CuppaManga

After some investigation, I've come to the following conclusion:

- If you're using one of the most recently released Macs, the current Live client should work fine.

- If you're using a Mac with an ATI 1600, nVidia 9400, nVidia 9600, or Intel GMA 1300 or 950 video TURN OFF Shadow Maps and Environmental Reflections until the next server publish.

- Those two features, with the current Live build of the Mac client, can cause graphics to become irrecoverably corrupted, and can cause the Mac client to start up with a black screen and remain that way.

- The current Training Room build of the Mac client does not exhibit those behaviors - hopefully it will publish to Live soon.

I'll post another notice once this issue is repaired.

After some investigation, I've come to the following conclusion:

- If you're using one of the most recently released Macs, the current Live client should work fine.

- If you're using a Mac with an ATI 1600, nVidia 9400, nVidia 9600, or Intel GMA 1300 or 950 video TURN OFF Shadow Maps and Environmental Reflections until the next server publish.

- Those two features, with the current Live build of the Mac client, can cause graphics to become irrecoverably corrupted, and can cause the Mac client to start up with a black screen and remain that way.

- The current Training Room build of the Mac client does not exhibit those behaviors - hopefully it will publish to Live soon.

Some of the Mac client issues since I17 went live are not present on the Training Room. I discovered that was because the build on the TR is different from the one on Live.

EDIT: Just tested this issue on the Training Room, same behavior as Live. Adding to Known Issues list.

This may be because the Live servers have a different build than Training Room - I'll test it as soon as the TR is back up.

Meanwhile send a support request to help.ncsoft.com.

Further investigation: It seems the version of CoH for Mac on Live is different from the one on the Training Room.

So if you have a black screen problem on Live, see if the Training Room works. If it does, hopefully the newer Mac client will push to Live soon.

EDIT: Completed investigation between the Training Room client and the Live client. Conclusion is posted here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...59#post2827559

Short version: If you're using anything other than Macs released THIS YEAR (2010) turn off Shadow Maps and Environmental Reflections until the Mac build that's on the Training Room makes it to Live. The issue *HAS* been fixed - it just hasn't been published yet.

If you're having the black-screen issue on the Mac client I'd like the following information to try and form some kind of pattern:

Mac Model, video processor, video RAM:

Installed RAM (memory):

MacOS Version (Leopard/Snow Leopard and version):

What you were doing when it got stuck:

The last thing you saw before the black screen:

What date/approx time you patched to Issue 17 (it sounds silly but there's a reason):

If there's anything in the Console Log just before the black screen:


The console log is located in Applications > Utilities > Console. You can copy one or several lines and paste them in a reply.

Also, while you're sending this info, send a copy of it to NCSoft support at help.ncsoft.com as well so the devs can track the issue with the same info.

What's your Mouse Cursor set to?

EDIT: After investigating further: This is because the Live build for Mac is different from the Training Room build - once the training room build hits live, this problem will fix itself.

The following issues have been observed in the Mac client as of April 28th live date:

- Due to changes in graphics technology, your old settings may now be invalid. This may cause you to start CoH with a black screen. If that happens, go to Users > (yourname) > Library > Preferences and throw out your City Of Heroes Preferences. The issue seems to be more common with ATI-video-based Macs, and Macs using the nVidia 8600M GT and nVidia 9600M GT (they're similar generation). This issue may occur repeatedly, IF you change graphics settings in-game frequently.

- There is also a rare issue where nVidia or ATI graphics may become stuck in some sort of state that prevents City of Heroes from starting normally, or where you see corrupted graphics in-game. A reboot will fix this until a permanent fix comes along.

- If you see a black screen starting up, or a freeze at the login screen, and neither of the above fixes it, send a Support ticket to help.ncsoft.com - there is a third even rarer issue that hasn't been anticipated from testing, so the cause is still unknown.

- (minor) The updater version number on the Live client is too long and collides with the time remaining.

- Higher than normal CPU use when transitioning to Issue 17. This isn't harmful, but it is noticeable. The high CPU use occurs even with settings turned low. NOTE: This may not be limited to the Mac client.

- Very high CPU use when using FSAA, Shadow Maps, or Ambient Occlusion. Combining two of those is especially hard on the CPU.

- (minor) The cursor RGB values on the Mac client are reversed.

- Lag in high-texture zones like Pocket D, SG bases, RWZ base, Arachnos Maps, and the Midnighter Club. UPDATE: Turning off Use Geometry Buffers makes this lag nearly disappear!

- Occasional crashes during gameplay due to the memory addressing scheme used by Cider (careful use of /reloadgfx minimizes that).

- Architect mini-avatars don't animate.

- Vertical Sync switch does nothing (it's always off).

- ADDED: Cursors are system default and don't reflect the City of Heroes cursors. This is because the Live build for Mac is different from the Training Room build - once the training room build hits live, this problem will fix itself (kind of - it's still reversed).

- ADDED: Base Editor graphics are corrupted both on Live and the Training Room. It's a field of random patches of color with the icon of the item tiny and in the bottom left corner.


As usual, if you observe these or other issues, start by sending a support ticket to help.ncsoft.com so the scope of it, and which equipment it occurs on, can be tracked.

Everyone in this thread having problems, please open a Support ticket at help.ncsoft.com.

The new graphics system in CoH does create a much larger load on the computer, both on Mac and Windows systems.

What really makes it use a lot of power are Shadow Map setting for shadows, FSAA, or Ambient Occlusion.

There's also a rare issue where the CoH for Mac client may start up with a black screen if the Mac's video is left in a certain unspecified state by another application. The workaround right now is to re-start the Mac before running CoH again.

Definitely sounds like a defective game file somewhere. Do you have another copy on either a Windows or Mac computer? Otherwise you may have to delete the game files and re-download them.

To access them right-click City of Heroes, and select Show Package Contents. Then go to Contents > Resources > transgaming > coh. Throw out the files in there except for the "cider" and folder and "cohupdater.exe" file and then run City of Heroes again.

Does it freeze when you start up the game? Do you see a black screen or do you see the login screen?

Right-click City Of Heroes, select Show Package Contents, and then go to Contents > Resources > transgaming > drive_c > coh.

Throw out any file that ends in .new, plus the .checksum file.

See if that works.

Repeated Assertion Failure errors often means you have a corrupted game file somewhere. Try using the Verify Files button when you start the patcher.

For future reference, you can also follow the instructions here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=199092

Beef_Cake,

You don't really need an installer at all. If you just place a ZIP of the "data" folder content for download somewhere I'll write up instructions on how to install it.

P.S. Right now I usually just install it on a PC and then take the contents of the "data" folder and copy it to the Mac.

1. Which Mac do you have?

2. Are there any 3rd-party audio-related drivers, or software installed?

3. Do you have 3D sound on, and do you have it set to Performance or Compatibility on the Mac?

Read my guide in the signature.

And don't be afraid to explore. The one big thing Apple got right since the beginning is as long as you understand the basics (which you do if you're in IT) you can't really get yourself in trouble playing with the OS.

Send a support ticket via help.ncsoft.com - this sounds like a connection issue, and they'll be able to help you find the cause and hopefully fix it.

Do you mean while you're trying to download the DMG from the FTP site or when you launch the training room client the patch takes forever?

If it's the latter, the training room patch server is kind of overloaded sometimes, it'll get around to finishing eventually.