Controlling 6 characters? at the same time?Follow

First of all, I am not going to explain everything. If you want explanations on the Bandwidth/Money/Time part check out Darkfayth's reply - most of his assumptions are almost correct.

and Tartesk Scholar's comment about how I played made me laugh, but I think he's really smart to have figured out that much about what I do. Most of what he said was correct too.

Answers:
I. Feasability

The whole setup is in my room, it's not a really a big room - just a normal sized room. I also have an entertainment center in my room, and there's still alot of space in the middle to walk around so its not really small either. Imagine 2 L desks connected together to form a U - that's kinda what my setup looks like. I made my own keyboard table that's shaped like a V and all 5 keyboards sit on top of that. 1 keyboard on the center, 2 keyboards parallel each other on the left side, and 2 more on the right. 5 monitors sit close together on top of the U table (theres no character labels on the monitors or the keyboards). I have a 21" monitor, 2 x 17", 2 x 15", all 5 computers have Nvidia Geforce 4 AGP 128MB, Soundblaster Audigy 2, Creative 5.1 Speaker System, the memory and CPU varies - chainspell has 1024MB DDR, Manafont I think has 256MB, Benediction I believe has the slowest CPU 1.1AMD or 1.3 but has 512MB DDR. I built them all by myself so it didn't cost me that much. I already had 3 computers lying around, so I bought 2 more.

Okay here's the part where I think you'll say "Oh... that's how he can control 5 characters!"

Macros:
One thing you need to know.. I dont run around or slide my chair to control 5 characters. The 5 keyboards are infront of me, I just sit still and my hands and elbows are the ones that move around.

Universal Macros - this set of macros are the same for 5 characters.
<ctrl> + 1 - /target "Benediction"
<ctrl> + 2 - /target "Mightystrikes"
<ctrl> + 3 - /target "Chainspell"
<ctrl> + 4 - /target "Hundredfists"
<ctrl> + 5 - /target "Manafont"
<ctrl> + 6 - (targets whatever chainspell is attacking)
<alt> + 9 - (auto-follow macro that follows whoever is in range) {
/follow "Hundredfists"
/follow "Benediction"
/follow "Mightystrikes"
/follow "Manafont"
/follow "Chainspell"
}

Battle Macros - First I pull ofcourse... head back to my party... then...

Step 1. Initialization Macro <alt> + 0 ......... this macro attacks whatever chainspell is attacking (and yes, I have to press ALT + 0 on all 5 keyboards if I want everyone to attack. One more thing... most of you probably don't know that if you /follow "name" it's programmed to follow that name - unless... you lock on something else then it follows that target - but when that target dies or you unlock... your character automatically goes back on to follow the original "name" that you programmed it to. This makes my characters go to chainspell like a magnet after every battle.)

***** Chainspell ***** <alt> + 0
/p *** ATTACKING <t> *** <call0>
/attack <t>
/wait 6
/shoot <t>
/wait 8
/shoot <t>

***** Mightystrikes and Hundredfists ***** <alt> + 0
/assist "Chainspell"
/follow "Chainspell"
/wait 1
/attack <t>
/wait 1 .....................or /wait 5
/ja "Provoke" <t> ......or /ja "Jump" <t>

***** Manafont and Benediction ***** <ctrl> + 6
/assist "Chainspell"
/wait 1
/lockon

Step 2. Enfeeble and Powerups Macro <alt> + 8 ........ this macro set basically is the second initialization (if the monster is VT, T, EM, etc. I don' have to execute this - sometimes I do for VTs)

***** Melee Characters *****
/p *** Melee boosts started *** <call8>
/ja "Berserk" <me> .......or "Sentinel"
/wait 2
/ja "Sharpshot" <me> ...or "Holy Circle" ............or "Ancient Circle"

***** Mages *****
/ma "Slow" <t> ............or "Rasp"
/wait 6
/ma "Blind" <t> ............or "Choke"
/wait 6
/ma "Paralyze" <t> .......or "Frost"
/p Enfeeble INIT Complete! <call10>

<alt> + 7 ......... additional enfeeblement and powerups for mages (usually i trigger this for IT, sometimes I don't)
***** Mages *****
/ma "Dia II" <t> ............or "Bio II"
/wait 6
/ma "Haste" "Hundredfists"

Step 3. Control hate, bomb, shoot, jump, heal, provoke, repeat until enemy dies.

Here are some useful macros that has helped me....

Divine Seal + Curaga <ctrl> + 8 ........ divine seal + curaga with autofollow and retry (this will work if Benediction is close to the party or not, if he is.. casts curaga in 2 seconds - if he's not... goes to where the group is and if curaga gets interrupted tries again in 8 seconds. kinda like fire and forget)
/ja "Divine Seal" <me>
/follow "Chainspell"
/wait 2
/ma "Curaga II" <me>
/wait 8
/ma "Curaga II" <me>

Provoke <ctrl> + 4 ........ provoke with retry (this will retry after 5 and after 15 seconds, so it will provoke by itself. I don't have to keep pressing CTRL + 4)
/ja "Provoke" <t>
/wait 5
/ja "Provoke" <t>
/wait 10
/ja "Provoke" <t>

Ranger Shots <ctrl> + 1-3 ....... fires either 1,2 or 3 shots with sharpshot (CTRL + 2 is good for just 2 shots if I don't want too much aggro, and the /p idle bow part is important - it lets me know that I need to reload and press CTRL + 1,2 or 3 again)
/ja "Sharpshot" <me>
/wait 1
/shoot <t>
/wait 8
/shoot <t>
/p *** IDLE BOW *** <call1>

Ranger Barrage <ctrl> + 5 ...... same thing
/ja "Barrage" <me>
/wait 1
/shoot <t>
/wait 8
/shoot <t>
/p *** IDLE BOW *** <call1>

Escape <ctrl> + 8 ........ escape with group notify (I didn't add autofollow here because 15 second cast time is already a long time to wait for the escape to be cast, I just go to wherever manafont is - unlock everyones target.
/p ***** Casting ESCAPE 15 Seconds ***** <call0>
/ma "Escape" <me>
/wait 10
/p ***** Escaping 5 Seconds ***** <call0>

Macro Sets - I think I have about 5 useful macro sets for Benediction and Manafont, 3 for Chainspell, 2 for Mightystrikes and Hundredfists. (but I don't switch sets during battle)

Benediction - Main WHM/BLM Set, BLM Set, Invisible/Sneak Set, WHM Set, Powerlevel Set
Mightystrikes - Main PLD/WAR Set, WAR Set
Chainspell - Main RNG/WAR Set, RDM Set, Powerlevel Set
Hundredfists - Main DRG/WAR Set, MNK Set
Manafont - Main BLM/WHM Set, BLM Set, WHM Set, Enfeeblement Set, Powerlevel Set

Invisible/Sneak Set - Just for sneaking into places. (If I use invisible on chainspell everybody scatters because the object to follow is no longer visible - so it was necessary to make a macro that would lock on to chainspell and follow him)
Thus <ctrl> + 0 ..... selects Chainspell, locks on, and autofollow

***** All my characters *****
/target "Chainspell"
/wait 1
/lockon
/follow "Chainspell"

***** Benediction *****
<alt> + 1 - /ma "Invisible" "Benediction"
<alt> + 2 - /ma "Invisible" "Mightystrikes"
<alt> + 3 - /ma "Invisible" "Chainspell
<alt> + 4 - /ma "Invisible" "Hundredfists
<alt> + 5 - /ma "Invisible" "Manafont"
<alt> + 6 - /ma "Sneak" "Benediction"
<alt> + 7 - /ma "Sneak" "Mightystrikes"
<alt> + 8 - /ma "Sneak" "Chainspell"
<alt> + 9 - /ma "Sneak" "Hundredfists"
<alt> + 0 - /ma "Sneak" "Manafont"

When I started it was hard at first, I kept forgeting which keyboard and what macro number does what. I was in Qufim at level 20 and I still kept dying because I couldnt keep up and I keep forgeting what macro does what... so i had to wait for the macro menu to popup and look at the labels, and then press the number. So you see, if you expect and think that this is hard... you're absolutely right. You just have to get used to it, thats all.

Now I rarely look at the screen. That's why I don't read messages when I'm in battle. I just look at the screen then react to it.

Oh yeah on a sidenote: WHMs are not the most important part of the party the leader is. That's why chainspell is in the middle. He is the one that everyone follows and directs the battle, healing and provoking are just for supporting whatever the leader decides. :)

Edited, Fri May 7 15:42:53 2004 by Chainspell

I've played two charcters at once, and it wasn't even effeciently setup - 1 monitor clear across the room with the keyboard stretched way out and me having to twist my neck around.... and it was easy. 5 doesn't seem that hard..

Ive never played multiple characters at once, but I imagine that playing 2 at once is nothing compared to 5. I think in Chainspell's last post, he pretty much silenced all non beleivers.

I think its great that someone can have that much dedication to something. Hopefully that dedication transfers to his career, because he would be a hell of an employee with that kind of work ethic.

Site Note:
Im assuming you have to have 2 accounts (and pay $12.00 x 2 a month) to play 2 characters at the same time?

Here's another one from mostwanted...

Why does he need 4 monitors?

All he needs is ONE monitor, maybe 2 or 3, and a switch box, and then he can control all the computers from one keyboard.

I'm sure to be really fast with the macros however, having a switch box would be a little bit too slow, so I would guess 2 monitors and 2 keyboards, which is certainly managable.

Still impressive though :)

So who do you yell at when the puller pulls a train, or the tank doesn't provoke, or the white mage doesn't heal in time:)

ever ***** with the 6th member and pretend to be 5 different people?

Hrm. Come to think of it, it really shouldn't be that hard to play five of them. Hell, I beat the original Space Harrier, and I'm sure that's harder than playing five characters at the same time.
Seriously though, has anyone noticed that a Chimp could probably play this game and whup at it? "Okay Jojo, when you hear <call1>, press ALT+1. When you see red HP, press ALT+2," and so on. This game doesn't require much input at all unless the crap has hit the fan.
Just boring and repetetive......pardon me while I go spend eight hours to gain a level ;)

On second thought, at least the Chimp would get a bananna out of it.

Yes, it is just a matter of multi-tasking. I used to play EQ with one guy and we fielded an full 6-man group very effectively. I'm not sure we could have done 10, though I can remember at least one person that did six by himself (we called him E-Bay because he bought all the characters and camped the same area all day for stuff to sell online). You'd be amazed at what you can do with everything set up right and any partner(s) seated next to you the whole time. It does take practice and you'll get confused from time to time, but it's very plausible.

What bothers me in this thread is people accusing him of having too much time on his hands, no life, etc. He's playing the same amount of time as anyone else, just doing five times as much at once. If you have the money, the capability and enjoy the challenge, why not? Just because you're not grouping with others doesn't mean you're anti-social. A static party of six is doing the same thing, just that it's six people cut off from the grouping pool as opposed to one.

I work as a translator. I sit next to people that translate three sources of audio, one written, hold anywhere from 3-5 IRC chats, and eat lunch at the same time. On a good day, I can do half that. We don't call them crazy, we call them efficient. I wish more people had this kind of potential and used it, in real life or in games.

bump! :) updated original post :)

I wanna see you video record yourself pting XD

I have been playing for almost 2 years, and I can testify that Chainspell is for real.

I have personally seen him Exping in Boya tree, and its awesome.

He also runs one of the largest city Linkshells too.