Demo records after 30-Nov-2012

[The Fifth Horseman]

If private servers ever come to pass, we DEFINITELY won't ever need that NCSoft launcher, right?

Yes and no. We'll certainly need something that fools the game into acting as if it was ran from the launcher, and sets a different authentication server IP. Which incidentally is what my launcher already does

Has anyone written any utilities yet to create new demorecord files?  For example, I'd like to put together some basic files with all my characters in one file, lounging around the SG base and forming up for a group picture, maybe have my villains show up to try to ruin the day... you know the drill.  I know the basics on the structure and that I could throw it together using a text editor, but I was just wondering if someone already had done some of that kind of work?

I don't think so. Might take a creator / editor on as a project in a while (too busy right now).

[DamianoV]

Yeah, I was thinking about doing the same... just casting about seeing if any such work has already been done, no need to reinvent the wheel, as it were.

[Leandro]

I have scripts for making videos offline, but they have a steep learning curve. Not easy to use yet. However, Angelus Animi and I are using them, and in fact her Thriller halloween video was done mostly offline.

Demos are just text files. It's not hard to make an editor. Making an _easy to use_ editor, though... that's a different story.

[Carnildo]

I'm not sure just backing up the COH directory and moving to a new machine will really work.

I'm pretty sure that there are registry entries that will not be transferred. I'm not saying to not back it up. If private servers ever come to pass you will need it and they will need to put the registry entries into place.

I'm pretty sure it will.  I'm the developer for the unofficial Linux CoH installer (http://www.carnildo.com/cohlaunch/index.htm), and it doesn't set up any registry entries or anything -- what it does is functionally equivalent to simply copying the files to a new machine.

CoH does store its preferences (basically, everything in the "graphics and audio" section of the Options window) in the registry, so you'll lose those when you copy, but everything you need to re-play demos will be copied.

[Leandro]

CoH does store its preferences (basically, everything in the "graphics and audio" section of the Options window) in the registry, so you'll lose those when you copy, but everything you need to re-play demos will be copied.

The current version of the client has a "Settings" button in the login screen, so you can run cityofheroes.exe -project coh and tweak all the graphic settings from the COH UI.

[BobMc]

Does anyone know if the Sentinel extractor data, that I used to save off all of my characters. is compatible in anyway with Demorecord/ play?

Since I never even tried  Demorecord until a couple months ago, in order to preserve some of the characters and combat. I don't know much about it. I never got the chance to log-in and demorecord each character of mine and my wife (thought of it too late too do), but I did use Sentinel on them all.

It would be nice to grab them all into demrecord space even just for basic screenshot documentation.

[Sekoia]

Does anyone know if the Sentinel extractor data, that I used to save off all of my characters. is compatible in anyway with Demorecord/ play?

Yes, see this post for some basic instructions:
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6301.msg79524.html#msg79524

[srmalloy]

I'm not sure just backing up the COH directory and moving to a new machine will really work.

I'm pretty sure that there are registry entries that will not be transferred. I'm not saying to not back it up. If private servers ever come to pass you will need it and they will need to put the registry entries into place.

There is a folder in the Windows registry, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Cryptic\CoH, that has registry entries in it. These appear to be saved configuration information -- graphics setup like scale, screen dimensions, the graphics detail settings, etc. All things that you can configure in the client. You can export the whole registry folder and reload it when you put the client on another computer, reducing the number of setup steps you need to go through.

There are also entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Trolltech that appear to be all quicktime driver references, and a whole gruntload of entries for the NCLauncher, and uninstall information, which requires the NCLauncher to do the uninstall, which wouldn't be a problem if you were just dropping the game into another folder.

[BobMc]

Yes, see this post for some basic instructions:
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6301.msg79524.html#msg79524

Thank you so much!

I'm glad to know it's possible, without going totally insane on some file creation!

[eabrace]

Can someone post the safe way to uninstall the NCSoft launcher without uninstalling everything else?

I did this last night on my desktop (Windows 7).  I'm walking through it right now on my laptop (Windows XP).

1) Enter your program manager from the Control Panel.  (In Windows 7 it's labeled "Programs and Features".  In XP it's "Add or Remove Programs".)

2) Find the entry for NCsoft Launcher. Highlight the entry.

3) Click the "Remove" button.

4) You will see a new window pop up that says, "You are about to uninstall the NCsoft Launcher.  Would you like to uinstall all games that were installed through the launcher as well (recommended)?"  Select "No".

5) You will see a confirmation dialog.  "Are you sure you want to leave the Launcher-installed games on your computer? You might not be able to play or uninstall these games until the Launcher is reinstalled."  Select "Yes".

6) The Install Wizard for the NCsoft Launcher should then go through uninstallation of the Launcher. Click "Finish" when it completes.

You should now be rid of the Launcher and still be able to locate all of your CoH resources on your hard drive.

[Illusionss]

That process is exactly what I did, and my CoH files on C drive were untouched. I then backed up that CoH file onto a disk, which I am not sure I will ever need but better to be safe than sorry.

I did find it quite amusing - and arrogant - that if you dare to remove the launcher, they want to automatically strip the games TOO. Um, no. If i wanted the game itself off my HD, I'd remove it myself.

One thing about it, I'm now not able to keep using the launcher in some mad hope that this whole thing never happened and I can still log into the game.   

[MWRuger]

I'm pretty sure it will.  I'm the developer for the unofficial Linux CoH installer (http://www.carnildo.com/cohlaunch/index.htm), and it doesn't set up any registry entries or anything -- what it does is functionally equivalent to simply copying the files to a new machine.

CoH does store its preferences (basically, everything in the "graphics and audio" section of the Options window) in the registry, so you'll lose those when you copy, but everything you need to re-play demos will be copied.

That is good news indeed! I have some friends whose installs got corrupted or uninstalled. If/when private servers make an appearance, they'll need this.

[TimtheEnchanter]

For those who are playing back demos, I would recommend NOT destroying your original install. The latest hardcopy version may not be able to play back all demos, such as ones containing the newest powersets.

[BobMc]

Thank you so much!

I'm glad to know it's possible, without going totally insane on some file creation!

I have successfully brought Bonnie Belle (my homage character to my Mom) into one of my group shot demorecord files using her data from Sentinel!

Thank you all!

Now that I can do that, I can visually document all of our characters, even without an offline costume editor and such. Which reminds me, I wonder what the costume save files look like? Some designs never got made into characters yet... hmm... something for another day.

[srmalloy]

I did find it quite amusing - and arrogant - that if you dare to remove the launcher, they want to automatically strip the games TOO. Um, no. If i wanted the game itself off my HD, I'd remove it myself.

Too be fair, the Uninstall action for City of Heroes uses the NCLauncher executable, so if you remove NCLauncher, you're no longer able to use Add/Remove Programs to remove City of Heroes from your computer.

However, since aside from the game folder, the only presence is a registry folder with your game settings, just blowing away the folder if you want to get rid of the game will work.

[Arachnion]

I have successfully brought Bonnie Belle (my homage character to my Mom) into one of my group shot demorecord files using her data from Sentinel!

Thank you all!

Now that I can do that, I can visually document all of our characters, even without an offline costume editor and such. Which reminds me, I wonder what the costume save files look like? Some designs never got made into characters yet... hmm... something for another day.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2mrqc1q96ui6wpu

Here is a pack I made of some of my beta costume files.

Download it, extract, and view them with a text editor.

You can either rename them to .txt, or have your editors associate .costume with reading as .txt

[djonehitwonder]

*blink* Oddly enough, I encountered some problems with that (might have been entering the command wrong); that also seems to be using a different set of settings, which I'm not very happy about.

This will run the demos at your client settings: http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/HMQQI06P/CoXDemoLauncher.zip_links
All you need to do is associate the demo files with the launcher - and at that point, no further messing with the command line is neccessaryl you just double-click the demo file (no matter where it's located) to play it.

I'm attempting to associate the demo files with the CoXDemoLauncher but when I try to use "Open with" and select the launcher, nothing happens, it doesn't show up on the program list.  Any ideas why this is happening?  I'm using Windows 7.

[The Fifth Horseman]

You should have the option to browse your HDD for another program to open the file with. Do so, navigate to where you unpacked the launcher and select it there.

Some notes:
1. The launcher will try to determine the location of City of Heroes executable when ran - first and foremost, it will check in its' own current directory, then the parent directory of the demo file.
2. If it does not find the CoH executable in either of those locations, it will attempt to get the path from your registry. In this case, it will "prefer" the test client over the live client and beta client over the test client if you have more than one of the three installed.

[djonehitwonder]

That's exactly what I'm doing, but when I select it, nothing happens.  It just goes back to the "Choose a Program to Open This File With" and the launcher is not listed there.

[Arkasas]

You should be able to drag .cohdemo files onto the launcher and start the demo that way. If not, just get a .bat file and input

Code: [Select]

cityofheroes.exe -project "coh" -demoplay *insert demoname*