AboveTheChemist

I do use GIMP to convert my image files to DDS before replacing the header info to turn them back into .texture files. I suspect that the VidiotMap folks may have used other software to either convert the image files to DDS, or to manipulate the DDS files directly, before turning them back into .texture files. I don't otherwise have much (if any) need for image manipulation software, so GIMP was the best option for me. But it is entirely possible that the issue is related to the software.

Last summer I put together some farming inf numbers in this post, in an attempt to quantify the impact of the then-recent farming nerf. My approach included some opportunistic marketing so I think those numbers might be relevant to this discussion. I didn't get into inf/time in that post, but I mentioned my times a few posts down.

It might not be the only explanation for what you are seeing, but I believe those dummies behave like any other spawn in that, if someone logs out and back in within a certain radius of them, they will despawn. EDIT: I tested logging in and out near the dummies, and they never despawned, so unless I missed something, that does not appear to be a potential cause of the disappearing dummies.

Just to be clear, are you using my updates to the Kallisti and Warburg maps from Feb (the ones I now available in this post)? If so, that shoots some holes in my working theory, but I suppose it brings us ever closer to a potential resolution. If not, do you mind trying them and reporting back? And make a backup of your existing textures should mine prove problematic!

My best working theory at this point is that there is some nuance to the process that I am missing that causes the maps I make to be 'blank' for a subset of users. I was not involved at all in the creation of any of the iterations of VidiotMaps, so I do not have access to the methods that were used. I essentially used trial-and-error to develop my own process, which creates maps which work fine for me and for most people (as far as I can tell), but there are a few folks for whom my maps are all blank. I worked fairly exhaustively with Icecomet, both in this thread and via PMs, to try to solve the problem, but to no avail. Unfortunately my best answer at this point is that if my maps don't work for you then you'll need to delete them and find another set of maps that does work. I am still on the lookout for a solution but I don't have any leads at this point, and would probably need to chat with someone that was involved with the original VidiotMaps project in order to gain more insight about the process that was used to create those maps.

Do the other two maps included in the vidiotmap_updates_feb_2021 (Kallisti Wharf and Warburg) exhibit the same black/blank map issue (or perhaps other issues), or do those maps appear normal?

Aside from the feedback I carried over from the previous thread (which I detailed in the top post) and the one comment I addressed above, I have not received any other feedback regarding the changes I mentioned. If anyone has any thoughts about the potential changes I mentioned, please let me know. Thanks!

I've made a few updates since my last post. In the CoH Zone Maps zip file (which contains the VidiotMaps), I updated the Siren's Call, Warburg, and Kallisti Wharf maps as detailed in this post. In the CoH TSP Maps zip file (which contain VidiotMaps with my optimal badge/plaque collection paths overlays), I updated some maps for the following reasons: Minor path adjustment to account for zone corners in: Dark Astoria, Port Oakes, Recluse's Victory Minor path adjustment to account for badge under tree canopy: The Hive Path changes to account for updated badge/plaque locations in: Brickstown, Founders' Falls, Nova Praetoria The data in the links in the top post have been updated, so please visit those links for the updated data.

I manually collected highly accurate coordinates for all exploration badges and history plaques. I also re-ran my optimal path scripts to check for any route changes due to the more accurate coordinate data, and the routes for Brickstown, Founders' Falls, and Nova Praetoria did change slightly. I also updated a few other maps to correct a few other issues I found. Here's the full update log: Minor path adjustment to account for zone corners in: Dark Astoria, Port Oakes, Recluse's Victory Minor path adjustment to account for badge under tree canopy: The Hive Path changes to account for more accurate badge/plaque locations in: Brickstown, Founders' Falls, Nova Praetoria I have updated the manual install zip file as well as the version that appears in the CoH modder tool. If anyone notices any other issues please let me know.

I manually collected highly accurate coordinates for all exploration badges and history plaques. I also re-ran my optimal path scripts to check for any route changes due to the more accurate coordinate data, and the routes for Brickstown, Founders' Falls, and Nova Praetoria did change slightly. I have updated the install files with the more accurate coordinates and the updated paths for those three routes that changed. Barring any other minor bugs/errors I think this popmenu is complete and ready for when i27p2 goes live.

I think this is a fantastic idea. I play casually and enjoy taking in the content along the way and being challenged as part of a team, rather than steamrolling/stealthing in pursuit of maximum XP or merits. The proposed playstyle/restrictions listed in the OP appeal to me in every way, except for the roleplaying aspect. Roleplaying just isn't my thing. If that is a deal breaker that precludes my ability to participate, then no worries and I wish you all lots of fun and good times. However, if there is a little room for players like me (perhaps an RP-free night once a week or something) then I would love to give this a shot.

I think this qualifies more as a quirk/oddity than it does a bug, but I was collecting badge coordinates last night and ran across this issue. It was on the Steel Canyon mayhem mission, and it looks like thumbtacks (or at least the nav marker) can be thrown off if there are objects in close proximity. I've attached two screenshots. The first is after I have positioned myself directly over the badge and used the /loc command to generate a thumbtack link in chat, and then I clicked that link to bring up the nav marker. The nav marker should be directly over the badge but as you can see, it shows up 14 feet away, and note that there is a 'Large Metal Crate' object directly to my left. The second screenshot is after I have destroyed that 'Large Metal Crate' but I have done nothing else. I did not re-click the /loc link, but as you can see the nav marker has moved into the correct position. My guess is that the 'Large Metal Crate' in this case is somehow interfering with the nav marker placement. I've collected hundreds of badge coordinates this way (including all the badges in the Safeguard and Mayhem missions), some with critters nearby but none that I recall with objects nearby. This is the first time I have run across this issue. If it rises to the level of 'bug' I am happy to post it in the bug reports thread.

Thanks for keeping me straight Aberrant, my lack of experience in editing missions is showing!

Also there is a template for mission briefing info which would probably make the process easier for you. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Template:Mission_Briefing It includes documentation for what each of the parameters does. I checked out the page you are editing and it looks like you have utilized some templates there so I'll assume you are generally familiar with them. If not just let me know and I can walk you through them. It took me a while to discover templates but once I did it made certain tasks much easier.

This is definitely the right place for these questions! The 'Unnecessary Solicitation' is the dialog from the contact if you speak to them anytime in between accepting the mission and completing the mission, to the best of my knowledge. I think the idea is that, once you accept the mission, the next time the contact expects to hear from you is after you have completed (or failed, in some cases) the mission, so if you call them in the interim they'll generally say one of two things: They'll repeat the 'Mission Acceptance' message verbatim (or close to verbatim) They'll say something along the lines of 'Hurry up or you're gonna fail the mission' (but it'll be tailored to your particular objective for the mission) Check out Market Crash as an example. The 'Unnecessary Solicitation' for the first mission (Part One) is the same as the 'MIssion Acceptance', but in the second mission (Part Two) she basically tells you to hurry. There may be other examples out there that I haven't seen, because I've only edited a handful of missions myself, so there's a chance that the 'Unnecessary Solicitation' might not fit into one of the two categories I outlined.

I remember having issues when I started on HC with my keybinds being lost if I tried to set them via the UI. I moved to writing individual keybind files for each character and loading them via the /bind_load_file command. I am not sure if that is "the" solution, but I have not had any issues losing keybinds since I began doing that. To elaborate a bit, I started by resetting my keybinds to default (via the UI) and then exporting those default keybinds to a file. I edited that exported file to: Set any listed default keys that I was NOT using to "nop" Modify the remaining listed default keys to suit my needs Added any other keybinds that I needed I did this for each character to create character-specific keybind files. I also made a 'generic' version, saved as keybinds.txt, which the game now automatically uses to set my preferred keybinds for any new character I make.

The quick answer to this is to bind the popmenu to a key to make opening it a bit easier, and to have more control over where it is opened (to give space for the sub-menus to expand, which is an issue I hope to address with my proposed changes). Opening it via a keybind will cause it to appear at your cursor location. Here's the command to bind it to a key: /bind <your_key> "popmenu freebiesmenu" It also might be possible to create a custom window with a button that opens the popmenu, but I know almost nothing about custom windows so I can't be 100% sure it would even be possible. Still, if it works the way I think it does, all that would really do is move the button you click to open the window to a different part of the screen. Making the menu its own dedicated window is well beyond the realm of what I can offer.

The explanation Bionic_Flea gave was mentioned a year ago, in the third post. In the OP's case, at least, it was indeed an attuned version they were trying to convert. Edit: Looking back at some of the older threads linked above, the explanation that Bionic_Flea and I gave is mentioned as far back as July, 2019, so if anyone gets a prize it looks like it should go to Shinobu!

I've started a new thread to discuss any updates going forward. I've copied the most recent suggestions there, and added some ideas of my own. You can access the new thread via this link.

I thought it best to start a new thread for post-i27p2 updates to the freebies menu. I've carried over some recent suggestions from the previous thread, as well as one from Discord: From Aberrant: Add /completetask command (under 'Misc Commands') with full options to allow user to complete any mission in the mission tab. From Hekatos: Add options to directly grant the superior versions of the archetype and event enhancements. From Sai (on Discord): Noted that the commands to award level 53 Hami-Os didn't work. After testing on Brainstorm, the highest level Hami-O I was able to award was level 50, and Faultline noted that this was likely due to safeguards in the code that would be difficult to alter/remove. The best option at this point appears to be removing the option to award Hami-Os at level 53 to avoid confusion. Combining Hami-Os up to level 53 is still viable. Note that I saw the same issue with Hydra-Os and Titan-Os so I'll remove the option to award level 53 versions of those enhancements as well. All of the above should be fairly easy to implement and, barring any unforeseen issues, should be available in the next update. I've also been considering broader changes that I think will make the menu more user-friendly. Here's a summary of my ideas: Grant enhancements in increments of 10 levels across the enhancement's available range Replace enhancement letters with enhancement names Make the menu tree more vertical and adjust quantities to better suit the enhancement types Re-allocate breaks in uncommon/rare menu Each of these points is detailed in the spoilered section below (to avoid a wall of text/images), including screenshots. And just to be clear, these are just ideas at this point. Whether or not they are actually implemented will depend on the feedback I receive. Here are some questions to consider, the answers to which will help determine if the changes I proposed would actually be useful or not: Does anyone use the option to grant 10 set enhancements (for sets that are subject to the Law of Fives)? Is there a need for lower level enhancements from sets that are available below level 25? Are the cascading menus preferred to the vertical menu proposed? Are there any tweaks to the above suggestions that might better serve the testing community?

I've been doing some badge hunting/testing on Beta, and when I came across Whitecap in Talos I thought of this thread. I took a screenshot to show definitively that there is indeed a badge marker on that ship, although I had to do quite a bit of camera work to get it to come out of hiding! During this process I've also learned that the trigger distance for badges is 20 feet.

When I overhauled the HC wiki enhancement sets page, I made a review pass that focused solely on uniques/globals/procs, and recall correcting a few that were labeled incorrectly. At the time I didn't think the Reactive Defenses: Scaling Damage Resistance was a global, but after some reflection I think it does qualify as a global, so I edited the wiki to reflect that. According to the in-game text, the Kismet: Accuracy enhancement is a proc. I believe it functions similarly to the +Stealth procs in the travel sets in that it has a 100% chance to proc when the power is used, and that's why it is always-on when slotted in a toggle (if the toggle is running) or in an auto power.

Just wanted to report back that I re-visited the locations in the Shadow Shard zones where, during Build 1, /thumbtack wasn't working due to out-of-range elevations. I was able to successfully place /thumbtacks in all those locations.

Thanks for the suggestion and reminder. I had been meaning to explore to see if this was even possible, and in addition to the 'whole set' command you provided, I was also able to work out the syntax for individual enhancements. I'll definitely add that into the next iteration. Speaking of which, I had some ideas for more changes (which I hope will be improvements), but I wanted to get the Dev's blessing before I posted a thread about them. I plan to post a thread in the next few days describing my ideas to illicit some feedback if it would be worth implementing them or not.

How feasible would it be to add them for the single exploration badges inside the safeguard/mayhem missions? Or would there be issues trying to assign a mission from within an instance? It might give folks extra incentive to stay longer and defeat more enemies.