Spellcast Help Thread (Link your XML using Pastebin.com for help!)

**GoggleHead** · 2011-10-05 09:06

There's got to be some way we can extract base casting time as a variable, because spellcast clearly knows how long to wait to apply a default aftercast, right? If I could get my hands on that it'd just be a matter of applying the fastcast modifier to that for every spell and dynamically creating the aftercast delay(assuming spellcast can do simple multiplication of doubles).

Wait a minute...There is a %Castime variable.
brb, scouring spellcast's documentation to figure out if it can multiply stuff.

Edit:

Sweet merciful Jesus, we can do simple math with Spellcast. When I get off work tonight I will try to hammer out a solution to this and come up with a good code snippet for you guys to use.

**Yugl** · 2011-10-05 11:35

Talked with Radec about that solution a while back and it won't work because in situations where you spam your spell you'll end up repeating the aftercast action multiple times since <command> don't get canceled like <equip when="midcast|aftercast"> stuff. In other words, if you hit a spell and the spell doesn't go off for whatever reason and then you try to cast again, you'll end up going into aftermath slightly before the spell goes off. The other alternative that I just thought of, but will need to ask him about is if I use the Utsusemi trick and have the command control the midcast gear while a midcastdelay with a $VAR-CastTime handles the aftercast. Of course, this would make it impossible to lock gear since equipping sets via <command> bypasses locks.

Edit: As for the original issue, using trigger spells or any other spell should stop the aftercast from occurring, so Idk why you get mixed gear sets when casting another spell.

**Motenten** · 2011-10-05 13:05

Made some tweaks and small fixes to my thf xml and Mote-Include based on an additional night of use, though I'm not sure if anyone else tried using it. Seems solid enough now, so I'll probably go back to working on pld.

**Esvedium** · 2011-10-05 13:14

I've been thinking of trying it out, changed up most of the gear I have, but the only thing I've done on THF lately has been get it to 95, and used my own for that since I knew how it worked. I'll try to remember to try it out soon.

**Radec** · 2011-10-05 15:41

Given this for figuring out appropriate actual midcast time:

Spoiler: show

HTML Code:

			<elseif notspell="Stun"> <!-- Stun doesn't use midcast -->
				<var cmd="set castwhen midcast"/>
				<var cmd="set PreLand %CastTime"/>
				<var cmd="setcalc FC 0.00"/>
				<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + $BaseFC"/>
				<if Skill="Elemental*">
					<action type="castdelay" delay="0.3"/>
					<equip when="precast">
						<head>Goetia Petasos +2</head>
					</equip>
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.12"/> <!-- Goetia Head +2 -->
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.25"/> <!-- Elemental Celerity, estimated -->
				</if>
				<if Element="Earth|Water|Wind|Fire|Ice|Thunder|Dark">
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.12"/> <!-- +2 Staves -->
					<action type="castdelay" delay="0.3"/>
					<equip when="precast">
						<main>$%SpellElementN</main>
					</equip>
				</if>
				<if casttimegt="0.0"> <!-- If Casttime is low enough, may slow down by waiting for FC gear. Further study required. Ignored for now -->
					<action type="castdelay" delay="0.3"/>
					<equip when="Precast" set="Fastcast"/>
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.10"/>
				</if>
				<if SubJob="RDM"> <!-- FC2 from /RDM 35+ -->
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.15"/>
				</if>
				<if buffactive="Caster's*"> <!-- Since can't check buffactive for actual value, assume 11 -->
					<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.20"/>
				</if>
				<if SubJob="SCH">
					<if Buffactive="Dark Arts|Addendum: Black">
						<if Type="BlackMagic">
							<if Buffactive="Alacrity"> <!-- I never use Alacrity anymore, unlikely to function correctly -->
								<var cmd="setcalc FC 0.50"/>
							</if>
							<else>
								<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.10"/> <!-- 10% from Book matching type -->
							</else>
						</if>
						<elseif Type="WhiteMagic">
							<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC - 0.20"/> <!-- -20% from book opposing type -->
						</elseif>
					</if>
					<if Buffactive="Light Arts|Addendum: White"> <!-- Same as DA/AB, but white. See above -->
						<if Type="WhiteMagic">
							<if Buffactive="Celerity">
								<var cmd="setcalc FC 0.50"/>
							</if>
							<else>
								<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC + 0.10"/>
							</else>
						</if>
						<elseif Type="BlackMagic">
							<var cmd="setcalc FC $FC - 0.20"/>
						</elseif>
					</if>
				</if>
				<if advanced='$FC &gt;= 0.8'>
					<var cmd="setcalc FC 0.80"/>					
				</if>
				<var cmd="setcalc FC 1-$FC"/>
				<var cmd="setcalc Preland $Preland * $FC"/> <!-- Actual Casttime -->
				<var cmd="setcalc Preland $Preland - 1.2"/> <!-- Allow for swap to happen before landing -->
				<!-- If prelanding time was very low/negative, default -->
				<if advanced='$preland &lt;= 0.3'> 
					<action type="Var" cmd="set PreLand 0.3"/>
				</if>
				<action type="midcastdelay" delay="$PreLand"/> <!-- Set to new midcast time -->
				<!-- Debug for fiddling with fastcast -->
				<!--action type="command">input /echo %CastTime:$Preland:$FC</action-->
			</elseif>

You can do something like
<command when="midcast">wait 1; dummyspell_to_trigger_aftercast</command>
but there are other effects like addle which throw this off, and as Yugl pointed out, if you're spamming repeatedly, timeline looks something like this, assuming
1) The spell's recast wasn't ready until 1.0 seconds
2) "Midcast" for this spell happens at 0.5s after cast starts

Code:

Time   Cast1   Cast2                          Cast3                           Cast4
0.1    Spell
0.2            Spell(interrupts first call)
0.3                                           Spell(interrupts second call)
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8                                           Midcast
0.9
1                                                                             Spell(Actually Fires)
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5                                                                           Midcast
1.6
1.7
1.8                                           Dummy_Aftercast_Gear
1.9
2                                                                             Dummy_Aftercast overwriten by Cast3's dummy

The call to dummy_aftercast on cast3 will override the gear, potentially during the cast4's cast moment.

Edit: The "manual" solution to this would be to spam constantly until the spell fired, but it's just as easy to not worry about aftercast and have a macro that swaps you back to idle in an easy to hit position.

I can't say I've actually tried this method to see how much of an issue it would be, but I dislike the idea of having a gearswap I can't cancel pending.

Edit2: Perhaps there is a way around it by using something like the default aikar's blm.xml sleepID, but instead, castID - if after 1 second the lastspell cast was the ID of the spell you just cast (ie, no spell hit after midcast but before the wait 1 ended) then do dummy_aftercast, else don't. Not entirely sure how to do this, will consider.

Edit3: Rather than a long pause, can make it

<command when="midcast">wait 0.1; dummyspell_to_trigger_aftercast</command>

and have dummyspells' delayed midcast rather than precast do the return swap, then as long as you spam slower than every 0.1 seconds it should be fine.

**GoggleHead** · 2011-10-05 16:46

I'm not sure where you guys are pulling manual equip command inputs from. I just wanted to try changing the aftercast delay so that it's slightly shorter than its default value to account for the spell finishing sooner due to fast cast. I mean, you can just set aftercast delay to a numerical value as part of your rules, right?

I feel like I've missed something here.

**Radec** · 2011-10-05 16:51

Originally Posted by GoggleHead

I'm not sure where you guys are pulling manual equip command inputs from. I just wanted to try changing the aftercast delay so that it's slightly shorter than its default value to account for the spell finishing sooner due to fast cast. I mean, you can just set aftercast delay to a numerical value as part of your rules, right?

I feel like I've missed something here.

You can only increase the aftercastdelay, not decrease.

Code:

		<if spell="dummy">
			<action type="midcastdelay" delay="2.5"/>
			<equip when="midcast" set="idle"/>
			<return/>
		</if>
.
.
.
				<if Skill="ElementalMagic">
					<if notbuffactive="Addle">
						<command when="midcast">wait 0.1; dummy</command>
					</if>

Trying this, working pretty well just outside jeuno, will see how it does in actual use later tonight.

**GoggleHead** · 2011-10-05 17:06

Originally Posted by Radec

You can only increase the aftercastdelay, not decrease.

Balls.

**Motenten** · 2011-10-05 17:35

Originally Posted by Radec

You can only increase the aftercastdelay, not decrease.

You sure about that? I set a lot of my JA/WS aftercasts to 0.5 because the default takes way too long to return to normal gear, so that it returns to default gear quickly instead of having a long delay (no point, since the moves are 'instant'). It always seems to swap back to normal gear much more quickly than the default, which I believe is 1.5 seconds.

**Aja** · 2011-10-05 17:53

Code:

        
<if Type = "WeaponSkill">
            <if spell="Ukko's Fury|Power Slash|Vorpal Scythe">
                <if area="Abyssea*">
				<if buffactive="Berserk">
                    <equip when="precast" set="BerserkUkko" />
                </if>
				<else>
					<equip when="precast" set="Ukko" />
				</else>
				</if>
                <else>
				<if buffactive="Berserk">
					<equip when="precast" set="Berserkoutside" />
				</if>
				<else>
                    <equip when="precast" set="outside" />
                </else>
				</else>
            </if>
            <if spell="Fell Cleave|King's Justice">
                <equip when="precast" set="ws" />
            </if>
        </if>

Does this look correct for using the specific sets for inside abyssea with berserk up/down and outside with berserk up/down?

**Radec** · 2011-10-05 18:01

Originally Posted by Motenten

You sure about that? I set a lot of my JA/WS aftercasts to 0.5 because the default takes way too long to return to normal gear, so that it returns to default gear quickly instead of having a long delay (no point, since the moves are 'instant'). It always seems to swap back to normal gear much more quickly than the default, which I believe is 1.5 seconds.

I can't say I've tested myself, actually. Will give a whirl at it in an hour or so.

**Yugl** · 2011-10-05 20:02

Originally Posted by Aja

Code:

        
<if Type = "WeaponSkill">
            <if spell="Ukko's Fury|Power Slash|Vorpal Scythe">
                <if area="Abyssea*">
				<if buffactive="Berserk">
                    <equip when="precast" set="BerserkUkko" />
                </if>
				<else>
					<equip when="precast" set="Ukko" />
				</else>
				</if>
                <else>
				<if buffactive="Berserk">
					<equip when="precast" set="Berserkoutside" />
				</if>
				<else>
                    <equip when="precast" set="outside" />
                </else>
				</else>
            </if>
            <if spell="Fell Cleave|King's Justice">
                <equip when="precast" set="ws" />
            </if>
        </if>

Does this look correct for using the specific sets for inside abyssea with berserk up/down and outside with berserk up/down?

That is correct.

**Aja** · 2011-10-05 22:27

Awesome, ty!

**Cymmina** · 2011-10-06 05:58

Originally Posted by Motenten

You sure about that? I set a lot of my JA/WS aftercasts to 0.5 because the default takes way too long to return to normal gear, so that it returns to default gear quickly instead of having a long delay (no point, since the moves are 'instant'). It always seems to swap back to normal gear much more quickly than the default, which I believe is 1.5 seconds.

Yes. AfterCastDelay is how many seconds you would like to *add* to the default aftercast equip timer. The default aftercast timer is always how long it takes to activate an ability without accounting for fast cast, addle, troubadour, etc.

**Nightfyre** · 2011-10-06 10:14

To manually adjust AfterCast action delay after casting finishes. Delays are relative to a base of castime + 1.5 seconds. If AfterCastDelay is not specified, it will default to 0 for spells, 0 for ranged, and 1.5s for instants(ja/ws). Must set Delay with this option.

So you're each half right. You can lower AfterCastDelay somewhat for instants, but only increase it for spells and /ra.

**GoggleHead** · 2011-10-06 12:49

Does it not accept negative values?

**Nightfyre** · 2011-10-06 13:16

Tried that a while back, aftercast won't fire at all if you try to use a negative value.

**Yugl** · 2011-10-06 13:32

Delays relative to a base of casttime+1.5s. If no delay is specified, then 0 for non-JA/WS and 1.5s otherwise. Would this mean that JAs/WS are a 3s delay total?

Castime = 0

0 + 1.5 + 1.5 = 3

**Rehwyn** · 2011-10-06 18:27

Just a suggestion for people using pastebin to share their xmls, based on something Nightfyre is already doing: since the date in pastebin doesn't change if you change or update your xmls, include a comment near the top with the date it was last modified. Would make it easier for people following to tell if they have the most up-to-date versions and which files they need to update. It doesn't need to be a full changelog or anything, just something as simple as  would work.

Thanks so much for all the work put into these. Been using a few from posters here a while and am quite happy with them.

EDIT: I had a quick question for everyone. What types of bindings are people using to manage the various triggers found in xmls? I've been using F9-F12 with various modifiers, but it's sometimes difficult to fit them all in there logically, especially since Motenten has options for different element MDT sets too. I'm curious what others have done for this.

**Motenten** · 2011-10-06 20:02

I updated all my pastebin xmls to include a last modified timestamp (currently set to roughly right now, even if I haven't changed them in a while). It includes the time as well as date since I'll often update a single file multiple times in one day if I'm working on it.

As for the triggers -- I don't use key binds, only macros (though thinking about it I could probably do that now that there's decent continuity between xmls). For things like choosing the element of an MDT set, I do that manually; there's just not enough space on the keyboard to reasonably include all options. Since Spellcast allows shortened spell names, it's fairly easy to type in something like "/ma blizzaga5" to switch, and you shouldn't need to switch that often.

Other than that, I usually use Alt-5 through Alt-9 for triggers (PDT/MDT, Kite, Accuracy, LightArmor, Reset). Exceptions so far: thf, which gets an extra macro to switch TH mode; blm, which has an entire palette for proc spells and settings; and whm, which has stuff scattered across 5 palettes.

Since you've given me reason to think about it, though.... first draft puts it at:

F9 (all): Reset (seems the easiest key to reach of this set, and the most used command)
F10: Physical accuracy
Alt-F10: Magical accuracy
F11: Light armor cycle
Alt-F11: HP armor (light armor slot)
F12: Heavy (PDT/MDT) armor toggle
Ctrl-F12: Switch heavy armor to PDT mode (seems more likely to be used than any specific element)
Alt-F12: Kiting

Seems to cover all the major points. Just have to see if I can get used to it.

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