Mapping Out? - Guild Wars Forums

inti melch eye · Oct 27, 2011, 09:27 AM // 09:27

My brother downloaded this utility from here and it works well. But I take it the update executable no longer is functional? Since it gives me an error every time I try to run it. Also my brother wanted to note that with the exception of GW freaks and this one all your links in the download area are broken.

MisterB · Oct 27, 2011, 06:33 PM // 18:33

The creator of MappingOut hasn't updated since 2008, and there is no longer any support or hosting site for the update feature. You can get the latest version updated from another Guru user, epervier, here. If you'd prefer Aylee's latest release, it is still hosted here. Guru's front page links to a very old version of the program. The front page links in general as you've noticed are not current.

Shanaeri Rynale · Oct 27, 2011, 06:35 PM // 18:35

Now while i'm sure the author of mapping out really wanted to make a useful utility personally I would never download any third party tool from anywhere, including from Guru. It's not worth the risk of either being banned or of losing your account.

Textmod is about the only one that is consitantly ok'd for use, but even then I would be really wary of where I got it from to the point of avoiding it.

MisterB · Oct 27, 2011, 06:42 PM // 18:42

That's just silly. Would Guru link to a program that can compromise user's accounts? Aylee's version is totally safe. So is epervier's, but don't take my word for it. If you really want to, you can deny network access to the .exe if you have a firewall that isn't terrible. It is currently impossible for ANet and NCSoft to detect the use of anyone using MappingOut. MappingOut doesn't even break any rules in the User Agreement or Rules of Conduct anyway.

In case anyone cares, I did a file compare between Aylee's and epervier's version. Aylee's .exe's were not modified in epervier's version; only the data files were changed to include more bosses, greens, and pet locations. The data files may be viewed and modified with a text editor and an image viewer. Again, don't take my word for it.

BrettM · Oct 27, 2011, 10:37 PM // 22:37

Mapping Out does not interact in any way with the GW program. It is a stand-alone utility with its own files that never goes anywhere near any file assocated with the actual game. It has as much chance of impacting gw.exe and getting you banned as does using your word processor, spreadsheet, or paint program. Warning people about ANet's lack of support for Mapping Out makes as much sense as warning them about ANet's lack of support for Windows Solitaire.

Perkunas · Oct 28, 2011, 12:49 AM // 00:49

I have been using Mappingout since late 2007 with zero problems. Been using Texmod less time than that.

inti melch eye · Oct 28, 2011, 01:04 AM // 01:04

@MisterB: Thank you, Aylee thank you, and Epervier merci beaucoup!! IF I make updates to mine I will post a link on here as well.

@Shanaeri Rynale: LOL, there's always one. Thanks for the advice Mom, I think I know malware when I see it. But you keep up the good work.

@BrettM: Don't beat her up, heart was in the right place no? But yes, I work with programs and know right from wrong. 99.9% of the time people who are QQing "my account got hacked" shared the password with a friend or someone online. Most programmers (comme moi) make tools to help others not hurt them.

If you should think of a useful app not on the list let me know?

@Perkunas: The Americans and Germans have made recent available a beta for testing of new TexMod with a GUI http://code.google.com/p/texmod/downloads/list but I will not used it until finished. Looks like they are very close soon.

BrettM · Oct 28, 2011, 01:45 AM // 01:45

I don't mean to beat anyone up, and I'm sorry if it came across that way. But "heart in the right place" is just not good enough. There are enough real dangers out there that people must learn to discriminate a bit and not be the boy who cried wolf. When users are flooded with warnings and 90% of them are false, they begin to start ignoring all of them, at which point they get into real trouble. Who has time to sort out all the "flesh eating bacteria in bananas" warnings from the real warnings?

I do wish Aylee would consider open-sourcing her code if she isn't going to maintain it any longer. It's such a useful program, and done incredibly well, but I can imagine a few new features that would be nice. But at this stage in the GW life cycle, it wouldn't be worthwhile to reverse engineer the whole thing to duplicate her great work as a starting point.

Shanaeri Rynale · Oct 28, 2011, 06:50 AM // 06:50

Sorry you thought I was being nannyish

just that I've read story after story of people who's accounts have been banned because something in a perfectly innocent program has tripped one of Anets anti botting routines.

Invariably it then turns into a heck of fight trying to prove innocence, one in which the player usually loses.

There's a difference between malware that's known by a AV company, and a peice of software that just happens to trigger some sort of flag within GW that the user is botting. Even program's that have been hosted and used by Guru members have sometimes tripped these alarms, as either they or the game is updated.

It's entirely up to you ofc. Modding games is fun and rewarding but anets official stance is if it breaks don't come running to us. Their unofficial stance seems to be if you use something that registers as a 'bot' program don't come running to us too..

My view is that you don't need third party programs to enjoy the game or get titles so it's not worth the risk and it's much better to L2p properly

inti melch eye · Oct 28, 2011, 07:49 AM // 07:49

@BrettM: Ok I will stay away from those bananas LOL! Serious I understand what you mean. Hoaxes can allow for disaster too. About the open source, being in the programming myself the program is like a work of art and some of us have a difficult time sharing the paint. Also the question who do I trust share it with?

@Shanaeri Rynale: Sorry about that, my brother and I have been playing Guild Wars for many years now and it always makes me laugh a tiny bit at people fearing any kind of aid. Please don't take that the wrong way as to say you are actually frightened but cautious yes? What Mappiing Out is nothing more than a database and runs independent of gw.exe. You could never be banned using it, no more than using the wiki on the internet.

Texmod is a different story, it directly accesses the direct 3d on your graphics adapter and replaces artwork only you can see. The people at ArenaNet have given Texmod a green light but do not support it is true. The downside to Texmod is memory issues, possible corruption, so even ArenaNet has said to be careful of the source.

I never use bots and do not support them. There is a difference between a bot and a macro and in my view I understand the difference people who need macro (such as physically disabled) and those who do not. My brother and I know of one such player who has to use special input devices. These devices carry out macros for command ability.

So there are exceptions to all rules and they need to be flexible, fortunately people at ArenaNet understand this and make those exceptions to people. People with botting programs cannot produce proof needed to make the exception a valid one. But let's not dwell on the negative.

We all play Guild Wars to have fun and you cannot do that using a bot. Now I am going to do my school work and play some later tonight.

EPIC noob · Oct 29, 2011, 12:50 PM // 12:50

thanks from me too for that link i guess i didn't even need to join eh?

Oct 27, 2011, 09:27 AM // 09:27	#1
inti melch eye Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: The level 300 Dervish from Ascalon Profession: D/W	Mapping Out? My brother downloaded this utility from here and it works well. But I take it the update executable no longer is functional? Since it gives me an error every time I try to run it. Also my brother wanted to note that with the exception of GW freaks and this one all your links in the download area are broken.

Oct 27, 2011, 06:42 PM // 18:42	#4
MisterB Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Planet Earth, Sol system, Milky Way galaxy Guild: [ban] Profession: W/	That's just silly. Would Guru link to a program that can compromise user's accounts? Aylee's version is totally safe. So is epervier's, but don't take my word for it. If you really want to, you can deny network access to the .exe if you have a firewall that isn't terrible. It is currently impossible for ANet and NCSoft to detect the use of anyone using MappingOut. MappingOut doesn't even break any rules in the User Agreement or Rules of Conduct anyway. In case anyone cares, I did a file compare between Aylee's and epervier's version. Aylee's .exe's were not modified in epervier's version; only the data files were changed to include more bosses, greens, and pet locations. The data files may be viewed and modified with a text editor and an image viewer. Again, don't take my word for it. Last edited by MisterB; Oct 27, 2011 at 07:07 PM // 19:07..

Oct 28, 2011, 01:04 AM // 01:04	#7
inti melch eye Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: The level 300 Dervish from Ascalon Profession: D/W	@MisterB: Thank you, Aylee thank you, and Epervier merci beaucoup!! IF I make updates to mine I will post a link on here as well. @Shanaeri Rynale: LOL, there's always one. Thanks for the advice Mom, I think I know malware when I see it. But you keep up the good work. @BrettM: Don't beat her up, heart was in the right place no? But yes, I work with programs and know right from wrong. 99.9% of the time people who are QQing "my account got hacked" shared the password with a friend or someone online. Most programmers (comme moi) make tools to help others not hurt them. If you should think of a useful app not on the list let me know? @Perkunas: The Americans and Germans have made recent available a beta for testing of new TexMod with a GUI http://code.google.com/p/texmod/downloads/list but I will not used it until finished. Looks like they are very close soon. Last edited by inti melch eye; Oct 28, 2011 at 01:34 AM // 01:34.. Reason: add reply to Perkunas

Oct 28, 2011, 06:50 AM // 06:50	#9
Shanaeri Rynale Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005 Guild: DVDF(Forums) Profession: Me/N	Sorry you thought I was being nannyish just that I've read story after story of people who's accounts have been banned because something in a perfectly innocent program has tripped one of Anets anti botting routines. Invariably it then turns into a heck of fight trying to prove innocence, one in which the player usually loses. There's a difference between malware that's known by a AV company, and a peice of software that just happens to trigger some sort of flag within GW that the user is botting. Even program's that have been hosted and used by Guru members have sometimes tripped these alarms, as either they or the game is updated. It's entirely up to you ofc. Modding games is fun and rewarding but anets official stance is if it breaks don't come running to us. Their unofficial stance seems to be if you use something that registers as a 'bot' program don't come running to us too.. My view is that you don't need third party programs to enjoy the game or get titles so it's not worth the risk and it's much better to L2p properly Last edited by Shanaeri Rynale; Oct 28, 2011 at 07:01 AM // 07:01..

Oct 27, 2011, 06:33 PM // 18:33	#2
MisterB Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Planet Earth, Sol system, Milky Way galaxy Guild: [ban] Profession: W/	The creator of MappingOut hasn't updated since 2008, and there is no longer any support or hosting site for the update feature. You can get the latest version updated from another Guru user, epervier, here. If you'd prefer Aylee's latest release, it is still hosted here. Guru's front page links to a very old version of the program. The front page links in general as you've noticed are not current.

Oct 27, 2011, 06:35 PM // 18:35	#3
Shanaeri Rynale Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005 Guild: DVDF(Forums) Profession: Me/N	Now while i'm sure the author of mapping out really wanted to make a useful utility personally I would never download any third party tool from anywhere, including from Guru. It's not worth the risk of either being banned or of losing your account. Textmod is about the only one that is consitantly ok'd for use, but even then I would be really wary of where I got it from to the point of avoiding it.

Oct 27, 2011, 10:37 PM // 22:37	#5
BrettM Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2008 Guild: Fuzzy Physics Institute Profession: E/	Mapping Out does not interact in any way with the GW program. It is a stand-alone utility with its own files that never goes anywhere near any file assocated with the actual game. It has as much chance of impacting gw.exe and getting you banned as does using your word processor, spreadsheet, or paint program. Warning people about ANet's lack of support for Mapping Out makes as much sense as warning them about ANet's lack of support for Windows Solitaire.

Oct 28, 2011, 12:49 AM // 00:49	#6
Perkunas Jungle Guide Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my own little world, looking at yours Guild: Only Us[NotU] Profession: E/	I have been using Mappingout since late 2007 with zero problems. Been using Texmod less time than that.

Oct 28, 2011, 01:45 AM // 01:45	#8
BrettM Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2008 Guild: Fuzzy Physics Institute Profession: E/	I don't mean to beat anyone up, and I'm sorry if it came across that way. But "heart in the right place" is just not good enough. There are enough real dangers out there that people must learn to discriminate a bit and not be the boy who cried wolf. When users are flooded with warnings and 90% of them are false, they begin to start ignoring all of them, at which point they get into real trouble. Who has time to sort out all the "flesh eating bacteria in bananas" warnings from the real warnings? I do wish Aylee would consider open-sourcing her code if she isn't going to maintain it any longer. It's such a useful program, and done incredibly well, but I can imagine a few new features that would be nice. But at this stage in the GW life cycle, it wouldn't be worthwhile to reverse engineer the whole thing to duplicate her great work as a starting point.

Oct 28, 2011, 07:49 AM // 07:49	#10
inti melch eye Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: The level 300 Dervish from Ascalon Profession: D/W	@BrettM: Ok I will stay away from those bananas LOL! Serious I understand what you mean. Hoaxes can allow for disaster too. About the open source, being in the programming myself the program is like a work of art and some of us have a difficult time sharing the paint. Also the question who do I trust share it with? @Shanaeri Rynale: Sorry about that, my brother and I have been playing Guild Wars for many years now and it always makes me laugh a tiny bit at people fearing any kind of aid. Please don't take that the wrong way as to say you are actually frightened but cautious yes? What Mappiing Out is nothing more than a database and runs independent of gw.exe. You could never be banned using it, no more than using the wiki on the internet. Texmod is a different story, it directly accesses the direct 3d on your graphics adapter and replaces artwork only you can see. The people at ArenaNet have given Texmod a green light but do not support it is true. The downside to Texmod is memory issues, possible corruption, so even ArenaNet has said to be careful of the source. I never use bots and do not support them. There is a difference between a bot and a macro and in my view I understand the difference people who need macro (such as physically disabled) and those who do not. My brother and I know of one such player who has to use special input devices. These devices carry out macros for command ability. So there are exceptions to all rules and they need to be flexible, fortunately people at ArenaNet understand this and make those exceptions to people. People with botting programs cannot produce proof needed to make the exception a valid one. But let's not dwell on the negative. We all play Guild Wars to have fun and you cannot do that using a bot. Now I am going to do my school work and play some later tonight.

Oct 29, 2011, 12:50 PM // 12:50	#11
EPIC noob Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2011 Profession: R/Me	thanks from me too for that link i guess i didn't even need to join eh?