GM Tock

In order... Yes! Absolutely! We do take donations, but it's on a monthly basis, and a short window: we only accept enough money to break even, nothing further. Once we have it, the window closes. Depends on what you like: PVP? Indomitable. RP? Everlasting. Excelsior is the most popular one, so if Freedom was your jam during live, there you go. Torchbearer has been around the longest. Reunion is located in the EU for a better connection for our UK and European heroes. Enbleven? Depends on the server. Some have it, some don't. Our best advice lies in the Guides forum! Welcome back, Antaean! 😄

Look up. 👆

You'd have to seek help from whoever made the mod you're trying to use. It looks like you found the data folder alright, at least. The above post was how it was explained to me a few years ago. The only one I've tried to install is VidiotMaps, and it wasn't here. (An even older conversation in the same place. No warranties or promises on those files still being there.) Oubliette_Red also has an explanation of how to edit/replace in-game audio. Same Data folder. If it's other in-game assets, the conversation is better held in a different forum.

Same as the slash command. If you can type it, you can /bind it. bind j em jugglefire Just omit the / on a command when entering a bind. To remove a bind, use either: bind j nop -OR- unbind j (nop = no operation, a blank command that does nothing.) The emote list on ParagonWiki is a good place to find them. There's also a list of key names. (Which gets weird at points when you consider the right side number pad on a full keyboard.) Bear in mind costume change emotes are triggered differently (/cce, requires a costume slot #, and same limits on changing costumes apply via bind or menu) as well as flight pose emotes, which only work while in the air.

That's not a client issue. Your computer can't 'dial out' over the network to reach the Login Server for some reason. Check that the servers are running (you can see a Server Status page at the top of the boards, or visit Discord and check out #server-status-updates channel) or recheck your network settings at home.

Are files downloading in Tequila? Allow them to finish before launching the game. Double clicking a client starts the game as a convenience while Tequila is checking files to make things faster if you're patched up, but if the game won't launch Tequila needs to finish the downloads first.

People realize there's a contest over this, right?

As most April Fool's traditions that are held around the Internet, this was not intended to be taken seriously. And it's definitely temporary. (Personally, I just imagine this as a budget version of Death Stranding now, but that's just me.) We get it, not everyone will laugh at the joke that was intended. The game will most likely go back to normal tomorrow evening in the US. Until then, enjoy April Fool's day however you like.

Yes with the caveat that only you would see the symbols and parts. Client Mods are local-only, not sent to others.

Client mods in City of Heroes use the Data folder as an overlay. To explain: the fonts.pigg has a list of files in it. Most importantly, REDCIRCL.TTF. That's the font that everyone knows and loves to be the main City of Heroes UI Font for all the titles and headings. To replace it, you'd place a file in the Data folder: /data/fonts/REDCIRCL.TTF 1. You would need to find a font you want to replace with Red Circle. Let's say Arial for some reason. You'd copy arial.ttf from your font folder (or find it somewhere since Windows has moved on to OpenType) and rename it REDCIRCL.TTF, then copy it to the folder path above. 2. To undo the change: simply delete the file. Nothing in the Data folder is necessary to run the game. The game client would have to know what the file name is in the first place, you can't stick any font name in the folder and hope the client picks it up. It must match an existing in-game file. This is the method VidiotMaps used to make their map overlays. By placing the corrected maps in the Data folder at the precise folder location where it would be in the game .pigg files, the client loads them instead of the .pigg default files. To undo the modification, delete the Vidiot Maps and the client reverts back to the original copies in the .pigg files. That's how client mods works, in a nutshell. Does that help?

Well, there you go. No ETA on a fix, as it's a persistent issue OVH is flagging down as we speak (our datacenter host). I'm sorry this is happening. 😞

Ideas: Your Antivirus program needs to have the Tequila install folder excluded from scanning. Check Windows Update: got pending updates for .NET or Visual C++ 2015 Runtime? Restart your computer when it asks and let them finish. How's .NET on your system? I've seen that crash on newer systems without Version 3.5, which needs to be installed (4 and 5 are not backwards compatible.) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Download/confirmation.aspx?id=25150

Per Jimmy, as of an hour ago Reunion should be back online. There are intermittent outages in the EU region where Reunion is hosted, so it may go down again.

Frequently Asked Questions for Help & Support: I need to reset my game passwor-- Go here. ...but I forgot my old one. I need my game password reset. Nope. Seriously, go here. If you are able to login and post on the forums, you can reset your game password by yourself at any time. Your old game password is not needed to reset it. Just head to the Game Account Center and change it. (This is why it is especially important to protect your forum account email address and password. If those are compromised, you can count on your game account being lost as well.) But I can't log into the forums, though. Okay, NOW you need a password reset. Go to the forum login here, then click "Forgot Your Password." Enter your email address that is connected to your game account and a password reset link will be sent to you. You MUST have a current and working email address you entered at the time of registration for this to work. If you forgot what email address you used, open your email address using a website or email reader and search your messages for any use of the word "Homecoming". If you didn't delete your messages from the Homecoming server after signing up, a search should show your registration confirmation email. That address should be available to reset your forum password, and once that's done, you can then reset the game password using the above links. If you use multiple accounts, your mileage may vary. Check ALL of your email addresses for any Homecoming email messages to get a better idea. (Also, if you're reading this, and you don't use your email address all that much anymore, or used a burner email account to sign up that you might drop someday, we recommend changing your Account Settings in this forum and providing an updated email address as soon as possible.) I'm using Tequila and getting an error saying .NET Framework is missing. Don't worry. On a new Windows 10 computer, this is pretty common. Installing Tequila for the first time means installing .NET Framework 3.5 to run Tequila. You can get the .NET 3.5 Runtimes here. Please note that our new patcher, the Homecoming Launcher, does not require any .NET Framework or other runtime software to work. Now I got another error, saying msvcrt.dll or vcruntime140.dll is missing from my computer. Again, on a new Windows 10 computer, a common issue. For the now-patched Homecoming Client to run, you need the Visual C++ 2015 Runtime installed. This is separate of patching, and mandatory to play the game. This is too difficult for me, I'm not really a computer person. Can you please remote into my system and do it for me? Absolutely not. Homecoming Servers has a Privacy Policy and "remote support" is not offered to users at all. You will need to carry out Installation Steps yourself as we only offer self-support options for the game, no further. I've been having this problem with another application since City of Heroes was installed. -OR- I'm trying to get this feature that worked on Live with another software product to work with Homecoming... Can you get it working for me? We will do what we can to offer help in getting your game client running. But our responsibility ends there. While others in the community may or may not offer general computing advice, GM support for Homecoming Servers starts and ends with getting City of Heroes to work. For programs and mods in the community maintained by our own players (HeroStats, Mids Reborn, Vidiot Maps, etc.), you'll need to seek support from those who made them. (Most of whom are in these boards, but not typically in this channel.) We also do not offer support for programs that relied on the live game, nor apps made for MMO Gaming after the Live shutdown (Steam, Ageia PhysX, Discord Overlay, etc.) whether they worked at one point or not. I've been having a problem with (VidiotMaps/Mids in any flavor: Original, Reborn, Pine's, etc./Titan Icon/Paragon Chat/PKTools/etc.), can you help with that? Homecoming Team supports only the following products: Homecoming: City of Heroes Client - The actual game that launches once it is successfully patched. Tequila - No longer updated but will continue to receive manifests indefinitely. Homecoming Launcher - Recommended for Windows users. Island Rum - Recommended for Mac users. All other mods and helper applications that are companions with the City of Heroes Client (for Homecoming or otherwise) are the responsibility of their developers. You can find a majority of folks working on Mods and Helper apps in the "Tools, Utilities & Downloads" forum here, or you can seek out their Website, Discord server, or forums elsewhere for help. I can't connect to the game! And now none of my browsers work! How do I get my cable modem/DSL modem/fiber optic ONT to work again? Generally we can't. Don't get us wrong, we'll help with advice for your COMPUTER, but past that, it's up to you. We cannot offer support to reconfigure or repair network devices. To be specific, taking advice from the Internet blindly without considering your home network's equipment and specific situation is the fastest way to shut an otherwise working network down. (And realistically, there's only so much we can ask a volunteer support staff to offer up for free.) Home Network Issues are your own responsibility. If you CAN'T get online, call your ISP for support first. If you CAN get online and other online games and websites work but you still can't sign in to Homecoming, your home network is probably not the issue anyway. Worse, messing with your home network device before the issue is resolved can prevent the game from connecting if your home network would otherwise connect. Definitely check in with us and let us know if you're getting a specific error, but also check the Server Status window to see if there's problems with the server you're trying to reach as well. If the server is down, nobody can log on and there's nothing you can do at home to connect until the server is back online. I deleted Tequila and reinstalled it. Now all of my costumes, power customization files and window settings are gone. How do I get them back? There are folders in the main Tequila folder that hold your screenshots, costume files, power customization settings, mission architect data, and an account folder to hold your chat/window preferences and logs. This information is not stored on our servers, however, it is also not required to play the game. Files of this kind are up to you to backup and secure. We're sorry but if these files are lost, we cannot get them back for you. Therefore, we strongly recommend you regularly back up costumes, power customizations, screenshots and anything you'd miss if you need to reinstall Tequila. Tequila/Homecoming Launcher isn't working because my antivirus keeps blocking it. So what antivirus is compatible with Homecoming? What do you guys use as GMs? There are 100's of antivirus products out there, and we cannot endorse or review any antivirus app as recommended by Homecoming Servers for playing the game. As much as outspoken users swear against Product X as being a worthwhile antivirus program, just as many are opposed to their own use of Product Y in it's place. Ultimately, user practices determine how vulnerable a computer is to security issues just as much as the security programs you run to try to prevent it. While we don't recommend ditching your Antivirus application of choice, realize that no security app will protect you 100% from a "zero-day" vulnerability if you click on an suspicious ad or email link. Remember: there is no such thing as perfect protection. Having no security on your computer means anything can happen, good or bad. You can install anything you like, but so can attackers as well. However, having the most secure computer setup protected from every conceivable method of attack means getting permission to do anything on your own system, with anything that does not follow the rules being denied. This impacts even legitimate activities, and can make your system too difficult to use. A sane approach to modern computer use is somewhere in between. I can't use a program I need for school, college or work after I installed Tequila. Can you help me with changes to Tequila so I can do both from my system? Please understand that installing any library or app to get the game to work MAY IMPACT other software on your computer. This includes Visual C++ Runtime, .NET Framework, Wine, DirectX and other apps. For example, if your computer is needed for work, and installing City of Heroes breaks your work apps, figuring out a workaround (or removing the game to restore your work programs) is your own responsibility. We strongly recommend installing City of Heroes on a computer you DO NOT need to use for work or school. This isn't specific to Homecoming, but true of any application you install. Certain programs do not "get along" with others, regardless of the applications involved. (Particularly for school, any "Secure Browser" or "Lockdown Browser" installed is actively looking for programs like our game and will not allow Computer Based Testing until they are removed. This is by design, and Homecoming Servers can't really do anything about it.) But I want to play City of Heroes on my school- or work-issued laptop. How do I get around their security to install it anyway? There is a reason K-12 institutions, colleges, non-profit groups and workplaces lock their equipment down: to put it simply, it's not yours to play with. If you ask them for permission to install a program and they tell you "no", please respect their wishes and find another computer to play the game. Don't get into trouble over us. I want to play City of Heroes on my Chromebook anyway. Help! The short answer: don't. The more detailed one? City of Heroes needs x86 processing and most school-issued Chromebooks (as well as home ones under $300) use ARM processors which will never run the game. (If it's a school-issued device, see the above question.) Manufacturers include Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung EXYNOS, Rockchip, Marvell, Infineon, ST Micro, etc. For those with a more expensive device with an Intel or AMD processor (Distinctly, NOT ARM), the labor to physically install City of Heroes involves: Going to Dev Mode, Wiping Chrome OS (possibly your bootloader with custom firmware that allows another OS to load in EFI,) Installing a Chromebook-friendly Linux with device drivers, or taking a common distro like Ubuntu or Fedora and beating it into a usable shape, Installing Wine and any associated libraries and helper apps (Graphics drivers are not involved as you're 100% on board graphics, because I guarantee there's no discrete cards installed on an Intel Chromebook. For those who are curious, NVidia Tegra based devices use an ARM SoC CPU/GPU, not a discrete graphics card. See #1 above.) Installing a City of Heroes patcher. That isn't me over-describing the process, it's exactly that complicated. If any one step fails, it won't work. Especially rewriting your bootloader, you always run the risk of "bricking" your Chromebook if it goes wrong. (Bricking a device = it fails to boot up. Either you'd need to involve a service center, or cut your losses. Warranties won't save you if you mod firmware.) Keep your Chromebook around for what it is meant for... a simple, fast and uncomplicated Internet device. My Chromebook uses ARM, and Apple's moving away from Intel. So an ARM version of the game should be in the works, right? The only client we have at the moment is Windows. Work has been done to extend it from 32 to 64-bit architecture. MacOS and Linux work using Wine for either one. Any news to the contrary (work on a native Mac, Linux or ARM processor client) is solely in the realm of Homecoming Team & our developers to share, not me. So far, the Windows client stands as-is. In that regard, there's something Chromebooks do not have that an Apple Silicon machine DOES: Rosetta 2. Removing the marketing-speak, Rosetta 2 is an AMD x64 Instruction Set Emulator, which runs Intel apps well enough to be usable. (Not "The Fastest CPU in The World" good, but fairly well for what it is.) It describes both hardware emulation components as well as software emulation for Intel software. Chromebooks by default contain NEITHER. You would need to find a software emulator for ARM in Linux to run the game, and as Microsoft Surface Pro X has demonstrated, even on Qualcomm's latest and greatest Adreno CPU, the SQ2, software emulation alone isn't going to be very effective. Your Chromebook ARM processor is very likely not as powerful as either the SQ1/SQ2 or M1, and will perform even worse. (When it comes to CPUs -- Capacity, Power Efficiency, Price. You can knock one out of the park, or do great at two. Getting all three isn't going to happen, and anyone who says otherwise is lying about how much they paid for it.) Right now, all Apple Intel based Macs that are supported by current MacOS development (High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur) will continue to run on Island Rum. And Intel-based Macs continue to be available brand new in the market and will be for a few years at least (even though Apple is rapidly discontinuing models as we speak on their website, it says nothing of brick & mortar store supply -- you can't empty a shelf and send devices back to Apple if they're footing you with the bill for unsold stock). Apple M1, on the other hand, we'll be able to give a better answer once Wine 7.0 reaches a Stable branch. Stay tuned. TL;DR: Your best chance for a sub-$400 device that can play City of Heroes is still a Windows Laptop.

New to Homecoming Servers? Played City of Heroes when it was live, but don't know where to start? We have you covered. Head to the Installation Guide for instructions on how to install the client for Windows and Mac systems. Need help? You can join the Discord Server here, and visit the #setup-install-help channel for assistance. Before You Post... There are a lot of common calls when people ask for Help and Support. If you need help, please try the following first: Search. There's an excellent chance what is a show-stopper for your system has already been solved. The search box is in the upper right of the screen. For best results, head back to the Help & Support forum and click in the Search box, then make sure this is checked: By checking off "THIS FORUM", only posts in Help and Support will appear in your search results, narrowing out gameplay advice and off-topic posts that won't help. You've heard this once before but it bares repeating now: REBOOT. There's more and more folks who leave their PCs on 24/7. See if the behavior persists after your computer has been restarted. If you can't reboot, and Tequila is misbehaving or you can't launch the game, close and reopen Tequila first to see if it gets back to checking files again. (Unless you visit Options and Re-Validate, or change the active manifest in the dropdown list, Tequila won't recheck files on it's own.) As a side note: Windows Updates are a factor. There are components that Tequila and the City of Heroes client needs which may stop working on occasion. These pending updates can make the game fail to launch until your computer is restarted. When you've been playing for a while and it all suddenly stops, this is the first place to check. Got any Windows Updates pending? Finish the updates, and try it again. Be descriptive. If you can't find a post on the matter, you can make a new post about your problem. But it's important when you're asking for help to get the game to work to be specific on what problem you're having. You'll probably have no response if "It don't work" is the subject, followed by "Like I said above, nothing works. Help!" in the body. That doesn't tell us what's going on. Instead: Tell us what OS you're using. Windows or Mac. (Linux, you might find a few people who can help you, but we don't have an official client we endorse for Linux systems. That's 100% community supported... you're welcome to post here, but our development is focused on Windows and Mac at this time.) Another question: What hardware are you running? This falls into two things, really: Processor: Yes, this matters. Certain processors are non-starters. (Sorry, Pentium 4 and Core Solo.) Some are 32-bit only, like certain Celerons and all Atom models. Video Card: We need a model number to determine driver support, and in Intel's case, if you need to "shim" your installation of City of Heroes or not. Are there any Error Messages you're getting? You don't have to type them out, a screen grab will work. Windows: SHIFT-WIN-S. Draw a rectangle around the area. Then click the notification that appears, copy to clipboard (press the Copy button), and paste it in these forums. Mac: SHIFT-COMMAND-4. Draw a rectangle, and the PNG image will land on your Desktop to upload wherever you like. What else have you tried? Let us know what advice you took, and what didn't work. Keep it specific to starting or playing the game: Not able to save files in Microsoft Word, randomly stopping and starting playback in Spotify, or clicking on a link in Chrome shouldn't affect the game client, for example. (And if it does you most likely have a larger issue at hand, such as malware or hardware failure, that probably should be solved first.) General Disclaimers With that in mind, go forth and post. Also, nota bene: (Or a $20 latin term for "heads up".) Time is of the essence, so to speak. Forums are great for advice, detailed guides you can't get in chat, and troubleshooting issues of an intermittent or ongoing nature. But unlike chat, they're lousy for immediate support. If you want to get going as soon as possible, suspect a smaller issue, or just want a quicker conversation about your issue, the Discord Server text channel for #client-issues is your best bet. Join our server right here. No deadlines. Also, we can't promise to make any deadlines you've may have. If you really want your laptop working for City of Heroes before a trip, 48 hours in advance is more reasonable to work with than, let's say, standing at the gate before you fly out of an airport. (Someone asked me how to get their Torchbearer toons working on a Dell Laptop minutes before boarding a flight, so they could play on in-flight Wi-Fi. True story... and it didn't work well anyway, so I don't recommend trying it.) Nobody is being paid to be here. If you come to us asking for help with an issue, you'll get it. If you come here with little information except for how angry you are, there won't be a whole lot of replies. Nothing personal, but coming to volunteers with the same mindset as a paying customer does not make for a positive outcome for anyone involved. We'll try our best to get you back to the business of being a big damn hero, but please keep a level head and remember how much you're paying to be here. (Sorry, donations do not count.) And please understand that not all issues are able to be solved by our staff 100%. If the issue is bigger than us, we'll let you know so you can find a Neighborhood-Friendly Teenage Computer Girl/Guy and get them some much needed cash for all the fun stuff they want to do at their school. If you want to send logs or computer files to us, or you don't feel comfortable posting images from your system, we recommend filing a Support Ticket instead of uploading content directly to the public part of the forums. Support Tickets are 100% confidential and your information sent to us this way is protected by our Privacy Policy.

I can see it's Windows 10. What video card are you using?

This is where you'll have to switch things up. Patching Homecoming.exe is the Safe Mode client, which is going away very soon. That's not going to be beneficial any longer. How Do I Shim the 64-Bit Client? Find "/hc-bin64/cityofheroes.exe" in your Tequila folder in step 4. Any computer sold brand new in the 2010s is most likely 64-bit, so this will only work for the Homecoming 64-bit Client (the 32-bit one can be shimmed too, but it isn't necessary to go through all of this again if you can get 64-bit working.) I don't have 64-bit anything on my computer -OR- Damn the geeks, I'm still using Windows 7 or XP. If you have any doubts whether your system is 64-bit or not, then press WIN+Pause/Break on your computer (Or Open Control Panel & System if you're on a laptop without a Pause key.) Read the line that says "SYSTEM TYPE:". If there's a "32" ANYWHERE in that line (doesn't matter where), then go ahead and shim the 32-bit client in Tequila: "/hc-bin32/cityofheroes.exe". You'll then launch the Homecoming 32-bit client from Tequila when finished. Don't bother to shim the 64-bit client, it won't work in the first place. (64-bit software will not run on 32-bit systems, hence the eventual need to upgrade soonish.) Continue with the rest of the instructions.

As a relativist, for me it depends on the day. I don't think I'd have a single coherent answer.

The Forums Account is not going to work for the in-game password. There's a separate account made on this page. More from the FAQ:

Try running with the "-console" launch parameter. When it happens, you might see error messages appear in the console before the crash that might give a clue to us. (Without a dual screen system, it might be tricky to catch it.) I hear you, though. Intermittent errors are the worst. If this doesn't help, you can turn in a Support ticket and we'll ask you for system logs and detailed info.

Are you sure it's a password issue? What's the error message you're getting?

The Radeon HD 5800 was released over 10 years ago. While Radeon HD 2000 is the baseline to use any Ultra Mode effects, mobile GPUs back then had lower clock frequencies than their desktop counterparts. You might be able to turn up Particle Effects to 10,000-12,000 so you can at least see your own powers work at least, but I would make sure the shadows are off or on the lowest option (the old shadow engine). Ambient Occlusion, Bloom, Depth of Field should be off, and FSAA (Antialiasing) I wouldn't put above 4X. That's interesting to hear... because of changes made with the rendering pipeline, the recommendation on older hardware running Windows 8/10 is to make sure Ultra Mode is on, but set to the lowest settings available on older systems, since it performs a degree better than Minimum/Recommended mode outside of Windows 7. But if it's working, there's no argument.

We can only assist with issues concerning the CoH Client itself. You would need to consult the support or documentation on your remote software for further options. For best performance, we recommend using your own hardware to play City of Heroes.

I know this doesn't help the situation, but this is an error message I've never seen in Tequila before. I've been beating up Tequila on my system to get the same error message to appear, and nothing works. I can see from your post history you've been around since Homecoming launched, so you're no stranger to this. And clearly the game worked at one point for you. Was it a while you were away and came back? I'll suggest the following, and to be honest, they're long-shots. Tequila Install Directory: is Tequila installed in a user folder (C:\Users\... <-- Replace the ... with anything at all) or either of the Program Files folders (x86 or normal)? You can install Tequila in any folder you want except those locations (a common user suggested location: C:/Games/City of Heroes). .NET Framework, since this is a specific to Tequila issue, are there any pending Windows Updates waiting to finish? Run Windows Updates and see if this clears up. (.NET is not needed for the City of Heroes client, but .NET is required for Tequila to work.) At the bottom of this guide is a list of folders in the Tequila directory that are worth backing up (scroll down to the big yellow "EXTRA CREDIT" header.) If you want, try backing up your local files, then wiping out and reinstalling Tequila on your system. Let me know if any of those three wake up the launcher.

It's possible the client file for the zone got corrupted and is making the client hang. Try re-validating your files (Tequila, Click Options, Re-Validate.) Let us know with a ticket in the Support area if you want us to bring your character back to a loadable zone. We can't initiate actions like that through the forums, unfortunately, but you don't need to be logged in for us to help, either.