Okay, since most older players are gone and can't pass on some tips to newer players I forced myself to make a serious post and offer a few, useful hacks for PlaneShift. I think most of these are even useful nowadays without any RP in PS. Use them, ignore them, do whatever you want with them...
First of all its kind of important to understand that PS uses a different directory for it's configuration than the install-directory. All
configs, chat logs, saved books, saved sketches and screenshots can be found there.
On
linux you can find that directory at "~/.PlaneShift" ("~" is your users home directory, ".PlaneShift" is a hidden directory so you might have to adjust you filemanager's settings to see it)
On
windows the easiest way to get there is typing "%AppData%" in the address bar of the windows explorer (filemanager). Then just click on the "PlaneShift" directory there. (full directory: "%AppData%\PlaneShift")
On
MacOS the directory is "~/Library/Application Support/PlaneShift". ("~" is the home directory of your user..the house icon on the left side of the finder)
So..why is that directory so important? First of all because in the "logs" sub-directory you find the chat logs. No idea how anyone can play PS without those.
But the other reason is because the files in "options" sub-folder allows you to do some nice stuff in PS.
Let's start with
camera.xml:
Here we already have something important (since it's not possible anymore to change that in game)
In the <General> section of that file you can turn of camera collision checking.
<General>
<camsetting name="StartingCameraMode" value="0" />
<camsetting name="UseCollisionDetection" value="off" />
<camsetting name="UseNPCCam" value="off" />
<camsetting name="TransitionThreshold" value="1" />
</General>
The important line here is: "<camsetting name="UseCollisionDetection" value="off" />". With this the camera won't bounce off walls and the ground but go through them. While this for sure doesn't look as nice graphics wise (it leads to graphics bugs when you look at places without any 3d objects) it's pretty useful in narrow places...or in Kada El's to see what happens on the other floors.
Next interesting thing in the camera file is the <FreeRotation> section. There is a line "<camsetting name="MaxCameraDistance" value="200" />" in that section. By changing the value of "MaxCameraDistance" you set how far you can scroll back the camera. Might be useful if you want to make a map-like-screenshot of a larger area or for some other nice screenshots.
Next interesting file:
chat.xmlcustomizing the chat filter:
The chat filter of PS is one of the greatest tools the game has. You can use it as a simple spell checker for words constantly typed wrong. (For everything I say here to work the outgoing chat filter has to be turned on. If you don't like the chat filter censoring some of your words just remove the listed words at the start and the <replace bad="brb" good="I will return shortly"/> for every substitution you don't like. I wouldn't turn on the incoming message filter if using these tips as they might change what another player types accidentally...but that's up to you)
To setup a simple spell-checker just do something like this in the file:
...
<filters>
<badwords incoming="0" outgoing="1">
<replace bad="accpeted" good="accepted" />
<replace bad="adn" good="and" />
<replace bad="afetr" good="after" />
<replace bad="afetrwards" good="afterwards" />
<replace bad="ahve" good="have" />
<replace bad="ahrd" good="hard" />
<replace bad="amde" good="made" />
<replace bad="amke" good="make" />
<replace bad="ass he" good="as she" />
</badwords>
</filters>
...
It can be also used to abbreviate some frequently used phrases. Just add something like this to the <badwords> section:
<replace bad="osp" good="Octarchal Society for Progress" />
<replace bad="rco" good="Red Crystal Organization" />
<replace bad="rcd" good="Red Crystal Den" />
<replace bad="adv_thx" good="You are welcome. Have fun" />
<replace bad="adv_unstick" good='Try typing "/unstick" in the chat window' />
<replace bad="adv_npc" good="It seems the NPC-client (the program that controls the monsters) is down at the moment. You have to wait until it's restarted again before you can attack anything. But there are a lot of others things you can do in PlaneShift. Try some quests or learn some crafting...or just Roleplay with some other characters." />
<replace bad="adv_gm" good="To contact a GM make a petition (Button in the main toolbar). Or you can go the the #planeshift IRC channel on freenode. There is a web interface for this at http://www.planeshift.it/chat/" />
<replace bad="adv_run" good='Open your options (<o>-key) and go to Controls/Keys. Assign keys to "run" and "toggleRun" and after pressing "save" you should be able to run with these keys' />
<replace bad="adv_right" good='Open your options (<o>-key) and go to Controls/Mouse. Hold the <ctrl>-key while pressing the "set" button next to "ContextMenu". After pressing "save" you should be able to use <ctrl>-leftclick to bring up the context menu.' />
<replace bad="adv_tutorial" good="There is a walkthrough for the tutorial at http://pswiki.xordan.com/index.php?title=Tutorial_Walk_Through" />
<replace bad="adv_furnace" good='Step close to the furnace and right-click it. Then select the "examine" icon from the context menu. Move your ore from the inventory to one of the free slots of the furnace and wait.' />
<replace bad="adv_r" good="I think Xargon already mentioned the word. And as a hint, this is a mmoRPg" />
<replace bad="adv_map" good="There is nothing like a mini-map in PlaneShift. But you can buy empty maps and paint your own maps in game." />
<replace bad="adv_spoiler" good="Sorry, we are not allowed to give spoilers like how to complete quests, locations of NPCs or which NPC trains what in the help channel. Please ask some other players in game." />
<replace bad="adv_logs" good='For linux the logfiles are under "~/.PlaneShift/logs". On a mac you can find them under "~/Library/Application Support/PlaneShift/logs" ("~" is the home folder of your user in both cases). For windows open a windows explorer and enter "%AppData%" in the address bar. Then navigate to the "PlaneShift" folder and then to "logs".' />
In the example some special xml chars are used for some signs:
- " becomes " in PlaneShift
- ' becomes '
- < becomes <
- > becomes >
Those are needed because they have a special meaning in xml files...so wherever you want to use them in text you have to use those special chars.
And of course it can be also used for some RP speeches that can be prepared in advance (like a theater-play in a vaudeville)
...
<replace bad="line0001" good="[All actions on the stage are just acted. The blood used is only artificial, being produced by squeezing red fluid out of pouches. Wounds and deaths are just played, and it can be observed by the audience, that it is faked. Please stay IC and keep conversations low in order to not disrupt the flow.]" />
<replace bad="line0002" good="Welcome, citizens of Yliakum! I am proud to present to you the first performance of a theater play at the Red Crystal Den." />
<replace bad="line0003" good="Supported by the Octarchal Society for Progress, we hope to entertain you with a theater piece written by the Octarch's Champion and security chief in charge: Orgonwukh." />
<replace bad="line0004" good="Some may wonder about the writer of the piece. Well, when we were looking for a good theater piece, we were surprised to discover, that most of them are not worth being played, so we were looking for alternatives." />
<replace bad="line0005" good="Orgonwukh provided his theater play 'The Outlaw' to the Red Crystal Organization, and we immediately agreed that it is an excellent choice for our first performance of a theater play." />
<replace bad="line0006" good="/me looks at Orgonwukh somewhat unsure" />
<replace bad="line0007" good="/me stares at Haraun with narrow eyes" />
<replace bad="line0008" good="/me quickly adds "...unanimously."" />
<replace bad="line0009" good="/me nods with a broad grin" />
<replace bad="line0010" good="/me looks at the audience again and takes a deep breath" />
<replace bad="line0011" good="So you now will see the premiere of this piece and also the first performance of the Red Crystal Organization " />
...
The nice thing about this is that "/shout line0008" works in game like a "/shout /me quickly adds "...unanimously."" As far as I now /me is the only command that works in chat filter replacements. You can't put the /shout command in there. (okay, you can..but it will be printed like text. Pretty funny to make a <replace bad="cmd_die" good="/die" /> and have people wonder how you type "/die" in chat without dying
Even more fun to ask them to do it themselves....)
Last interesting file in that directory is "
shortcutcommands.xml"...not much one can do there, but it's much nicer to edit some shortcuts in a text editor with spell checker than in-game. If you need quotes or apostrophes in the text don't forget to use the xml-replacements for them.
<shortcut54 name="Aiwendil House">/group **The ground floor consists only of one large room. A small stair at the left side of the room, just wide enough to allow one person to get through, leads upwards to the first floor. The side of the stair is covered by some wooden shelves which mainly embody books but also some smaller items and toys of Terendul. To the right of the entrance a large wooden table stands on a frayed, dark red carpet. Behind the table there is a small kitchen in the corner consisting only of a stove, a small table with a large water bucket on it and some shelves, containing the dishes, a few pots and some other utilities. A cupboard next to the table obviously holds some food an ingredients needed for cooking. The carved parquet floor of the room enhances the impression of a worn but not uncomfortable house.**</shortcut54>
Now to something else that might be useful for people with more than one account. This time not in the configuration directory but the install-directory. In the "data" sub-folder there is a file called
servers.xml. It includes the addresses of the official servers. By copying a <server> line there and changing the name one can make the login screen on PS display two entries for the same server:
<serverlist>
<server name="laanx (RP)-1" description="SkyLab Host is our roleplay server. All players are expected to engage in roleplay and avoid things like leetspeak.
Failure to follow these rules will result in kicks/bans.
Register at http://planeshift.skylabhost.it/register" ip="62.173.168.9" port="7777" />
<server name="laanx (RP)-2" description="SkyLab Host is our roleplay server. All players are expected to engage in roleplay and avoid things like leetspeak.
Failure to follow these rules will result in kicks/bans.
Register at http://planeshift.skylabhost.it/register" ip="62.173.168.9" port="7777" />
<server name="laanx (RP)-3" description="SkyLab Host is our roleplay server. All players are expected to engage in roleplay and avoid things like leetspeak.
Failure to follow these rules will result in kicks/bans.
Register at http://planeshift.skylabhost.it/register" ip="62.173.168.9" port="7777" />
..
</serverlist>
But how is that useful? Pretty simple...The login email and the password are saved for each servername in that file...this way you can have a different standard login for "laanx (RP)-1" and "laanx (RP)-2" in my example. So to login a different account all you have to do is selecting another server in the list...not changing the login data.
Hope that's helpful for a few people. Now have fun again with your PLing...