PackRat: release candidate 2 “Unknown cards”
[This version of the script is OBSOLETE. For more informations and newer versions check the PackRat Helper category.]
Since I will be away for most of the next weekends, thus being unable to update the database of known cards, I offer you the possibility to pick-up/steal/buy cards from unknown collections or unknown cards from selected collections.
I would like to thank Texy for her donation to this project.
In other news this script has reached 500 daily users from around the globe (based on the daily database downloads).
Changelog:
- You can select “Add unknown collections to current shopping list” in the preferences panel to collect cards from collections that are not already in the database.
- The “Add unknown cards from selected collections to current shopping list” allows you to hunt for newly released cards from your working collections without having to wait for the database update.
Download PackRat Helper: version 1.0-rc2
Also available at UserScripts.org, where you find a short manual.
For more informations about the installation process please check the FAQ.
I think you all (the programmer and the users of the script) are cheating. The credits and the cards are supposed to be hard to get. What is the moral thought behind this? “I do it just because I can”?
Comment by Name — 27/8/2008 @ 5:16 pm
The moral is “If something annoys me, I get rid of it and keep enjoying the game my way”.
Obviously collecting credits automatically or any other automated action is cheating, but anyone can play according to his rules if he enjoys it. And since Pack Rat is a non competitive game and you don’t find people blundering on how many credits they have or how many collections they finished, “cheating” does not harm anybody.
As an example of rules that people apply against the “way this game is supposed to be played” are: exchanging cards with friends or buying them from other people (the cards are supposed to be stolen, not exchanged), vaulting “perfect” sets (sets without any spare cards) or completing sets in as few vaults as possible or finding cards with the lowest number possible. Note that while the other rules are more restrictive (ironman rules), the first one is weaker than the official rules (hence it can be called cheating).
By the way there is no reason why you should post anonymously or provide an invalid e-mail address: no one will do you any harm for having your opinion and the e-mail addresses are not mandatory on this blog.
Comment by Piotr P. Karwasz — 27/8/2008 @ 8:25 pm
What i don’t understand is how to actually download it. I keep getting errors, or it opens as a text file. are there instructions for that somewhere?
Comment by Molly — 27/8/2008 @ 9:03 pm
Molly, it’s explained how to install it here: http://karwasz.org/blog/2008/05/30/user-scripts-faq/
Comment by Donna — 27/8/2008 @ 9:31 pm
Ok, here’s my situation: I’m stalking the markets, and I need 2 of the urns from Beijing. They aren’t on the list yet, so the script won’t ever go to Beijing. If it did, it might see the urn (an unknown item from my collection) and buy it. Is there any way to make it stalk every market, no matter which items I need?
Thanks for all your hard work, btw.
Comment by Donna — 27/8/2008 @ 11:52 pm
I am having the same issue as Molly. Your link is not going to a file you can download, it just opens a page of text. Something is not right.
Comment by privateperson — 28/8/2008 @ 12:48 am
Errors in the ‘buy unknown cards’ option.
So, I installed the newest version of the script today and browsed by one of the markets. It immediately though the tuxedo jacket from I Do was unknown (even though it’s in the database) because the version of the name it pulled was Tuxedo%20Jacket rather than the version with the space in it. Just a small bug that needs fixing
Comment by Joseph — 28/8/2008 @ 1:59 am
I was just going to say the same thing! It keeps trying to buy me a jacket when I already have one.
Comment by Donna — 28/8/2008 @ 2:54 am
I am back from the weekend and I have just updated the database.
privateperson: Donna answered to your question: there is a FAQ link in my post. The instruction are there.
Joseph: Thanks for the tip. The developers sometimes misspell the image file for a card or use another convention (rather than “everything lowercase and spaces replaces by hyphens”) for naming the cards. As far I’ve stumbled on half a dozen such problems, which isn’t enough to write an automatic detection of misspelled cards.
Donna: I can add an option to manually choose the markets to stalk.
Comment by Piotr P. Karwasz — 1/9/2008 @ 5:45 pm
There is something wrong with the market stalking for the new Wedding Dress card, the script just sets there and does not refresh NY market.
BTW: *Thank you* for the GREAT script and all of your *hard work!!* I can now do other things while this does the un-fun part of PackRat for me!!! YOU ROCK!! : )
Comment by ginger404error — 2/9/2008 @ 5:22 pm
PS: I love Donna’s idea for manually choosing the markets to stalk, if we could even just choose one or more markets that we want to refresh/stalk frequently rather than it automatically going to all of them that would even be better!
Again thank you for what you have created! Real life is important, and I was getting off track with this game, thanks for helping me out with this script!!!
Ginger404Error : )
Comment by ginger404error — 2/9/2008 @ 5:28 pm
Is there anything I can do to get market stalking out of Beijing? No matter what i am looking for…Beijing-Beijing-Beiging!! You know, you guys are awesome. Thanks for this.
Comment by erin — 3/9/2008 @ 5:05 am
Ginger404Error: Solved the problem with the Wedding Dress (update the collections database).
I’ll add Donna’s market stalking idea in the next release.
erin: Maybe the cards you need can be found only in Beijing. Please check it in the PackRat Wiki and tell me for which card the entry in the database is not correct (i.e. it should stalk market X to find the card Y, but it doesn’t).
Comment by Piotr P. Karwasz — 3/9/2008 @ 12:42 pm
Apparently the bridesmaid dresses are available in Chicago and Beijing, but the program only searches Beijing.
Comment by Max — 4/9/2008 @ 5:57 pm
I do have one suggestion. Have a setting to only steal locks, and not to buy them. One thing to help free up space is to steal a lock with a card you don’t need, then burn the lock…
Thanks.
Comment by Max — 5/9/2008 @ 1:59 pm
Just FYI, the databased still hasn’t added the new recycling set. I’ve manually selected “update database” as well as gone to the markets to see what’s being sold. It’s not adding the set.
Comment by Sarah — 5/9/2008 @ 7:19 pm
I’ve noted that the program (on my end anyway) doesn’t seem to be buying things it should. It highlights the Royal Phonebooth, but doesn’t buy it. I’m thinking I’m having the same problem with the Urn and the Wedding Dress. I let the program run for hours, and it never bought either one. I had to manually buy the Urn.
Comment by Max — 7/9/2008 @ 12:30 am
Max: The Dev’s changed the way how buying stuff works, so the market stalking module is broken at the moment. I am working on a fix to this.
Comment by Piotr P. Karwasz — 7/9/2008 @ 12:34 am
Just had to manually buy the Italian Scooter.. Is there a reset button or something? I remember it bought on in the past…
Comment by Max — 7/9/2008 @ 12:44 am
Max: Yes, it worked in the past, then the PackRat developers changed the game and now the script must be updated to work again.
Comment by Piotr P. Karwasz — 7/9/2008 @ 12:46 am
Had to manually buy the wedding dress. It is definitely not buying things now.
Comment by Max — 7/9/2008 @ 12:49 am
Thanks Piotr… ^_^ I really appreciate the work!
Comment by Max — 7/9/2008 @ 1:48 am