Union_Blue

More of a suggestion, or plea, than a question: could you please add the ability to refuse "prank" powers like Snowball and Flying Disc to Null the Gull? People are using these powers to grief by spamming them, and ignore doesn't help against an hour-long pelting with snowballs. I have to figure they use a similar accept/deny mechanic to Fortune Telling, so hopefully the auto-accept of these powers can be toggled off.

Several days later and I have not had any 'out of memory' crashes following this fix. I hope anyone who's been having this problem finds this suggestion to be helpful! I will not be bumping this again, so good luck to all.

Until yesterday, my comp was routinely crashing in CoH with the now-familiar 'the game has run out of memory and must now exit' problem. After some diligent research and testing yesterday and today, I think I may have found a possible solution to the problem. I am not a programmer, but I will try to be as clear and concise as possible.

If your system has more than 4GB of RAM, you may be able to benefit from the solution I found. I'm running Windows 7 32-bit version with a Quad Core 2.83GHz CPU, with 4GB of RAM and a GTX 580 w/ 2782MB of memory (from my dxdiag). Your mileage may vary depending on your system.

Another thread on this board mentioned the '3GB switch', which is a setting in Windows that allocates more memory to user-mode applications and less to the kernel-mode applications. You need at least 4GB of RAM for this to be a viable option for your comp, and it helps if you don't run a lot of other programs in the background. You definitely don't want to choke out the kernel-mode applications, since as I understand it they're mostly keeping your computer alive.

Allocating more memory to user-mode applications (like CoH) sounds great. However, you also need to give a given application permission to use more memory than it would normally be allowed. To do this, you need to set the LargeAccessAware flag for that program. This can be done through the registry, which I do NOT recommend. There is an application you can get, though, that will allow you to flag CoH in this manner.

By increasing the amount of available user-mode memory, and flagging CoH as a program that is allowed to use more memory, I went from crashing more than once an hour (a lot more often if I hung around Atlas Park) to not crashing at all yesterday or today. I even put it to a severe test today by running the Underground Trial with Ultra settings turned up (not maxed, but very high), and I never had a hitch or a crash. After UG I ran a number of BAF's and Lambda trials in succession, also without crashing. I am satisfied that this fix has curtailed the 'out of memory' crash issue for me.

The step-by-step process to enable this is simple, but CAUTION: I am not a computer expert, I do not know anything about your particular computer. I know what worked for THIS computer. Make a restore point so you can roll back if you have any problems, and save all the information below so you can undo the changes if need be.

To enable the 3GB switch on Windows Vista™ or Windows 7:
1) Right-click Command Prompt in the Accessories program group of the Start menu. Click 'Run as Administrator'.
2) At the command prompt, enter "bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072"
3) Restart the computer.

To disable the 3GB switch:
1) Right-click on Command Prompt in the Accessories program group of the Start menu. Click 'Run as Administrator'.
2) At the command prompt, enter "bcdedit /deletevalue IncreaseUserVa"
3) Restart the computer.

The Large Address Aware application can be found at this link:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/at...2&d=1269231650

The source page is here, and I recommend that you read it and understand it before you use the application: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=112556

After you download the application, run it, install it wherever you wish, then open it up. It will give you the option to Select an Executable to give permission to. Locate your cityofheroes.exe wherever you have it saved (C drive, etc.) using the Browse function in the app. Once you've selected it, you'll have the option to flag it with a check mark, enabling the Large Access Aware flag in your system. And that's all there is to it, although it can't hurt to restart your machine again.

I hope this helps out folks who've been running into the same frustrating problem I was. No crashes all day yesterday and today made me very happy. If you have any questions, please let me know, I will do my best to answer.

PLEASE do take precautions by setting a restore point BEFORE making any changes, and make a note of how to undo what you did in case you have any problems!

Not sure if it's a bug per se, but could we have a two-colour option for the Barbarian Ring gloves (Skin)? It would be nice to be able to match them to the belt and shoulders.

Also, any hope that hair colour for the Men's Steampunk Bowler hats will be customizable again? It wasn't at first, then it was for a while, then it was patched and no longer customizable again.

I've got the launcher set to close, closed all other applications that might remotely be hogging memory, increased my virtual memory and paging files enormously, and followed every other tip I've been able to find... increasing the virtual memory/paging files seemed to help a little, in that now when I crash I don't get the 'run out of memory' popup.

I don't really know that a 64-bit OS would help, since I've heard people still have this issue with 64-bit; but it would allow the system to utilize more RAM (apparently), and possibly stave off a crash. I don't know that for sure though, and it would be a lot of work to completely rebuild my comp around a 64-bit OS without being certain it would fix the problem.

There's some comfort in not being alone in this, but not much; I'd be happier if we could ALL play without interruption or crashing!

I was hoping the maintenance/hotfix today might fix the memory leak, but no... still crashed after 30-40 minutes of doing nothing more than flying around and zoning a few times. CoH using almost 1.5GB of RAM by then, even after /unloadgfx after each zone.

Is this ever going to change? Do I really have to install an entire new 64-bit OS just for the hope of maybe not crashing continually? I love the game, but I'm frustrated; before I20 this was the most stable MMO I ever played, now it is by a wide margin the most unreliable.

Pardon the venting; I was looking forward to the VIP headstart, and now I see that the only way I can continue to enjoy CoH is by shutting off Ultra mode to prolong the amount of time I can play until I crash. That's not how I want to play the game, but until this mystery problem is found and fixed, I guess it's the only option.

I logged into the VIP head start and the memory leak is worse than ever. Used to be I could hang out indefinitely in Atlas with my Ultra settings enabled; today I crashed twice within 15 minutes there, doing nothing more than flying around and looking at stuff. This was while also using /unloadgfx to try to conserve my leaking memory. I was fervently hoping the I21 stuff would include a patch/fix for the memory leak, but apparently not.

It won't be much longer before CoH is unplayable to me except on basic graphic settings, which is absurd and unacceptable; for years, this game was the most stable MMO I played, I rarely if ever crashed, but since I20 it's been terribly unreliable. I hope they find and fix the problem sooner than later.

What it says on the label... noticed this last night when my red-haired gent with the new Steampunk derby was brown-haired once more. Can this be re-fixed, please?

I lost six slots on Virtue, kind of annoying since I just settled on a new costume design/powerset I wanted to try. Hope this gets fixed soon.

I am so happy about the Weapons Customization addition that I think I've become retarded. That's all I got!