City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Dark Shade

Cohort

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  1. Dark Shade
    Note to trivialize this horrible news or anything, but each time I hear an update, I can't help but wonder, what would be the response in the CoH/CoV world?

    Two of my characters are from that neck of the woods (One Blue-side and one Red-side). The blue side is catatonic and in shock. While the Redsider has gone: "Screw politics. I'm going over there to help. There are children hurting." (This response actually surprised me... but that's getting off beam)

    Surely there is something we can do as a community to help?

    Latest: http://au.yahoo.com/s/274370
  2. Dark Shade
    Ignoring the query from Dan Parker, a rather bubbly, young girl in lolly pink jacket and a mini skirt raised her hand. Where ever she went, Sally Powers was use to being a snappy dresser and the center of attention, and a press conference was just the place for some one like her. This could be her chance to break a big story! Lifting her sweet voice she called out, "I'm Sally Powers from the Gazette. A few questions if you please."

    Hoping for an answer she fired off a rapid string: "Do you like rum raisin ice cream? What's your favorite color? And this one's the big one... what do you order at the 'Up n Go' Diner?"

    She waited earnestly with anticipation for the answer, with her notepad and details at the ready...
  3. Dark Shade
    In the back of the room a trench-coat figure raised his arm and called out, "Dan Parker, Daily Bugle. So far you have spun your yarn, as amusing as it is, and we've sat or stood here and listened to you. However what proof do you have that you are a hero and not something else? And please tell me that its something more credible then just hearsay and your word. What make's you so special that you are lifted up over all the others heroes I use in my little bit of column-space?

    Tell me sir, what makes you any different from the two bit thugs that regularly hound me on my way to work. They are most definitely evil. What make you a hero and them a villain. Last I heard, word on the street said they had demonic blood too, as does half the population of Rouge Isle. So why are you here and not over there?

    Are you a member of Oroborus? Or Midnight Society? Or Vanguard? Or any other secret elitist clubs?

    And finally -James- tell me, why should my readers even trust you? Because you have a gun? You think you are immortal? (Be warned some of my readers will view that as a challenge.) I can name 5 villains that have those features. Because you asked nicely? Tell me exact why you think they will?"

    With his bit done, the figure stepped back into the crowd, awaiting a response.
  4. Dark Shade
    Bravo!
    That tugged at the heartstrings.
    This is a rare glimpse into the burden of immortality: You lose all those close to you.
    As always, excellent writing, keep it up.
  5. Dark Shade

    ((RP Questions))

    POST-ACTION

    1) I only use first perspective when forced to clear some graphical garbage from other players, but otherwise never. I play zoomed out view.

    2) When I'm RPing which is most of the time... the lines between me author and me character can get very blurry at times. However there are other times when I'm having an IC conversation in one channel and a completely different OOC conversation in another channel, while keeping an ear on another. So it really depends on the situation and the investment in the character. My mutant hating tank requires full concentration just to play, so immersion is easy for her. On the other end of the scale, my blaster I play is easy to play (stand back at range and shoot) and has no character so its constantly OOC.
  6. Dark Shade
    That was an excellent episode, keep up the good work.... and on the advice of Shin I'm going to post some idle speculation...

    We have the Seer network in Tyrant Land, that it reads your mind.
    We know that over there you can get a device that makes you invisible to the network... but that don't help us over here in this dimension atm.
    And we have on red side the rather high in comparison to blue side level of psi damage that certain mobs tend to favor on red side. For example Arachnos, PPD, certain Longbow types to name but a few.

    Thus...

    Speculation: Psi damage is going to be a rather major part of the game to come.

    Interesting Collateral: And almost nothing has native defenses/resistance for it.

    Therefore trying to run blue-side toons on red-side will be like the shadow shards all over again.

    An interesting thought to ponder... which leads to a possible Min/Max/Build challenge:

    What I'm interested in... What's the most creative non-standard, yet playable, psi repellent/defensive build possible? (Standard way: Stone Tank using Minerals Armor, Non-Standard - a dominator using psi typed defense approaching the soft cap)

    Of course, I'll be sitting this one out since I just won one.

    PS: What is it about the Demon Summoning set that screams female toon? The number of female DS MM I've seen on Test and on Virtue as opposed male or Huge ones is unbelievable!

    PPS: Raise your hand if your are fed up with the idle noise of the demon pets... *raises hand*

    Ad:
    Quote:
    Ladies and Gentlemen, creatures great and small, aliens of all descriptions and cyber-beings: please lend me your ears and hearing orifices.

    Chateau Rouge is currently at the end of one 'arc' and about to start another. Thus if you want to join us, now is the perfect time to make a character and join us. It is open to all accounts both US and EU.

    And what is the Chateau Rouge? The Chateau Rouge is the place where all those classified as "Villains", "Rogues", "Scoundrels", "Rapscallions" and other "No-do-good-ers" hang out. It the name of an establishment in St. Martial around with the RP is based. From there the characters sally forth with devious plots, then come back and share a drink at Ruby's at the end of the day.

    So if you are naughty, evil, or just a little bit bad... Do come, do join us, on the wild side at the Chateau Rouge.

    For further information: See the OOC Thread, the incomplete Wiki, and the Chateau Rouge thread itself.
  7. Dark Shade
    Thank you, Thank you. I've listened to the podcast and as I said in my PM, I bow to the Master. Your build-fu was better then mine. It was a fun challenge - how broken can you make a character when aiming for a particular target? The answer: Very!

    Not that the resultant character would be actually anywhere near playable, but I doubt that you could actually build it in the game. Why?

    4 slot Kinetic Combat = 5% RunSpeed, 5% FlySpeed, 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight
    2 slot Force Feedback = 5% JumpSpeed, 5% JumpHeight, 5%FlySpeed, 5% RunSpeed

    My understanding currently is they stack up to 5 as they currently are treated as the same bonus, even though Mids treats them as separate types of bonuses.

    Regardless of that, well done.

    I'll just fire off a PM in a moment with my choice.

    For the curious below are my builds that I submitted (yes I kept chewing on the problems on my off time).

    Shader.

    -----
    FF/Dark Defender - 138.5% RunSpeed Bonus Top speed: 80.7mph

    Code: 
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    Electric/SuperStrength Tank - 120.5 RunSpeed Bonus, Top speed 89.1 mph

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    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    Spine/Electric Stalker - 126.5% RunSpeed Bonus, Top Speed 90 mph

    Code:
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    Dark/Dark Corruptor - 137.5% Runspeed Bonus, Top Speed 80.6 mph

    Code:
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    Dark/Rad Corruptor (Permish AM) - 119.5% Runspeed Bonus, Top Speed: 82.3 mph

    Code:
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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    SuperStrength / Electric Brute - 125% Runspeed bonus, Top Speed: 89.7 mph

    Code:
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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  8. Dark Shade
    Can we enter this if we don't live in US, Canada, or the EU? (aka Australian and Oceania players)

    What about if we supplied a US Shipping address?

    While I'm not an artist, you don't need much talent for graffiti and I have ideas!

    Shader.
  9. Dark Shade
    Ditto... Where is an alternative *trusted* location for these Valuable Community Resources?

    PS: Thanks for all the hard work vidiotmaps.com team
  10. Dark Shade
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    So you got the card with the silly fan shroud.

    It's plastic isn't it, if it was metal and actually a functional part of the heat sink then I might have a little more respect for it.

    Don't blame Dell for buying into Intel's "motherboard and case layout of the future". It sort of made sense when it was first introduced, back when Pentium 4s roamed the planet and even the fastest video cards were short and took a single slot.

    Anyways you have a bloody business Dell, don't you know there's no gaming in business.
    Metal? On a video card? Shirley! You're jesting!

    I had to make a decision on the spot and it stood the greatest chance of fitting into the case.

    I didn't know it was a business Dell back when I got it. I didn't know half the issues involving Dell. I was given a spec sheet and a price and 5 minutes to make a decision. The spec sheet was a word processed doc of what was inside. When I said yes, I got 2 boxes with Dell on the outside. When I got back home, I did confirm that everything was legit... but still nowhere did it say Business or BTX. The only good thing is I still have about 2 or 3 years warranty on the thing. Still I probably should have saved my money and DIY it.
  11. Dark Shade
    Thank you. Went to the ATI website and got the CCC and drivers straight off them (10.3 Catalysts). Downloaded them and installed them and now the beast is purring like it was before hand. And I'm back at 1440 x 900 (recommend resolution for my monitor).

    The only thing is now I'm looking at the utilities on the disk (SmartDoctor and GamerOSD) and wondering if I should even bother trying to use them.

    Shader
  12. Dark Shade
    I managed to obtain the Asus HD 5750 card.... they call it the EAH5750 Formula card. Guess what? It actually fitted into my BTX case (Thanks Dell for making finding a card that fit such a nightmare).

    Sweet!

    Fired up Win 7.... automatic downloaded drivers... and it was like stepping back in time to VGA era. It had kindly gone and fetched a standard generic vga driver.

    This can't be right. Particularly since I've gone back to 800 x 600 from 1440 x 900.

    So I put the CD that came with the card. It had on it the "Windows 7/Windows 7x64 8.66" Asus drivers for my card. Let it run... it installs ati Catalysis Controller of unknown version, which I think is more in keeping with the card abilities.

    It asks to restart the computer.... reboot.... Blue Screen Of Death.

    *Head Desk* *Head Desk* *Head Desk*

    Reboot -> Automatic Win 7 Repair -> Reboot -> Black Screen except for mouse cursor.

    *sigh*

    Reboot-> Safe mode -> everything comes up normal this time. Check driver... Generic VGA driver.

    Reboot -> Normal mode ... check video driver -> Generic VGA driver and everything seems fine except screen resolution is at 800 x 600 and there is no signs of the ati stuff.

    So now I'm at the Asus support site down loading the drivers off the net... thing is there are multiple versions of them.

    • Version 8.703 - ati8703_Win7Vista32.zip
    • Version 8.703 Beta - ait8703_RC2_win7vista.zip
    • Version 8.69 - ati896_Win7Vista32.zip
    • Version 8.68 - ati868WHQL_Win7Vista32.zip
    • Version 8.67WHQL - ati867_Win7Vista32.zip
    • Version 8.66 - ati866_win7Vista32.zip

    Any one got any advice? I'm getting them all and trying them one at a time... maybe something will work.

    I use to know Windows XP like the back of my hand... problems like this would be easy... you'd go in with a driver cleaner and yank out the problem driver and roll back the system to a earlier point and then get the latest from the net and pray it worked. Most of the time you were 'cooking with gas' then, as my father would say. Otherwise you'd get start with the tweaks. But Win 7 is a different beast... I'm not confident about it... so... Help?

    Shader.
  13. Dark Shade
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ozmosis View Post
    You have any suggestions for websites to would build the PC for me? Keep in mind I'm in Canada.
    You want system builders? as in pre-built systems?

    Are we allowed to post them here?

    Tip: Internet is your friend.

    Risking mod-wrath... try newegg.com: Link to DIY page (some thing close to you pre-existing specs)

    try tigerdirect.com: link to possible option (Although look around their site- they have pre-built systems that may be suitable and within your budget)

    try bestbuy.com

    try compUSA.com

    try Amazon.com: link to search page (Yes Amazon sells pre-built computers! Will wonders never cease.)

    And if where you go doesn't deliver directly to where you are use these people as a freight forwarder: USUnlocked.com (I've gotten stuff. including books, clothing and video cards off Amazon and Buy.com (who also have pre-built systems) and gotten it sent to Australia. They give you a US shipping address)

    Disclaimer: Any and all advice is use at own risk and by now means will I be held accountable to any injury that following it may cause to you or your neighbors dog, etc, etc... I may or may not have or have not had any dealing with any of these bodies. THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL!
  14. Dark Shade
    Could we please have the option of having two layers of sound control - Basic and Advanced. The first option Basic is like how it is at the moment: You control the sound broadly: You adjust all the sound FX levels with one dial and all the music levels with another dial. For some people that is all they need and want.

    However in light of recent bugs (washing machine sound from a mastermind pet) and certain user preferences, how about a second option: Advanced. This option allows the user to raise and lower a wider selection of sounds on a more individual basis. For example: they could turn up the glowie sound while turning down the sounds from the pets. Aura sounds annoying? Back it off a tad. The sonic set, turn it down. Want the FREEM? Dial it to 11.

    Just a little more control... to tailor the experience if the user wants it.

    Shader.
  15. Dark Shade
    Dumb question time... ("The only stupid question is the question you meant to ask but didn't" - Annoying Uni lecturer)

    Since I basically have to shop at Aus PC Market*... apart from being marginally smaller physically, is there any difference difference between the Asus 5750 card and the HIS HD 5750 card?

    Particularly with a view to running Ultra Mode.

    Shader

    *due to location and having a store credit.
  16. Dark Shade
    To the Devs,

    Thanks for I-17.

    Thanks for listening to the howls, thanks for knowing when to block them out.
    Thanks for the fun, thanks for the adventure.
    Thanks for the wonderful game that has consumed way too much time over the last too many years.
    Thanks for letting us into that universe and letting us muck around it in.

    Thank you Devs.
  17. Dark Shade
    I find myself in a similar situation to the above.

    I'm RPing and writing a whole bunch of characters that are completely 180 to me in RL and its quite fun to do so.

    One of the characters in particular I'm having particular enjoyment in portraying as a complete *******, which is as far removed from me as can be possible, its not funny.

    But how? I do most of what the others have said above... its part intellectual exercise, part being the character, part being in the right mood. I find having a notebook and writing down snippets as they come to me helps.

    I should mention that I'm currently juggling something like 5 active characters, all slightly different.
  18. Dark Shade
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Human_Being View Post
    Well, just by eyeballing it, it appears that it extends about the same distance on either side of the PCIe x16 slot. You can measure from the edge of the slot to the back of the case and then add the same amount (plus the length of a 6-pin plug on your power supply) on the opposite side of the slot. Regardless it should be less than the 9.6 inches of a standard ATX/micro-ATX motherboard; probably around 7.5.

    If you're looking at that card, I should point out that Newegg has the (higher quality) Sapphire Vapor-X 5750 listed at the same price as the HIS card ($145), but with free shipping. It also has the standard version from Sapphire on sale for $135; again with free shipping and with a limited-time checkout promo-code for an additional $15 off.
    Thank you very much for that find Human_Being, maybe someone else can use it. There are a few issue with it for me. 1) I'm in Australia, and have to use a freight forwarder to get stuff from Newegg, 2)I foolishly (as I've come to realize) got a Dell and have thus have a BTX case and thus 3)only basically have a single slot available. Also 4) I have a store credit at Aus PC Market good about $180 so I'm planning to shop there.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    The card's length is 19.7cm, width of 4cm. Now if you click on the picture of the card that shows the card from the top edge (next to the last one on the right), it will blow up and display a picture that's almost as wide as your browser window. Capture that image and print it out (landscape mode). If you don't have a printer then you will be forced to measure off the screen.

    Now break out your calculator and ruler. Measure the length of the card (board part, exclude the bracket). Remember that it should be 19.7cm. So calculate the scale factor of actual to measured (19.7/measured). Now go ahead and take measurements of what you are interested in. Then multiply it by the calculated scale factor, round up and you get a pretty good idea of the actual measurements.

    Edit: What I get is the cooler stops at around 17.5cm (measured from the bracket), at that point it's 2.5cm. It widens to 3.0cm at 15.0cm where the fan cage starts which widens to 4cm unit you're 6cm from the bracket and then drops back to 3cm. You should still do your own calculations.
    Thank you for your help! That will work and should fit. I'll have to pull my case out yet again and remeasure but going off the various pics.... it looks promising.

    Shader.
  19. Dark Shade
    Yes it's me again...

    I've been trying to get the dimensions of the HIS HD 5750 iCooler IV 1GB (128bit) GDDR5 PCIe (DirectX 11/ Eyefinity) particularly were the cooler assembly is located on the card relative to the ends of the card. However trying to get answers of the manufacturers is like getting blood out of stone.

    Anyone able to give me some pointers or able to supply the dimensions? I just need to know if it'll fit my case before I tell the shop to ship it.
  20. Dark Shade
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    Dude, you got a Dell.

    Your first problem is you can't use a card with a double wide bracket due to the motherboard being BTX. Doesn't look like there's a bracket slot to the left of the PCIe slot.

    The second problem is the CPU is located such that a double wide cooler on the GPU would interfere with the CPU heatsink. Most manufacturers assume that this isn't a problem.

    Before you think about the HD 5670 you should check out the HD 5750 cards. They are a little shorter than the HD 5770. This one may fit your case. It's about 1.6cm shorter and only the fan cage sticks out a bit. Of course this assumes the card pictured is the card they actually sell. You can take an up close look at the card here and get an idea how much the fan sticks out and where. Use the card's edge connector (the part of the card you stick into the PCIe slot) as a rough guide.

    And for your next question, yes the HD 5750 should be powerful enough to run UM, it's about 30% more powerful than the 9800 GT that Posi listed as minimum requirement for UM.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Back_Blast View Post
    When you say it almost fit, did it not physically fit, period, or did it just make contact with the fan shroud while still inserting properly? If it just contacts the shroud but otherwise fits, you might actually be ok. If the contact is fairly trivial, allows the card to insert and doesn't much impact the airflow of the card or CPU, you're actually fine. If you still have the card, and it will plug in and all, get us a pic of that. I'd like to see it.
    In my defense I was tripping around in the USA and the system came dirt cheap. If I knew it would have had all these issues, I would've saved my money and bought a system here in Australia or a custom built one.

    Here's the two pics I took of the HD 5770 card before I packed it up

    http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67...r/CASEHIS2.jpg

    http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67...r/CASEHIS1.jpg

    Yes its out of alignment, due to contacting the CPU fan... and I couldn't get a good shot of the pin placement on the motherboard, but you should get the idea of just how close it was to fitting.

    The card is not, repeat not sitting in the socket, it is sitting on the motherboard.

    If the CPU assembly was just a little smaller it would have fitted... oh well.

    I'll get in touch with the Tech Support of AusPC Market and talk to them at the start of business tomorrow my time.
  21. Dark Shade
    The saga continues... I got a smaller video card: a single slot with a decent heatsink: the HIS HD5770 from a local supplier only to find that the tail edge of the heatsink hit the fan assembly by 15mm or so. It only just contacted it too. It almost fit!

    I was so annoyed.

    Thank fully I'm getting a store credit.

    There are more pictures and further measurements of my computer internals here.

    The tech support identified the case as a BTX case and suggested a 5670 card.

    Here's the dreaded $64 question. Will it run CoX/UM? Or should I switch to nVidia card or just forget it as a joke and sell the blasted system?
  22. Dark Shade
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    I don't understand what you mean by "fit the hole on the back of the case"? The double bracket wouldn't slide into two adjacent slots? I could understand if the card was too long, the standard HD 5850 is an 11" or so card.

    What case were you installing this in?
    As I've mentioned previously (or at least I think I've mentioned previously), I've got a Dell Optiplex 360. Its a tower case.

    Here are some pictures of the insides as requested (click to get to full size).



    Yes I can remove the guards at the back of the case, that's easy... but notice that the PCI-express slot is on the far left of the slots, and if the pins of the card line up with it, it will conflict with the CPU Fan casing as well as the rear of the case. If only the slot in the middle was a PCI-express then I could put it there and I'd be laughing. Hope that makes sense.

    Edited to add:

    I've done some quick looking about... and the next tier down from the HD5850 is the HD4850.

    Unfortunately the XFX HD 4850 is a dual slot card... while HD4850 cards from other manufacturers are single slot with largish heatsinks ... like say from Gigabyte or Sapphire.

    Would the 4850 run Ultra mode? I know XFX have a good name for quality and gaming grade goods... but what about the other brands? Is there any difference?

    And what is the difference between the 4850 and the 5850? I'll probably find out next time I'm on... but beds calling.
  23. Dark Shade
    It pays to do research and to research things you don't think of - like will the card you get actually line up with the holes in the back of my case.

    I just received the XFX HD 5850 video card and a Zalman 600 watt power supply. The power supply went in no dramas. However when I went to install the video card the card wouldn't fit. If it was to go into the sole PCI-express slot on the mother board, it wouldn't fit the holes on the back of the case. And fitting the holes on case would put it into the PCI slot.... which the card wouldn't and shouldn't be fitted into.

    ARGH!

    So now I'm waiting to hear back if I can get a refund or exchange for a similar card which has the card mounted the other way around. But I really, really, Really wanted the XFX card.

    So everyone, take warning: Do your research - will your card fit your motherboard and case.
  24. Dark Shade
    Maybe someone here can help me... my search-fu is weak... I'm trying to find out the difference between the XFX HD 5850, XFX HD 5850 XXX, and the XFX HD 5850 Black Edition, besides price, and what that will mean in performance. Is one as good as the other?
  25. Dark Shade
    *Pulls out magnifying glass and legalistic translation journal*
    Quote:
    2. ELIGIBILITY

    To enter the contest, as of Thursday, February 4, 2010 ... and (d) you must be a resident of the United States (excluding the State of Rhode Island, and excluding Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, military installations and commonwealths), Canada (excluding Quebec) (Canadian residents will be required to answer an additional mathematical question in order to claim their prizes), or the European Union.
    Translation.... Australia and New Zealand and the Oceanic nations are still excluded. Oh well. Better luck next time. Maybe when they eventually get a server down here somewhere they'll start taking competition entries.