Felis Noctu

To be fair, I would like to see the introduction of content designed for Incarnate'd characters. Paragon never really got around to adding stuff meant to be run by that level of power. Though, I guess it's difficult to find challenges for pseudo-gods 😛

I spent a few minutes scratching my head thinking I was crazy before hopping over here to make sure it wasn't just me. Sounds awesome, and thank you for all your hard work! =D

Vanden's fix pack is here, but obviously it's all loose texture files, so it isn't the easiest to actually view the differences. I've been working on something that I hope will allow for mass header copy between standard .dds and .texture. If it works, we won't need to fight with PiggViewer 1.6.1 to actually make the .texture files, and it would also help converting backwards as well.

I did catch that he wanted to make them as accurate as possible, but if he mentioned Sunset specifically, I missed that. That being said, he IS using the icon legend. If that's the case, some of the powers in-game were inconsistent due to patch changes or overlooked art decisions, so making consistent versions of the ones that were incorrect isn't too far off. What would be really cool is if we could get a setup for an icon compiler tool similar to what Vanden had used in the past, with high-res template files like Rylas' work. Being able to construct custom high-res icons would be awesome!

@Rylas Out of curiosity, are you modeling the power icons directly off of the current in-game versions? Have you checked out the fixed erroneous icon pack at all? Having those alternatives would be awesome as well! Also, considering the bits and pieces I've been doing already, would you be alright with a replacer texture pack containing the icons you're making? I'm sure Christopher and I aren't the only ones that like the softer look!

I've been messing with PiggViewer 1.6.1 and Pigg Viewer Pro while trying to help Vanden figure out how to get the tools working for the erroneous icons pack, and I inserted a few myself. Though, it sounds like swapping the header with a hex editor may be easier and faster than dismissing the error message in PV1.6 every time you change to a different texture. As for appearance, it's pretty close, but some of them have a noticeable difference even at that size. For example screenshots, top is Rylas' version, bottom is original: Rylas' versions are less saturated and generally softer. EDIT: @Olly: I'm not sure what happened when you saved that file, but that just doesn't look right? I'm gonna test that one real quick. EDIT 2: Rylas left, Vanilla right. I was expecting a bit more of a difference between our attempts due to tool and formatting differences, but mine's only a bit more clear than yours. I'm guessing it's due to the color palette and softer outlines. I'm going to guess that it'd look better if ALL of the icons from that set were replaced, so everything matches. Wouldn't seem so out of place.

Well, I was able to extract and create new .texture files with the old 1.61 version, I just can't preview them in PiggViewer itself. The swaps work in both the 32- and 64-bit versions of CoH, so good news there as well. I (hope I) sent you messages on Discord as well about it. If you're unable to get the texture file manipulation working, but you have the rest of the tools, I'd be more than happy to team up. I don't mind being annoyed by error messages if it means making progress! 😛 EDIT: Oh, and as for Piglet, I'm unable to build it. Not sure why, other than the code errors that pop up during the process. After several attempts I got frustrated and went back to install literally everything related to C++ compilation in VS2019 and it STILL fails, but I assume other people have done it successfully, so I have no idea what I'm missing.

Was there a specific problem you were having with PiggViewer? If you haven't gotten it functional, you'll need to run it in compatibility mode for Windows Visa (Service Pack 2). It looks like it's throwing up a .NET framework when trying to view textures due to the DDS.dll being incorrectly handled. Doesn't surprise me that they'd be using the DDS format, but I'm not sure how that could be resolved. I don't know if we can get a copy of .NET old enough to properly load it. EDIT: "But also, I can't actually find any of the i25 icons, like the new Blaster secondaries or Sentinel powers. Piglet can open multiple piggs at once, but even so I can't find anything they added for i25." I was able to extract icons from the Homecoming-specific PIGGs (they're in the /homecoming folder). archetypeicon_guardian.dds archetypeicon_sentinel.dds atomicmanipulation_decay.dds

Ahh, targa, cool. So we just need to figure out how to build the texture files again, since Piglet doesn't seem to be able to do it? Also, since you're floating around, do you have any objections to me including your work on the CoH mods archive site I've started throwing together? Just files at the moment, getting the content up first. https://github.com/FelesNoctis/library_of_ouroboros/

Not sure if this ever came to fruition, but I'm actively starting on that right now. Been gathering every mod I can find, links or the files themselves, whichever, and planning out a relatively simple site for it. EDIT: https://github.com/FelesNoctis/library_of_ouroboros Hooking up the git upstream now so at least the files are up.

@Vanden: Out of curiosity, do you intend on updating this for the I25/HC changes? If not, is it possible to get info from you about the format and how these textures are edited? A quick search didn't bring up anything notable, though admittedly I've been more focused on gathering up all of the locations/files for old mods. Sounds like you were having trouble with PiggViewer? I'm stubborn and have way too much time on my hands, so I may be able to figure something out. 😛 EDIT: Looks like the new tool is Piglet? Working to get VS2019 installed now so I can compile it and take a look.

My body would agree, much to the dismay of my brain and mouth. ...I miss being a teenager and being able to practically drink the stuff.

I'll admit I'm not entirely sure to that end. I know that there's been mixed decisions regarding S230 Safe Harbor and trademark, but I believe (no guarantees) that at the moment you're correct, and no protections are granted for trademark violations. S230 is about unlawful publication/distribution, which is generally more of a concern for copyright. As for DMCA, it's specifically for copyrights and doesn't have anything to do with trademark at all, so no application there. In fact, trying to use a DMCA against a trademark violation can actually open the issuer up to counter-action: DMCA paragraph 512(f) provisions regarding misrepresentation of the process.

And to add on to that, for people who may not understand the different categories, trademark is different from copyright is different from patent. (Disclaimer: Not a lawyer, but have had to personally deal with these topics before. These are all being described in relation to how they apply to Homecoming.) ----- * A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes goods, services, or the source of such, must be deliberately registered, and must be actively defended as it represents an identity. Names will open HC up for legal action through trademark, as with enough similarity they could be misconstrued as being used in an official manner. TL;DR: Trademark protects identity. If you don't defend the identity, you lose it to someone else who will. * A copyright is a set of rights granted to you immediately once you have created an original work. It lasts for a certain period of time after creation, and is protected through clear publishing that documents a rough date and time as well as the creating entity. A copyright is generally lost only if someone else can successfully prove they came up with it first. Copyright is also a legal mess of loopholes ripe for abuse by any party, as well as protections regarding fair-use and derivative works, many of which can't be 100% guaranteed until precedent has been set in court. Visual representations will open HC up for legal action through copyright. TL;DR: Copyright protects a specific work. You don't HAVE to specifically defend a copyright, but companies often do because it in part represents their image. If something harmful is mistaken for a first party official version of something, it can hurt the company itself. * A patent is a set of rights granted by registration of an idea, that allows the owner to maintain certain rights of the original while opening up the general concept to others to develop on. It's not something we'd be particularly worried about here, as anything that could fall under patent is going to be more easily enforced through trademark or copyright. TL;DR: Patent doesn't really apply to Homecoming, as the concept of superheroes is generic and wide.

I sure hope so. Disney's a huge fish that likes to throw down over frivolous things just because they can. Just gotta play it safe and cross our fingers!

That's exactly what I mean too. You would hope that covering the big names in a filter would be enough, but there are hundreds of potential mines in this field that we could end up tripping over, even one-shots, any of which could potentially be used to give HC a hard time. We just have to hope it doesn't come to that and covering the big names is enough.

You might think so, but what we're doing here is in rough legal waters, and US-based companies in particular love their legal action. 😛

This right here. They can toss the big names in the filter and call it a day. My main concern voiced above is that there are hundreds of comic book character names out there, and while it's unreasonable to assume every single one should be monitored, there's always the possibility that X company tries to make it hard on HC deliberately.

This is the main thing I'm concerned about. Staying away from copy-written content is always the best decision (maybe light references at best), but having a similar name should be irrelevant if the player subject has nothing to do with whatever associated copy-written subject. There were some cases back on live of people's characters or names being shot down due to similarity only, not to mention AE levels like what Kistulot is mentioning. As someone mentioned, DC and Marvel can be extremely litigious. The issue there is, especially in our situation, they can also (and may very well) try to bully. Hopefully the HC team won't need to bring the hammer down hard!

I disagree honestly. The problem with the gold sellers is that while it does show popularity, it's then up to the company running the game to deal with it. It causes inflation for the in-game economy, which in turn results in shrinking player counts due to frustration, thus being a profit loss. Not to mention they'd honestly care more about the whales willing to dump massive amounts of money into the game than the gold sellers. Keeping the whales spending however requires active development of new features to entice them, which I very much doubt NCSoft is interested in doing. They also can't use the new Homecoming content as that falls under the creator's copyright. Yes, even if it's produced in a technically illegal environment, as it's still their intellectual property. From a business perspective this doesn't mean much for Homecoming's status other than stronger community support due to their efforts. It's only if Homecoming started profiting from the situation somehow that it might cause any significant damage.

What I think is interesting is that they consider Homecoming profitable for their time. As annoying as it is, that's a compliment! 😛

I'd second this, and it's unfortunate. Evolution and change is the foundation for improvement. Hasten is so incredibly powerful that it's considered to be required in practically every build that's considered to be "competitive" in the end-game. In any other situation, that would indicate it's a problem, not a good thing. However, re-balance doesn't necessarily have to be a hard nerf, or a removal in drastic cases. For instance: I like the idea of that first one for Hasten, but not the second for the fitness passives. Removing the necessity to select Hasten as a power means one additional pool available to builds, which can increase diversity. Removing slotting on the fitness powers (and by implication Hasten as well) would reduce diversity, impacting what those powers represent. It's a cliche example, but look what over-simplification and homogenization did to World of Warcraft: It feels soulless now. Providing everyone with those benefits in some form I think is an excellent move, but re-balancing Hasten it due to it now not requiring a pool selection (thus 100% a buff to everyone), and keeping the slots across the board for all of those passives, is essential to allow people to set themselves and their builds apart. Having and being able to make those tough decisions (do I want a faster recharge or faster endurance recovery?) is the spice of life!

Both of these strike a cord for me. From a hopeful, realistic side of things, seeing the game's future safe and in the community's hands is the most important thing. The original sunsetting was extremely emotional for me. I felt like I lost a family. One of the biggest reasons I've been hesitating to devote much time to playing here is because I don't want to deal with that loss again. ----- As for a development future, as others have mentioned, new powersets would be awesome, as well as implementing the pool powers that never made it originally. New archetypes are OK, and I do like the concept behind the Sentinel, but I'd rather see more powers and additional proliferation for the current ones. New appearance customization options would also be awesome. If I were to narrow down my hopes and dreams to something specific, there are two in particular that cross my mind. The first is something that I'm unsure is even possible, but we're desperately missing a muscular "amazonian" female option. Males can range anywhere from skinny nerdy types to massive beefcakes, and that's not including the alternate "huge" body. On the other side of the fence, there's no good way to make female characters in CoH actually appear like anything other than some variation on runway model. The number of examples of bulky females in comics is sadly lacking, yes, but it would still be nice to have the variation. Something slimmer than "huge", with a feminine angle on it. You know, to be able to make characters like this. Though, without knowing how current costume parts are designed, I have to imagine the worst and believe that it would require a new version of every item shaped to the new body type, which is no bueno... The second, which I'm sure people will think "typical" given my namesake and icon, are improved beast parts, primarily the heads. Let's be real here, the "Monstrous - Beast" heads are hideous, and not in what I'd call the "intended" way. Good lord that lower jaw! Not to mention the sizing difference between regular and monstrous heads: they're too small. Yes, including the lizard head, though it's better. The separate beast heads outside of the "monstrous" category are a little better, but feel like they're missing a proper neck and the head is jammed into the shoulders. It's a bit better on males, but I'd still call it iffy. Minotaur is the closest it gets to almost-right size. Actual beastly hand options such as avian talons would be cool, but I imagine that could be a rigging nightmare. The tails are decent, not really any complaints there, other than a non-flaming avian feather option. I think the monstrous legs are pretty much covered as well, though maybe a "monstrous" model for feet similar to what's available for the hands (claws and such) would be cool. On the not strictly beast related side of things, I've noticed some costume options are missing from sections they have no logical reason to be missing from. I'd assume they were just forgotten. At some point I'll probably make a list to post. ----- Really though, you guys are doing an absolutely fantastic job! Honestly if you just keep doing what you're doing we can rest assured knowing Paragon City is in good hands. 💕

Honestly, unless your character has a reason to be directly tied to the in-universe timeline, you don't really need to force it. There's definitely an advantage of having an overarching concept of what happened of course, but it doesn't necessarily need to be directly referenced in every case. Most of the "main characters" in my collection have seen casual RP outside of CoH since everything went kaput, so my interpretation and personal approach so far has just been that the time happened, but nothing else was set in stone. WHEN that time happened is a somewhat sliding case. Basically, 6 years or so of semi-canon side stories happened that filled them out a bit more, and then I'm just going with the flow from there. I never really based my characters around actual in-universe as a hard foundation: they were always just "there" and would react as necessary, but generally had their own thing going on. A large part of that is because I rarely chose to actually care what was going on unless it was a HUGE event of some kind. I'll probably continue that habit now and, even if some consensus is reached amongst the community as to how everything's gone down (time-skip, no time-skip, alternate reality shards, whatever), it's unlikely to really affect my characters all that much. The advantages of playing outside of a hard timeline. :P