzard would probably just shut down a ton of functionality that is used for "more legitimate" purposes. There's too much that can be done without user intervention to believe that remote scripting wouldn't lead to nearly full-scale bots. (and turning into full-scale bots with a 2-second modification of a keyboard)

From the list the original poster wanted to do:
autowalk: /script MoveForwardStart(GetTime()*1000)
follow: /script FollowUnit("target")
accept trade: /script AcceptTrade()
accept res: /script AcceptResurrect()
accept invite: /script AcceptGroup()
accept summons: don't think it's doable
force roll: there is a RollOnLoot() function, but not certain if it can be initated by user without knowing the RollID -- so may be doable, may not be doable
attack: /script AttackTarget()
assist: /script AssistUnit("target")
cast spell by name: can't be done at all with a certainty. need key presses or mouse clicks on the recipient end to cast spells

It may seem impractical for more than five minutes but the reality is you can do a lot remotely like this for it to remain legal for long.

I'm certain a remote scripting mod will be made eventually. It can be done very simply too. There are probably mods that already do it, but I don't know of any.

Beladona · 06-19-05, 05:10 PM

you COULD setup an addon that responds to game messages and does certain things, but it would be limited to simple commands such as following, sitting, emotes, and chat responses. Spells and other more advanced things must include a hardware command which means an actual keypress of the mouse or keyboard.

Kaelten · 06-19-05, 06:00 PM

I'd say that for the preservation of the community an addon like this should not be made. Things like AutoTravel already push the limit as it is.

OrangeMan · 06-19-05, 09:18 PM

You shouldnt need a keypress to cast spells, there is a slash command to cast and that should be callable from a mod.

Its something like /cast Spell(Rank #)

Anyway I'm gonna go post on the official forums and see if I can get a blue. I dont have the know how to write it myself but i would really like to see it at least attempted.

***Cairenn*** · 06-19-05, 09:21 PM

That's still a physical action on the part of the user. Whether typing in /cast X, or clicking on a spell with your mouse, or pressing a key if you've got it keybound, they all require some *action* by the user to make it execute.

***Cairenn*** · 06-19-05, 09:27 PM

BTW, please don't get us wrong. We aren't trying to be all negative on your idea or anything, we're just saying why we don't think Blizz will go for it. Like I said earlier, though, we aren't Blizz, so we can't say for sure one way or the other. Just what we've seen as the typical response by Blizz about things like this. Posting on the official Blizz forums is probably a good idea, since we can't say definitively.

Beladona · 06-19-05, 09:36 PM

/cast is only callable from a macro, and as such requires a keypress to activate, hence the hardware event. You are also limited to one /cast per macro...

The same limitation is active from within full lua functions...

*EDIT* Cair beat me to it! hehe

Kaelten · 06-19-05, 09:53 PM

Blizzard has made it so that a script cannont cast spells without hardware intervention. I.E. I can make a script that will randomly cast one of three different spells when you hit a button. But I cannont make it cast 2 of them

There is a 1 hardware event to 1 spell/skill use ratio enforced on blizzards side of things.

Tyndral · 06-19-05, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by OrangeMan

You shouldnt need a keypress to cast spells, there is a slash command to cast and that should be callable from a mod.

Its something like /cast Spell(Rank #)

Anyway I'm gonna go post on the official forums and see if I can get a blue. I dont have the know how to write it myself but i would really like to see it at least attempted.

Try typing that into a chatbox some time - it wont work. It'll only work from a macro, because firing a macro satisfies the 'hardware event' requirement of casting a spell. Hitting enter in a chat editbox doesn't, and nor does calling it from a mod.

tralkar · 06-20-05, 06:58 AM

There is the thing called follow, use that for the 5 min.. or just wait till you or he to return..

memorex · 06-26-05, 07:36 AM

I have been looking for an addon that would set me to follow a party member when they say a key word or something. This would be very beneficial in times of lag which I do alot and also if running from one town to the next I need to go afk and get stuck on a fence or some obsticle the person could pull me off with the command.

Anyone know where I could find such a addon? I'd greatly appreciate it.

runswithkodo · 07-21-05, 11:46 AM

I have to disagree with the perspective on this.... A real person is playing the character. there is no bot involved.
You are remote controlling the character, not botting the character. Two very distinct functions.
A bot is a self sufficient script, and will act indipendant of outside intervention and reacts to the in game situation.
Remote controlling while to the same effect uses many similar principles is the exact same situation as if you were on the pc thats being controlled, no auto casting, no auto nothing, everything is controlled by you. the agent software only executes the commands you direct it to.

Now if this distinction is cleary against the rules for the mods, then I will have to say a number of mods out there are in violation. The most blatant would be my pet assist mod's for hunters, when a party member takes a hit, the mod targets them, assists them, and issues a pet attack command. While this serves no single play advantage as unless i hit them no exp is earned, but if I have two chars, and sit myself afk, and then on the second account pull something within range, hit it, then because i was hit, my pet assists. How is that any different.

I have been very concerned about the ramifications of that. But back to the point.
I desperatly want a remote control mod for my other accounts.
At present I alt tab between the accounts and it gets quite tedious and timing is crucial and results in several chars dieing that I cannot attend to in a timely manner.

Now I see two types of remote control.....
I would like to issue a command locally as follows
/remotecontroll "charname" "command"
the remote system recieves a tell from the local system
clientsystem whispers "command from remote system "command"

now the command will be the basic command line command /assist /tell /follow macro's and scripts.

I would appreciate comments on this stance. I personally do not want to see bots made, so the mod would need to be programmed well so as not to allow bots to act of their on volition. i just enjoy soloing, don't like grouping that much, and have multi boxed chars since everquest.

Caedo · 07-21-05, 12:02 PM

The following mod hasn't been updated for a while, and the 1.6 patch broke the automount feature (requiring a hardware keypress for use of items). It doesnt do nearly as much as you are wanting, but it is a start in the right direction.

FollowTheLeader
http://www.curse-gaming.com/mod.php?addid=1216

Drowsey · 07-21-05, 01:30 PM

try it, it wont cast anything without a keypress. you can target and do a lot of functions via a script, but casting a spell is not one of them, not without that actual keypress. And you will probably will not get an answer from a Blue for that question either. There are already more than a few threads on this very subject already, mostly from people begging for the travel addon that was surely the cause of that recent nerf to getplayperposition. Bliz does not want bots period, and they have said they don't exactly like mods that select targets, and spells even with the keypresses. I am sure that they will come up with a way to limit what any addon is able to do if they don't like it, and prevent anything outside of they originally intended. Wouldn't you if it was your game?

The remote control would be nice, but just think if you could remote control via a "software" command, whats to stop some other software from generating it to start with. That idea is gonna fly like lead.

Originally Posted by OrangeMan

You shouldnt need a keypress to cast spells, there is a slash command to cast and that should be callable from a mod.

Its something like /cast Spell(Rank #)

Anyway I'm gonna go post on the official forums and see if I can get a blue. I dont have the know how to write it myself but i would really like to see it at least attempted.