CuppaManga

Unfortunately none of the people working on NC Launcher (or City of Heroes) work there anymore, so the likelyhood of these issues being fixed is zero.

First answer: You *may* be able to. The 1080p standard is not 100% compatible with all devices, including computers, cable boxes, DVD players, etc. Additionally, the cable you're using might be a factor as well. Experiment a bit, but keep in mind you may be unlucky to have mismatched devices.

Second question: The pauses are caused by a network issue, not graphics, with Cider. Also, try using "Recommended" if you want to step down the graphics a bit, because "Minimum" uses the software renderer, which does not take advantage of accelerated graphics.

Final question: I know it sounds counterintuitive, but try turning up the mouse sensitivity to maximum. For some reason this causes the mouse coordinates to reset less often. The PC version also has this coordinate reset issue! But it doesn't happen nearly as often. Also, if you're using a 3rd party control panel for your mouse, remove that or reduce its speed/special acceleration features because it will cause problems.

The Macbook Retina: It has a video processor that's pretty close to the current non-retina MBP, so it should perform about the same. You will have to scale the resolution though because I don't believe CoH will run reliably with a relatively weak video processor at maximum resolution. Yes, I said weak video processor - because Retina technology is so bleeding edge, there really is no video card that will drive it at maximum rez yet.

If you would like to test the MBP Retina before buying, and you have an Apple Store nearby, you can! Copy the City of Heroes app and NC Launcher app onto a USB stick (make sure it's large enough) and bring it to the store. You'll need about a half hour to copy it onto a MBP Retina, launch CoH, change the settings, etc.

Make sure you delete it afterward so no one logs into your account, and when you log in, DO NOT check the save login button. Also, MAKE SURE YOU ASK PERMISSION FIRST. Usually they won't mind, but if they think you're sneaking something onto their computers they'll toss you out.

I got access to two models of Macbook Pro - one of them mine. My own has no crashing issues at all with NC Launcher, and the other crashes once per startup.

The crashy one is not all that severe, but I'm still investigating why one crashes and the other doesn't.

Even weirder is that the one that's not mine, I had access to it because I was restoring software from mine after the others' hard drive died. So it's the same NC Launcher and prefs I'm using, yet it crashes!

Someone with consistent Launcher crashing, please try this:

1. Launch Terminal from Applications > Utilities

2. Type or paste this: "defaults write com.ncsoft.nclauncher NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false"

Let us know if that workaround works.

Read this thread.

I believe this temporary workaround helps:

Run NCSoft Launcher, and see if it crashes. If it does, wait for the Apple crash reporter dialog to come up, and click Reopen. Then you'll see a dialog asking you if you want to restore windows. Tell it NOT to restore windows.

After that, NCSoft Launcher should work correctly. If it crashes again, repeat the above.

If you tell it to restore windows instead, the Launcher crashes a second time. There seems to be some kind of bad interaction with Mountain Lion's window restore.

Re: Designing outdoor objects:

Imagine when you edit an SG base, except that the "box" you design in is 100 times the size, with tens of thousands of objects ranging from huge buildings to tiny bushes. And if you want to place a new object, first you have to wait for someone in the 3D objects department to fire up a 3D design app, and merge polygons, and then get a texture from the art department and texture it (if you're not lucky enough for it to have been created already).

And that person with the 3D app has to consult with the engineering team to make sure the game engine can handle the object, and then make adjustments. Finally the object gets back to the environment team, which has to precisely be placed in this gigantic box (which, if you edited an SG base before, no doubt is likely a very slow and painful process even on a powerful computer), hoping you don't miss it by a few pixels, or that the object was spec'd correctly and isn't too big or small, or that the environment editor, which hasn't been updated in years because the devs have been busy, doesn't CRASH.

That's just about outdoor environment work in a nutshell.


Re: Old Game Engine

The game engine was designed in around 2004. I think the only older one is from WoW, and you know how that game looks. CoH, and also WoW, can't upgrade the game engines so easily because there are so many things tied to it that also need to be upgraded. The 3D objects can just be ported over to a newer game engine, but they'll look like crap - we've seen the result of that when you go from a revamped zone like Atlas to an old one like King's Row.

I would love to see new character models, but there are dozens of emotes plus hundreds of movement animations that would have to be changed. And thousands of costume pieces that would no longer fit the new models or the new movement mechanics. I believe it would be a worthwhile change, but I do understand it would be a lot of work - so much that it may have to be pretty much the showcase of an entire new issue ("look, new character models/costumes! but no new content"). And I also understand it's a risk because it would bring a flood of complaints from people who liked the old models, or lost some costume piece from 2004.

Just FYI since I encounter this a lot:

Android development is a MUCH different animal than iOS - the conversion is not trivial. The absence of an Android version doesn't mean you've been snubbed. Android uses a completely different programming language, environment, and UI, so doing an app for both means developing it twice.

Nice work on the app though, I know just what a pain adding push notifications can be.

CoH seems to run well on Mountain Lion.

Just an unnecessary FYI - I'm an iOS developer, so I do need at least one Mac. I have in the very recent past tried to compare whether it would be worthwhile to get a cheap game-worthy Windows laptop for gaming, plus a cheaper Macbook. But when I worked out the costs, it turned out to be a lot cheaper just to get one Macbook Pro.

Plus, like I've said before, it's kind of neat to have one 1" thick, 7 lb laptop I can do just about everything with.

P.S. Please do not reply with the "you can get a windows laptop for $400" thing. I really, really researched this well, and gave a LOT of leeway, including an Asus clearance model at newegg, while I'd really prefer a lighter weight and more featured Sony or Alienware. When I say game-worthy laptop I mean display of at least 15", fairly recent generation of dedicated graphics, and either Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Something you'd be able to play high-end games on for a few years.

In windowed mode, the fans don't run nearly as much. That leads me to believe that Cider is not properly optimizing the use of the video hardware in full screen mode.

It kind of makes sense since Cider was originally designed to make DirectX games to run on a Mac. CoH is OpenGL, so it's possible that Cider is double converting the graphics stuff - it only has to be fast *enough* to be marketable, not efficient.

As for the Macbook Pro heat dissipation: It has two independent variable speed fans that are so large, it would be like cooling a desktop PC with 2 12" fans. Independent means they can start, stop, change speeds individually.

Those two fans work predictively - they spin up *before* the laptop gets hot. They do this due to earlier complaints about Macbooks getting uncomfortably hot. So now they're cooler but noisier.

I've worked on Toshiba, HP, and Sony laptops fairly recently, and all of those choose to ramp up their fans very early, even while using routine apps like Word. It's common practice these days due to fear of lawsuits.

However, if you have a Macbook Pro and believe the fans are running excessively, you should probably contact Apple. There are a few ways they can fix it ranging from software to fan or logic board replacement.

Pando Media Booster is a Bittorrent client. What that means is, when your computer downloads a patch, the portion you've downloaded is reported to a central control server. Those pieces are made available to other players of the same game, served from your computer.

That saves the developer money (they don't need as robust patch servers or bandwidth) , and allows players to download patches faster.

It also uses some of your bandwidth, and some of your computer's power and memory. That might not sit well with a lot of players, which is why many developers try to keep Pando secret. A lot of them figure the benefits to both themselves, and players, is worth the potential negatives, and its best if those who don't really understand its purpose don't know about it.

This sounds familiar, but I can't remember what the solution was. Try sending a support ticket to help.ncsoft.com, they likely keep track of stuff like that.

If you're using any third party mouse drivers/software, remove that.

This happens when there are network delays. It happens to me a lot when I'm paying base rent on Virtue for instance. It's not a Mac-specific issue.

If you're testing this, make sure to back up your CoH application first (by making a copy of it). We won't be able to help fix it if your CoH application breaks and no longer launches - you'll end up having to download it again.

The only suggestions I have are:

1. See if you can get the installer to work for alternative install locations, instead of assuming /Applications all the time.

2. Have it verify the location is indeed the CoH application instead of blindly copying the files.

Yes it's a Macbook setting, use it if it applies to you.

That's something you'll have to experiment with. Don't turn it down below Recommended though, because then the GPU render switches off and the CPU does all the rendering.

Also, usually it's on by default, but in the Energy Saver panel in System Settings (on your Mac) you want to turn on that checkbox at the top about automatic graphics switching.

You should do great with all the Ultra stuff set just below maximum (you might have to experiment a little) and with Geometry Buffers and FSAA turned off.

Turn off Geometry Buffers and marvel at the difference.