Q: My account was hacked while I was running Chronos, it's your fault isn't it??
A: Probably not. While I don't ensure the absolute security of Chronos, I can ensure that it was not intentionally designed to steal your account, log your keys, call home, or anything else malicious.
If you're unsure, I have a thread on Chronos on the official Rift forums with (at the time of writing) over 27,000 hits and over 500 replies. Some of the replies in the thread are Trion forum moderators. If my software was intentionally malicious, I'm sure the thread would have been locked and / or deleted by now.
I'm also a subscriber of Rift, Trion have my personal details. If I was stealing accounts, I think the Trion law team would have something to say about it. I'm not saying that Trion support my software, I'm just saying that at least some of their forum moderators are aware of it and have done nothing to suggest I'm some kind of gold farming evil genius.
Q: Is Chronos against the EULA of my game?
A: Probably not, although you should always check before using Chronos. Chronos only reads logfiles that are made available for interpretation from the development team of your game. It does not interact with game information in memory (RAM) or interact with any game files. In terms of your game, Chronos just reads your logfile and even then you have to choose which logfiles Chronos reads. That's it.
Q: Is Chronos just for "hardcore" players or raiders?
A: Absolutely not. Lots of players of different playstyles are finding uses for Chronos. Many casual players are using it to time their short term buffs so that they don't forget to recast them once they have expired. You can also use Chronos to see things like who is casting a particular spell along with other similar events. Chronos has lots of uses and you don't need to be connected to a server with other people to benefit.
A: Help! My Chronos executable has become corrupted during the update process / file copy / system crash / zombie apocalypse, what can I do??
Q: I would try running your chronosupdater.exe directly from the directory where Chronos is located in order to redownload the program. If Chronos is crashing due to a problem with the data files Chronos uses, try deleting the files. You'll lose your data, but Chronos will generate new, stable data files.
Q: Can I use a wildcard in my timers?
A: Yes. Chronos supports one wildcard in your text to match. Simply use a $ symbol where you would like your wildcard. For example, an event with the text to match "You have been hit by $!" would trigger when "You have been hit by Troglor!" appears in the log.
Chronos will also "extract" your wildcard. So in this case, Chronos would extract "Troglor". If you put the $ symbol in other parts of your timer, like your text to speech, the $ will be replaced by the extract. So if you had some text to speech in this timer which read "$ hit!" then it would be read out as "Troglor hit!".
This can be useful for things like calling out the name of a person who has been afflicted by a deadly curse.
There is one important rule for extracts: The $ symbol in your text to match must have a reference point that would appear in your log on either side. One character is fine, even punctuation. For example, if there was an event in your log that had the text "A big nasty creature of doom has used fiery death!" and you wanted to pull out the name of the ability (in this case "fiery death"), then "A big nasty creature used $" would not work. However, "A big nasty creature of doom used $!" would work. The $ symbol just needs some kind of matching character or punctuation on either side. In the case of the "A big nasty creature of doom used $!" example, there is a space on the left and an exclamation mark on the right (highlighted in red). When you use your extract in other parts of your timer, you do not need any reference points on either side, it could even be used on its own, like this "$".
Q: I'm using Chronos with a server. Our raiders are being hit with a curse that everyone needs to know about. However, it only appears in the log of the person who has been hit. Is there any way to let everyone know that the event has fired and who was hit?
A: Yes. If you use the symbol ^ anywhere in your timer / trigger, it will be replaced by the username of that player. For example, if the text that appeared in the log of the afflicted player was "YOU have been cursed with CURSE OF EXTREME DEATH", you could make a trigger with that text to match. Next, just make some text to speech that says "^ has been cursed". When the event fires, it will let everyone know that particular player has been cursed.
Using the example above, if a player with the username "LeetMaster" was the user afflicted (and therefore the text to match appeared in their log and their log only), they would trigger the event to the server and the whole raid would be made aware that "LeetMaster has been cursed" via the text to speech you set up.
Q: My timer keeps triggering all of the time. It's supposed to happen once but then keeps firing every few seconds. What's going on?
If you're unsure, I have a thread on Chronos on the official Rift forums with (at the time of writing) over 27,000 hits and over 500 replies. Some of the replies in the thread are Trion forum moderators. If my software was intentionally malicious, I'm sure the thread would have been locked and / or deleted by now.
I'm also a subscriber of Rift, Trion have my personal details. If I was stealing accounts, I think the Trion law team would have something to say about it. I'm not saying that Trion support my software, I'm just saying that at least some of their forum moderators are aware of it and have done nothing to suggest I'm some kind of gold farming evil genius.
Q: Is Chronos against the EULA of my game?
A: Probably not, although you should always check before using Chronos. Chronos only reads logfiles that are made available for interpretation from the development team of your game. It does not interact with game information in memory (RAM) or interact with any game files. In terms of your game, Chronos just reads your logfile and even then you have to choose which logfiles Chronos reads. That's it.
Q: Is Chronos just for "hardcore" players or raiders?
A: Absolutely not. Lots of players of different playstyles are finding uses for Chronos. Many casual players are using it to time their short term buffs so that they don't forget to recast them once they have expired. You can also use Chronos to see things like who is casting a particular spell along with other similar events. Chronos has lots of uses and you don't need to be connected to a server with other people to benefit.
A: Help! My Chronos executable has become corrupted during the update process / file copy / system crash / zombie apocalypse, what can I do??
Q: I would try running your chronosupdater.exe directly from the directory where Chronos is located in order to redownload the program. If Chronos is crashing due to a problem with the data files Chronos uses, try deleting the files. You'll lose your data, but Chronos will generate new, stable data files.
Q: You can create your own! Simply use the 1.chronosoverlay file in your ChronosServer or ChronosClient Themes directory as a template. Copy it to your desktop or somewhere convenient while you work on it, don't make another copy in the same folder. Once you're done, simply import it to Chronos through your settings and you're good to go! Chronos will automatically check the theme for errors and copy the file to the Themes directory correctly for use, providing that you use the interface in Chronos itself to add your theme. Don't forget that there's nothing stopping you testing your theme as you make it!
Q: Can I use a wildcard in my timers?
A: Yes. Chronos supports one wildcard in your text to match. Simply use a $ symbol where you would like your wildcard. For example, an event with the text to match "You have been hit by $!" would trigger when "You have been hit by Troglor!" appears in the log.
Chronos will also "extract" your wildcard. So in this case, Chronos would extract "Troglor". If you put the $ symbol in other parts of your timer, like your text to speech, the $ will be replaced by the extract. So if you had some text to speech in this timer which read "$ hit!" then it would be read out as "Troglor hit!".
This can be useful for things like calling out the name of a person who has been afflicted by a deadly curse.
There is one important rule for extracts: The $ symbol in your text to match must have a reference point that would appear in your log on either side. One character is fine, even punctuation. For example, if there was an event in your log that had the text "A big nasty creature of doom has used fiery death!" and you wanted to pull out the name of the ability (in this case "fiery death"), then "A big nasty creature used $" would not work. However, "A big nasty creature of doom used $!" would work. The $ symbol just needs some kind of matching character or punctuation on either side. In the case of the "A big nasty creature of doom used $!" example, there is a space on the left and an exclamation mark on the right (highlighted in red). When you use your extract in other parts of your timer, you do not need any reference points on either side, it could even be used on its own, like this "$".
Q: I'm using Chronos with a server. Our raiders are being hit with a curse that everyone needs to know about. However, it only appears in the log of the person who has been hit. Is there any way to let everyone know that the event has fired and who was hit?
A: Yes. If you use the symbol ^ anywhere in your timer / trigger, it will be replaced by the username of that player. For example, if the text that appeared in the log of the afflicted player was "YOU have been cursed with CURSE OF EXTREME DEATH", you could make a trigger with that text to match. Next, just make some text to speech that says "^ has been cursed". When the event fires, it will let everyone know that particular player has been cursed.
Using the example above, if a player with the username "LeetMaster" was the user afflicted (and therefore the text to match appeared in their log and their log only), they would trigger the event to the server and the whole raid would be made aware that "LeetMaster has been cursed" via the text to speech you set up.
Q: My timer keeps triggering all of the time. It's supposed to happen once but then keeps firing every few seconds. What's going on?
A: It sounds like you're timing a damage over time or heal over time ability that uses the same text for the firing and the ticks afterwards. Basically, you have something that's coming up in your log, then every time it damages / heals, it's showing up again in exactly the same way. This can be solved by using an immunity to cover most or all of the duration of the ability.
Q: I have a buff or something similar that increases in duration the more I charge it up before use. Is there any way to increase timer lengths before they're fired?
Q: I have a buff or something similar that increases in duration the more I charge it up before use. Is there any way to increase timer lengths before they're fired?
A: No, but this is something I could look in to implementing in the final version. If the buff has some text that tells you when it has finished (for example "YOUR buff of magic has faded from YOU."), you can use this as an interrupt. Simply enter the finishing text into the interrupt text to match box and then change the "When Interrupted" setting to "Clear Timer". This should clear your timer when your buff is over. You can also give your event some specific interrupt text to speech so that Chronos will tell you that your buff has finished.
Q: Can I use my own timer icons in Chronos?
Q: Can I use my own timer icons in Chronos?
A: Yes! Simply go to your ChronosData folder, then open the Icons folder and add your own icons. Ensure that they are 16x16 pixels in size and that when you save them to the Icons folder, sequentially number them after the last icon. For example, if the last icon is 34.jpg, simply name any icons you add sequentially, such as 35.jpg, 36.jpg, 37.jpg, etc.
Q: Can I set up Chronos Server so that other users can remotely manage global timers and such?
Q: Can I set up Chronos Server so that other users can remotely manage global timers and such?
A: Not as of yet, although this is a feature I absolutely want to implement sooner rather than later.
Q: Can I request features for Chronos?
Q: Can I request features for Chronos?
A: By all means, I love hearing new ideas for the software. In fact, the text to speech dictionary idea came from my girlfriend insisting that it be implemented and the themes idea came from a Rift forum user. Go ahead and post comments on the blog if you'd like to request features.
Q: Can I create my own Chronos Web Report page?
Q: Can I create my own Chronos Web Report page?
A: Yes! Go to your ChronosData folder, then open the Web folder. There are three files you should edit:
chronosreporttop.txt - This is likely going to be the biggest part of your page. Edit this as you like.
chronosreportmiddle.txt - This is probably the most important part. This section will repeat for each user you have in Chronos.
chronosreportend.txt - The closing tags or parts of your page.
An example page is included after you first run Chronos. You can use special "Chronos tags" in your HTML to output certain data to your web page:
General:
#NAME# = The "Page Title" that you can enter in your Chronos Server Advanced Settings page.
#HOMEPAGEPATH# = The path to your website homepage, which you can edit in the same place as above
#LOGOPATH# = The path of an image you wish to display, which you can edit in the same place as above
#DATE# = This will output the current date
#TIME# = This will output the current time
#SERVERSTATUS# = This will output the current server status (UP / DOWN)
#DATE# = This will output the current date
#TIME# = This will output the current time
#SERVERSTATUS# = This will output the current server status (UP / DOWN)
#SERVERCAPACITY# = This will output the current server capacity
#SERVERPORT# = This will output the current server port
#TRANSFERRATE# = This will output the current transfer rate
#ALLOWCLIENTGLOBALSAVE# = This will output the current whether or not clients save global events locally (TRUE / FALSE)
#ALLOWCLIENTGLOBALSAVE~# = The above, but the opposite true / false value
#CURRENTCAPACITY# = This will output the current amount of logged in users (useful with server capacity)
#CURRENTCAPACITY# = This will output the current amount of logged in users (useful with server capacity)
Middle (chronosreportmiddle.txt) only special tags:
#USERNAME# = The username of the current user being output
#POINTSAMOUNT# = The points (DKP) of the current user being output
#EVENTSATTENDED# = The number of events attended of the current user being output (format: 0/0)
#ATTENDANCEPERCENT# = The percentage of events attended of the current user being output
#USERSTATUS# = Whether or not this user is currently logged in (ONLINE / OFFLINE)
Q: How do I uninstall Chronos?
#USERSTATUS# = Whether or not this user is currently logged in (ONLINE / OFFLINE)
Q: How do I uninstall Chronos?
A: Simply delete the Chronos files from the location that you run Chronos. Some parts of Microsoft .Net may write stuff to the registry, but I haven't coded anything in to Chronos that writes tons of shit to your registry or hides stuff on your machine. Rest assured that with Chronos, what you see is pretty much what you get.
Q: I got an error while using Chronos. What can I do about it?
Q: I got an error while using Chronos. What can I do about it?
A: Tell me about the error. Get as much detail as possible. What was the error message? What were you doing at the time? Can you recreate it? Was there a blue screen? That kind of thing. Email the information to chronosdevelopment@gmail.com . I'll get on it ASAP if possible.
Q: What is the update URL I can use in the update settings on the Basic Settings page of Chronos?
Q: What is the update URL I can use in the update settings on the Basic Settings page of Chronos?
A: http://chronostimers.info/Chronos
Q: Why doesn't Chronos set the update URL up for me when I first run the program?
Q: Why doesn't Chronos set the update URL up for me when I first run the program?
A: Because if Chronos ever becomes popular and for some reason I stop working on it, I don't want people to be left with a default or hard coded URL that may end up being bought by someone else down the road and bogus Chronos files being downloaded to your machine via the updater.
Q: How does the numbering system work in your versions?
A: A.B.C.D
A = Major version. Complete rewrites or overhauls of Chronos.
B = Minor version. Significant new features or features that I consider important to the "final" vision of Chronos may increase this number.
C = Feature version. This number may increase when smaller features are included like extra options to compliment existing features and so on.
D = Release version. This number increases any time the program is updated with bug fixes, very minor features, small adjustments, code improvements and things like that.
Q: How does the numbering system work in your versions?
A: A.B.C.D
A = Major version. Complete rewrites or overhauls of Chronos.
B = Minor version. Significant new features or features that I consider important to the "final" vision of Chronos may increase this number.
C = Feature version. This number may increase when smaller features are included like extra options to compliment existing features and so on.
D = Release version. This number increases any time the program is updated with bug fixes, very minor features, small adjustments, code improvements and things like that.
Personal:
Q: Why does it seem like you disappear for days at a time and then pop up again on other days?
A: I work a shift schedule. When I'm on shift, I work 12 hour days. I usually do three days on then three days off. On my days at work, I'm super fucking tired when I get home (I get up at 6:30AM and don't get back home until 9:00PM) and my brain is just a mush. You probably don't want me messing with the code on those days.
Q: How did you make Chronos?
A: Chronos is coded in C# .Net using Visual Studio. It is built on the Microsoft .Net 4 framework, which needs to be installed on your machine before using the software.
Q: How is Chronos updated?
A: Originally, Chronos was updated manually by downloading the latest executables and replacing your current exe with the latest one. Now it comes with an updater in the full install download. Simply point your Update URL in the Basic Settings page to http://chronostimers.info/Chronos and then hit the check button!
Q: Are you a professional programmer?
A: No. I've always been into computing, programming / coding on and off and things like that. I originally intended to be a web designer, then I ended up going to university to study Games Art. I worked at that for about 2 years, did an extra year of nothing and then dropped out after deciding I really hated the degree. I don't hate games design or games art, but I was required to do things as significant parts of the degree that didn't interest me (for example character modelling and animation). I'm much more of a mechanics / UI / gameplay designer or environment artist than animator or character modeller. While I think it's important I know about all aspects of game design, I didn't want to pay to do something I wasn't enjoying.
Q: What MMO's do you play?
A: I've played EverQuest II the most, where I ran a guild for almost 2 years. I've now moved to Rift: Planes of Telara, although I've dabbled in other MMO's such as WoW and Age of Conan.
Q: You sound English / Australian or something else entirely in your tutorial videos. Where are you from?
A: The UK. More specifically, the North East of England. I've never lived anywhere else, although certain words of my accent have picked up a bit of an American accent due to being a raid leader using voice chat with Americans for a year.
Q: I work for a games company. We need designers of all kinds / a shitty C# programmer intern / customer service rep / some dude who makes the coffee, you should apply!
A: Love to, send me an Email to the development address (chronosdevelopment@gmail.com). (I'm especially interested in pre-production / pen and paper design like mechanics, gameplay, features, etc!)
