Ahjuna
Neophyte
Fishing up SOS treasure chests can be a somewhat relaxing way to make some great gold, but it's only efficient if you plan to fish up several chests at once. If you have a bunch of SOSes lying around and want to see all of their locations, you'll want to add them to your in-game World Map. When you double click an SOS, it will open and give you the longitude and latitude coordinates of the SOS. You can use these coordinates to find the location, but it's tricky because in Ultima Online, longitude and latitude are not centered on the center of the world but on Lord British's throne. That makes it very tricky to find exact coordinates because sometimes a north coordinate will actually be in the south, or an east coordinate in the west. The more accurate and efficient way to find an SOS location is to use Razor to find the x and y coordinates of each SOS and add them to a csv file which can then be edited and used to show all of your SOSes on the World Map.
NOTE: This post is just about adding the SOSes to the World Map, not organizing them for efficiency. Also, you will need access to a spreadsheet program like MS Excel or Google Sheets in order to make the edits necessary to add SOSes to your World Map.
STEP ONE: Launch the client with Razor as your assistant. If you don't normally use Razor, that's okay. You can just use it for this process and then return to your normal assistant.
STEP TWO: Once you've logged into the game with Razor, gather all the SOSes that you want to add to your World Map. I recommend that you start with 20-30 to learn this method since that is a manageable number to check for accuracy. After you've gone through the process once and are comfortable, you can go back and add the rest later.
STEP THREE: Switch to Razor and click on the Skills tab. In the bottom right corner, check the box that says "Capture MIBs to file".
STEP FOUR: Switch back to the client. Double click one of your SOSes. When you do, you should see the x and y coordinates in the bottom left of your screen. If you don't see them, try double clicking the SOS once or twice more because the first time you use this feature, it can take a couple tries for the first SOS to register.
NOTE: Make sure it is in SOS form (message) and not bottle form (MIB). Double clicking the MIB (bottle form) will just pull out the message, not open it.
STEP FIVE: Once you see the x/y coordinates appear, that SOS has now been added to a new csv file in your Razor folder. Navigate to that folder (should be a path similar to C:\Program Files (x86)\UOForever\UO\Forever\Razor) and look for a file named MIBCapture.csv. Using either MS Excel or Google Sheets, open MIBCapture.csv. You should see something that looks like this (first two numbers will not match this example):
If you see two or more rows that have the exact same values in columns A and B, it means you double clicked the same SOS too many times. Delete the duplicate rows.
STEP SIX: If you saw something resembling the above example, you're on the right track. Close the MIBCapture.csv file and return to the game and double click the rest of your SOSes.
STEP SEVEN: Once you have double clicked all your SOSes, open MIBCapture.csv and check to make sure the number of rows matches the number of SOSes you have. If it's less, you missed one. If it's more, you double clicked one or more SOSes too many times and duplicated them. Remove the duplicates before proceeding.
STEP EIGHT: Now that you have your csv file ready, you need to modify it a bit to make it work with the game client to show the SOS locations on your World Map. First, delete "mib" from column D for all rows.
STEP NINE: In cell D1, paste this formula (be sure to include the equals sign) and hit Enter: =A1&" "&B1
STEP TEN: After pasting the formula and hitting Enter, the row should now look like this:
STEP ELEVEN: Click cell D1 and put your mouse cursor over the bottom right corner of that cell until the cursor turns into a bold black plus sign. Click and drag down until you have copied that formula into every cell in column D that matches with a row of data. When you release the mouse button, all the cells in column D should now show the x and y coordinates together with a space between them that matches columns A and B of the same row. Here is an example:
STEP TWELVE: Even though you can see the x and y coordinates combined in column D, the cells are really just filled with a formula and the UO client can't read that formula. To fix that, click and drag all cells in column D to highlight them. Then right click and Copy them. Now click cell D1 to select it. Right click D1, go down to Paste Options, and select Values. This will replace all cells in column D with the values instead of the formulas. Your spreadsheet should now look exactly as it does in the above example, except when you click on any cell in column D, you will see the coordinates in text format, not the formula. Your spreadsheet is now ready to save.
STEP THIRTEEN: Click File > Save As to save the file. You want to save it in your client folder this time, not the Razor folder. The correct place to save this csv should look similar to this: C:\Program Files (x86)\UOForever\UO\Forever\Data\Client. Save it using whatever name you want, as long as it is saved as a csv (Comma Separated Values) file. I always name mine MIBs because it's simple. Whatever name you choose is what you will see in your World Map options.
STEP FOURTEEN: Now that the csv has been saved in your client folder, you are ready to enable it on your World Map. In the game, right click on the World Map, go into Map Marker Options, and click Show/Hide 'MIBs' (or whatever name you chose). Once you do this, your SOSes should pop up on your World Map as red dots. If you have MapIcons in your client folder, the SOSes will show as little SOS icons on your map when you zoom in closer. If you want to change the color of the dots, you can go back into your newly created csv file and change the value in column F to another color. Then save the file and Reload Markers in the World Map options. I don't know all the colors that work but the basics like green, blue, yellow, orange, etc. should work. Make sure you change the color in all rows. If you choose a color that the client doesn't support, it will crash the client until you fix the color value.
That's all the steps! What I like to do when I go out and fish up the chests is keep the csv file open and as I pull them up, I delete the corresponding row from the csv and save it. Then when I Reload Markers, the SOS I just pulled up will disappear from the map. Just make sure that when you delete a row, you delete the entire row instead of the the values. If you have a blank row between other rows, it will crash the client. You can also just delete a bunch at once but I find it better to keep track of what I'm doing if I delete each one as I go.
Happy sailing!
NOTE: This post is just about adding the SOSes to the World Map, not organizing them for efficiency. Also, you will need access to a spreadsheet program like MS Excel or Google Sheets in order to make the edits necessary to add SOSes to your World Map.
STEP ONE: Launch the client with Razor as your assistant. If you don't normally use Razor, that's okay. You can just use it for this process and then return to your normal assistant.
STEP TWO: Once you've logged into the game with Razor, gather all the SOSes that you want to add to your World Map. I recommend that you start with 20-30 to learn this method since that is a manageable number to check for accuracy. After you've gone through the process once and are comfortable, you can go back and add the rest later.
STEP THREE: Switch to Razor and click on the Skills tab. In the bottom right corner, check the box that says "Capture MIBs to file".
STEP FOUR: Switch back to the client. Double click one of your SOSes. When you do, you should see the x and y coordinates in the bottom left of your screen. If you don't see them, try double clicking the SOS once or twice more because the first time you use this feature, it can take a couple tries for the first SOS to register.
NOTE: Make sure it is in SOS form (message) and not bottle form (MIB). Double clicking the MIB (bottle form) will just pull out the message, not open it.
STEP FIVE: Once you see the x/y coordinates appear, that SOS has now been added to a new csv file in your Razor folder. Navigate to that folder (should be a path similar to C:\Program Files (x86)\UOForever\UO\Forever\Razor) and look for a file named MIBCapture.csv. Using either MS Excel or Google Sheets, open MIBCapture.csv. You should see something that looks like this (first two numbers will not match this example):
| 27 | 1136 | 0 | mib | mib | red | 3 |
If you see two or more rows that have the exact same values in columns A and B, it means you double clicked the same SOS too many times. Delete the duplicate rows.
STEP SIX: If you saw something resembling the above example, you're on the right track. Close the MIBCapture.csv file and return to the game and double click the rest of your SOSes.
STEP SEVEN: Once you have double clicked all your SOSes, open MIBCapture.csv and check to make sure the number of rows matches the number of SOSes you have. If it's less, you missed one. If it's more, you double clicked one or more SOSes too many times and duplicated them. Remove the duplicates before proceeding.
STEP EIGHT: Now that you have your csv file ready, you need to modify it a bit to make it work with the game client to show the SOS locations on your World Map. First, delete "mib" from column D for all rows.
STEP NINE: In cell D1, paste this formula (be sure to include the equals sign) and hit Enter: =A1&" "&B1
STEP TEN: After pasting the formula and hitting Enter, the row should now look like this:
| 27 | 1136 | 0 | 27 1136 | mib | red | 3 |
STEP ELEVEN: Click cell D1 and put your mouse cursor over the bottom right corner of that cell until the cursor turns into a bold black plus sign. Click and drag down until you have copied that formula into every cell in column D that matches with a row of data. When you release the mouse button, all the cells in column D should now show the x and y coordinates together with a space between them that matches columns A and B of the same row. Here is an example:
| 1335 | 111 | 0 | 1335 111 | mib | red | 3 |
| 1435 | 508 | 0 | 1435 508 | mib | red | 3 |
| 1554 | 126 | 0 | 1554 126 | mib | red | 3 |
| 1622 | 365 | 0 | 1622 365 | mib | red | 3 |
| 1647 | 1826 | 0 | 1647 1826 | mib | red | 3 |
STEP TWELVE: Even though you can see the x and y coordinates combined in column D, the cells are really just filled with a formula and the UO client can't read that formula. To fix that, click and drag all cells in column D to highlight them. Then right click and Copy them. Now click cell D1 to select it. Right click D1, go down to Paste Options, and select Values. This will replace all cells in column D with the values instead of the formulas. Your spreadsheet should now look exactly as it does in the above example, except when you click on any cell in column D, you will see the coordinates in text format, not the formula. Your spreadsheet is now ready to save.
STEP THIRTEEN: Click File > Save As to save the file. You want to save it in your client folder this time, not the Razor folder. The correct place to save this csv should look similar to this: C:\Program Files (x86)\UOForever\UO\Forever\Data\Client. Save it using whatever name you want, as long as it is saved as a csv (Comma Separated Values) file. I always name mine MIBs because it's simple. Whatever name you choose is what you will see in your World Map options.
STEP FOURTEEN: Now that the csv has been saved in your client folder, you are ready to enable it on your World Map. In the game, right click on the World Map, go into Map Marker Options, and click Show/Hide 'MIBs' (or whatever name you chose). Once you do this, your SOSes should pop up on your World Map as red dots. If you have MapIcons in your client folder, the SOSes will show as little SOS icons on your map when you zoom in closer. If you want to change the color of the dots, you can go back into your newly created csv file and change the value in column F to another color. Then save the file and Reload Markers in the World Map options. I don't know all the colors that work but the basics like green, blue, yellow, orange, etc. should work. Make sure you change the color in all rows. If you choose a color that the client doesn't support, it will crash the client until you fix the color value.
That's all the steps! What I like to do when I go out and fish up the chests is keep the csv file open and as I pull them up, I delete the corresponding row from the csv and save it. Then when I Reload Markers, the SOS I just pulled up will disappear from the map. Just make sure that when you delete a row, you delete the entire row instead of the the values. If you have a blank row between other rows, it will crash the client. You can also just delete a bunch at once but I find it better to keep track of what I'm doing if I delete each one as I go.
Happy sailing!