Note: This no longer works as of 2.4. Even with 2.4.2 the combat log entry for the orbs is still missing. I will try to update this addon as soon as circumstances change.
VoidReaverAlarm v1.1 by Lenja of Frostmourne EU
"Turns your whole screen deep blue when you are in range of an incoming arcane orb. Also shows you distance and direction of nearby orbs so you'll know where to run. It's almost too easy!"
The text "VoidReaverAlarm loaded!" will appear in the chat window when you start the client and the addon is active. Because its main task is to exchange information about the fight, all members of your raid should have it to get the best results. During the fight, you and your raid members will be protected by the addon's two main functions:
1) It recognizes when the boss targets you (meaning that an arcane orb will be heading your way shortly) and sends a warning including your coordinates to the raid. Of course, classes with rage and paladins with Righteous Fury will not trigger any warnings.
2) When a relevant warning comes in, your screen will turn blue and the distance and direction of that orb (or bomb as I call it) will be displayed. As soon as you walk out of range or 10sec have passed, the screen will become normal again.
If you want to see the addon in action, I recommend two different tests:
1) Go into an instance of your choice ALONE and type "/vra test bomb" to plant a test bomb. You can also place several bombs to see how that works. The distance is always relative to the nearest bomb.
2) Same as 1) but this time take a friend or two and have them also use the addon. For this to work, your coordinates must be synchronized first by pinging the minimap once when everybody is in the group. I know it sounds weird but this is how the addon calculates coordinates in instances using the last ping as point of origin. If everything goes right, they should now also see where you planted the bombs and be able to plant bombs themselves.
Do not ping the minimap again while bombs are placed or they won't be displayed correctly anymore. However, they'll despawn after 60sec in test mode and 10sec in boss fights. Of course, during boss fights, it's a particularly bad idea to make a ping. Therefore the addon displays the name of anyone who pings in the chat window so you know who to blame for the wipe.
Manual pings are only necessary when testing. For the actual boss fight, a ping will be made by your raid leader automatically when you engage the boss.
In case anyone takes a strong dislike against the color "blue" or doesn't like icons floating over their unit frames: there's also a silent mode (/vra silent on) which still sends vital warnings to other raid members but doesn't mess with that user's screen.
You can also display a list of all VRA versions your raid members are using (/vra version check) and see who doens't seem to have the addon.
- The (CPU expensive) function that tries to find out if the boss has you targeted now instantly returns if you are not in Tempest Keep.
- Distance font size increased
- VRA now displays a warning if it could not respond to a version check.
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)...