The Hidden Forest

The time has finally come for the new THF code to be openly tested by the community! Below you will find the FAQ for the Test Server bug find competition.


1. What is this new THF Code?

If you haven't been around much, or have been in hiatus for awhile, then you may not know what exactly has been going on behind the scenes. For the past four months the THF Dev Team has been hard at work getting the THF base code merged with the stock EQEmu code. THF had over 50,000 lines of custom coding that was weaved throughout the stock Emu code from almost two years ago, so this has been a long and tedious undertaking.

2. How does this new code benefit me?

Simple enough... stability. Tired of desyncing while zoning? Annoyed by the constant zone crashes? Well there have been significant improvements across the board on the Emu code and a large majority of the issues that have plagued the server for years are now eliminated!
The new code will also offer RoF2 client support, additional game features, the possibility to extend custom content with new ideas and the list goes on.

3. So you have a test server up.. what now?

Also a simple answer: Log in and play! We need players to test any and everything that they can think of to make sure we have not missed any issues with the new code. The Dev Team has been debugging the code for nearly a month in order to catch all the major bugs, but we know it will be the community that finds the small and annoying things that we overlook. One thing to remember is that the test server is not hosted with the live server. So players may encounter some latency issues. We are aware of that are are more interested in finding problems with the actual game play.

4. Again, how does logging in benefit me?

Well, as most already know the test server is a separate server from live. So any progress you make will not show on live. However, we are implementing a new feature that will allow you the opportunity to gain great rewards on Live for the assistance that you offer on the Test server.

5. You mention rewards.. Are we talking a 2 slot backpack? or the Lillu Uber Sword of Doom?

The rewards will actually be up to you! Everyone who actively participates and submits bug reports in this forum will be given an undetermined number of Ebon Crystals (not radiant which is already used in game). The Ebon Crystals will allow you to purchase different items from merchants once the New code goes live.

6. Why Ebon Crystals and not just give me an item?

We wanted to give the community the opportunity to forge their own path, choose which items they get. We could have easily detailed that you get Item X for Y reports, but we felt that was too limiting to the community and would not be fair across the board. Additionally, Ebon crystals are usable by every client supported on THF.

7. So you want me to test but won't tell me the number of crystals I'm going to get? What's up with that?

Well easily put, we did not want to place a limit on what we would offer. Those who actively participate will be rewarded. Those who participate more, will be rewarded more. We will not only have trackers on the forum for submitted bug reports but will also be watching who logs into test, how long they are online and what all they do. Which in the end will help us divvy up the rewards.

8. Sounds great! Where do I sign up?

No sign up required, all you have to do is log into the THF Test Server!

9. How do I go about submitting a bug report?

First, make sure you look >>HERE<< for the known/confirmed bug listing. Submitting repeat bugs will not get you any credit. Additionally, make sure you check >>>HERE<<< submitting known EQEmu bugs will not get you any credit. After you've checked your bug against those two lists please start a new topic in this forum based on these guidelines and provide as much detail as you possibly can. Also if you can repeat the bug make sure to tell us the steps, that makes it very simple to fix AND if it's reproducible on the live server.

10. I've submitted bug reports and helped out on Test Server, now where is my rewards?!

Rewards will be given out as soon as Test Server Bug testing is complete. At that time we will push the code live and rewards will be given to the appropriate characters.

11. You say rewards will be given to characters, does this mean all my characters can get rewards?

Yes, playing on the Test Server will add that specific character to the logs for test rewards. Additionally, when submitting a bug report you will include the characters name. This will be used to determine which character gets the reward.

12. Extra Information: Please be aware that the Test Server may randomly come down to apply patches and fixes as we make them. We will do our best to keep it to maximum once a day, but immediate issues may require more reboots.

13. Ugh my UI and hotkeys are missing when I log into the test server! Do I have to redo everything?

Fortunately, no! There is a quick and easy way. To copy character settings (UI, key bindings, hot keys, etc) from the THF Live server to THF Test server, simply follow these few steps.

1. Download this batch script: http://mirror2.thehiddenforest.org/down ... HFTEST.bat
2. Place the file in the root of your EverQuest client directory. For example, C:\everquest is where mine is. The file should now be located at C:\everquest\Copy_To_THFTEST.bat
3. Double click Copy_To_THETEST.bat. It should complete in a fraction of a second.
4. Now all of the character settings (UI, key bindings, hot keys, etc) saved from the live server are copied and renamed to be available for playing on the test server.
5. Simply double click the .bat file any time you want to re-copy settings for use on the test server.

Alternate method

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Change directory to your EverQuest directory.
3. Execute this command: "copy /y *_HiddenForest.ini *_THFTEST.ini"

Updated: 28 May 2015

Updated.