Jiblets

I can't think of anything available that works thematically. The old shivans would do the trick, but that's not an option, so, any suggestions?

I have both a home-built 6core amd running windows 7 64bit, and a '09 macbook pro 15" unibody running Snow Leopard. I much prefer the gaming experience on my 23" monitor, and the fact that there are fewer graphical glitches on the client. On my mac, I can't get the little blue hand cursor for instance. I just don't use the mac for gaming.

I do however adore it completely and take it almost everywhere I go. $1800 is a terrifically steep price for a laptop these days, but you get that high-end luxury experience with it that no windows machine I've handled can approach. It doesn't creak or groan when you pick it up because the cheap plastic parts of the housing are rubbing together.

Buy a mac if you can afford it, but not for CoH. If you are gonna buy a Windows laptop for gaming, get as much screen acreage as you can afford, or stand to carry. Tiny screens suck.

FreezeCrashDC
crashcrashcrash
It's getting tedious. Can it stop now, please?

After I installed the mac client on my 2009 unibody MBP 15", I noticed that the in-game cursor doesn't change to the Blue Hand when there is a clickable item such as a bomb, or a door.

Is this a known issue? I couldn't find any references to it in the FAQ.

I think I figured it out - it's the Level Shift that is causing it. As soon as I switched to an Alpha that was tier 1 or 2, the crashing stopped.

It's been happening off and on for the last several months, but today, it happens every time I open the tips tab under contacts, and sometimes just opening contacts. I tried to uninstall/update the catalyst drivers for my ATI Radeon HD 5770, but the uninstall feature would stop before anything was accomplished, so I had to use Driver Sweeper to remove all the ATI components (AMD's website recommends using it if the uninstall feature fails). I installed the latest Catalyst drivers from AMD's website.

After rebooting and starting the game, I was able to play for a few minutes before I opened the contacts tab, which caused the card to audibly hiccup (the buzzing of the fan changed) and then the driver crashed, first going to a black screen, and then a white windowed area on the desktop. Windows said the video driver stopped and then recovered, but CoH stopped responding.

The particular toon is a levelshifted alpha.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---

DxDiag gathered at February 11, 2011 10:17 (-06:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.101026-1503)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/08/10 16:43:28 Ver: 08.00.15
Central Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1055T Processor (6 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 4096MB
.Net Memory Report: 2894MB out of 4093MB available
Page File: 5244MB (2940MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD10 01FALS-00J7B0 SATA Disk Device) 50705MB out of 99898MB (50%) free
D Drive: (WDC WD10 01FALS-00J7B0 SATA Disk Device) zero-size drive
F Drive: (WDC WD2000JB-00GVA0 SCSI Disk Device) 32099MB out of 131069MB (24%) free
G Drive: (WDC WD2000JB-00GVA0 SCSI Disk Device) 27679MB out of 59710MB (46%) free
E Drive: (SAMSUNG DVDWBD SH-B083L ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7600.16385 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI display adapter (0x68B8)
Video Memory: 2805 MB
Driver Version: 8.812.0.0
Driver Date: 1/4/2011 9:01:12 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (3- Logitech USB Headset)
Driver File: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7600.16385
Driver Date: 7/13/2009 6:06:32 PM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6037
Driver Date: 1/29/2010 12:48:44 AM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output(Optical) (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6037
Driver Date: 1/29/2010 12:48:44 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: M4A89GTD-PRO/USB3
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 03/08/10 16:43:28 Ver: 08.00.15
BIOS Version: 030810 - 20100308
BIOS Release: 20100308000000.000000+000


Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1280x720
3D Resolution: 1280x720 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes


Physics Quality: High
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No


Anti-aliasing: Off
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: Ultra quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High


World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: No
Shadow Mode: Unknown (4)
Shadow Map Shader: High quality
Environmental Reflections: High quality
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: High quality
Occlusion Strength: Strong
Blur: Trilateral
Ambient Resolution: Quality


Gamma Correction: 0.696
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Compatiblity
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.029
Music Sound Volume: 0.000

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 1.000
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 87903 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1950.201102010039.0
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 38 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\City has 1 file
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

My experience is that you will lose pets no matter what strategy you use on a team, unless it's just to stay out of the way and let everyone else have all the fun. I like to attack, and attack constantly. Every target that goes down is someone else who can't hurt me or my pets. Ranged pets will last longer than melee pets, so I pull them back to my position after a few attacks and consolidate.

I don't like ninjas, and I really really don't like zombies. They both feel extremely fragile, no matter what I do. Bots are great, even though they don't put out the damage so well, and Thugs are even better. Demons, however seem to be the best of all.

Don't run around in defensive/follow with demons - Kill everything you see and kill it a lot. And then some more. Demons are for attacking.

Don't lead with Dark, lead with Demons, and see what that gets you.

This is the ultimate power in Devices? It takes forever to summon, is interrupted if a gnat sneezes at you, it's damage output is negligible, it sticks around long enough for one group and then POOF! it's gone, and the endurance cost is nearly 40 points! Every time I make the mistake of pulling out my 50 AR/Dev blaster, I get angry. It shouldn't be this way - It should be a joy, an addictive experience, something that one looks forward to rather than dreads. All but for one power.

This has got to be one of the most disappointing teases in any secondary I have ever played. The fact that it comes right after Time Bomb is probably the reason I feel so cheated - an insultingly useless tier 8 power preceding an insultingly useless tier 9 is like rubbing salt in a wound.

So are you saying *any* set with a 6.25% +recharge counts towards the only-5-sets rule? So if I want more +recharge on this toon I have to get it with sets that have 5% or 3.75%, or something else?

That's a lot more arcane and baffling than I thought - I've never been able to afford decent sets before, so I haven't really understood how IO set bonuses worked. Bummer. Two nearly complete sets of IOs that are useless to me. I hope I can salvage them with a respec and sell them for something...

lvl 50 Crab Spider.

I have been slotting for +rech, with 3 sets of Positron's Blast in my AOEs, 2 sets of Decimation in my ranged attacks and 2 sets of Expedient Reinforcement in my pets. So far.

The +Rech on that should be 43.75%, plus Mental Training 20% should total at 63.75%, but all I see on my Combat Attributes is 55%. What's going on here - should I ignore it and slot more +Recharge sets, or have I hit a wall?

A new one I've discovered since I've started to be able to afford decent IO sets for my toons- THERE ISN'T ANYTHING DECENT FOR PETS!

Pet damage IO sets give lousy bonuses, most so bad that no one bothers with them at all, leaving us to slot our pets with HO's and regular, non-set IO recipes. Do the devs feel that we are already so awesome we don't need IO bonuses? I've noticed that Dom/troller sets are garbage as well. Blasters and melee toons get all these fabulous sets that boost regen 12% and recharge rates 6.75%, and we get nothing even remotely as useful.

The proof of an IO set's value is how much people are willing to pay for it's components - Pet Damage IO sets are trash that no one wants. The salvage is more valuable.

Demon Summoning

The second tier pets and the top tier Demon Prince are virtually identical in appearance. Their horns are oriented in a different direction, and the prince stands up erect, but other than that they look just about the the same. Very disappointing.

I much prefer my top tier pet to have a substantially more awesome appearance to the Lieutenants.

Other than that, I think they rock.

I run into spammers in the Atlas WW all the time. The latest one was a jumble of random letters for a name, and they were advertising a PL website:

' Hi,this is www.--------.com, we have lower price10% bonus and better service .1000 m +10% bonus = $9.88 in 5 mins.Powerleveling (CoH) 1 - 50 = $40 in 12 hours.If you have any questions,Pls contact with our 24*7hours Livechat!'

Since they have been chased out of email (thank heaven!), is this their last refuge, and is there any possible way that we can finally be rid of these blood-sucking leeches?

Has anyone else had any trouble seeing it? You have to target it through the map, and even then it isn't really visible. I've had the same trouble in Pocket-D, and I am left wondering if it's my card, or my graphics settings. I have an ATI Radeon HD 5770, and I have most applicable setting turned up to Ultra.

to the OP:
I've heard people give the excuse that they didn't have the end to run the toggles, I've heard people tell me that they didn't think the toggles made that much difference, and I've heard them claim that they usually soloed, so they didn't need to run the toggles. In any case, I've always taken the time to stop everything and try to get them to understand just what they are passing up. There doesn't seem to be a uniform response from the ones who I've spoken to, but it boils down to ignorance in the end. Failure to run TT:M is just inexcusable, and I cannot stand to be on a team with someone that out of touch.

So I have a spider crab that I brought blueside by doing alignment missions. The first time I went through the cycle I got a nice shiny temp power and 50 merits, fine. This time, I go through the whole thing, although not in the space of 2 days - more like 5. Anyway, I pick up some tip missions and then a Morality mission, except this time when I vanquish Doc Quantum, I get this bogus 'Reward Merit' message instead of the momentous 'Hero Merit' message I usually get.

Pardon me, but WTH is exactly going on here? I'm seriously rethinking my inclination to do Tip missions anymore, if in the end, there is the chance that I am going to get the Consolation Prize rather than what I put the time and effort in for.

I support this idea. A Magic Carpet as a temp power would be neat, and even as a costume option as a Pool power.

Pardon if this has been discussed to death already - my search-fu is weak.

These two Travel Powers need a continuously variable down-throttle option to allow one to three-slot them for speed so that you can enjoy their full capability in the large, open Zones like Crey's Folley and Independence Port, while still being able to use them in tight, claustrophobic maps like Council and Oranbegan dungeons.

I get motion sickness when SS is three-slotted at level 50. Using it in small caves is impossible, and flight is nearly as bad. If a power that I must have is going to take up precious slots, it should at least have some broad utility, not just as an outdoor power.

They made GR a little *too* nice - Redside was a significant advance over blueside, as far as quality and variety of city zones goes, and GR is an enormous leap beyond redside. Going to Blueside from GR is a miserable let-down. Ugly, senseless, drab and redundant.

Blueside looks like it was just thrown together using a bunch of lego-block sections using height as a variable to give it some variety. Compared to an actual functioning city, Blue side looks like it was designed by a lunatic or a 10 year old.

Praetoria looks like a real city, and I miss it now that I can't go there anymore. Even the slummy, run down neighborhoods out on the Neutropolis end make me sentimental - they remind me of areas around Dallas.

It's supposed to be a +Resist click that lasts 2 minutes, however it will not accept Resist IOs, and its description says that it will accept Knockback and Targeted AoE Damage IO sets. My guess is something got transcribed over from Repulsion Bomb, or the other similar power in the set.

Is it always going to suck like this? No base TP, no O-port, no WW TP? It makes for much aggravation when you are in Founder's Falls and the mission door is in Galaxy City.

The inconvenience has really stripped a lot of the shine off of GR for me.

Here, then, is a more complete vision with less snark.

To clarify my position: I think that having Tarantulas as a playable character would be cool. The potential for freaky, macabre atmospherics is great, to say the least, and I feel that there is a hole in the VEAT lineup without the Tarantulas, despite the ability to summon Spiderlings and Arachnobots. Arachnobots are still just robots, and don't have any character, plus the summoned ones are uncontrollable, and their cool-down timer is annoyingly long. There may be someone out there with numbers on how beneficial they are when available, but personally, I don't find them a satisfying power to have.

Objections have been raised, not without justification, that the animations necessary for bringing Tarantulas into playability would constitute an undue burden upon the artists who specialize in that area. To be certain, everyone who wants something added to the game is asking for an outlay of time and effort from the artists that others feel would be better spent doing other things, like creating mission content, or making redundant zones more unique and worthwhile. I can't answer that, other than to say that I think the time spent would be worth it. I may well be mistaken, but I think that a lot of the groundwork for playable Tarantulas has already been done.

There are many animations that are already there in game that could be recycled to the player version, such as knock-back, knock down, jump, the ranged attack animations, forearm slash attacks, the 'look at me I'm Mezzed' stumble, and the death animation, just to name the few I can think of. The rig, or 'skeleton' of the Tarantula is there already, so it's not as if the entire thing has to be invented from scratch. To be certain, there are considerable complications in having a toon that is not a humanoid biped, but this was true to a lesser extent for the Crab Spider model when it was made into a VEAT - Lots of joints there that had to be animated to convincingly react and move even when the toon wasn't specifically using them for anything.

The real potential for the Tarantula model, I think, is in the animations. All kinds of creepy spider-like behaviors could be animated into the toon to give it real character - quick, twitchy jumping-spider moves, and slow, blood-curdling stalking followed by a quick strike. If you've played GR and seen the Ghouls, you know that there is vast, untapped potential for scariness and horror that can be brought forth in animation. CoT ghosts are not scary, despite all the gruesome textures, spooky sound effects, and black-light tunnel environments. They move like haunted-house animatronics, and no one is fooled. Ghouls on the other hand, are *scary*.

Complications and downsides: How do you give them pool power, travel power, and temp power options? Unfortunately, there are just some things that a Tarantula would not be able to do, given the physical limitations of the creature's form. Lots of impractical powers would just have to be grayed out; almost anything that requires hands for instance. Same for many emotes like /e research, and /e teabag. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that there is some precedent for this on certain player forms, such as Granite - There is no jumping in Granite, no matter how much you hit the space-bar. Squid form Khelds are also limited in some of the things they can do, aren't they? One option is to just give the player model hands - Some kind of manipulative extremity that folds out or deploys when someone is getting newspaper missions or using the invention worktables. Likely this entails a great deal of complication for the animation artists and riggers, so probably not.

Some things like Super Jump would be doable, although at the expense of having to animate the progression of the arc. Super Speed would be simpler I should think. Sprinting would perhaps be better animated with a quadrupedal mode of running like a trot, pace or a gallop, doubling up pairs of legs to move in concert. Whirlwind would be insane, useless and fascinating. Just curl up the legs and have the thing spinning around the room like Gamera. Conventional flying would also be weird looking, no doubt. The ability to go clambering around on vertical surfaces and ceilings, however, would be utterly cool. Probably not something the engine is built to handle though. Spinnerets, silk-line walking, and 'Ballooning' flight would be less immersion-breaking than trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.

Even upon cursory examination it's evident that a Tarantula VEAT would not be like other toons - it would be unique, and have to be thought of and treated differently. The VEATs were something of an adjustment from one's ordinary villains, and a Tarantula would have to be even more so.

In the area of Costumes, it would be inconsistent with the Tarantula concept to have a single non-human model in the first slot and then four other slots that were bipedal or 'civilian', like the other VEATs. My take is that a Tarantula is a person bonded with their cybernetic systems, and not capable of independent existence outside of them. One possibility is to give the Tarantula a single model across all the slots, and make each one after the default customizable with alternative armor, colors, textures, lighting (such as the Resistance costume parts) and specularity (reflectiveness). One could start with a default Tarantula minion look and progress to the Mistress, and then finally the Queen form, although with the same alterations for gender that the Widows had as VEATS. One might also choose to be a Fire Tarantula or a Toxic Tarantula after the level 25 respec.

I admit that I have only addressed a fraction of the concerns and criticisms that my original post elicited, however I must beg off at this point.

What do you think so far?