Wanting to build addons

Johndo · #1 12-01-2007, 01:35 PM

Hi, I've always loved getting the ui that I want but it's to the point now that I think I want to be making my own ui's. Been a fan of customization since Winamp broke out of their mold and had skins that were not rectangles anymore. I guess it's been too long now that I just sit back and wait for people to make stuff that I want. So I would like to know what do I need to learn to make addons?

**Drumstix42** · #2 12-02-2007, 03:10 AM

Well, the quick and dirty reply I guess would be to pick up UIBuilder from the EQII folder and try messing around with some of the windows. If you're not code savvy, this is probably the easiest way to go about it.
I find it best to just pick something out, modify something simple, and see how it works in game. Maybe afterwards, take a custom window, and compare the differences to default. Pretty much one step at a time.

Take a look around at what info other interface authors have posted, any available How-To's, and I guess looking up how XML is usually formatted can help a bit. Asking questions are good, and there's also plenty answered around the forums.

Johndo · #3 12-02-2007, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drumstix42

Well, the quick and dirty reply I guess would be to pick up UIBuilder from the EQII folder and try messing around with some of the windows. If you're not code savvy, this is probably the easiest way to go about it.
I find it best to just pick something out, modify something simple, and see how it works in game. Maybe afterwards, take a custom window, and compare the differences to default. Pretty much one step at a time.

Take a look around at what info other interface authors have posted, any available How-To's, and I guess looking up how XML is usually formatted can help a bit. Asking questions are good, and there's also plenty answered around the forums.

Cool Thanks. Yeah I've tried out the UIBuilder though I guess I need to probe in more. I didn't know quite how to modify something so I guess I thought it would be better to just learn whatever coding language is needed to fully understand things. I'll keep on playing with UIBuilder.

dragowulf · #4 12-02-2007, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johndo

Cool Thanks. Yeah I've tried out the UIBuilder though I guess I need to probe in more. I didn't know quite how to modify something so I guess I thought it would be better to just learn whatever coding language is needed to fully understand things. I'll keep on playing with UIBuilder.

I played with UIBuilder a bunch and through UIBuilder I learned XML...weird huh?

If you plan on learning/doing some xml through notepad I suggest getting Notepad++

Johndo · #5 12-02-2007, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragowulf

I played with UIBuilder a bunch and through UIBuilder I learned XML...weird huh?

If you plan on learning/doing some xml through notepad I suggest getting Notepad++

Really? Wow, I don't even see much coding on UIbuilder

And thanks for the software suggestion.

**Drumstix42** · #6 12-02-2007, 09:05 PM

The XML used for the UI is really just different objects, with various properties. UIBuilder just shows it in a different way then notepad or something similar would. Plus it has the display window showing you what the result is, as well as making it easier to size/place objects.