RoboPirate 1.0 - Readme File August 23, 2007 ©2007 JF Software http://jfsoftware.com/product/82 ==================== 0. TABLE OF CONTENTS ==================== 0. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Starting the Program 3. Activity Log Tab 4. Error Log Tab 5. Misc Options Tab 6. Behavior Options Tab 7. Behavior Options (2) Tab 8. System Tray 9. Troubleshooting 10. Contact the Developer Note: This document is best viewed with word wrap turned ON. =============== 1. INTRODUCTION =============== RoboPirate is an automation program for Facebook's Pirates application. RoboPirate can sail, search for booty, attack enemy islands, throw bombs, attack enemy ships, and maintain the ship with rum, salted ham, and wenches. It also features completely customizable behavioral settings, so you can tell RoboPirate exactly how you want it to play. ======================= 2. STARTING THE PROGRAM ======================= To start the program, double-click on its icon. You will see the main RoboPirate window, consisting of two parts: - Information Panel (top) The left side of Information Panel contains information on your current level, hit points, coin count (on-hand and buried), and distance from land. The right side has the Start/Stop button and the progress indicator. For each page that's loaded, the indicator will advance one step to show that the program has not locked up. - Tabs Display (bottom) The Tabs Display itself consists of six individual tabs, with more information on each in the sections below: * Activity Log - shows what RoboPirate is doing * Error Log - shows info on any errors that occur * Misc Options - contains options for various program functions * Behavior Options - contains options for controlling how RoboPirate plays the game * Behavior Options (2) - same as Behavior Options * About RoboPirate - contains information on the program version, author, and website To start the RoboPirate program, click the Starrrrrrrrt button. RoboPirate may prompt you for your Facebook username (email address) and password; enter them into the prompt dialog and click "Login". If you want the program to remember these values for next time, mark the "Remember me next time" checkbox. Once RoboPirate is started, it can be stopped by clicking the Starrrrrrrrrt button again (now it will be a Stop button). =================== 3. ACTIVITY LOG TAB =================== The Activity Log is simply a listbox containing the latest actions that RoboPirate has performed. You can copy the contents of the Activity Log into the Clipboard by selecting the items you wish to copy and pressing Ctrl+C. You can also control the log's maximum length and verbosity in the Misc Options tab. ================ 4. ERROR LOG TAB ================ The Error Log is simply a textbox containing any error messages that RoboPirate has encountered. For the most part, RoboPirate will recover from any error conditions and try to keep going; however, if it encounters a page it doesn't recognize, it will stop sailing and dump the page contents to the Error Log, with an explanation for the error in the Activity Log. This dump is useful to the Developer to expand RoboPirate's abilities; for this reason you should send the Logs to the Developer using the "Send Logs to Developer" button in the Misc Options tab. =================== 5. MISC OPTIONS TAB =================== The Misc Options tab contains options for controlling the program's main workings: - Change Saved Info: Brings up the Login dialog again, allowing you to change your saved information. - Remove Saved Info: Removes your saved information, so that you will be prompted for your login information the next time you start RoboPirate. - Hide unimportant messages: Hides any unimportant messages in the Activity Log, only showing the more important messages. (DEFAULT = disabled) - Maximum log size: Sets the maximum number of items shown in the Activity Log; older items are removed first. (DEFAULT = 200) - Minimize to the system tray: Minimizes the window to the system tray; for more information, see the System Tray section of this document. (DEFAULT = enabled) - Send Logs to Developer: Sends the Activity and Error logs, along with program version and current time, to the Developer. If the send fails, you will be prompted to email the logs manually; the log contents will be copied for you, and all you need to do is paste into your favorite mail program and send to joshua70448@gmail.com. ======================= 6. BEHAVIOR OPTIONS TAB ======================= The Behavior Options tab contains a number of options for controlling how RoboPirate plays the game: - Bombs: Controls how RoboPirate uses bombs. (DEFAULT = random) * Never throw bombs: Never throws bombs, runs away from the bomb prompt. * Throw bombs at random pirate friends: Throws bombs, choosing the target at random from your friends that have the Pirates application installed. * Throw all bombs at...: Throws bombs at a person you specify; if the person can not be found in your friend list, a target will be chosen at random like above. - Enemy Islands: Controls how RoboPirate treats enemy islands: (DEFAULT = attack) * Always attack this % of houses...: Always attacks enemy islands, selecting the given percentage of houses to attack (100 will attack all houses, 50 will attack half the houses, etc.). (DEFAULT = 100) * Always run away: Always runs away from enemy islands - Deserted Islands: Controls how RoboPirate treats deserted islands. (DEFAULT = bury if > 1000 coins) * Always look for booty: Always looks for booty, never buries coins. * Bury coins if possible, look for booty if not: Buries coins if you have any to bury, otherwise looks for booty. * Only bury if above this many coins...: Buries coins if you have at least the given number, otherwise looks for booty. (DEFAULT = 1000) * Only bury if passed this many desert islands...: Buries coins if you have found at least this many desert islands (since the last burial), otherwise looks for booty. (DEFAULT = 10) - End of the Line: Controls what RoboPirate does when it runs out of room to sail. (DEFAULT = drink, buy) * Stop the program: Stops running the program. * Drink rum if possible, stop if not: Drinks rum if you have any on-hand, otherwise stops running the program. * Drink rum if possible, buy wenches/rum if not: Drinks rum if you have any on-hand, otherwise buys wenches or rum, whichever is cheaper. * Always buy wenches/rum: Always buys wenches or rum, whichever is cheaper. * Dig up cash when needed: Digs up coins if needed to make the purchase; if disabled, the program stops running if not enough cash is on-hand. =========================== 7. BEHAVIOR OPTIONS (2) TAB =========================== The Behavior Options (2) tab contains more options for controlling how RoboPirate plays the game: - Crew Losses: Controls what RoboPirate does when a crew member dies while attacking an enemy island. (DEFAULT = maintain) * Do nothing when a crew member dies: Exactly that. * Maintain crew member count: Buys more crew members to replenish the original number. - Enemy Ships: Controls what RoboPirate does when it encounters enemy ships. (DEFAULT = attack) * Attack if I have this % health: Attacks the enemy if your hit points are at least the given percentage of your level (100 will only attack if at full health, 50 will attack if at half health, 0 will attack no matter what, etc.). RoboPirate picks its attacks (left, straight, or right) at random and fights until a win/loss/tie. (DEFAULT = 50) * Always run away from enemy ships: Exactly that. - Low Health: Controls what RoboPirate does when you have low health. (DEFAULT = use ham) * Ignore low health: Keeps sailing, no matter how many hit points you have. Note that Pirates has a bug allowing you to keep sailing even with 0 hit points, and RoboPirate exploits this bug to keep you going no matter what. * Use salted ham if below this % health: Uses salted ham to restore all health if your hit points fall below the given percentage of your level (100 will use ham if you lose /any/ hit points, 50 will use ham if you fall below half health, 0 will never use ham, etc.). (DEFAULT = 50) * Buy more salted ham as needed: Buys salted ham to use if you have none on-hand; if disabled, the program will simply move on without restoring health. - Level Upgrades: Controls whether RoboPirate will buy level upgrades (using booty items) or not. (DEFAULT = buy) * Buy level upgrades when possible: Buys level upgrades using booty items whenever it gets enough to do so. * Don't buy level upgrades: Exactly that. Note that you will still get level increases from throwing bombs and surviving storms, unless you disable those options as well. - Bad Weather: Controls how RoboPirate behaves when warning clouds are spotted. (DEFAULT = keep going) * Turn around if warning clouds spotted: Exactly that. Note that you will not get level increases from surviving storms if you select this option. * Keep going through warning clouds: Ignores warning clouds, continues as usual. ============== 8. SYSTEM TRAY ============== If you enable the "Minimize to system tray" option in the Misc Options tab, then when you minimize the RoboPirate program it will disappear and an icon will appear in your "system tray", the collection of icons next to your system clock (usually on the right side of the taskbar). Left-click on the icon to view information about RoboPirate's status. Double-click on the icon to restore the window back to normal. Right-click on the icon to get a list of options: - Start/Stop: Starts or stops the program. - Restore: Restores the window back to normal. - Exit: Closes the program. ================== 9. TROUBLESHOOTING ================== Q. The program doesn't appear to be doing anything. A. Check the progress indicator at the top-right. If the indicator is changing, then the program is running and you've probably got "Hide unimportant messages" enabled in the Misc Options tab. If not, then RoboPirate might be having trouble communicating with the Facebook server; give it some time, and if it still doesn't change, then restart the program. Q. What does the "insert message here" error message mean? A. There are a number of messages that can appear in the Error Log: Fatal errors that you should send (using the "Send Logs to Developer" button) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Unable to extract challenge from login prompt: RoboPirate couldn't read the login page correctly, and will dump the page contents below this message. - Unable to find any items in the upgrade list: RoboPirate could not find any items in your level upgrade list. This shouldn't happen, as upgrades at least cost coins. - Unable to find any coins in the upgrade list: RoboPirate could not find the coins listing in your level upgrade list. This shouldn't happen, as all upgrades cost coins among other items. - Unable to extract number of houses from pillage prompt: RoboPirate couldn't figure out how many houses were available to be attacked when pillaging an enemy island. - Bomb msg: RoboPirate was unable to recognize the response from bombing somebody. This shouldn't happen, but it's possible. - Unable to extract buried coin total: RoboPirate couldn't figure out how many coins you have buried. - (GoSailing), (DigUpCoins), etc.: If any of these messages appears, it means that RoboPirate was unable to recognize a page; this usually means that a new feature has been added to Pirates and the Developer hasn't added it to RoboPirate yet. Non-fatal errors that you should send ------------------------------------- - Attacked and lost: RoboPirate doesn't quite know how to deal with losing an attack waged while you were offline. The program will keep running, but you should go ahead and send the logs so that RoboPirate can learn how to interpret this message. Other fatal errors ------------------ - Can't sail anymore until the hour: You've run out of room to sail, and the way you've set the options doesn't let RoboPirate keep you sailing. The reason for stopping is in parentheses next to the error message. - Login cancelled by user: You pressed the Stop button. - Unable to contact Facebook server; tried 3 times with no response: The Facebook server isn't responding; either it's down, or your Internet connection has been lost. Other non-fatal errors ---------------------- - An exception occurred: These are program errors that RoboPirate itself has thrown. Most of the time these are harmless (lost the Internet connection, server closed the connection, etc.), but if any exceptions listed after a problem occurs should be sent to the Developer (sending the logs will do this). ========================= 10. CONTACT THE DEVELOPER ========================= Website: http://jfsoftware.com/products/82 Email: joshua70448@gmail.com AIM: joshua70448 Also note that you can send the Activity and Error Logs to the Developer by clicking the "Send logs to developer" button in the Misc Options tab.