Scuzzbopper

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I love Cricket and all, but my angels are cuter

(TY again scuzzbopper )

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I had a hard time seeing Lighthouse & Cricket through the mobs, so I whipped this up for a better look:

Cricket & Lighthouse

DrZeus:

I know this is a couple of months old and maybe something you've given up on, or if you've found another way that works, but (having just returned recently) I've got a possible answer for you.

For the benefit of everyone else, most stealth/invisibility/transparency effects don't play back in demos. The few exception (like trainer War Witch and Numina) are built into the model and not something you can apply.

However, I had an idea that I just tried and it worked. Although the standard stealth powers don't work, this FX does:

OBJECTIVEOBJECTFX/GHOSTED.FX

This is the placeable mission objective effect (like for planting bombs) that make the objects transparent until you place them. I did a quick demo test as follows (splicing States onto the City Rep):

0 6 NEW "City Representative"
0 6 NPC Model_Statesman
0 6 POS 128.5 -768 -639.5
0 6 PYR 0 0 0
0 6 MOV ALTREADY_TRANS_XARMS
0 6 FX Maintained 7 OBJECTIVEOBJECTFX/GHOSTED.FX 0

The FX line is the only one I added (make sure it doesn't conflict with any other FX) and voila! Transparent Statesman.

Three Qualifier:

1. I didn't try adding any object FX to him, so I don't know how they'll interact. Worst case, you could use one of the invisible FX anchors on top of him to make it look like the object is there (and not transparent).
2. The transparency effect pulsates, so it's not a consistent steady level of transparency.
3. The FX also includes the mission objective noise, so you might have to work with the audio.

Knock on wood that none of those 3 are show-stoppers for you.

Hope that helps!


EDIT: Changed a word for accuracy.

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Unyielding. Remember? Used to be "Unyielding Stance".

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Doh! Well, it was a long long time ago, after all...

I remember back when we could post attachments on the boards, and posting demos of my fire tanker using burn to take down a dozen +2 level banished pantheon and saying maybe it was just a tad overpowered. They did get around to changing it eventually...

Back when Invincibility rooted you (it was Invincibility, right?) and my old "tele-tanker".

The super-seceret-tell-anyone-and-we'll-ban-you-for-life level bump process from beta that began with (paraphrasing) step one: "Take your newly-created character to Skyway City and let yourself be killed."

Folks on the (pre-beta) boards kicking up a fuss when I got "Birthplace of Tomorrow" because I had just lurked and never posted before that.

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I don't think Scuzz is around any more.

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But he's back now.

And I'll be working to get the Codex caught up.

I'll try to get most of these added in the next week or two, WitchChild. Thanks!

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City of Heroes Codex has a lot of model names, animations, and other cohdemo data, but is missing signature villains.

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I should have most of the signature villains up soon (thanks to WitchChild). I was away from the game for about a year, but I'm back now and will be working on the Codex again in the coming weeks.

Issue 3 (I think): Added twirlies to the character selection screen (rotation)

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I can't quite tell if this is just another misspelling or what, but your site url doesn't work. Villain <> villan....I'm at a loss.

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The cityofvillans.com site went down months ago.

I have compiled all the demo models, animation, and effects that I have found here.

Sounds good.

Happened across one of the fires this weekend and tried to put it out. Didn't succeed. 15k damage for my level 15 controller and a trip to the hospital for me and the other 7 people I was teamed with.

It was cool though, and pretty fun.

The only down part was how slow and inaccurate the fire extinguishers are. It was really frustrating sitting there waiting for the things to recharge (with all my own powers useless), and then multiple times getting 2 or 3 misses in a row really drags things down.

The fire extinsguishers really need an inherent accuracy boost. Missing here just isn't fun. I'd say a good +20% boost would help take the edge off.

Also, the lengthy recharge time on the extinguishers is very frustrating. I'd rather see it do half the damage (and double the number of uses) and recharge twice as fast. I think the event should feel fast-paced, which it doesn't with the current recharge time. I'm just sitting there hovering, whistling a tune, while I wait for the extinguisher to recharge. Cut the recharge time in half, but also halve the damage, and you have the same net effectiveness, but create the feeling that things are moving a lot quicker. I think that would really make it seem faster-paced, more exciting, and create a greater sense of urgency.

Also, given that failing is going to lead to a total party wipe, could there by any kind of warnings? Just enough of one that if you are really quick and really lucky, you might have a chance to get out of range. Maybe the fire marshal shouts "Look out! She's going to go!" or somesuch. (It's possible that there was something like this and I didn't see it from being focused on fighting the fire, but if there wasn't...).

I also wonder if, for this event, where there is an "official" NPC who is trying to get heroes to help, if maybe the fire marshall couldn't "shout" in broadcast or something to send out the call for help, instead of just blowing his whistle. A zone alert message or something. Just a thought.

Another small item, which I *THINK* was with issue #1:

They added lighting at night for the flag on top of city hall in response to player comments about the flag not being lit.

I think that they also animated it at the same time (it used to be static), but not sure if I'm remembering when that second change went in.

Very nice, Majik.

One other tip for Section 2. Once you've created a shortcut for the first time (using the official method), you can just drag and drop any demo onto it to play them. No need to re-edit the shortcut to change the demo name or anything. It'll just play what you drop on it.

Variety is a good thing, but from my experience in other MMOs, escort missions can easily rise to the top of the annoying/frustrating list. Speaking specifically with regards to the escort missions:

<ul type="square">[*]It would definitely be nice to see them pick up the pace a bit.[*]Once they we have triggered the escort, once we've found them and they start following us, could we please have them show up on the map? As a teammate or whatever. I've had them stop following for no reason that I could see and it was a pain trying to go back and find them again. This would also let us see if they've got hung up or something. Having them show up on the map would be the superior solution to my thinking, but even a sidekick type message -- "You are getting too far from your escortee" would help. [*]These missions do seem to drag out quite a bit overall. Part of this could be helped by speeding up the NPCs, but because it takes up extra time, some sort of compensation would be nice. In one of the escort missions, the rescuee gave me an enhancement and a temp power once I got him to the exit. Him, I forgave. Something along those lines, or even just a nice XP bonus for each escortee, would make me resent these guys less for not being able to find the way on their own and making me take the time to hold their hand. I'm not a patient hero, I guess.[/list]In general, the added variety of missions also makes me ask where we stand on having the ability to abort a mission or to skip missions that we don't want to do? We can't do either of these at the moment. Even more so than aborting, having the ability to skip a mission, or have the "Talk About Something Else" option for contacts actually cycle to a different mission is something we really need. Especially when you've levelled up numerous alts and been through most missions many times, there are definitely some missions that you just don't want to do. Let's have a way to cycle past those. I think a lot of the I5 changes make this even more desirable.


For the allies, I agree that having them show up in the last room with the last mob kind of defeats the purpose and leaves me feeling pretty deflated by the whole experience. I also agree that having them all of a sudden stop fighting (even if it was only "play-fighting") when I take on their mob doesn't make me very well disposed towards them. The first time I encountered one of the allies and rushed into help, my thinking was basically: "Why are you just %^#$$@!! standing there?!? Stop hooting and help me!"

Also, it would be great if we could earn one-shot (one-mission) temp powers (call them "favors" or somesuch) that let us call in one of these NPC allies on a mission where we wanted one to help, as opposed them exclusively being tied solely to specific missions. Say there's a mission where some hero is being held captive and we resuce him/her. They tell us "If you ever need my help, just call."

Hey all,

With the film festival contest announced, I decided to put some time into the Codex's Demo Content Resources (model names, maps, movs, etc.).

I've added an FX page and have the first batch up that I have sorted. I'll be rolling out more this weekend, along with additions to the Model Names, Maps, &amp; MOVs.

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Hopefully it will be Hollows Huge not PI/Stringa Huge. Don't need another huge zone with nothing in it but tiny islands and lots and lots of water. Saw all the water I ever wanted to in IP and Talos.

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Going by the tram map, it's inland, with a lake (the lake maybe 2-3 times the size of Everret Lake {sp?} in Perez, if it's to scale).

Good to see a tanker guide that isn't fire/* or inv/*.

Nicely done.

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Doing the TORCH MOV may not be required. That's probably just an animation that holds up one hand. From what I've seen, carrying things is normally just a maintained FX. That's the way weapons and other devices work. So maybe you just need the torch FX on the puddle. If that doesn't work, there are lots of other maintained effects that provide light in some form, like glowing hands from Hasten or burning hands from some Fire powers. See if they can be maintained on a puddle.

Another option is to make a PC with a glowing aura, and find a way to hide the PC without hiding the aura.


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Most of the eye-candy MOVs, such as TORCH, are entirely self-contained. The torch isn't applied by an FX. Most weapons I've seen are the way you describe, where the weapon is actually an FX, but all the ambience MOVs include all the graphics and player-associated objects within the MOV itself. There is no FX.

For an aura, there's no need to hide a PC. You can just apply that FX to Puddle, put puddle where you want, and you're all set. Unlike MOVs, most FXs (EDIT: auras, anyway) appear to be model-independent.

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Object question: Does anyone know if there are any good placeable light fixtures available?

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Pretty sure there aren't any that are actual objects (NPC models).

However, some models, like the Singularity pet, appear to be null/invisibile models and the visible part is then the FX applied to that model. I believe this is commonly done in the game using the model "Puddle" which appears to be an invisible and non-collidable object and is used as a placeholder to apply FX to.

If there was an FX that gives the lighting effect you are looking for, you might be able to do it that way.

Depending on what MOVs Puddle (or another invisible model) will accept, you might also be able to use a MOV such as "TORCH" (the MOV that the CoT in the Hollows use to hold a torch) to create lights. Torches, in this case, but there may also be a MOV for flashlights (such as the Hellions use at night when breaking into a building) or other lighting-type things. Not all MOVs are available to all models, though, so these may be limited to people-types and not available to the invisible models.


EDIT: Yeah, just tried the Torch MOV idea with Puddle and it's not a supported MOV for that model, so going with Puddle + FX is my best suggestion.

I keep a partial list of model names for villains and major NPCs. No actions/FXs at this point, though may add those down the line if I find the time.

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Anyone know what's up with www.cityofvillans.com? Looks like it's kaput. Be a shame if that's gone for good. One of the best demo resources out there.

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Not being a spelling N a z i, but it might help if you spelled it right. www.cityofvillains.com

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No, that's the City of Villains web site.

www.cityofvillans.com, spelled just that way, was a fan site with a database of demo resources, including NPC and FX resources for editting and customizing demos. If you read back through the thread, you'll see multiple references to it.

Don't blame me, I didn't pick the name.

Updated with everyone's replies and a few more.

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PVP by Scott Kurtz:
<ul type="square">[*]Captain Francis! (CoH Announced) (9/30/01 - 11/7/01)[*]Justice Eight Assemble! (5/31/04 - 6/13/04)[*]Marvel Lawsuit (1/24/05 - 2/3/05; lead-in starts 1/17/05)[/list]
VG Cats by Scott Ramsoomair:
<ul type="square">[*]Super Friends[/list]
Ctrl+Alt+Del by Tim Buckley:
<ul type="square">[*]With His Nail File of Justice![*]The Power of Fancy[/list]
GU Comics by Woody Hearn:
<ul type="square">[*]The Old Lady[*]The Trashinator[*]Ohh, I Opened it![*]Gone Gold[*]King of Beers[*]Mother of Justice[*]Beachtowel Cape[*]CoH Alts[*]The Citizens[*]Cable[*]Learning to Fly[*]Beachtowel Cape II[*]Doctor Danglybits[*]Fluffy and Warm[*]Leash Laws[/list]
Angst Technology by Barry T. Smith:
<ul type="square">[*]Justice is served! Who's hungry?! (5/17/04 - 5/28/04)[/list]
Penny Arcade by Krahulik and Holkins:
<ul type="square">[*]Absolutely Critical Trivia[/list]
Mac Hall Comics by Matt Boyd:
<ul type="square">[*]Hail, Citizen[/list]
Futana: The Danger Ninja by Eisu

Tales of the Tower Raven by Red Bee (hosted at Warcry)

Malpractice (a loosely CoH character based webcomic)

CCCP: Secret Files

City of Zeroes by Derek Sweet

The Adventures of Dark Neutron by Brent Diskin

THATCHRUEF Comics (an assortment of CoH material) by IanTheM1

TIELRUEF Comics (an assortment of CoH material)

The Adventures of Battle Bovine

The Perils of Paula

Global Defense Force Comic (GDF Comic link at left) by MachineTeen

City of Heroes Comics

Anyone know what's up with www.cityofvillans.com? Looks like it's kaput. Be a shame if that's gone for good. One of the best demo resources out there.

Cuppa and the Devs and the extra mile they go to maintain this sort of interaction with the community, to care this much about the game and the players, is what really sets CoH a cut above for me.

It's easy to understand, seeing some of the negativity out there, why the devs and staff on other games hide behind the curtain. I imagine I'd probably do the same. But the fact that you guys don't take that easy way out makes this a better place to be.

On Justice: JSBAS

For Badge Hunting (Justice Server Badge Announcement System)