Creating TacO Markers and Trails

Details
Category: Markers

Placing Markers

This part is straightforward.

Open the TacO menu and click “Open Marker Editor.” A small window will appear with several smaller buttons.

At the bottom, you’ll see numbers 1–5. These represent the markers currently assigned to keybinds. Click a number and select a marker from the menu structure (it’s the same as in my pack).
• Marker 1 can be rebound in GW2 TacO Settings → Rebind Keys → Add New Marker.
• Markers 2–5 are rebound in Marker Editor → Rebind Keys.

After placing a marker, you can click it and reposition it.
Important: Every marker you create is stored in the file “poidata.xml” in the main TacO folder. You can only edit markers inside this file. If you try to move a marker that already exists in a pack, the change will not be saved. Editable markers are shown in green text.

Drawing Trails

Creating a trail is a bit more complex.

  1. In Marker Editor, click the Record icon to start recording. As you move, the trail is placed beneath your character’s feet.

  2. When finished, click the Save button and save the file. It must have the .trl file extension. Make sure the name is lowercase, no spaces, no dashes, no other symbols than underscores, or it can cause issues.

  3. Save often. It’s easy to lose progress due to a misclick, crash, or other issue. After saving, you must load the trail file back again to continue. Do not keep drawing immediately after saving, or it will bug out.

  4. Every time you save, a duplicate trail entry is added to the bottom of poidata.xml. You only need one, so delete the extra copies.

  5. Saved trail will be invisible until you edit the XML entry. At minimum, add “fadeNear” and “fadeFar.” For a fully working trail, also add “type,” “animSpeed,” and “texture.”

Example of a freshly saved trail entry (how it looks originally):

<Trail GUID="qoWB/R1Km0KlQo0ZyOhx5Q==" trailData=".\Data\TW\VoE\StarlitWeald\tw_voe_starlitweald_adv_seermagic_toggletrail.trl"/>

How it should look after editing:

<Trail type="tw_guides.tw_voe.tw_voe_starlitweald.tw_voe_starlitweald_adv_seermagic.tw_voe_starlitweald_adv_seermagic_toggletrail" GUID="qoWB/R1Km0KlQo0ZyOhx5Q==" fadeNear="5500" fadeFar="5600" trailData="Data/TW/VoE/StarlitWeald/tw_voe_starlitweald_adv_seermagic_toggletrail.trl" animSpeed="0" texture="Data/TW/General/tw_trail_link.png"/>

Also, make sure to replace backslashes (\) with forward slashes (/) in the file path. If you don’t, the trail won’t load properly in a pack.

Best practices while making trails.

  • Trails are a sequence of connected points, and if you just walk, points are placed close to each other, which will result in a mess in rough terrain or in the air. Instead, bind and use the key for "pause/resume trail" and use it constantly, because when you pause the trail, the next point is placed once you resume, no matter the distance, and those two points are connected.
  • My way of drawing is to pause, do 2-3 steps, stop, unpause, and pause to place a point and do another 2-3 steps. Doing this makes a nice, clean path and also results in smaller trail files.
  • If you need to cut the trail and continue elsewhere, like after the portal, pause and click on "create new trail section."
  • If you make sharper turns, place several points into it; otherwise, it will twist and squeeze the texture.
  • You can edit the trail after you save it. But make sure you reload it first, do not record any track, and have xml entry already edited. Then you can click on any point along the trail and reposition or delete it.