PoeHUD Plugin: Follower

[Sikaka]

First of all I'd like to thank the developer of this plugin which looks absolutely fantastic (if only I'd be able to make it work :P)

So, on to the question, do you guys know if FollowerV2 is working along with the latest version of Queuete's ExileAPI (3.13.14) ?

It's the first time I'm trying to run it; downloaded compiled from git and placed directly on the compiled plugins from a fresh ExileApi folder, also disabled the rest of the plugins just in case.
I'm running a native client for the Leader and the Follower is on a VM Workstation 16 instance, went through the whole configuration step by step in the README.
Config setup is made through the "file" option which seemed to be the most logical choice, VM can access the remote file perfectly fine (I can even manually modify it from the VM if I want, after copying the path to the file I set in the plugin, just to be 200% sure it's correctly written), running HUD with admin permissions, tried many settings, enabling and disabling propagation in the leader, requesting in the follower, pressing all keys (T, Ctrl click Entrance, Portal, etc) but nothing seems to change the "Follower working: False" message on the top right of the screen of the Follower.

I'm really at a loss and can't figure out what's missing, logs look fine even with all debugging options enabled in the plugin.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I'm attaching my current settings and the JSON currently stored in the txt file, I noticed the content of this json doesn't seem to be changing at all.


EDIT 2: Something else that might be important: I'm running on 3820x2160 borderless window (sometimes even "maximized windowed"), have no issues with the other plugins at all, everything that interacts with the screen is working fine (stashie, pickit, flasks, minimap icons, etc)

Have you tried with simple follower settings so it's not trying to communicate with the leader at all? I only ask cause the file/ip sharing is kinda useless given none of the more advanced functions work in this. It would simplify the debugging as it's then just looking for leader name and then walking towards them using the T movement key.

[kromatikal]

Have you tried with simple follower settings so it's not trying to communicate with the leader at all? I only ask cause the file/ip sharing is kinda useless given none of the more advanced functions work in this. It would simplify the debugging as it's then just looking for leader name and then walking towards them using the T movement key.

Hey! Thanks for taking interest into my problem.

Actually I'm not being able to make the follower move at all, it doesn't respond to the "T", as a matter of fact I didn't add any "complex" behaviors (skills or anything) as I read nothing else except for the movement is working currently. So the settings I attached are just the basic needed configuration (I think) to make it start working with default parameters.

I'm now delving into the forked releases of the plugin, I'm particularly interested in IlliumIv's (GitHub - IlliumIv/FollowerV2: A follower plugin for Queuete's ExileApi (PoeHUD)) which seems to have been modified 19 days ago, regrettably latest compiled version was made on Oct 2020 and current source doesn't seem to compile very well in the HUD.

Also, if there is an alternative I'm missing, I'd be perfectly fine running a simple follower that only moves around following a leader.

[Sikaka]

Hey! Thanks for taking interest into my problem.

Actually I'm not being able to make the follower move at all, it doesn't respond to the "T", as a matter of fact I didn't add any "complex" behaviors (skills or anything) as I read nothing else except for the movement is working currently. So the settings I attached are just the basic needed configuration (I think) to make it start working with default parameters.

I'm now delving into the forked releases of the plugin, I'm particularly interested in IlliumIv's (GitHub - IlliumIv/FollowerV2: A follower plugin for Queuete's ExileApi (PoeHUD)) which seems to have been modified 19 days ago, regrettably latest compiled version was made on Oct 2020 and current source doesn't seem to compile very well in the HUD.

Also, if there is an alternative I'm missing, I'd be perfectly fine running a simple follower that only moves around following a leader.

Understood. In the settings though you can have a simple follower vs using file or network communication. Basically it just asks for the leader name and nothing more.

To confirm you have movement bound to T key in game yes?

I struggled a bit with getting it working myself but it did work as expected with the public Exile API branch.

Also once you set to simple follower, enter name and start, make sure you go off screen as it doesn't seem to trigger movement unless you move reasonably far away.

[kromatikal]

Understood. In the settings though you can have a simple follower vs using file or network communication. Basically it just asks for the leader name and nothing more.

To confirm you have movement bound to T key in game yes?

I did have it bound to the T key in the other configurations I tried before (file and network), however the "local" (which I'm testing now thanks to your input) doesn't seem to have any parameters to adjust.

I struggled a bit with getting it working myself but it did work as expected with the public Exile API branch.

Also once you set to simple follower, enter name and start, make sure you go off screen as it doesn't seem to trigger movement unless you move reasonably far away.

Excellent! Somehow I thought that the "local" config option wouldn't work with a VM and was meant for dual native local clients or something like that.

So I got the follower to move for the first time! That's a milestone
However it behaves quite erratically lol, it only seems to move if I click (focus) on the follower game screen, otherwise it won't move at all (it won't actually follow my leader if I start moving in different directions), and I noticed that sometimes the cursor goes to the edge of the screen, but it doesn't seem to actually "click" or move the character

[Sikaka]

I did have it bound to the T key in the other configurations I tried before (file and network), however the "local" (which I'm testing now thanks to your input) doesn't seem to have any parameters to adjust.



Excellent! Somehow I thought that the "local" config option wouldn't work with a VM and was meant for dual native local clients or something like that.

So I got the follower to move for the first time! That's a milestone
However it behaves quite erratically lol, it only seems to move if I click (focus) on the follower game screen, otherwise it won't move at all (it won't actually follow my leader if I start moving in different directions), and I noticed that sometimes the cursor goes to the edge of the screen, but it doesn't seem to actually "click" or move the character

I didn't have the offscreen mouse issue but I've had issues with various stuff not allowing input with different remote desktop styles.

Finally weekend so I have more than like 15 min to do research so hopefully can get some stuff finished in my follower so it can be tested.
So far have pathfinding and area transitions working. Just need to link up some more logic.
https://i.imgur.com/8jIICLH.mp4

[kromatikal]

I didn't have the offscreen mouse issue but I've had issues with various stuff not allowing input with different remote desktop styles.

Finally weekend so I have more than like 15 min to do research so hopefully can get some stuff finished in my follower so it can be tested.
So far have pathfinding and area transitions working. Just need to link up some more logic.
https://i.imgur.com/8jIICLH.mp4

That looks fantastic! I'll be more than happy give it a try whenever you feel it appropriate, I just noticed you also have forked the plugin

[kromatikal]

First of all I'd like to thank the developer of this plugin which looks absolutely fantastic (if only I'd be able to make it work :P)

So, on to the question, do you guys know if FollowerV2 is working along with the latest version of Queuete's ExileAPI (3.13.14) ?

It's the first time I'm trying to run it; downloaded compiled from git and placed directly on the compiled plugins from a fresh ExileApi folder, also disabled the rest of the plugins just in case.
I'm running a native client for the Leader and the Follower is on a VM Workstation 16 instance, went through the whole configuration step by step in the README.
Config setup is made through the "file" option which seemed to be the most logical choice, VM can access the remote file perfectly fine (I can even manually modify it from the VM if I want, after copying the path to the file I set in the plugin, just to be 200% sure it's correctly written), running HUD with admin permissions, tried many settings, enabling and disabling propagation in the leader, requesting in the follower, pressing all keys (T, Ctrl click Entrance, Portal, etc) but nothing seems to change the "Follower working: False" message on the top right of the screen of the Follower.

I'm really at a loss and can't figure out what's missing, logs look fine even with all debugging options enabled in the plugin.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I'm attaching my current settings and the JSON currently stored in the txt file, I noticed the content of this json doesn't seem to be changing at all.


EDIT 2: Something else that might be important: I'm running on 3820x2160 borderless window (sometimes even "maximized windowed"), have no issues with the other plugins at all, everything that interacts with the screen is working fine (stashie, pickit, flasks, minimap icons, etc)

OK, adding some more information according to a few tests I did.

Looks like Win 10 "classic" folder sharing worked better than VMWare drive mapping sharing, at least now I can see the "Follower working: True" message in the Follower's top right of the screen.

The follower now started moving, but still *very* clunky, and most of the time the cursor is set to the very edge of the game screen, I can see it barely moving as if it wanted to "do something". Tried many differetn resolutions (800x600, 1920x1080, 3840x2160) and scaling values (100%, 175%, 200%), also enabled/disable "set application scaling DPI" in the HUD (this worked wonders for minimap icons on 4K resolutions), but still no luck.

This is an example of the area where the cursor tries to click, I'm not sure if it's actually a problem, maybe not, but even though I see it moving, nothing else is happening.


EDIT:

Something else I noticed, now when looking at the logs from the Leader (native client), I can see a bunch of IO errors accessing the json file, such as:



I'm pretty sure nothing else is accessing the file (I even checked with the LockHunter software), so it must be both HUD's concurrently accessing the file.
Another thing: the last two lines point to a folder that has absolutely nothing to do with my computer, so maybe those hardcoded lines made it in the compiled files? (Not sure how much they could affect though)

[Sikaka]

OK, adding some more information according to a few tests I did.

Looks like Win 10 "classic" folder sharing worked better than VMWare drive mapping sharing, at least now I can see the "Follower working: True" message in the Follower's top right of the screen.

The follower now started moving, but still *very* clunky, and most of the time the cursor is set to the very edge of the game screen, I can see it barely moving as if it wanted to "do something". Tried many differetn resolutions (800x600, 1920x1080, 3840x2160) and scaling values (100%, 175%, 200%), also enabled/disable "set application scaling DPI" in the HUD (this worked wonders for minimap icons on 4K resolutions), but still no luck.

This is an example of the area where the cursor tries to click, I'm not sure if it's actually a problem, maybe not, but even though I see it moving, nothing else is happening.


EDIT:

Something else I noticed, now when looking at the logs from the Leader (native client), I can see a bunch of IO errors accessing the json file, such as:



I'm pretty sure nothing else is accessing the file (I even checked with the LockHunter software), so it must be both HUD's concurrently accessing the file.
Another thing: the last two lines point to a folder that has absolutely nothing to do with my computer, so maybe those hardcoded lines made it in the compiled files? (Not sure how much they could affect though)

I got lots of file access errors in my tests too so it's likely just how the system was designed.

Got leader targeting and auto area transitions done. Just need to throw pathfinding into a background thread so it doesn't block current movement... then do some tests to make sure it doesn't then pathfind backwards when new path is completed. Should have something to test tomorrow.

Honestly if it can just not get stuck and can follow through zones then it's 80% of the way there. Obviously looting items or basic npc interactions would be super useful for lvling characters but for mapping it's 'close'.

[kromatikal]

I got lots of file access errors in my tests too so it's likely just how the system was designed.

Got leader targeting and auto area transitions done. Just need to throw pathfinding into a background thread so it doesn't block current movement... then do some tests to make sure it doesn't then pathfind backwards when new path is completed. Should have something to test tomorrow.

Honestly if it can just not get stuck and can follow through zones then it's 80% of the way there. Obviously looting items or basic npc interactions would be super useful for lvling characters but for mapping it's 'close'.

That is wonderful news!!

For the item looting, I believe if the follower has either the Pickit or SimplePickit plugin, and there was a way for sending keystrokes to the follower (i.e: the configured hotkey for looting), it could maybe take advantage of it without having to reinvent the wheel with a new implementation for looting in the Follower plugin (just an idea that came to my mind)

[Sikaka]

For anyone who wants to offer some feedback.

it's SUPER rough around the edges just getting familiar with the API.

Follows where leader walked (mirrors its pathfinding) and uses transitions if you change map. Needs lots of work still but it seems to work well in my tests.

GitHub - Sikaka/Alpha

[kromatikal]

For anyone who wants to offer some feedback.

it's SUPER rough around the edges just getting familiar with the API.

Follows where leader walked (mirrors its pathfinding) and uses transitions if you change map. Needs lots of work still but it seems to work well in my tests.

GitHub - Sikaka/Alpha

Hey! Just gave it a try and it's actually working! (Also, I was being incredibly stupid with the configuration of the FollowerV2, and the problem was that no movement skill in the skill bar was set to the "T" hotkey, now both yours and the original work perfectly, except for area transitions)

On the feedback part, I noted sometimes the follower starts "running in circles" for a bit, and then, after starts following again, this usually happens if I run too fast and the follower can't keep up the pace, so I have to go back and let it "reconnect".

Another observation: given I'm not being able to make the follower transition through areas (neither with FollowerV2 or yours), seems that the follower got stuck in the portal to the area transition and got kicked out for "performing too many actions", this is something that happened with your follower but not with the FollowerV2, both witih default settings.

All in all excellent work mate, super simple to set up, no master/slave configurations or anything, just a follower side plugin and that's it, if there is anything you can think of for fixing the area transitions that would be just awesome.
Thanks for your work!!!

[Sikaka]

Hey! Just gave it a try and it's actually working! (Also, I was being incredibly stupid with the configuration of the FollowerV2, and the problem was that no movement skill in the skill bar was set to the "T" hotkey, now both yours and the original work perfectly, except for area transitions)

On the feedback part, I noted sometimes the follower starts "running in circles" for a bit, and then, after starts following again, this usually happens if I run too fast and the follower can't keep up the pace, so I have to go back and let it "reconnect".

Another observation: given I'm not being able to make the follower transition through areas (neither with FollowerV2 or yours), seems that the follower got stuck in the portal to the area transition and got kicked out for "performing too many actions", this is something that happened with your follower but not with the FollowerV2, both witih default settings.

All in all excellent work mate, super simple to set up, no master/slave configurations or anything, just a follower side plugin and that's it, if there is anything you can think of for fixing the area transitions that would be just awesome.
Thanks for your work!!!

I pushed some small tweaks tonight as I was making a few changes. It was already working properly for me with area transitions though.

Same map area transitions (multi levels, going to arena for boss fight, etc) though are not currently supported and will require a small change in how I handle logic.


Basically here's how the current logic works.

The bot records waypoints for the leader assuming the current position is at least "Min Path Distance" from the previous waypoint. Waypoints will not be recorded if the bot is already within "Stop path distance" of leader.

When pathing, it will consider a waypoint reached when the bot is within "Min Path Distance" of the next waypoint. This is so small objects, mobs, etc will still let it carry on to the next waypoint.

The bot will 'clear' its current recorded path if you come within the "Stop Path Distance". This is useful because if you zoom around and go in a wide circle, coming close to the bot will stop it from performing that big circle.

If the leader is null (not on same map), current path is completed and the last known position for the leader was within "Stop Path Distance" of a transition, it will use the transition point. This means a path will be completed before it tries to use the waypoint. Means zoom builds it should still follow through nicely.

I'd suggest using the onscreen stats to try tweaking the stop follow and min path distance values. You may also want to raise the move cmd frequency to stop the kick issue. It should only try using transitions every 1 second... I'm not having any issues with it walking in circles: The exception is same map transitions. I'm using it to power level an alt account and not in maps so I can see how that's a priority issue.

[kromatikal]

I pushed some small tweaks tonight as I was making a few changes. It was already working properly for me with area transitions though.

Same map area transitions (multi levels, going to arena for boss fight, etc) though are not currently supported and will require a small change in how I handle logic.


Basically here's how the current logic works.

The bot records waypoints for the leader assuming the current position is at least "Min Path Distance" from the previous waypoint. Waypoints will not be recorded if the bot is already within "Stop path distance" of leader.

When pathing, it will consider a waypoint reached when the bot is within "Min Path Distance" of the next waypoint. This is so small objects, mobs, etc will still let it carry on to the next waypoint.

The bot will 'clear' its current recorded path if you come within the "Stop Path Distance". This is useful because if you zoom around and go in a wide circle, coming close to the bot will stop it from performing that big circle.

If the leader is null (not on same map), current path is completed and the last known position for the leader was within "Stop Path Distance" of a transition, it will use the transition point. This means a path will be completed before it tries to use the waypoint. Means zoom builds it should still follow through nicely.

I'd suggest using the onscreen stats to try tweaking the stop follow and min path distance values. You may also want to raise the move cmd frequency to stop the kick issue. It should only try using transitions every 1 second... I'm not having any issues with it walking in circles: The exception is same map transitions. I'm using it to power level an alt account and not in maps so I can see how that's a priority issue.

Awesome, I've been toying around with the settings and values and now it seems to be working much better. Also powerlevelling an alt at the moment.
Thanks for your help and keep it up!!

[darvel]

I used a client from another user, got a ban on the base and all the charms that I did after 2 days. Be careful with this plugin. I did not even go to 1 character after pumping.

[dlr5668]

I used a client from another user, got a ban on the base and all the charms that I did after 2 days. Be careful with this plugin. I did not even go to 1 character after pumping.

1. Was it a new account ?
2. Did you had MTX on it ? (stash tabs)
3. What content did you run ?
4. Limited user ?