What does gfxToggle do?
Maybe you're a gamer with a computer which is not an uber-high-end-wtfpwnz0riz0r-machine (perhaps you're gaming on a notebook?) and when you get your char into a crowded area your frames per second (FPS) drop instantly. (e.g. Ironforge, Orgrimmar, Alterac Valley)
So what can you do about that? Hmm, changing the graphic-settings in WoW would be a good choice but it soon gets a pain in the butt to change it over and over, so I had the idea to code an addon that toggles these settings automatically by just pressing one key or let it automatically switch settings depending on the zone you're entering. e.g. When I do PvE, I'd like to switch settings to high, when I'm at PvP or in town I'd toggle to low.
gfxToggle has key bindings, slash commands, FuBar and Minimap support!
gfxToggle affects the following graphic-parameters (they all don't need a logout or restart of the game):
World Appearance:
- Terrain Distance
- Environment Detail
- Texture Detail
- Level of Detail
Shaders:
- Full-Screen Glow Effect
- Death Effect
- Smooth Shadows
Misc:
- Vertical Sync
- Tripple Buffers
- Smooth Mouse
- Spelleffect Details
I've also added Blizzard's latest try to improve performance in crowded areas: M2Faster
Note: I've only added settings that don't need a restart of the game to take effect. I did this on purpose and I won't add any other features that'll need a restart, so please don't ask.
There are three ways the addon switches the parameters. Note: at the bindings menu you can assign a key to gfxToggle.
1) By pressing the Toggle-Key: If you didn't save customised settings it'll switch from lowest to highest by default.
2) By pressing the Toggle-Key: Once you've saved your customized settings for low and high it will use these instead (will be saved permanently until you reset or set new ones)
3) Auto-Switch Mode: If you added a zone to the gfxToggle database, it will check for this specific zone and switch automatically to LOW when you're entering it. After you leaved that zone gfxToggle will switch back to HIGH.
Commands
Firstly, bind a 'Toggle Low/High' and 'Auto-Switch'-Key to gfxToggle (you'll find it in WoW's bindings menu).
/gfxt about - will show some extra information about this addon.
/gfxtoggle or /gfxt - will show help and all available commands.
/gfxt mute - will toggle all messages off/on.
/gfxt medium - will turn on the new medium feature.
/gfxt delay - set the delay for auto-toggle in seconds.
/gfxt m2faster - enable or disable Blizzards' M2Faster tweak.
/gfxt restartgx - Allows or disallows re-initializing the graphics driver (needed for VSync changes).
To switch VSync and Smooth Mouse the game has to restart the graphics. While it does the restart, it'll switch to the desktop for a duration of 1-2 seconds. By using this command you allow switching of Vsync and Smooth Mouse. It's deactivated by default.
/gfxt auto - will toggle auto-switch mode. you can add zones to a database which will get automatically switched to low or medium settings (if activated) after you've entered them.
/gfxt toggle - will manually toggle between low/(medium)/high (for using in macros).
/gfxt save low and /gfxt save medium and /gfxt save high - will save settings you've done in the graphics options.
Before you execute this command, go to the WoW graphics options and make your changes to the world appearance, the shaders and the misc settings. Click on the 'OK' button after you're done. After that type '/gfxt save low', '/'gfxt save medium' or '/gfxt high' just depending on your settings. These stored settings will also be used for the auto-switch mode.
/gfxt addl - will add a zone to the low database, eg. '/gfxt addl' saves the actual zone '/gfxt add Orgrimmar' is saving Orgrimmar to the low zones db.
/gfxt addm - will add a zone to the medium database, eg. '/gfxt addl' saves the actual zone '/gfxt add Orgrimmar' is saving Orgrimmar to the medium zones db.
/gfxt del - will delete a zone from the database. Same usage as for the 'add' command.
/gfxt del all - clears your whole zone database. (can't be undone)
/gfxt list - will list all zones you entered before
/gfxt reset - will popup a dialog which'll ask you to confirm to clear settings and use defaults
Each time you switch the settings, gfxToggle will report it in an overhead text message (green = low, yellow = medium, red = high) except you mute gfxToggle 2 by '/gfxt mute'.
v2.3.0-beta2
- gradually increase farclip to avoid loading screen
- more code tidy-up; remove temporary table abusage
Installation Guide
- Exit "World of Warcraft" completely
- Download the mod you want to install
- Make a folder on your desktop called "My Mods"
- Save the .zip/.rar files to this folder.
- If, when you try to download the file, it automatically "opens" it... you need to RIGHT click on the link and "save as..." or "Save Target As".
- Extract the file - commonly known as 'unzipping'
Do this ONE FILE AT A TIME!
- Windows
- Windows XP has a built in ZIP extractor. Double click on the file to open it, inside should be the file or folders needed. Copy these outside to the "My Mods" folder.
- WinRAR: Right click the file, select "Extract Here"
- WinZip: You MUST make sure the option to "Use Folder Names" is CHECKED or it will just extract the files and not make the proper folders how the Authors designed
- Mac Users
- StuffitExpander: Double click the archive to extract it to a folder in the current directory.
- Verify your WoW Installation Path
That is where you are running WoW from and THAT is where you need to install your mods.
- Move to the Addon folder
- Open your World of Warcraft folder. (default is C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\)
- Go into the "Interface" folder.
- Go into the "AddOns" folder.
- In a new window, open the "My Mods" folder.
- The "My Mods" folder should have the "Addonname" folder in it.
- Move the "Addonname" folder into the "AddOns" folder
- Start World of Warcraft
- Make sure AddOns are installed
- Log in
- At the Character Select screen, look in lower left corner for the "addons" button.
- If button is there: make sure all the mods you installed are listed and make sure "load out of date addons" is checked.
- If the button is NOT there: means you did not install the addons properly. Look at the above screenshots. Try repeating the steps or getting someone who knows more about computers than you do to help.
Translations
When you download a mod, please be sure that the mod is compatible with your translation of wow. Some mods only work on the US versions, while some only work on some of the various European versions. These variations are called "Localizations".
TOC Numbers (Out of Date Mods)
When Blizzard patches WoW, they change the Interface number. This means that all mods will be "out of date" unless or until the author releases a new version for that interface. Some people go into the .toc files and update the numbers themselves, but this is STRONGLY advised against as it will cause problems locating possible incompatibilities addons. When you log into WoW after a patch, you DO NOT have to delete your interface directory. All you have to do is simply tell WoW to ignore the interface numbers and load all the mods anyway. All you have to do is, while at the "character select" screen, look in the lower left corner and click on the "addons" button. A window will pop up listing all your installed mods.
If you look in the upper left corner of that window there should be a box that says "Load Out of Date AddOns". You want to CHECK this box. Now simply go into WoW normally and all your mods should load. As of the 1.9 patch, you will have to do this after EVERY patch/update that Blizzard posts! If you encounter any problems with a mod after a patch, please be sure to let the author of the mod know so they can fix it.
See also: About "Out Of Date AddOns"
Mac Support
WoW addons are not platformed based. As such, they can be used on either Mac or PC. You can extract both .zip and .rar files on a Mac using StuffitExpander.
Directory Structure
World of Warcraft
|_ Interface
|_AddOns
|_*AddonName*
|_ *AddonName*.toc
|_ *AddonName*.xml
|_ *AddonName*.lua
|_ (possibly others as well)...
