This is an example of a character definition from a demorecord file.
0 729 Player
0 729 NEW "Freedom's Fury"
0 729 COSTUME 1 84beef 8.323512 -0.425187 0.000000 0.000000 -0.265117 -0.390172 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0 729 PARTSNAME Tight !X_Tech_Retro_Hips_01 !Hips_Blend 000000ff 00cc0100
0 729 PARTSNAME Jackets !X_Tech_Retro_Chest_01 !Chest_Blend 000000ff 00cc0100
0 729 PARTSNAME V_fem_Head.GEO/GEO_Head_V_Asym_Standard !Face_Skin_V_Fem_Head_05 !V_Face_Small_Mask_1 00000033 00ffffff
0 729 PARTSNAME V_FEM_GLOVE.GEO/GEO_LArm*_Chain_Leather_02 !X_V_Glove_Barb_leather none 00cc0100 00ffffff
0 729 PARTSNAME Smooth !x_male_boot_tech_sleek_mask none 00cc0100 00ffffff
0 729 PARTSNAME V_FEM_BELT.GEO/GEO_Belt_Spikes_02 !Emblem_V_Spikes_01 !Emblem_V_Spikes_01_Mask 00000000 00ffffff
0 729 PARTSNAME Style_03 Style_01a Style_01b 0000fdff 000000d4
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME V_FEM_Eyes.GEO/GEO_Eyes_Chain_02 !X_V_Belt_Chain_Wrap none 008f8f8f 00ff4d4c
0 729 PARTSNAME Top base Scales 00ffffff 000000d4
0 729 PARTSNAME Collar_Spike Collar_Spiked_01a Collar_Spiked_01b 00cc0100 00ffffff
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00575757 000000ff
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none !Cape_Trenchcoat_Leather_01 none 003b3b3b 00000000 00575757 003b3b3b capes/CapeTrenchFem_02.fx
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00660000 00000000 00000000 00000000 Auras/Female/Tendrils/TendrilFists&Feet.fx
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME V_FEM_TOP.GEO/GEO_Top_Trenchcoat_01 V_Motorcycle_03 V_Motorcycle_02_Mask 003b3b3b 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME V_FEM_SLEEVES.GEO/GEO_SLEEVES_Motorcycle_03 V_Motorcycle_03 none 00575757 003b3b3b
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00cc0100 000000d4
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 729 XLU 0.698039
0 729 MOV EMOTE_HOLD_TORCH 0
0 729 FX Maintained 862638 POWERS/KINETICS/KINSPEEDCONTINUING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 722 0
0 729 FX Maintained 861304 CUSTOMIZEABLEPOWERS/CONTINUINGCONDITIONALFX/KINSPEEDCONTINUING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 FXTINT -12566464 -8355712
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 632 0
0 729 FX Maintained 862491 INCARNATEPOWERS/DESTINY/INCARNATE_BARRIER_CONTINUING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 FXTINT -9166 -52736
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 948 0
0 729 FX Maintained 860434 CUSTOMIZEABLEPOWERS/INVULNERABILITY/EVIL_UNYIELDINGSTANCE.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 FXTINT -16777037 -5023232
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 729 0
0 729 FX Maintained 860433 GENERICCONTINUING/BUFFDAMAGECONTINUING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 724 0
0 729 FX Maintained 861203 GENERICCONTINUING/BUFFDEFCONTINUING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 45 0
0 729 FX Maintained 861202 GENERICCONTINUING/BUFFTOHITCONT.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 45 0
0 729 FX Maintained 860430 POWERS/LEAPING/LEAPING.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 729 0
0 729 FX Maintained 860429 CUSTOMIZEABLEPOWERS/INVULNERABILITY/EVIL_INVINCIBILITY_ACTIVATION.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 FXTINT -16777037 -5023232
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 729 0
0 729 FX Maintained 860428 CUSTOMIZEABLEPOWERS/INVULNERABILITY/EVIL_INVULNERABILITY.FX 0
0 729 FXSCALE 10.000000 10
0 729 FXTINT -16777037 -5023232
0 729 ORIGIN ENT 0 0
0 729 TARGET ENT 729 0
0 729 HP 1706.70
0 729 HPMAX 1706.70
Thanks in advance.
More's the pity, but I'm reasonably sure you can't play back demorecord files without the servers - at least, you didn't use to be able to. You could verify that by disconnecting your computer from the network and trying to play a demorecord.
Grab a copy of Fraps and record anything you want to actual video. Bad enough to be losing the game, but to think you'd saved something you hadn't would be worse.
Synchrotron, level 50 Radiation/Radiation Defender
Fighting crime on Champion since 2004
Seems to be working without internet connection. Double checked I was fully off-line with attempts to ftp and get to google/yahoo via browser.
Slower than usual to start up, so I'd guess it is trying to connect, but after that it seems to run as per normal. Tried a recorded mission run (LGTF final), a base walk-through recording, and an Atlas Park zone recording... all seemed to work fine.
The only one I didn't get to work (think the file is corrupted) was my "Hamigeddon" recording, sadly. I assume there's a reference somewhere in there that the current version no longer understands.
P.S. I'll be doing FRAPS, too, of course. But an ability to do some manipulation after the fact is what I'm really hoping for... maybe a farewell scene similar to the original intro movie, with a host of Champion's finest listening to Posi, War Witch, and Dark Watcher beneath the Atlas statue in AP, then spreading to the four winds one last time as the picture fades to black. Give it some closure, perhaps.
I've been sifting thru old demorecord files, seeing if I have all my characters recorded and making a list of things I want to get recorded before it's too late (zones, emotes, etc)...
I was sitting watching one from the Vanguard Base in the RWZ. I must have been a little bored. Looks like we were getting ready for a BAF, various familiar character names and personalities zipping by, popping in, fading out... silly banter, silly emotes, buffs, snide remarks and snappy comebacks... just a typical lazy afternoon/evening on Champion server, hanging with the avatars of people I've come to appreciate and care about.
And then I realized tears were running down my cheeks... in some short period of time, the memory will be all that is left.
For some, no doubt, it's just a game. But for some of us, it does mean more... a world a little more like the one we wish we lived in, as opposed to the one we do? I don't know... but it's painful to even contemplate watching it slip away.
I wish there was a way to drive that point home to the people driving this decision. Sadly, I doubt they _could_ understand.
-=-
The reason I am writing, however, is this... if anyone has any demorecord files, I'd appreciate getting copies. At a minimum, the character definition section of your favorite characters in their favorite costumes?
Unless I am greatly mistaken, demorecord files can playback even without the servers themselves... in the end, retaining at least the possibility of viewing Paragon City, if not interacting with it, might be worth the effort.
Also, of course, they can be edited and pieced together. Bases can be revisited, characters briefly viewed. It's not easy by any stretch, and it's a far cry from logging in to the real thing, but it can be done.
I'll post an example of the definition section in a follow up post. And I will be around til the end, you can bet on that. See you in game, my friends...