Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

I will be the first to admit that before I started this article I knew very little about Macros. I really just had the general I idea of how to put maybe two spells together that I would always cast at the beginning of a rotation. So I eagerly dove into the world of macros for all of the loyal readers we have.

I have to tell you I was surprised at how in depth you really can get with macros. I have played quite a few MMOG's and never used them before but it seems you can do just about anything with them. Also not only did I find out about macros but also functions and addons. Now addons are technically a separate thing from macros but I find that both worlds seem to meet up quite frequently as you use macros in your addons.

What is a macro?

A macro by definition is - a single computer instruction that results in a series of instructions in machine language

This really does a person who is creating macros zero good as it has nothing to do with the actual composition of macros. It does at least let one know what the end goal it of generating macros. Okay, so basically we are making a [button] to do something that would otherwise either take several buttons or typing out the actual command every time we wanted to perform something. This got me to thinking; all buttons are a form of macro. A very simple macro but a macro still.

How does all of this info apply to Runes of Magic and you? Well in a lot of ways really. Macros can be as complicated or as simple as you want them to be. They can do everything from changing on offhand weapon to casting several spells in sequence. Macros are simple to access with in the Runes UI. Simply hit escape until the games core menu appears then select the macros option. Here is a fully laid out view of what the Macro UI looks like for generating your own macros

One of the most important things of the macro world is knowing that everything is based off of slot numbers. An example would be knowing that the 5th slot from the top on the third bag is slot number is considered slot number 85 for the bags.

Here is an example of a simple macro that will simply equip items based on their name

/use Beclouding Hammer
/wait .2
/use Dreamer's Trousers

Here is the exact same macro to equip two items but based on bag slot and not on the name of the item so you don’t have to update your macros every time you get a new item; all you have to do is put them in the correct bag slot.
**note: the # in the below code would be the bag # slot where the item is

/run UseBagItem (GetBagItemInfo(#))
/wait .2
/run UseBagItem (GetBagItemInfo(#))

Macros can get even more complicated but as you continue to add them you are going to find yourself in the world of functions. Functions are from what I can tell are just long macros. Also when functions are set up in a library you can call upon them for other macros. So when you take lots macros plus lots functions you get a library. Once you have a library which is in effect a list of functions and macros that you can call upon to create an addon.