First Script Question / Analysis / help?

[sabotender]

I'm trying to build a script that you call after you hook a fish and decide that you want to reel it in. I am doing this because the fishing system kills my hands after an hour or two.

What I'm looking for is to have someone more familiar with Lua / Lunar review this and see if I'm using the commands and syntax properly as well as offer any suggestions as to optimizing the code (is recursion in Lua / scripting a bad idea? >_>)

I would implement acctually running the script by setting up a hotkey in windower, probably bound to Alt-F1, that does the following:
.Lunar load fishBeats.lua

The following is my basic logic for the script:
base%=stamina%
beatsFish(d, base%)

function beatsFish(key, staminaOld)
 IF stamina%==0
   push "ENTER"
 ELSE
   push key
   staminaNew=stamina%
   if staminaNew < staminaOld
     fight(key, staminaNew)
   else
     fight(~key, staminaNew)

following is my attempt at writing the script itself:
function pushKey(Key, Duration)
 Control.control_SetKey(Key,true)
 Windower.script_Sleep(Duration)
 Control.control_SetKey(Key,false)
end

function beatsFish(direction, staminaOld)
 if staminaOld==0 then pushKey("NUMPADENTER", 10)
 else
   pushKey(direction, 50)
   staminaNew=FFXI.target_GetHPPercent( )
   if staminaNew<staminaOld then beatsFish(direction, staminaNew)
   elseif direction=="D" then beatsFish("S", staminaNew)
   else beatsFish("D", staminaNew) end
 end
end

baseStamina=FFXI.target_GetHPPercent( )
beatsFish("D", baseStamina)
end

I have, as should be obvious, borrowed heavily from some other implementations that do similar (as far as the logic is concerned).

Will my final end command unload the script or will I need to pass an unload command to the windower? I'm also unsure if I closed out all my nested statements properly in the "beatsFish" function.

This code is obviously untested and since I have yet to use Lunar is there anything in the above (assumeing it's not complete garbage) that is currently broken?

EDIT: it also occurs to me that perhaps this is an undesireable project to have posted? Seeing as you need to start the thing every time you fish, and have to acctually manually start the fishing perhaps it's ok? obviously remove (or I will) if this shouldn't be here >_>

[sdphantom]

sabotender said:

This code is obviously untested and since I have yet to use Lunar is there anything in the above (assumeing it's not complete garbage) that is currently broken?

FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()Is currently broken, most of the FFXI library for that fact is as well. Tiny's working on getting a newer version of lunar up and running.

sabotender said:

is recursion in Lua / scripting a bad idea? >_>

In any language, you have a limited call stack size that you'd want to keep low. Causing recursion (functions calling themselves) is a bad idea as it can easily cause the call stack to overflow at times, causing the program to crash.

sabotender said:

Will my final end command unload the script or will I need to pass an unload command to the windower?

Your script ends if the interpreter reaches the end of your script or if Lunar unloads it.

sabotender said:

EDIT: it also occurs to me that perhaps this is an undesireable project to have posted? Seeing as you need to start the thing every time you fish, and have to acctually manually start the fishing perhaps it's ok? obviously remove (or I will) if this shouldn't be here >_>

There are.. or were.. a few examples in the Lunar Scripts section that did much more than what this script would do. I don't really craft or fish enough to even see the need for using bots myself.. as a matter of fact, I don't really do anything in-game anymore, lol.


I'll look at the code later and see what can be done to make it run better. I need to head off to bed soon. ^^;

[sabotender]

Meh, yeah it occured to me that doing a recursive call to a function about twice a second to reel in a fish might end up pooching the program (although not until I was in bed), I just really couldn't get my head around an iterative process to do it (keep switching back and forth between direction).

Obviously I could toss in a while loop once it finds a good direction (while staminaGoingDown do pushKey(direction, 50) )which would cut down on the repetative function calls.

speaking of which maybe I should break out staminaGoingDown as a seperate function >_> not that it would make the script run faster but it'd be cleaner to edit specific parts that way hrm.

EDIT: I thought of a brief solution that may make the code more percise for the fighting and perhaps run quicker (not sure).

Basically leave the key pressed down then while loop as long as the stamina is going down leave the key down as soon as the stamina goes up let the key up, pause 10 or so, then try the other direction.

That should notice a positive change much quicker than holding the key for 50 milliseconds at a time before checking and should be easy to do with while loops.

[sdphantom]

In an attempt to stop voke botting, Tiny decreased the FFXI library update rate to 100ms. Checking any faster than this will be useless.

Anyway, here's what i came up with after rewriting this script.

function pushKey(Key, Duration)
Control.control_SetKey(Key,true)
Windower.script_Sleep(Duration)
Control.control_SetKey(Key,false)
end

lastHP=FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()
dirFlag=false
while FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()>0 do
if dirFlag then
Control.control_SetKey("NUMPAD4",true)
Windower.script_Sleep(100)

while FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()<lastKey
Windower.script_Sleep(100)
end

Control.control_SetKey("NUMPAD4",false)
else
Control.control_SetKey("NUMPAD6",true)
Windower.script_Sleep(100)

while FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()<lastKey
Windower.script_Sleep(100)
end

Control.control_SetKey("NUMPAD6",false)
end

dirFlag=not dirFlag
lastHP=FFXI.target_GetHPPercent()
end

pushKey("NUMPADENTER", 10)