Version 1.21
Installation
Unzip amytal.zip into a directory of your choice. Run setup.exe. Amytal should locate your /SteamApps/ directory and find all of the available Steam users. Amytal will create amytal.cfg and modify the userconfig.cfg for all counter-strike users and add a line at the end which will exec amytal.cfg. It will also add 'exec userconfig.cfg' to your config.cfg if it does not exist there already. None of the aliases in amytal.cfg use any forbidden commands or change any settings. Namespace should be preserved as each alias is prefixed with 'amytal'. Click on each user on the list and specify the clan name exactly as it appears on league websites (ie: "bamFa" - case matters). This will tell Amytal who to consider friendly when it generates results. If your condump and .cfg files do not get saved in the default English language location (/steamuser/counter-strike/cstrike/) you must specify the proper location for each user. Most people will not have to bother with this. Click save, setup.exe will close.
Usage
Start amytal.exe - minimizing the program will send it to your systray. Start Counter-Strike. Type 'amytal' into your console. Wait a second or 2 while the program queries the database for your results. Type 'exec retrieved.cfg' in console to display the results on team_say. The results display all at once and use the 'wait' command. This means that if you have quite a few players in the server that Amytal identifies you could be stuck outputting the results for a few seconds. It is recommended that you use Amytal before a match/scrim begins or while you are dead. You can exit the console once you start the output so that you can see it scroll by. Both of these commands ('amytal' and 'exec retrieved.cfg') can be bound to keys for easier usage. As of version 1.10 Amytal will now create a 'amytalsilent.cfg' which will contain historical, alternate, and historical link data, as well as the normal results. This added data will not appear in retrieved.cfg because it is often very long. Execing amytalsilent.cfg will display this in your console silently. Please note that no friends will show up in either retrieved.cfg or amytalsilent.cfg. A friend is defined as anyone with the clan name that you specified in setup.exe.
Understanding the output
This public version currently uses the following default format:
"Player Name in Game : SteamID : League Handle : Clan Name : League"
Leagues abbreviations:
cs (cal-invite) | csp (cal-premier) | csm (cal-main) | csi (cal-intermediate) | cso (cal-open)
ugso (ugs-open) | ugsm (ugs-main) | ugsa (ugs-advanced) | ugse (ugs-expert) | ugsp (ugs-professional)
[H] indicates that the data is historical- that is, the user is not currently on the roster with that information, but was at one time in the past.
[A] indicates that Amytal picked up this SteamId(or WonId) in the comments section of the CAL site (sorry no alternate data for UGS or OGL). PLEASE NOTE: CAL does NOT allow you to use alternate ids in the comments. This is for informational purposes only - DO NOT accept an alternate id in a CAL match!
[HL: WonId] indicates that Amytal has found a link between the SteamId of the player and a historical WonId and has displayed the data for that WonId. These links to not exist for every player, but where they do exist they should be accurate.
This screenshot displays the output of amytalsilent.cfg. You can see that the first result has an [H] next to it. This means that at one time this user was in the clan listed, but is no longer in that clan (according to the CAL-m website). The next result has an [A] at the end. This means that the entery is current (the user is on the CAL-o website as of the last Amytal update). However this user is not listed under this SteamId. The result contains an ALTERNATE SteamId that was picked up in the comments. The next result down ends with [HL: 2454460]. This means that a HISTORICAL LINK was found between the SteamId of this user, and an old WonId. It means that back in Counter-Strike 1.5 this user had the WonId 2454660 and was in the clan and league listed. HL results are obviously historical in nature. Keep in mind that retrieved.cfg will NOT display historical results! You will never see [H] or [HL] results in retrieved.cfg. You may see an [A] result in retrieved.cfg. [A] can also be found in combination with [HL] and [H].
Styles
Version 1.20 introduces several ways to customize your Amytal output, bamFa|jupe did all of the work to bring these cool new features to you.
Styles may be used to format and rearrange the results as they are written in your retrieved.cfg and amytalsilent.cfg files. To modify the default styles you must edit the amytal.cfg file that is located in your \cstrike\ directory. There you will find the amytalStyle alias which defaults to:
alias amytalStyle "echo amytal.style: %pname : %SID : %handle : %clan : %league;"
You may modify this alias and rearrange the variables (and leave some out) at your pleasure. You MUST keep the echo amytal.style: part of the alias! You must also make sure that at least one of the variables is in the alias, or Amytal will go into its default format. Valid variables are:
%pname = player name (in game)
%SID = SteamID
%clan = clan as reported by league
%league = league abbreviation
%handle = user handle as reported by league website
It should be noted that styles can be modified in game, but they will not be saved. If you would like to keep more than one style, and you want them to save, then just create some binds that will be kept in your config.cfg. Binds may also be used to switch between styles before you run the Amytal command. Here is an example bind:
bind f4 "alias amytalStyle echo amytal.style: -%pname(%SID)- %clan [%league];"
Pressing F4 in game will put you into this style mode which will produce output that looks like:
-3D | Ksharp(0:0:1662)- 3D [cs]
Please remember - if you want a default style without having to use a bind to activate it, put it in amytal.cfg. If you want multiple styles, bind them to keys, and make sure to hit the key (thus activating the style) BEFORE you run the 'amytal' command.
Filters
Filters function similarly to styles, but with a different purpose. While styles will change the way Amytal results are shown to you, filters allow you to change the results that are SENT to you. Many people have asked for a way to turn off historical results which can be lengthy (and thus sometimes slow to acquire), even more people have asked for a way to limit their results only to certain leagues (useful before a CAL or UGS match, when you only want to see one league or the other).
To modify the default filter you must edit the amytal.cfg file that is located in your \cstrike\ directory. There you will find the amytalFilter alias which defaults to:
alias amytalFilter "echo amytal.filter: cal ugs;"
This means that Amytal defaults to sending you data from both CAL and UGS, and that historical data is included. The options for the amytalFilter alias are as follows:
cal = Include CAL data
ugs = Include UGS data
-h = Exclude Historical data
As with styles, you may modify the amytalFilter alias to suit your needs however You MUST keep the echo amytal.filter: part of the alias! You must also make sure that at least one of the variables is in the alias, or Amytal will not send any results! As with styles, filters may be bound to keys to cover different situations. For instance, before a UGS match you would want to set your amytalFilter alias like so:
alias amytalFilter "echo amytal.filter: ugs -h;"
This would return only recent (non-historical) roster data from UGS, that is to say: any player in the game that is on the UGS website right now, should be returned. No historical data and no CAL data would be sent. If you wanted to bind filters for CAL, UGS, and pubs to keys then you might do it like so:
bind f4 "alias amytalFilter echo amytal.filter: cal -h;
bind f5 "alias amytalFilter echo amytal.filter: ugs -h;
bind f6 "alias amytalFilter echo amytal.filter: cal ugs;
Always remember when using binds that you must hit the bind in game BEFORE using 'amytal' in order for the filters/styles to take effect. It is a good idea to set your defaults in amytal.cfg to the styles and filters that you think you will use most.
If you run into any problems with filters and styles and you wish to go back to your defaults, simply run setup.exe again and configure your Steam username. Your amytal.cfg files will be overwritten (any binds that are in your config.cfg will remain in place).
Support
Various bamFa members have been using versions of Amytal for quite a while now and we are pretty confident that the program is stable. However I'm sure someone will have an issue which I didn't consider. There is quite a bit of debugging information available in the main edit box of the program. The best way to get a support response is to describe the problem, copy any text that you can from the edit box (highlight, ctrl-c), take a screen shot, and email all of it to here. Please compress any screenshots into .gif or similar formats, do not send me huge bitmaps. I will put together a FAQ once the flood of questions hits.
Questions/Comments/Suggestions
I appreciate all constructive criticism and will do my best to reply to any in either a FAQ or via email. If you love Amytal and want to let me know I would love to hear that as well ;) You can send it all here.
Notes
This public version of Amytal is meant for mass distribution and usage in CAL matches to verify your opponents are on the roster. It is designed to be very easy to use, with low overhead on the client side, and (perhaps more importantly with so many users) on the server side. The full version that bamFa uses contains historical information, emails, ip addresses, and current win/loss record. If mass distribution goes well and our bandwidth limitations are not exceeded, this detailed information may be available to all users. For more information on the history of Amytal, information about the full version of Amytal, and related powerful CS utilities visit here.
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