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_NPCScan

 

Project Updated:
Files Updated: Sun, Oct 4 2009
Supports Game Version: 3.2.0
Category: Achievements
Tags:

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Project Manager: Saiket
Additional Authors: No additional authors
Current Version: _NPCScan 3.2.0.8
License: GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3)
Development Site: CurseForge.com
Avg Daily DL (last 30 days): 1,914
Downloads Total: 322,526
Favorites: 415
Comments: 97
  • About _NPCScan
  •  

_NPCScan tracks seldom-seen rare mobs by proximity alone, making the old “/targetexact …” macros obsolete. It has the same range as those targeting macros, but you won't have to mash any buttons. Just go about your business and let _NPCScan alert you when it finds something.

Details

The Cache

This addon doesn't use nameplates or mouseover units to find rares. Instead, it checks your creature cache for the moment a rare mob is found. There is one catch to this technique however: Once a mob is “found”, _NPCScan won't be able to find it again until your cache is cleared.  If you find a rare mob's corpse—Dirkee for example—you would have to clear your cache before _NPCScan would find Dirkee again.  Thankfully, clearing your cache is a safe and simple matter.

Clearing Your Cache

To clear your cache, follow these straightforward steps:

  1. Exit World of Warcraft.
  2. Delete the “Cache” sub-directory inside your World of Warcraft folder.  For example on a standard Windows XP installation, you would delete the folder “C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Cache”.

Note: Windows Vista users see this info to find your Cache folder in WoW's Virtual Store.

That's it.  Log in after you've done that and you'd be able to find Dirkee a second time.  It's completely safe because WoW will recreate your Cache folder after you log in again.

Cache Warning

If a rare mob is already cached when you log in, _NPCScan will print a warning message with the names of those mobs.  If you see this message but still want to find the listed NPCs again, it's time to clear your cache by following the above procedure.  Otherwise, you can quit searching for those mobs using the Search options window detailed below.  You can suppress this log-in message using the main options pane, as well.

“Found” Alert

When a rare mob is found, _NPCScan alerts you by playing a loud and distinctive sound, making your screen pulse red, and displaying an animated targeting button.  To get a feel for what this alert looks and sounds like, try the “Test Found Alert” button in the addon's main Interface Options panel. (See the Options section below.)

Targeting Button

When clicked, the targeting button tries to target the most-recently-found mob.  You can also bind a key to hit this button. If the default button position isn't to your liking, you can move it while holding your <CTRL> key.

Note: The button cannot be shown during combat.  In the unlikely case that you do find a rare while fighting, the button will appear after you leave combat.  You will still hear the alert however, and the name of the mob will appear in your chat log.

Options

_NPCScan's main options window can be accessed from the Interface Options menu.  This panel includes a “Test Found Alert” button, various ways to customize the alert sound, and an option to suppress cache warning messages on log-in.

New sounds can be added to the alert sound dropdown menu by installing SharedMedia-type addons.

Search List

The list of mobs that _NPCScan searches for can be modified easily through the Interface Options panel, however it comes pre-configured with most rare Outlands and Northrend mobs.  To access the mob list, type “/npcscan”.

Grayed out NPCs in a list aren't being searched for, either because they're cached, a pet, or not needed for their achievement.

  • The first tab available lists Custom NPCs that you can enter or remove manually.  NPCs that are already cached show a red “X” in the first column.  You can add or remove Custom NPCs with the [+] and [-] buttons at the bottom right.
  • All other tabs control achievements like Bloody Rare and Frostbitten.  These tabs show an additional column on the right with green check marks for completed achievement mobs.  You may enable or disable tracking each achievement with its tab's checkbox.

The two checkboxes at the top left of the pane allow greater control over which mobs to search for.  “Search for tamable NPCs” controls searching for mobs tamable by hunters (to avoid the issues detailed in the “Limitations” section below).  “Search for completed Achievement NPCs” allows you to keep looking for mobs you no longer need for achievements.

Finding NPC IDs

A mob's NPC ID is its unique identification number, and it can be found on sites like WowHead or WowDB.  For example, search for the mob “Dirkee” on WowHead and go to the mob's page.  That page's URL will look like “http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=32500”; 32500 is Dirkee's NPC ID.

Limitations

The only problem mobs for _NPCScan are tamable beasts.  Even when you run across the tamed version, _NPCScan gets tricked into thinking that mob is nearby.  In order to prevent those false positives, _NPCScan only shows alerts for tamable mobs in their original zones.  That is, if you spot Loque'nahak in Dalaran instead of Sholazar Basin where it usually patrols, _NPCScan would ignore it.  When one of these tamable mob false-alarms happens, you'll see a message in your chat window explaining why it got ignored.

Since this makes tamable mobs are so difficult to track, I suggest you fly to the tamable mob's zone first, clear your cache, and then search for it.  Any time you pass through a populated area like Dalaran, you risk filling your cache with popular rare pets.

  • Downloads (6)
  •  
File Name Release Type Game Version Downloads Date
Addon Curse.com Beta 2.3.3 0 9/29/2008
  File Name Release Type Game Version Downloads Date  
  _NPCScan 3.2.0.8 Release 3.2.0 83,531 10/4/2009
  _NPCScan 3.2.0.7 Release 3.2.0 50,306 9/22/2009
  _NPCScan 3.2.0.6 Release 3.2.0 41,390 9/11/2009
  _NPCScan 3.2.0.5 Release 3.2.0 55,357 8/20/2009
  _NPCScan 3.2.0.4 Release 3.2.0 49,101 8/6/2009
  • Comments

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  • Anybody found a fix, Npcscan is not working on PTR 3.3 ..It Loadsup and all but its not scanning nothing.

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  • mrmushy said 

    Every time I delete my cache folder and then log in, I still get the message telling me to clear my cache because a large number of rares are supposedly still cached. Is WoW somehow restoring my cache from elsewhere?

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    If WoW is still running when you delete the cache, it won't really get reset. Make sure to exit the game first, then delete it and start the game up again.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • vortesse said 

    Having an issue any ideas anyone.

    So It seems that on my machine _npcscan will not ding/trigger when there is a rare nearby. I recently changed from NUI UI to using XPERL. My GF is still using NUI and her's will inform her when there is a rare nearby.

    I did unistall and reinstall, I checked my settings vs my GF's and we are both the same. I did the test and it did show me as a rare. We even went into the basilisk cave in StragleThorn Vale with that one named rare (although it is always up) basilisk and her npcscan went off but mine didn'.

    Does this not work with xperl?

    Thanks

    Reply Report Permalink
  • vortesse said 

    Okay maybe I have figured it out, reason it will not go off is that it is cached? if so doesn't explain the hits my gf gets with the one in STV as it would be cached the first time but dings all the time.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    Does your GF use a script to delete her cache every time she starts WoW? Another possibility is that she is using Windows Vista (or maybe 7, not sure) and her cache never gets saved at all. Either way, the only way she could see an alert for the same mob twice is if her cache was emptied between alerts.

    One last problem might be that the STV basilisk you mentioned wasn't being searched for (it's not a default). Maybe its NPC ID was mis-typed?

    Reply Report Permalink
  • vortesse said 

    I'll check but I should point out that my _npcscan was working fine until I switched over to xperl, that is the reason that I thought it might be xperl problem.

    Also we are both running windows vista with the exact same setup as well as our wow accounts and addons are set up exactly the same (I set them both up), and she isn't running any script that would clear her cache.

    I'll have to look into things on my side more and see if there are truely anything different.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • sabre91 said 

    im trying to tame gondria using this addon, and im wondering...

    does this addon scan the whole area of zul drak for gondria or just sayyyy a 40 yard radius around me? because then its just as useful as tracking beast, except with an alarm.

    i was wondering if i could just sit in one place and just wait for it to ding or do i have to still fly around?

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    It has about a 100 yard range, but that's nearly the same as track beasts. You could AFK over one spawn point, but you'd still need to fly around if you wanted to check them all.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • sabre91 said 

    thats cool. thanks for the reply, i had another question to ask but its escaping me atm. ill think of it and reply again soon

    Reply Report Permalink
  • sabre91 said 

    ok i remember now. here it is...

    when the addon dings, it shows the target of the animal. does it show its exact location on a map or does it just say that it has spawned?

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    If you're using _NPCScan.Overlay (http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/npcscan-overlay.aspx), it will show an estimate for where the mob might be on your map and minimap.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • g8or said 

    Wonderful Addon btw...


    If your feeling like making some additions here are a couple suggestions from my experience using _Npcscan to attain Bloody Rare and Frostbitten.

    1. Could you put a time stamp in the target window that pops up.
    (If im afk camping a spot and npcscan goes off and i miss it for whatever reason, with a time stamp I would at least have a reference to go by for the next re-spawn)

    2. Could you add an option to continuously loop the alert sound file until you close the target window that _Npcscan pops up.
    (if im afk camping and have to go out of earshot for something I would miss the alert sound just going off once. With an option to loop it, I would know I got an alert when I returned within earshot.)

    thanks

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    I suggest finding a mod that adds time-stamps to chat messages, so that the line _NPCScan prints out will have the time it happened at.

    As for repeating the sound, there's no good way for addons to do that, unfortunately. You might be able to add a really long sound to SharedMedia and select it as your found alert sound. Maybe a song or something would be long enough.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • huldu said 

    Great mod! However i was wondering is there any database for vanilla wow, non beast rares, like undead, humanoids and all those?

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    I probably won't write one until Cataclysm comes out, since I'm sure the rares will all change (and there will be new achievements for them).

    Reply Report Permalink
  • huldu said 

    The addon at first sight seems to work pretty fine alongside silverdragon. Tho it wouldnt surprise me if they both show popups in outlands/northrend once a rare pops up. Silverdragon got a huge database of rares, including the old ones hence its nice :)

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  • Can I make a suggestion for the next version? Can you have it ping the minimap to show where the mob is when you click to target, so that we know what direction to head to find the rare? Also, can you add an option to never put the mob in the cache, so that it will continue to notify me whenever I run across a mob? I like to help guildies find the rare guys too.

    Reply Report Permalink
  • Saiket said 

    The cache can't be edited like that, since it's controlled entirely by the game. The only way around that is to clear your cache once you've spotted a rare.

    As for a minimap ping, there's no way to get an *exact* position for the mob. However, my other mod _NPCScan.Overlay (http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/npcscan-overlay.aspx) prints a circle on your minimap to show where it guesses the mob might be. The two mods work together though, so be sure to have both installed.

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  • Mechbull said 

    Thanks! I found 'Skoll' in no-time (not literally). 5/5.

    Reply Report Permalink
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