Eh?? They fixed demos months ago so that console didn't work any more.... and now it works again? Nice!
Thanks for this guide Zloth it has been very informative and helpful for me.
I have a question about Demos:
Is there currently a problem with recording Demos or is there a limited recording time? I tried a couple of demorecords since I have read this post but only one of them was actually playable.
Any suggestion what might have caused the bugged records?
Thanks and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
The only way I've been able to get it so a demo doesn't record at all is to mess up the comand or forget to put the name of the file in. They even record in bases, they just play back crazy. Are you getting an error message when you try to play a demo back or is it just not there?
There's no real limit to the recording time but the demo will stop automatically when you zone or log out (well, it's supposed to stop when you log out, anyway - see Circ's post above). However, while it is recording nothing is saved to disk. That doesn't happen until the demo is stopped and then the whole thing is saved at once. If you crash before you save, all is lost. Also, huge demos get a little unwieldy. I try to keep my demos under 20 minutes each.
I am getting an error message when I try to play the damaged files.
Gonna post it tonight when I get back home.
I like the guide, very helpful. My question is...could you show us some samples of doing some common things in COH/COV, such as a simple walking, execute power, running? And possibly a quarter turn camera change, that sort of thing? I'm experimenting right now, but I still need some help on getting things down. The site COH Codex is very helpful, but many things aren't named, and some COV stuff isn't listed either. I'll do some experimenting tonight or tomorrow and get back to you on that.
??? Couldn't you just do this online and record it?
OK, it's been a year and a half. Time for a major update. I've now webbed my guide so I can update it a lot easier. I'll start a new topic for it, too.
This may well be a daft question - but is there anyway to playback a demo with all the UI showing? i.e. with the player health bars, status effects etc.
I've been wanting that myself, _Brev_, for a while now. I'm an avid fan of CoH/CoV videos/demos and I am a complete UI geek. It would help tremendously if we could have the UI in the /demorecords that are recorded, so that we could see the individual buffs/debuffs that are being used.
I know it would help you specifically show how much damage your imps are taking and dishing out on Test, as opposed to live. Most people use Fraps to record themselves in game with the UI going.
Always up for teaming with good players, so hit me up: @Deceivius and @Deceivius2
Unfortunately, you can't show all the UI stuff. There's enough in the demo file that a few windows could show a little bit of info, but nothing really worthwhile. For example, the demo file includes the buffs & debuffs that are visible on your char, but only by the visual effect (like Defense debuffs or the burning from fire based DoTs), and nothing about stacking.
Now if you want info on damage, that's another thing entirely. I've got a TCL script that reads through a demorecord and calculates the DPS of everyone in a team during a mission. It can do that because the floating numbers that represent damage indicate the source and destination in the demo file. It's a bit quirky, in good and bad ways. I think your damage done is always reported by the server, and thus recorded in the demo file. But you only see damage from teammates if it's nearby. Also, damage done by Imps and other pets I think is listed as coming from you, so you can't tell what did the damage if there are multiple sources. Finally, it's all rounded (or something kind of like that), so you can't get good data for small damage values. Now if you do solo testing, you can pick apart the demo file with a fine tooth comb and probably get everything you want.
I'd say _Brev_'s Imp analysis posted elsewhere was spot on. Imps will take a little more damage, and they'll do a little less damage in general. They'll do significantly less damage against significantly higher level mobs. That will somewhat hurt my all-Fire/Rad SuperTeam since we usually target significantly higher level mobs, but I'm sure we'll manage. The Imp and Epic damage nerf will reduce the speed of Fire/Kin farmers, but I'd have to run the numbers to see by how much. The Imp change is actually pretty minor to the farmers.
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304
I tried recording a demo exactly as listed on the test server but nothing happened.
No file was created in the COH directory.
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As an unrelated issue I tried running both the editor and the launcher a few minutes ago and both are giving me errors and refusing to work. Any information or advice? Should I dump the programs and re-download/install?
Anyone else having 'strange' timing issues regarding movement and animations when playing back demos these days?
When I'm supposed to move...my character goes through all the scripted animations....runs, jumps, etc...while standing in place. Then after the animations are done...he slides down the path he should have been running on.
Is this just me or have they totally just forgotten the demo feature?
Thanks,
8
"Scumball in the side pocket." - 8 Baller
An interesting thing I noticed by accident when demorecording is this...
1) Start a Demo
2) Quit to Login
at this point the demo is still recording
makes for some interesting things