A Helpful Help Window (Replacement Help File AddIn)
By
andsoitallbegins,
Posted on: 2012-07-05 16:18 in Player Guides
Wow!
That is some serious work you did there. Thanks!
I have long thought that the Help menu in this game is horrific. It has been out of date for years. Someone at Paragon made a small pass at it in an attempt to update it in the last year or so, but the work was less than half done.
Kudos to you for taking on this huge task.
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Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
Just installed this and tried it out.
Holy frak man! If the window could be resized by pulling it open (running high res, so lots of space for narrow width, tall windows) so I could read more at a glance, this'd be PERFECT.
As it is, it's so close to it that I'm just going to engage my six-slotted STFU power and go silent.
Good job with this!
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
/em wonders how this will install on Mac Clients
|
Originally Posted by andsoitallbegins
At the main screen are a few options.
To choose an item, click it in the list then click Add or Remove. You can also reorder the list by using the Up and Down buttons. Once you have your selections in place, click Install and give it a few seconds. Once complete it will tell you Information has been wrote. Extended Options: There is a tab called Global Channels. This tab allows you to input up to 15 Global Channels. When used with Task Forces entry, it will prepare a sub category with the global channels you specified. Clicking these channel names will allow you to broadcast the forming of a TF into that channel. If you do not specify any channels, then only Local, Broadcast, and LFG channels will be shown. Pics of mine are here: PhotoBucket There are 3 entries for Badge Reporter in the list as well. Badge Reporter is a popmenu that lists all the badges in the game, highlighting the ones that you have. It is discussed in this thread: CoX forums. To use it, you have to create the macros in game. Code:
/macro BRo popmenu BadgesByInGameOrder /macro BRc popmenu BadgesByCatagory /macro BRr popmenu BadgesRecentAdds Delete the following files/folders C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Help\help.txt C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\PopMenu for InGameInfo.mnu C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\Badge Reporter xxxxxxxxxxx.mnu C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\BRBinds (Folder) C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\texture_library\Badge_Reporter (Folder) |
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
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Quote:
Right now it doesnt... I don't know macs at all. But anyone that can slightly code on a mac could write an installer, and I will provide the source code for this, as well as an explanation of how this code works so it could be ported.|
Originally Posted by Redlynne
/em wonders how this will install on Mac Clients
|
The short version is that all the info is stored in a sqlite DB, and the file is pieced together from it. If someone could write an installer that works same was, I would gladly link it, and keep it updated as well. It is just beyond my capabilities as of right now.
I can post a full help file with all of the options for a manual install if that would be preferred for macs.
A zipped version for macs with all the options has now been posted at: Zipped For Macs
Really great job! One question, though, what is the difference between the Task Force (Any AT) and Task Force entries?
--Dave
Quote:
When I form Taskforces I will accept Any Archetype at all that wants to join. It doesn't matter if I end up with 8 Defenders or 8 Blasters, just whatever wants to join. When sending out messages to a channel, the Any AT broadcast would look like:|
Originally Posted by Dave0523
Really great job! One question, though, what is the difference between the Task Force (Any AT) and Task Force entries?
--Dave |
Quote:
| Forming a ITF Any AT. Takes about 0:45 26 Merits. Get Temporal Strife Badge. PST if interested. |
Quote:
| Forming a ITF. Takes about 0:45 26 Merits. Get Temporal Strife Badge. PST if interested. |
A newer version has just been uploaded (at the same link). New feature is a "Sounds" tab. This tab lists all the sounds in the game. If you want to mute a paticular sound, or groups of sounds, just put a check mark next to them. The app will place a silent ogg file in place of the sound. To unmute, remove the check mark. Restart the client for changes to take effect.
There is also a Button on the same tab to replace Glowy sounds with a Radar Ping sound instead of the normal hum. This will make finding the Glowies much easier as the ping doesn't blend into the background noises.
*Note - Muting the sounds will replace any other replacement sounds you may use.
More information and names of some of the sounds can be found in this thread
Quote:
It takes a bit of effort, but not a lot. Download the Mac zipped package referenced above. Once it downloads and is unzipped, you'll see a data folder with two folders inside -- a Texts folder and a texture_library folder. To get these into your Mac City of Heroes install, follow the below steps:|
Originally Posted by Redlynne
/em wonders how this will install on Mac Clients
|
If you've already made an alias to the City of Heroes program directory inside the Mac package (what I call the 'working directory'), skip down to step 4.
1. Command-click (or right-click with a multi-button mouse) the City of Heroes Mac application. When the contextual menu appears, select "Show Package Contents".
2. In the Finder window that appears, open the Contents folder, then the Resources folder, then the transgaming folder, then the c_drive folder.
3. If your installation is like mine, you'll see two folders -- a coh folder, and a windows folder. Everything you'll need to do is inside the coh folder. (If you don't see a coh folder, you may instead see a Program Files folder; there should be a City of Heroes folder in that.) Call this the 'working directory'.
At this point, you can make an alias to the working directory so that you can skip the above steps if you ever want to uninstall this, or try to install other goodies put together by CoH fans.
4. Open your working directory from step 3, then open the data folder. Note: you may not see a data folder, in which case you should create one.
5. Take the entire Texts folder from your download and put it inside this data folder.
6. Open the texture_library folder from your download. Take the Badge Reporter folder and put it into the texture_library folder in the data folder. If there is no existing texture_library folder in your data folder (for example, because you just created it in step 4 above), then you can just put the texture_library folder from the download into the data folder.
That's it! The process worked fine for me and the new help menu is amazing!
If something goes wrong with your system, or you just want to uninstall this, simply go back to the data folder in your working directory, delete the Texts folder, then delete the Badge Reporter folder from the texture_library folder. (Don't touch anything else in that folder unless you know how it got there.)
Hope that helps!
--
Pauper
Quote:
Everything corresponded up until this point. My CoH mac client doesn't have a data folder inside the coh folder ... nor is there a texture_library folder somewhere within it.
|
Originally Posted by Pauper
4. Open your working directory from step 3, then open the data folder. You'll see a texture_library folder.
|
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
Quote:
The Data folder is not there by default. Create one if it does not exist.|
Originally Posted by Redlynne
Everything corresponded up until this point. My CoH mac client doesn't have a data folder inside the coh folder ... nor is there a texture_library folder somewhere within it.
|
Do the same for the texture_library folder (inside the Data folder) as well.
@Pauper - thank you very much for the Mac instructions
Quote:
Thanks for the info -- this tells me that the existing data and texture_library folders were put there when I installed VidiotMaps. I'll go back and revise my directions.|
Originally Posted by Redlynne
Everything corresponded up until this point. My CoH mac client doesn't have a data folder inside the coh folder ... nor is there a texture_library folder somewhere within it.
|
--
Pauper
Quote:
No problem -- I liberally cribbed the first three steps from CuppaManga's Mac Edition Guide. If anyone is using the provided Mac client and hasn't read that guide yet, do so.|
Originally Posted by andsoitallbegins
@Pauper - thank you very much for the Mac instructions
|
Thank you for the work on this new help info!
--
Pauper
I've been working on a little project of mine for a while now, and it is ready for release. It contains a lot of information that one would normally have to Alt-Tab out of game to pull up. Now it can all be accessed straight from the Help menu or /helpwindow
Screenshots are located here:
Photo Bucket
(these are a slightly older less formatted version, but you will get the idea)
Information it contains:
Zone Maps - Contains all the information for each zone in the game.
Tip Missions - Contains information for tips found in the game (including Event Tips).
Story Arcs - Full information of every story arc in the game (also includes Badge Missions, Temp Power Missions, Safeguard/Mayhem Missions)
Temp Powers - Full information of every temp power in game (craftable and non)
Souvenirs - Complete list of all souvenirs in game, the arc that gives them, and the text for them.
Badges - Full information of every badge in game
Supergroup Badges - same info as regular badges
Contacts - Full info for every contact in the game (that gives at least one mission)
Colors for the color blind. From the post in the player guides forums, recreated for in game Help.
Other Features:
Clickable Fields:
Clickable text is found throughout the menu. Different ones give different information. If you hover over text (usually light green) and it turns yellow, it's clickable.
- Contact Names - Opens a popmenu giving you contact location, arcs they give and other info
- Story Arc Names - Opens a popmenu with information on the arc, how many missions, who gives it etc
- Temp Power Names - Opens a popmenu with one of the options being Power Info. This is the same as clicking [Power_Name] in chat
- Badge Names - Opens a popmenu letting you know if you have it or not, and if you have required badges for it (ie Exploration Accolades)
All Clickable fields also give the option to Edit Note, which is the same as the pink Delta symbol described above.Features I wish it included:
Resizable window
Ability to resize
Wish i could make it bigger...
Features I will add if the slash commands ever become available:
Setting waymarks by clicking the contact/location name
Future Information to be added:
The Kind of power a Temp Power is (ie Hold, -REGEN etc)
Notes:
Some parts are incomplete (data wise), but will be completed as it becomes available. For the breakdowns of the NPCs and Mission types, that will require me to run each and every mission. That will take some time. The rest I will get when I can.
If the pictures are not showing, it is because your window is to small. 82% windows or higher are required.
You can resize just the help window (and health window as the two are connected) using
Download and Installation:
It is very easy to install and choose what you want to add. The installer is located here: MediaFire
At the main screen are a few options.
To choose an item, click it in the list then click Add or Remove. You can also reorder the list by using the Up and Down buttons.
Once you have your selections in place, click Install and give it a few seconds. Once complete it will tell you Information has been wrote.
Extended Options:
There is a tab called Global Channels. This tab allows you to input up to 15 Global Channels. When used with Task Forces entry, it will prepare a sub category with the global channels you specified. Clicking these channel names will allow you to broadcast the forming of a TF into that channel. If you do not specify any channels, then only Local, Broadcast, and LFG channels will be shown. Pics of mine are here: PhotoBucket
There are 3 entries for Badge Reporter in the list as well. Badge Reporter is a popmenu that lists all the badges in the game, highlighting the ones that you have. It is discussed in this thread: CoX forums. To use it, you have to create the macros in game.
Delete the following files/folders
C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Help\help.txt
C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\PopMenu for InGameInfo.mnu
C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\Badge Reporter xxxxxxxxxxx.mnu
C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\Texts\English\Menus\BRBinds (Folder)
C:\Program Files\NCSoft\City of Heroes\Data\texture_library\Badge_Reporter (Folder)