Found Alert for Fumblub Gearwind

_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 and Windows 7 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.

• 

  Author

  Saiket

  (Project Manager)

  Downloads

  • _NPCScan
  • _NPCScan.Overlay
  • _Cursor
  • _VirtualPlates
  • _Corpse
  • ItemRackTitles
  • GridStatusHealthFade
  • GuildBankSearch
  • _Dev
  • _UTF
  • oUF SpellRange
  • LibCamera-1.0

• 3.2.0.8:
  • Rewrote the screen border flash so that it should never conflict with other mods that use it.
  • Achievement tabs now have more prominent checkboxes so disabled tabs will be harder to miss.
• 3.2.0.7:
  • Tamable mobs now correctly show found alerts when spotted immediately upon login.
  • False found alert messages for tamable mobs now indicate why they are false alarms.
• 3.2.0.6:
  • Rare tamable mobs now only show alerts when found in their original zone.
  • Added a new “NpcOverlay_Found message” to be used by _NPCScan.Overlay.
• 3.2.0.5: Classified Terror Spinner as a tamable mob.
• 3.2.0.4: Classified Skoll as a tamable mob.
• 3.2.0.3:
  • Added new 3.2 rare spirit beast Skoll.
  • Now uses AceEvent-3.0 to communicate with map overlay-type addons.
• 3.2.0.2: Now loads properly when _NPCScan.Overlay isn't present.
• 3.2.0.1:
  • Now manages which overlays are shown by the RareSpawnOverlay and _NPCScan.Overlay addons.
  • Added four rare raptor mobs that drop non-combat pets in 3.2: Dart, Takk the Leaper, Ravasaur Matriarch, and Razormaw Matriarch.
  • No longer shows an alert button for tamable NPCs while resting (in an inn or city), although you will still need to clear the cache.
  • Added all localized mob names for zhTW, and as many as I could find for zhCN and koKR.
  • Added an “Unmute for alert sound” setting to play the alert sound even if WoW is muted.
  • Added an “Alert sound file” dropdown to choose which sound to play for alerts. Additional sounds can be added using SharedMedia-type addons.
  • The alert border flash now only shows when you enable “Screen Edge Flash” in the Default UI's Display Interface Options panel.
  • Now continues searching for rares in 5-man dungeons. Raid dungeons, battlegrounds, and arenas will still disable scanning, however.
• 3.1.0.1:
  • Achievements to kill rares now have their own lists in the options window.
  • Added slash commands to add and remove NPCs from the custom tracking list: “/npcscan add <NpcID> <Name>” and “/npcscan remove <Name>”
  • You can now add tamable mobs to your search list and toggle them all using a “Search for tamable NPCs” setting.
  • Found alerts for tamable mobs will note that they are tamable and may be false alarms.
  • Added an option to suppress the “already cached” log-in alert.
  • Added Gondria to the default rare list, and updated some rares that are now tamable in 3.1.