Ago

It's a curse with the new tilesets applied to Atlas Park, Kallisti Wharf and other places that got some love post Going Rogue (at places, Echo Plaza does it). Praetoria has always had that issue at a distance. Up close it is beautiful, but far away, the pop-up boundary for your in-game field of vision hides a tile fight. I wouldn't waste time (and sacrificed settings to mitigate it) on a fix personally as it seems to be anywhere that hasn't seen a revamp (even the sites that have a Paragon City University, the grass does it at a point) but if client-side you figure out a combo where it stops doing that, feel free to share with the rest of us... I don't think anyone has found a settings based fix for it short of shortening the draw distance to make rising higher than 400 feet turn anything on the ground to a blue or dark purple fog. The engine has been to blame at points, some repeat the same defense that it's a SD game trying to run in an HD world. Others point to OpenGL limitations but there's other OpenGL titles with similar maps that don't have that issue. Someone claimed it was cured once and for all with an Nvidia RTX card they bought that has a 9 in one of the digits, then others dogpiled in hasty replies to call them a liar. Somewhere between those is probably the truth, but it still does the flicker at height.

Assuming that last sentence is correct, both Island Rum and HC Launcher installs done on MacOS versions older than Sierra are pretty much "on your own" at this point. Mavericks predates High Sierra by three annual releases (Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, then Sierra) which is the current recommended 'legacy' OS for older Macs. Both installers use Wine, which no longer offers bug fixes for OS X Mavericks and older. As for the hardware: 2019 Mac Pro (looks like a ginormous Cheese Grater): it shipped brand new with Catalina. It should be able to run Ventura without any issues, but MacOS Catalina should definitely work with HC Launcher out of the box. 2013 Mac Pro (looks like a sleek black "trash can" with fan grating on the top): That came with Mavericks. Good news? You should be able to download MacOS Monterey, which still gets security updates. HC Launcher can run on that OS (I use it on my 2014 Mac Mini, can attest to it working well), but you need to upgrade it away from Mavericks to get it going... see the steps below. Older Mac Pro (silver aluminum body that was from revamped from the Power Mac G5 from 2007-2012): You can install High Sierra on the later models in that line, but that's as far as it'll go. You can check when the Mac was made with the Apple Menu, and "About This Mac..." It should report when the system was made and what OS you're using. For the 2013 Mac Pro, the Mac App Store has been present since Mountain Lion, you should get OS X upgrades from there, or you can download the installer from here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683. OS Updates need done at least a little sequentially. It's not difficult, but...: From Mavericks, I'd start with High Sierra. Download it from the above link, then let it run. Big, Autumn, yellow and grey mountain scene when finished. Some detailed help on making a USB installer if needed: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372 Once High Sierra goes to the desktop, open the Mac App Store. You can search for "MacOS Monterey" from there and run that installer. Another wait to get to a very purple mountain-y desktop. This is oversimplifying the update process. For a couple of OS 'leaps' to a recent release, it's probably going to be a Saturday or Sunday project. Expect to invest at least 4-8 hours into catching it up. Stability-wise: I know older Macs updated to recent OS versions mean losing performance over "new shininess" that 30-60% won't do the new features on the older hardware anyway, but I'd strongly recommend updating your OS to at least Catalina or Big Sur if you can. The improvements made since those releases are totally worth the headache to carry them out.

If you were around during the shutdown from August-December 2012... AND (big ask here being over 10 years ago now) ...you made Sentinel+ files of your characters, you cannot import them back into this game. But you can at least get your costumes back. https://cit.cohtitan.com/senticon/index.php Upload the XML file into this page, then click "Extract". You can then download .costume files to import into Homecoming. (Place the downloaded costumes in c:\Games\Homecoming\costumes, or wherever you installed the game.) This only works on Sentinel+ files. If you still have .costume files, they should load in Homecoming in the same manner, just copy them to the Costume folder in your client.

Depends how you installed it. Steam Deck, only detail I know is there are two places that are "safe" from SteamOS/Holo Updates: -- Anything saved in Userspace (/home directory) -- Any apps not a part of your Steam installation have to be installed as Flatpak apps (using the Discover application.) While City of Heroes cannot be installed as a Flatpak, a Lutris installation in the Discover app will survive a system update. Installing apps using pacman, shell scripts, and other methods are not recommended. (Next major Holo update that reimages the Steam Deck will wipe it off the SSD, so you'd need to reinstall it every 60-120 days.) The tricky part is finding where Homecoming is. If you installed it yourself using .wine, it could be in /home/.wine/drive_c/Games/Homecoming/bin/bin64/launcher.exe (bin64 assumes you use the 64 bit client.) If you launch it from Lutris, it will be in /home/Games/city-of-heroes/drive_c/Games/Homecoming/bin/bin64/launcher.exe (Again with bin64, and "city-of-heroes" assumes that is how your launcher is named in Lutris.) There are other ways to install it which all make the destination vary. But as long as the game itself is behind /home it'll live through SteamOS updates. TL;DR: Check your launching method. HC Install may be running instead of HC Launcher, causing you to 'reinstall' HC every time you launch it seems. Check the launcher shortcut wherever it is and see if it's running HCInstall.exe instead of where HC Launcher should be installed.

That error is when the client is out of sync with the server. This can happen when launching the game after Tuesday Maintenance without updating the client. When that happens: Tequila/Island Rum: use the Re-Validate feature. You may need to close and reopen the app to do this. HC Launcher: click the three dots on the "Homecoming" box. "Check for updates" will refresh the launcher so if "Update Required" appears, you can click on the update arrow to begin patching. If it still shows green, try "Verify" to get your system to check file versions against the latest known recent updates. Failing that, close and reopen the HC Launcher to force it to check.

You may need to update your Island Rum or HC Installer. Download the latest installer from https://islandrum.eekstudio.com/ and run the install wizard. This will fix the launcher. Apple recently released a fix for MacOS that caused similar behavior for Wine users across the board. It could be that, or since you were able to launch it (and install the game in a second folder on your system it seems) the launch process needs updated on the Launchpad/Dock shortcut to start the correct folder.

If this is recent behavior, I'd check the most recent driver update. NVidia and AMD won't patch a graphics driver for a game like this, but you may need to uninstall the driver and put the prior version back on that you know to work. If you don't want to go that far, turning your graphics down to Minimum and see if the character at least loads can point in that direction. (Load character, move to a different 'safe spot' that could be less intense for your card, logoff. See if it repeats.) I don't know if you have a separate system to test on, but if the client crashes across two separate computers that might be Support ticket worthy. Your character data could be corrupted. (Might still be worth asking in an all else fails manner.)

Why would the thread be closed? Someone else using Sweet Tea could see this and comment if they have a different experience? It's fine.

By Launcher, do you mean HC Launcher, or Tequila? Tequila, the manifest should be "http://patch.savecoh.com/manifest.xml", which hasn't changed in years. If you play Rebirth and use a different manifest-based patcher, that's the public address for Homecoming.

Haven't had a hand on them or tried one. Doesn't look like many folks have. From what I read, Intel made a command decision and chopped out compatibility for any games, systems, and resources specific to DX11 and older titles, which would include us. Arc is intended as a budget-friendly option to play games made for DX12 and forward. A750 and A770 are their RTX 3060 contenders. The A380 isn't even up to par to a GTX 1050, that's best for a 3rd or 4th Monitor card to add displays or video editing at best. (It DOES have AV1 hardware decoding built in, but that's not worth the price. AMD and NVidia's next model lines are going to include it too.) If you're thinking of one for a 2nd system and are willing to eat the cost, maybe a shrug? Try it? If this is to be your daily driver PC, I'd really advise against it and wait for a braver soul to give it a rundown. Before I'd pick one of those, I'd look at AMD Radeon RX or R7/R9 cards that are more affordable, or NVidia Geforce GTX 1060/RTX 2060's still out there that are similarly priced. If budget is a real concern and you don't have a need for AAA-Gaming or Ray Tracing (meaning you just play MMOs, Emulation and older games that don't demand as much) give the Ryzen 3/5/7's with Radeon Graphics (Vega/Navi/etc.) a serious look. That way, you can play COH as soon as it's built and save on cash until you can get the card you want (and possibly a Power Supply that does a better job for that card) for more intensive gaming later.

That may not be a good starting point. If you don't know the login name on the client (entered in the first screen of City of Heroes before picking a server), or the email address you used for the account, they can't do much without either piece of info. GMs do not proactively look at player info from the forums, though, so saying it here doesn't help. They can't discuss account particulars in public. You need to file a support ticket for this situation to get better info. (The Support area is 100% between you and them, we can't read your tickets.)

Sounds like a network or bandwidth issue. Having enough of a connection to make it past login, but not enough to talk to the server. We'd need to know how they're connecting to the game. Generalized Networking advice: Wi-Fi? Look at the signal strength. If you're south of 1Mbps, your connection will be infrequent. Wi-Fi, either find a placement closer to your router, consider installing a mesh kit, or switching to Ethernet. Computer Placement: line of sight or near line of sight to your Wi-Fi Router/Cell Hotspot is best. Avoid: bookcases, large metal appliances, microwaves, and multi-floor without a line of sight (without a Mesh kit, Router on 2nd Floor, Laptop on 1st? Won't work as well. Especially true with Basements and other places cement is a factor.) Consider the laptop capability. If an older system, Wi-Fi 3 ("G" network) systems will perform slower than Wi-Fi 4 or newer. You may need to buy a new Wi-Fi Dongle for USB. Wi-Fi Router is also a factor. Consider the following: Placement Wi-Fi Routers cannot penetrate certain media. Metal, Cement Slabs, Thick Glass have a 'bouncing' effect, while bookcases, furniture, and people 'absorb' radio waves (consider hallways, doors to the outside and other frequent foot traffic, which can be interruptive.) Higher is better. Most Wi-Fi Routers at chest or waist height will have a harder time 'navigating' around people than one placed at head height or better. Consider using a Mesh kit if your router is a Cable or DSL Modem that can't be moved easily. If you do this, turn Wi-Fi Features off on your Cable/DSL Modem and use them on your Mesh devices instead. (Also, keep things simple -- only one should be a DHCP Server. Pick one, and turn the other's DHCP Server off, whichever one you feel is easier to manage. Usually, your Mesh kit is easier to control.) Age Like the laptop, age of the router is another factor. A mismatch in networks may be something to consider. Wi-Fi 3 routers with Wi-Fi 4/5/6 devices and laptops won't realize any increase in speed over 54MBps. Wi-Fi 4 router may have a 150MBps maximum, but a Wi-Fi 5 or 6 device cannot exceed that 150Mbps. Upgrading your router to a newer one may be a good idea in that case. Public Hotspots Generally it's a bad idea to game in these places, even when they give you a password. The connection is meant for the mass use of email, web, and communications traffic. Video, Gaming and downloads, your experience will generally be poor. Plus, you have no assurance of privacy. (Any public hotspot with no password used, doubly so on the privacy forefront. Consider your in-game password in need of a change if you did use one: your network traffic is unencrypted.) Cellular, placement of the phone, hotspot or other device matters. If it has a weak signal on the source, the wi-fi signal coming from the hotspot doesn't matter. Find a window, a tall shelf, or another out of the way placement that faces your closest Cellular Tower. (In the LTE/NR/mmWave era, can be as easy as a neighborhood drive in town, or as complicated as a Internet Search to which tower is closest to you: https://www.cellmapper.net/ ) When deciding toward Hotspot performance over computer placement, side with hotspot performance. Having a 54Mbps link means nothing if the Hotspot's connection to a cell tower is below 1Mbps. Also, "premium hotspot data" applies. If you can't connect on slowed speeds, you likely won't be able to until your next billing cycle. (Especially for gaming, unlimited cellular plans are mostly a lie. The slowed speed rate is useless for 90% of Internet apps these days. It's a punishment, not a feature.) DSL? Some are less equal than others. 768Kbps isn't as common anymore but still possible in rural areas, lots of line noise with ill-maintained telephone poles, and home wiring that may need replaced. Even if you're paying for faster speed, if the DSL Modem can't realize that speed, you won't either. Using 1MB is a baseline. 3MB, 5MB even better. (You'll be hard pressed to find DSL service over 5MB unless you live in a City.) Cable? You may need to restart your Cable Modem. (This is a good idea to do periodically, as Cable Modems tend to slow over time from logs, RAM overfill, and other short term issues.) Also, Cable Modems that offer Wi-Fi may need troubleshooting as above. Fiber shouldn't be a bandwidth issue, but Wi-Fi placement still matters. Even with great bandwidth, you can't use it if your device is getting a 10MB link or slower. Your connection from your ISP to Homecoming Servers is also out of the control of Homecoming Servers. A Speed Test can give you an idea of your home's bandwidth, but it won't be precise: Some services are paid by ISPs to prioritize speed testing traffic while others are throttled. While a Speed Test may report 100MBps speed, your gaming traffic may be throttled by your ISP because of various reasons. Your link between your ISP and Homecoming Servers may have a long-term issue as well. Frequent problem locations include Asia (Philippines, South Korea, etc.), Pacific Islands, AT&T High Speed customers (frequent in the US South), or any ISP that tends to throttle any service that uses OVH (HC's Datacenter provider in Canada.) Finally, other usage on the network matters as well. If your house has frequent usage with family members streaming HD video, playing games, and other activity you are doing while you game. (Watching Twitch while you play? Or are you a Creator streaming video while you play? Your bandwidth requirements will be higher.)

It's dangerous to go alone! Take thi-- ...wait, this is a wooden toy sword. Full of nicks and staples. Yikes. Take this newer one, it's less "nail bat" energy!

Laptops and COH: A Modern Guide – 2nd Edition By Ago (as in was here a while ago) This is an update of the original guide I wrote in 2020. You can read the original here, but I don’t recommend taking the hardware picks to heart anymore. (Also, use “Find In Page” features in your browser of choice to hop to the subject of what you want to read instead of digesting the whole thing.) Laptops and COH: A Modern Guide, 1st Edition -- https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/14023-laptops-and-coh-a-modern-guide/ Also: Expiry Date is 2025. Because Tariffs suck. The moment most tariffs against imported electronics take effect, the pricing in this guide will probably be higher across the board. Prices will go up, but I'm not a crystal ball. Maybe not enough to matter, may be deal-breaking, or maybe entire categories of computers disappear because of it. (Gaming PCs going away is unlikely, but mass made desktops and laptops from the big three may face a reckoning. I can see a lot of product lines being culled for fewer and pricier choices across the board.) I also expect Microsoft, Apple (at least sub $1,200) and Google to shy away from graphics in their namesake computer followings going forward. Why is easy to guess: all of them are fawning over Hardware-driven localized AI and unrelated pursuits (at least for a good while.) I doubt laptops that can play COH will disappear, but Section II has been made irrelevant without tariffs in this year ALONE. Again, I'm not a crystal ball, but it'd be foolish to not expect more and more change. INTRODUCTION You want a laptop? You've come to the right place. I talk a lot, so I'll keep the intro short here. MODE D’EMPLOI Same as the last guide, I’m going to offer four qualifiers for every subject and an explanation why. They are: GOOD: A Good system will be able to play the game. Minimum or Performance settings are advised, otherwise detail may have to be turned down to be able to play. You can solo with a good machine. RP, even. But raids, task forces, and some of those parties HC Staff throw on occasion and this will run the game like a flipbook at points. Average FPS will be less than 30. BETTER: A better system will do fine with City of Heroes. You can expect more solid frame rates at Recommended or Quality presets, but usually not a lot of headroom to run Ultra Mode full blast. In Task Forces and Raids, you should be able to swim, but also tolerate occasional kludge. (Mothership Raids will still be chunky.) Average FPS will be around 30-45 FPS. BEST: The best systems will be on par with a Desktop’s performance with City of Heroes. A well shopped system (not necessarily top tier) will handle a raid with no lag. You can even effortlessly lead a Task Force/Raid easier on such systems, network permitting. NO GOOD: I’ll also point out what’s no good, or older hardware and technological dead ends that make the game a non-starter. These will be offered in three areas that I’ve refined from last time: “The Easy Buy”, “The Big Tech Answer” and “The Great Outdoors.” The Easy Buy I’ll point out with as little advice as possible what to think about buying if you need something right away. The Big Tech Answer is a bit of a joke anymore, but is kept for consistency with the prior guide. The Great Outdoors will be the largest part of the guide – how to shop for a laptop on your own. (I promise, it’s not just a clever title. It can be a jungle out there.) Same advice applies to both new and used laptops for sale in the third part. I will make the following assumptions of the readers: You are new to buying computers. If you bought a laptop before I advise trusting your gut and just using this as a reference. First, you are considering buying a NEW computer over a refurbished or used model. A used computer isn’t a bad idea, but if you’re going to spend cash on a DC powered pizza box, why not get one that will last a while? And like the last guide, if you’re going to get a new laptop, why not get one that plays it well? Hardware that delivers sub-30 FPS and exceeds $400 will be dropped from consideration. This is, unfortunately, a moving target due to a variety of factors. WHAT WILL CHANGE Admittedly, my first guide got a little long on the tooth. Of course, the last time I wrote a guide like that before Homecoming happened it was on the Live Forums, and I was starting my career in technology. Today, I’ve grabbed the last brass ring in that career, and I am seeing how far I can take it. Perspective always changes. So the first part that will change is me. Less narrative, more fact. The second part? Hardware will be pared down a bit. Except for the Graphics Chip which still matters the most. But the rest isn’t as important anymore. The Core i-Series naming isn’t going anywhere, Intel seems married to it. (Ha, ha, loser, I ate a pretty big crow on that one.) And AMD would be foolish to cut and run from Ryzen this quickly, the same line that reversed their fortune and made them contenders again. Third: Extra Credit isn’t needed for this guide. The major salvos have been fired by the hardware industry already. Chromebooks make a terrible choice for City of Heroes again. 32-Bit Systems are done as far as modern software development is concerned. And for better or worse, BIOS is dead. Long live the UEFI. (I call it “Ooh-fie.”) The year is 2024. The Place? Paragon City. This is… Babylon Five? …damn it, I need to stop watching TV while I write. (My jokes, on the other hand, are still terrible.) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE EASY BUY – WHAT TO GET RIGHT NOW WITH NO FUSS II. THE BIG TECH ANSWER – HOW MICROSOFT, APPLE, AND GOOGLE CAN HELP YOU… OR NOT III. THE GREAT OUTDOORS – HOW TO FIND A LAPTOP ON YOUR OWN Price Processor Graphics RAM Hard Drive Battery Life Software Miscellaneous With all that out of the way, on with the show… I. THE EASY BUY WHAT TO GET RIGHT NOW WITH NO FUSS This will be the shortest and sweetest part. I’ll do the shopping for you, but it has three caveats: Pricing is effective at the time of releasing this guide. Holiday 2024 prices updated below. This ignores any brand-hate. A fair deal is a fair deal, even if I don’t like the maker or their history. I won’t get into why. That’s what the last section is for. So, off we go. Allons-y! GOOD: HP 17" at Best Buy. Thanks to inflation (and soon tariffs), expect the minimum here to increase to $450. BETTER: Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 for about the same as before, $899. BEST: If you have $1,200 or more, any lower end gaming laptop should fit the bill for City of Heroes, especially if it has Nvidia or AMD Graphics. (Can't stress that enough: it's possible to drop $2K on an Intel laptop and have the same bad experience as a $400 Intel laptop.) Easy part finished. Now, for the actual work. II. THE BIG TECH ANSWER Apple is now the only answer left. Microsoft and Google devices are an expensive dead end. Surprise! GOOD: Apple MacBook Air 13" M2. It's the only laptop left below a $1,200 starting price that plays COH well at all. Good News? Apple no longer has 8GB RAM in the base model, so $999 gets you 16GB. (Thanks AI that I intend to turn off after first boot!) Bad news? M2 is a stone's throw from leaving the Apple store. The next MacBook Air refresh (likely the M5) will kick it off the list. $999 will start describing refurbished Macs soon, not new ones. (Unless WalMart holds another fire sale.) Also, be advised that Air models will slow the CPU when excess heat is present, which will affect gaming use. A fan-based cooling mat may or may not help. (Users of MB Airs that play CoH on Apple Silicon report that with sensible settings there are no slowdowns experienced in most gameplay. But if the device gets sluggish on a raid or iTrial, that could be why.) Honorable Mention: Mac Mini M4 Yes, this is a laptop guide. But for $599, 5"x5", and acceptable game performance on 2K and 4K displays, it's worth considering for some folks who are used to dragging a Nintendo Switch on flights to play games in a hotel room, or something small enough to bring to a friend's house. But not if you already have a laptop that can run it. And this is a laptop guide, so that's enough of that. And that is basically it. NO GOOD: This isn't a cop out, but the conclusion of following hardware trends since 2011 on laptop gaming. So I'll post this in large block type to drive the point home: DO NOT EXPECT A BRAND NEW MICROSOFT SURFACE OR GOOGLE CHROMEBOOK TO PLAY CITY OF HEROES. Microsoft has stopped offering AMD-based Surface devices, with the latest Surface Laptop lineup using only Intel processors. And among most of them, CoH's performance is low-to-mediocre at best. Intel is culling IGP OpenGL support (same as they did in the ARC Processors) to make way for newer graphic standards. There are Surface Laptops that will play COH well, but none of the models are new anymore. (See Surface Laptop 3 or 4 with AMD Processors.) As for the Snapdragon X processor-based Surfaces (positioned as the Copilot+ PCs, but that's not really a hardware category) it turns out the x86/x64 emulation is greatly improved across the board as compared to the SQ1/Surface X days... except in gaming. City of Heroes is unplayable on Snapdragon X even with emulation. This is first hand experience trying to run it on a loaner with a fresh install of HC Launcher. I couldn't even get to the log in screen. This may get better later, but that's a lousy promise to make to someone considering obtaining a Snapdragon X based laptop to play games with it. Just get something else. Finally, don’t buy a Chromebook and expect to play City of Heroes on it (short of "local game streaming", but if you're going to do that, may as well involve your iPhone or iPad to really impress a bystander). Ignoring the ARM processor models (non-starter), the words from the mouth of a better qualified expert, MrChromebox, has it down cold – Buying any Chromebook with the intention of running Windows or Linux is not a great idea. Many can't boot anything other than ChromeOS; Those that can boot Linux (or Windows) often have functional deficiencies -- DO NOT EXPECT EVERYTHING TO WORK OUT OF THE BOX. Older models may fair better compatibility wise, but there are still lots of caveats, and it's not recommended to buy a Chromebook as a cheap Linux device. Alright, feeling good. Two of the three sections down. But now, it is time for the section that’s in-depth reading. You ready? I’m ready. I’ve been ready. I met ready. And we hit it off. I’ve visited ready’s high school reunion, donated to its booster club, and I even took a pic with ready. We’re buds now. III. THE GREAT OUTDOORS HOW TO SHOP FOR A LAPTOP ON YOUR OWN. PRICE So, in the prior guide, I had a big section on shopping. This one, I’m taking a different tack: I’m factoring the price as a part of the laptop spec. In this regard, I’ll give the following advice, and gently expand on it (no GOOD/BETTER/BEST here, it really depends on the specs involved): A laptop’s price has far less to do with its capabilities, and much more to do with its DEMAND. This is the big secret in the industry. Spending $2,000 to $3,000 on a laptop is no guarantee it will do everything you will want it to do. Or even anything at times. Most expensive laptops are geared for two outcomes: portability and battery life. (Battery life will make for funny reading in a moment.) Likewise, if you know where and how to look, spending less than $400 can get you what you want if you don’t expect the device to do it all, and are specific on your needs. Spending on a cheaper machine doesn’t automatically make it garbage (although to be fair there’s a lot of garbage out there.) Spend on what you CAN’T expand later. A laptop can be one-hundred percent on-board components with no ability to upgrade parts later (Macbook, Surface, and such are popular examples.) Some not only permit upgrades, but they also modify the laptop case to make such upgrades far easier on amateurs. RAM, Hard Drive and Wi-Fi door panels on the bottom lid make such replacements minutes away. A LOT of them hide their expandability, requiring you to remove feet, use picks or a expired credit card to separate hooks on the case, and carefully disassemble the parts to gain access to your upgrade slots. Almost all of them stand firm on three parts: the screen, GPU and Graphics Card (well, chip.) Almost all laptops make those components permanent. If your decision is between one with less storage capacity and one with a weaker CPU, when in doubt, aim for CPU power. Storage can be added later (even if it’s in the form of USB.) Don’t spend when you are emotional. If the one you want isn’t in stock, or the doorbuster sale for Black Friday became a bait and switch… (“Get this gaming laptop for $400, limit 3 per location. Rest at retail price.” Boo…) Or let’s say the one you had your heart set on it turns out that it can’t game at all. In all those cases it’s hard but close the wallet or purse right up. Also, never let a salesperson pressure you. Especially don’t let them summon other salespeople to surround you. If it helps, ask a friend to join you on the trip and let them talk you out of a bad sale. Your friend doesn’t have to know anything about computers. Just the ability to read your emotions is enough. If you’re not happy, make sure they talk you into walking away. So, what’s a fair price for a computer? That is the tricky part. You’re going to find machines in several classes of pricing. Value/Starter Computers: These are the entry level systems meant for students, young professionals, and people who need a simple computer to handle the basics. Popular examples include HP’s “nameless” laptop (the HP 14, HP 11, etc.), Dell Inspiron, Lenovo IdeaPad, and most models of Chromebooks. Processors can be as weak as Intel Processor (formerly Celeron/Pentium. Silly move, calling your weakest processors your company’s name.) or AMD A-Series and Athlon X4 systems, and as good as Intel Core i3 and AMD Ryzen 3. (But not much higher: if you find Core i5 or Ryzen 5 as cheap as the above, check what year they were made. They’re possibly older than they look.) Pricing centers around the $400 mark. Some less, some higher. Midrange Computers: These systems will have a touch more of everything: better port selection, more USB ports, bigger or higher resolution/High DPI screens (even in smaller sizes), better performance, and slightly better build quality. Examples of these machines include HP Pavilion, Dell Latitude, and Lenovo Yoga. Processors approach either the higher-speed dual core or multi core versions of Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5. Pricing is usually from $600-800. Gaming laptops. (BEST: This is the better place for spending nearly a grand.) While it is possible to find a low-end Gaming Laptop less than $900, the majority of them start higher. Gaming Laptops are designed for three things: screen, ventilation, and graphics. Where gaming laptops come up short? Usually, weight, battery life, and portability. Gaming Laptops have some parallels with desktop replacement laptops in that they tend towards larger size, heavier weight, and the need to be tethered to a desk or table close to a power jack. All the major players offer a model from the big three: HP Omen, Dell’s Alienware line, and Lenovo Legion. This trend is changing, however, with gaming laptops becoming lighter and more power conscious when games aren’t running. Models include the Razer Blade, ASUS ROG Zephyrus, and the MSI GS. But they don’t tend to be cheap. Expect to spend $1,200 to $1,800 on models that don’t need wheeled luggage to move about. Professional Laptops. (GOOD: Don’t expect great performance, but they’re not slouches either.) This is the most popular category of laptop out there. Light weight, great battery life, big screens (or at least high resolution and high DPI), and a lot more durable than Value or Midrange laptops. Models abound here: HP Elite, Dell XPS (used to be their gaming brand, but pivoted to the suits), Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and most Apple MacBooks. (I’d argue their cheapest one, Macbook Air, is the entry level to this category.) At the $1,200-$1,500 end of the scale the differences are clearer than in the upper prices past $2,000-3,000. (Usually, the more expensive, the more capacity and a slightly faster processor installed, if any difference at all.) Media Production or Workstation Replacement laptops. (NO GOOD) These machines are usually only available to businesses or folks with high demands on equipment with price not being an object. (Whether you’re a film maker, architect, or scientist, there’s an excellent chance you wouldn’t be spending out of pocket to obtain something like this for your work, but also just as likely that you can’t keep it when you change jobs or a project is through.) Like older Gaming Laptops, they’re large, barely portable, and heavy. Unlike them, if they come with a graphics chip, it’s usually CAD or video-centric and not meant to game on. A true workstation replacement has over a dozen ports, slots, and usually a docking port to add even more with a docking station planted at a desk or cart. Most recognizable models include the Dell Precision line, Lenovo ThinkPad P Series, and the HP ZBook. (It can even be argued that Apple’s MacBook Pro 16” w/M1 or M2 Max model is in this camp. The heft is there, anyway.) Most start at $1,800, so spending that cash towards a gaming laptop will make more sense than one of these. So, while ignoring the meaningful specs and keeping to generalities, hopefully the above helps to clarify that first bullet point in this section. Just because a laptop is super pricey, does not mean it’s meant to be everything to everyone. In fact, considering that most manufacturers expect a 4-7 year lifetime on all of the above models, such a laptop may not really exist. You can drop a grand on a new machine tomorrow, and it will give you a better experience, may even be put together a little better, and it might have more features. But it’s not going to necessarily last longer than a cheaper laptop as far as updates and driver support are concerned. PROCESSOR Second to price, but the most important spec. In fact, no other factor drives the price of a laptop more. And now to negate that reasoning! THE PROCESSOR DOESN’T REALLY MATTER FOR THIS GAME. For Homecoming, you don’t really need much. A Core 3 or Ryzen 3 is plenty for the game. But a cheaper processor may not be enough for your needs. For most people, a Core 5 or Ryzen 5 meets the needs of most people. (This guide was written on a Ryzen 5 laptop, in fact.) Again, if you are seeing a similar price between two laptops that can game, and one has less capacity but a better processor, side with the better processor. You can’t upgrade it later. This is NOT the case with a Desktop system you can build. But laptops, in 98% of cases you are stuck with the CPU you get. (I hear you, people coughing out "FRAMEWORK!" and "REBALLING! HEAT GUN!" Knock it off.) GOOD: Intel Core 3, 5, 7, 9 (Ultra is irrelevant: Core 5 and Core 5 Ultra both will work) -AND- AMD Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9. As Homecoming rolls well on all the above, not going to bother breaking these apart to better and best. If you don’t see the processor in this list, use these sites— Intel Ark: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark.html#@Processors (That Ark, the database, not Arc, the graphics card. SMDH at Intel, there.) AMD: https://www.amd.com/en/products/specifications If the processor was released before 2018, think twice about paying more than $400 for the system. The only consideration to make? Core 3 and Ryzen 3 will have less “headroom” to multitask (run Discord, Spotify or watch streaming video at the same time) or to run more than one client of Homecoming than the Core i5 and Ryzen 5 models and higher can do. But you can still do it. Mac aficionados: repeating the above advice for Apple laptops, Apple Silicon, such as M1, M2, M3 and all the variant Pros, Maxes, and Ultras all play COH well too. Just remember when asked to install Rosetta 2, your only answer is yes. Rosetta 2 is critical for Wine to function. Not Advised: (They're not no good, but there's caveats...) Intel Processor, Celeron, Pentium -AND- AMD Athlons. Any computer made before 2018 would be a good idea not to buy at this point. (See MODE D’EMPLOI above: assumption #2. Get something that will last a few years.) If nothing else: if the processor name has a "precious metal" of any kind in the name, it's either not going to work well with this game, or be way overpriced to bother thinking about it. (Examples: Athlon Gold, Intel Pentium Silver... Yes, even Xeon uses the metal names now.) GRAPHICS This is the second most expensive factor on most laptops, with the following impact: Discrete Graphics: a laptop with discrete graphics has a non-integrated separate chip to process video and graphics output away from the processor. Two advantages to this: your CPU doesn’t waste cycles running graphics on top of regular instructions, it just passes the GPU output to the screen. And second, Discrete Graphics chips keep their own Video RAM and don’t take a chunk from your system RAM. Discrete Graphics Card Cheat Sheet! (Wanna dig more? Search these posts.) Class of Laptop Don't Get This! Instead, Get This: Value/Starter Intel UHD Graphics or value laptops with no graphics stickers Radeon Navi/Vega Graphics Intel Xe Graphics Midrange Intel UHD Graphics or Arc A330 GeForce tens digit under 3 Radeon hund./tens under 3 (4 digit: 7X00, 3 digit: 5X0 - the X is the critical number) Intel Arc A350/370+/B570+ GeForce XX50+ Radeon X500 or RX5000+ Gaming (Yeah, all of this is gaming, but...) * Intel Arc A5XX/A7XX+ GeForce XX60+ Radeon X600 or RX7000+ Professional * * Media Production Intel UHD Quadro or RTX AX000 Radeon Pro WXX00 * Desktop Replacement * N/A * = "Same as above" X = This number indicates how new a card is. Cards with lower X numbers are certainly older than higher numbered ones. These indicate power efficiency and heat management moreso than actual performance. N/A = Desktop Replacement laptops with Gaming Grade graphics chipsets are few and far in-between... But if you find one, enjoy your unicorn. Not listed: Apple Silicon, paying less or more changes the frame rate capacity, not features. This is unfortunately getting harder and harder to determine in some cases thanks to manufacturers, except in one case: Nvidia. It’s a safe bet in 90% of cases that any laptop with a Nvidia Geforce sticker has a discrete chip. But you’ll usually pay a premium to get it over a non-Nvidia equipped model in the same line. Radeon Graphics is available on gaming laptops, but you’ll really need to check the system specs. Navi, Vega and any “not described” graphics support from AMD with a "Radeon Graphics" sticker on it anyway you can safely assume the next category… Integrated Graphics: integrated graphics are built-in to the CPU. Unlike the above, the CPU spends time processing graphics along with all other instructions, and your Video RAM is actually a part of your regular RAM. You can tell this when opening Settings in Windows 10/11, and look in the System panel on the “About” page at the bottom. System RAM will be reported, with a lower number being given as “Useable”. The unusable portion is being cordoned off by the CPU as Video RAM for the Integrated graphics. Something to keep in mind. Examples include: AMD Ryzen with Vega Graphics, AMD Ryzen with Radeon Graphics, and all Intel Graphics for laptops, regardless of name (including UHD, Iris, Iris Pro and Xe.) Do not count on laptop stickers to help disambiguate if a laptop has Integrated or Discrete graphics, especially in a store aisle. You have to read the spec sheet (or if the system is a live demo, look at the System settings panel). So, is integrated graphics guaranteed garbage? Not necessarily. For MMO titles made in the 2000’s and 2010’s, you can save a few bucks picking an Integrated GPU laptop over a dedicated one. If you want to play AAA Gaming titles, you’re going to need dedicated graphics. (Folks paying attention can see a very clear line of shopping: if cash is not in strong supply, any laptop with either an Intel Core i3 and Xe Graphics, or an AMD Ryzen 3 and Vega graphics at a minimum will play the game well. It just won’t be fast at heavy multitasking use.) RAM Unlike the Processor, RAM is becoming a necessary spec for laptops. You’ll need to pay attention on this one: BEST: 64 GB – 96 GB is best in a Gaming Laptop (you can do higher capacities of course). With Dedicated Graphics, the RAM is completely open to your operating system with plenty of room for gaming, browser tabs, and any kind of support apps. If you aspire to be a creator or share your gaming on a video platform, this is mandatory if you want to be able to run it well. Same as a desktop, a laptop motherboard has an upward limit on upgradeability. If you want to upgrade later and save money on a build, go lighter on RAM and switch it out in 1-2 years. BETTER: 32 GB is now what mainstream gaming users should aspire to have in their systems as their standard. Even on a cheaper laptop, if it uses Integrated Graphics, that means 28-30GB of useable memory in a 32 GB system over... GOOD: 16 GB is the new minimum. If you want to use Windows 11, or MacOS, you’ll need 16GB of RAM to use most apps these days. Multitasking isn’t an outlier any longer but the norm. With MacOS or Windows 11, expect over 50% of this to be used for system memory (you'll have less than 8 GB usable for programs... a bit less than that if integrated graphics are being used. This isn't a reason to move to 32 GB if you're a light user, just know what you've got.) BASELINE: 8 GB should only be considered for "budget" gaming only. (Don't expect to play Homecoming and run 2-4 apps along with it.) For a laptop over $600, 8 GB should be in the same camp as... NO GOOD: 4 GB of RAM is not usable any longer. If you find a system running Windows 11 on 4 GB, avoid it. You'll be gaming on a swap file which is still slower than RAM. (Windows 10 this does not apply, but 10 has less overhead than 11 does). This will rob performance, SSD or not. HARD DRIVE A few types of storage to consider: Platter Hard Drives. On most laptops, these are on the way out, but they are still present on budget devices. Even at 1-2 TB, these are cheaper than SATA/NVMe M.2, so pay attention to the specs. Write speeds are SLOW, there's no such thing as a fast consumer-grade Platter HDD past 7200 RPM due to physics. This won't change. eMMC Hard Drive. (Ranging from GOOD to NO GOOD, depends on the individual system. Lean towards NO GOOD without checking a review first.) This is common in Chromebooks and Ultra-light laptops that cost less than $200. The performance of an eMMC is barely faster than a platter hard drive, but not enough to have an appreciable benefit in gaming. Unlike a Platter Hard Drive, eMMCs are soldered on board and CANNOT be upgraded. (While unlikely, if a laptop has a M.2 slot elsewhere, they CAN be ignored however.) SATA SSD Hard Drives are present on some laptop models. (BETTER) These can be in the form of a 2.5” drive slot or as a M.2 device. SATA is better than eMMC or Platter, but it is now considered middle of the road now (and less common) in comparison to… NVMe M.2. (BEST) NVMe stands for “Non Volatile Memory express”, which uses a PCI-Express connection to connect your hard drive to the system bus. It not only comes in capacity sizes, but also in physical sizing from 20mm all the way to 120mm, with 2280 being the most common size. NVMe has the fastest performance (even older standards of it compared to SATA.) This is the current darling of the industry. Consider a 256GB NVMe M.2 as the starting point. (Especially if Windows and Homecoming are on the same drive.) If a cheaper model of laptop has a platter or eMMC hard drive (but has 512GB or 1TB storage) it will be slower to zone in when trying to hop across maps, missions, and iTrials. 512GB NVMe M.2 or better storage is recommended. Apple users: UMA and NVMe's latest revisions are pretty much the same speed, with UMA drives (that since Apple Studio and Mac Mini M4 were revealed) also use a M.2 connector the standards are just different enough for that "baked from home" vendor lock-in that Apple hinges it's business on. Don't upgrade a cheap Apple system for more storage. You'll wind up paying just as much or more than the next spec of laptop higher in 90% of the cases, which is Apple's entire game. (You can hook up external SSDs on TB3/4 that's just as fast if not close. It's one more thing to toss into a bag, but reasonable vs. $400 for 250GB more space.) BATTERY LIFE It held true with the prior guide, and it holds true today. Shall I say it again? BATTERY LIFE IS NOT A FACTOR. If you’re going to game on a laptop, it NEEDS to be plugged in to power, period. Summing up the same points that haven’t changed since 2020, here... Battery optimization while unplugged means turning down Graphics performance. This is done at a hardware level and cannot be completely mitigated in an Operating System or on your graphics driver controls. Laptops built for gaming have pathetic battery life WHILE gaming, especially at full strength. The battery on the cheaper, heavier gaming models is only strong enough to move between AC outlets. For the expensive ones that are lighter, the battery is meant to be used on non-gaming tasks; it will drain quickly if you game on it. So, what has changed? If the laptop uses USB-C charging and accepts Power Delivery chargers, you may have a second option. A Power Bank of sufficient size (20,000 mAh to 40,000 mAh) plugged into your laptop charging port could effectively add gaming time on a laptop without turning on Power Efficiency features. Most laptops with Barrel Jacks and proprietary connectors for power generally will not work on most batteries, even with a PD adapter plugged into it. (And concerning laptops with a RX or RTX dedicated graphics chip, if your laptop uses a DC power brick over 240 watts, PD charging isn’t even a possibility.) Any difference in battery life between laptops you’re considering shouldn’t really be a factor. Expect to be plugged in while playing COH, period. Gaming on battery means turning graphics way down and taking a FPS hit no matter the machine. Plug the laptop in. Play your games. It's that simple. SOFTWARE Operating Systems: also not really a factor. We're T minus less than a year from Windows 10 being discontinued (October 2025). Windows 11 is all that will be left soon for modern laptops. Just know that there's no significant difference in Windows 11 gaming-wise. MacOS post-Mojave the important spec to see on Activity Monitor is "Memory Pressure". If the game is on and the chart is green, you're doing fine. Red, consider closing apps while playing. Linux has crossed the same inflection point as post-2020 hardware makers have. 32-bit hardware no longer has kernel support, with all associated accessories like compatible graphics cards going out with it. If it's working now, the clock is ticking. If it isn't working, turning back to a prior Linux release that does support it is one possible stopgap. Otherwise, it is 2024. This holiday season or next winter may be time to let it go and get something new. Also, same warning I'd give to any gamer considering Linux; it's not an entry-level computer OS. Cut your teeth on a Windows or Mac system if this is your first laptop. (If you are at home in Regedit, know how to navigate the Command Prompt for tools like DISKPART, and twiddle with the Services panel in Administrative Tools to keep your computer running lean, then Linux is for you.) Bloatware: Every laptop is going to have pre-installed apps from the Hardware Manufacturer. It’s a part of the business. Every app on the system by default pays the hardware maker for the placement. The is a simple answer for a laptop that comes from the factory with Windows preinstalled -- download a Windows ISO on a flash drive on another system and wipe it. (Like for like: Comes with Windows 11, use Windows 11.) The stock ISO from Microsoft still has “paid placement” apps like Candy Crush and such, but those are “click to install” from Windows store. If you never start it, it doesn’t download. (Right click and "Uninstall" still gets rid of them.) There are some vendors like Razor who insist on using pre-made recovery drives and enforcing it by withholding hardware drivers from Microsoft, so installing a clean copy of Windows 11 is impossible. Put simply, you're stuck using what they want you to use for recovery. Go get that install USB ready and expect most of the bloatware anyway. Drivers: Installing graphics and chipset drivers are critical for most systems. In the past, it was common wisdom to install the drivers from your laptop maker and nothing further. Today, exploits, game patches, and hotfixes come way too quickly for a laptop manufacturer to keep up with (most of them REALLY don't once the machine is discontinued). Head straight to the source and get your graphics drivers from NVidia, AMD or Intel. Bottom Line? Mac or PC doesn't matter. Get the system you like. MISCELLANEOUS Build Quality: If you spend less than $600 on a laptop, the general expectation is you’re getting an all-plastic machine and simple keyboard. (There are exceptions: check out an Acer Swift if you get the chance.) It may not be as tough as a metal-cased powerhouse, but it works. However, things like trackpad gestures, N-Key rollover, and backlighting usually aren’t in the cards. That doesn’t mean you can’t mitigate. USB and Bluetooth accessories can help. Better Keyboard: Mechanical keyboards (good ones) usually start at $100 and go up with the mention of key switch manufacturers and response times. You might find a model under $100, but there will be some catches (non-removable switches, keycaps, or little to no backlighting.) If you don’t mind a cheaper model, there’s several Bluetooth models that have good response, backlighting and gaming performance that are easier to obtain. I've been happy with my MX Keys Mini for several of my devices ($100, pairs up to three.) Better Mice: Trackpads and MMOs really don’t mix unless your wrists are something of legend. You’ll need a mouse. Corded mice will generally be cheaper, but Bluetooth and RF Mice in the last several years have improved well enough to make them worth a second look. Most Logitech mice have a battery life of six to twelve months with either a single or two AA Batteries. Ergonomic choices abound for less than $60, from claw-grip mice to trackballs. Cooling: for cheaper laptops that weren’t meant to game on (but you’re doing it anyway…) a cooling pad makes sense to keep your laptop a few degrees cooler than without one. The king of the heap in most stores in this department (Belkin) is a bit overpriced in this regard. You can find a solid ABS Plastic and Metal cooling pad for laptops with large fans and quiet operation for less than $30. IMPORTANT: Same as the laptop, when using a cooling pad, have a table, lapdesk or flat board to place it on. The airflow is better than your actual lap, and setting a laptop/cooling pad sandwich on your blanket covered lap is smothering the fan intakes. Blankets and towels are also a bad idea as computer fans are mini vacuum cleaners: any fuzz pills or debris on your stuff will wind up inside. Cooling pad or not, NEVER place a laptop with fans on a carpeted floor. Smoke? Same deal. Consider smoking somewhere else other than where your computers are. Tar, ash and buildup will find it's way inside, whether you are a tobacco, candle or incense user and make cleaning a degree more difficult than being around a smoke-less or smoke-free environment. (Or even if you are a pit master. No judgment on my part, but smoke is smoke.) Carrying Case: when picking a case to carry a laptop around, if you have only a power brick and mouse, finding a case the same size should be sufficient (14” laptop in a 14” case is fine.) If you have more than that, consider buying a case 1-2 inches larger (even if it slides around, too much case can be dealt with; too little of a case is always a problem) or a backpack with excess storage (14” laptop pocket, rest of the bag holds everything else.) A high-price system may have some of these areas covered and not need all the above. But with the right accessories, even a cheap system can meet anyone’s needs. Warranty: Pay attention to the sale warranty from the manufacturer. Most machines are sold with 1y coverage at no additional charge. (Limited, of course: Manufacturing defects, short term failures, or “DOA” – laptops that do not power on when unboxed, therefore Dead on Arrival.) If buying direct from the manufacturer, a 2- or 3-year warranty plan may be offered for an additional cost, but only at the time of sale. If you don’t buy it at the point of purchase, or in a given enrollment window (such as within 14-30 days of the sale) you can’t get it later. Accidental Damage from Handling (ADH) may add coverage such as drops, cosmetic damage, or even water damage. It doesn’t cover DOA (usually handled by the original warranty without it), any user-replaceable components such as USB and wireless accessories from the sale (mice, headsets), or loss/theft (no warranty covers that at any price). These additional plans usually cover repairs, cross-shipped replacements of the whole laptop (new one arrives, you pack your old one in the same box and send it back in 30-60 days or pay for the 2nd machine), or a return carton for store credit to purchase a different model at equal or lesser value (rare, but in most plans as a severe case). No manufacturer warranty exceeds 3 years. When half of the computer's life is through, repairs from then on are on your own, or at cost (labor, parts AND shipping). Credit Card purchases offer a possible extended warranty for electronics bought with it at no additional fee. This coverage depends on your card (go ask your card provider), but usually has three caveats: It's automatic: applies AFTER your manufacturer limited warranty expires. No enrollments or fees as long as you use the credit card to buy it whole. (Can't split payment with cash or debit, this is all or nothing.) Uses the same terms generally, but usually adds back in material defects and cost of repairs (repairs exceed the laptop's price? Use this.) Handled by the Credit Card company directly, not the OEM. Usual remedy is sending the machine to them for reconciliation (anything from seeking reimbursement from the OEM, to straight up destroying it) and then issuing a credit to your card to go buy something else. DOES NOT APPLY - No extended warranty coverage for: Secured Credit Cards (if you paid a deposit for a credit card on hold with the bank while you establish credit on it) Debit Cards (even if you charge it as credit) Used items regardless of payment method (even if using a credit card). Generally, this only applies to new-in-box, original sales (you have to be the first owner, so brand new unboxed from a retailer, or a closeout purchase.) Additional coverage may be offered, such as an extended warranty, but pay attention: It’s usually from a third party, like Asurion or Allstate. This isn’t offered by the manufacturer nor involving them, the party that is selling the plan may get consideration (commission) from the insurance company if you do buy it (such as Best Buy or Amazon). If you do buy it, calling the manufacturer about issues with an extended warranty will be ignored -- the extended warranty isn't through them. (And sometimes they sell the same plans under their logo with the same service; "don't call us, call this number instead.") You can always refuse this coverage and finish the sale without it. If a sales person gets pushy after telling them no more than once, that's likely as any sign that you may want to walk away from the sale. Read the terms. Unlike a Manufacturer Warranty, Extended warranties are ALWAYS available for something after a sale, but it likely will NOT be as exhaustive as the Manufacturer Warranty. Coverage doesn’t always start at the sale. Some plans start AFTER your manufacturer’s coverage is completed. Be aware that there is the possibility of paying for too much coverage: Buying ADH from the additional provider doesn’t always mean your original warranty magically adds it if you didn’t, or that the extended warranty starts any earlier for it. Most insurers call this a "Coverage Gap," which is mitigated in other industries, but in electronics it's usually the point. Most importantly, YOU MAY NOT EVEN NEED IT. If you can handle basic fixes for laptops and wind up never using the plan, the insurance company essentially made money out of your fear. (If you're a fan of iFixIt, trust your gut.) And that’s the guide! Thanks for reading, feel free to add below any parts you want to explain further or disagree on, and hopefully this gets you the info you need shopping for new hardware. Revisions-- July 1st, 2023: Apple WWDC changes, RAM notes on all systems, and some pricing shifts. October 14, 2023: Updated models on "The Easy Part" just in time for the Chrismahanukwanzaakah Season, timelines and models from MS/Apple product reveals. Added Credit Card Insurance info, Graphics "Try These" suggestions, and tried fixing the fonts from the bold/big mobile display mess. November 19, 2024: Final update, shortened Section II and just lumped Microsoft Surface laptops to be in the same camp as ChromeOS now. Finished by removing all mention of Windows 12. (All hail AI.)

If it happens in another Windows game that uses Wine on your system, a more appropriate place to seek help might be Wine's Community Forums. Knowing what version of things you have installed may help (Wine 6, 7, 8, stable, experimental, what Debian release you're on...) The downside of community support: we can't help with what we haven't seen ourselves. While Island Rum CAN work on Linux, the HC Installer on its own within a Wine Prefix should be enough to get you going if you're willing to re-do the installation.

The only other choice: Run COH Windowed in 4K and drag the window size down to <1440 vertical resolution. Not great, but you keep your high resolution and have COH base editing still be usable. Resolution Scaling in game doesn't do anything to solve the issue in resolutions above 1440p. (Just tested this on my 4K screen, it's not just you for sure.) For my system, I run 2560x1440 on my 4K monitor and turn the UI up above 100% scaling in Windows 11. It's a happy medium, and High DPI display means the 'fuzzy' non-native resolution isn't as noticeable as it was with past displays. (2K on DVI, not running native resolution in the past was turning your graphics into an 8-bit looking nightmare with zero anti-aliasing.) I wanted a 1440p display to start with, but past $500+ gaming models with high refresh rates, 4K was cheaper for my needs. If I need the vertical real-estate and I'm not gaming, it's easy enough to switch it up.

Tuesdays, the regular maintenance window applies in the AM during Eastern Time. Check the Server Status page and don't log in until you see the Green OK status come back. (The launcher also has an indicator, but the forum page will get updated with better info if the window is extended or there's partial gremlins affecting some shards but not others.) Some more information on both of your computers may be helpful. Windows 11, sure, but what CPU? RAM total? (Yes, Windows 11 should "just work" but specifics may get better answers out of us.) What kind of graphics? There was a recent change for laptop and multi-GPU systems recently done in the Patch Notes, so if on one of those, that's good to know. Finally, Admin Mode should not be used to run the game at all. Especially if you use voice chat, media apps, or anything involving a webcam/mic during game play. It becomes a shell game of troubleshooting issues that shouldn't be necessary to just troubleshoot how to get it to run without it on.

Because the Praetorian alignments of Resistance and Loyalist are not the same as Villain, so the command is behaving as expected, neither alignment is a villain so no bars/HUD. (Not a great answer, you want the display elements, not semantics. I know.) The NPCs aligned Villain would be opposition to your character regardless of their Praetorian Alignment and would aggro normally.

Especially with recent court decisions, major app developers bypassing the App Store to charge payments without Apple taking a cut, and homebrew development... Apple will be hard pressed to get their way on gatekeeping apps from MacOS/mobile OS platforms. Back to the topic, yes, you're essentially doing TWO installs. The first one for Island Rum and HC Launcher to get it on your Mac Hard drive and to put "Launch COH" in your Launchpad menu. Finishing that step is equivalent to having HCSetup.exe downloaded and ready to run. The second is running the app "Launch COH" and letting the HC Launcher finish setting up and then "install" on the Portable Wine volume to patch the game up. Similar steps in Linux. Only Linux has less of a permissions issue because all Wine prefixes are in "user space" only, so all the files are owned by your login name under the /home directory. No permissions necessary. Unlike Mac and Windows, Linux installs of a game for multiple users needs to be installed somewhere else like /usr to share the client with different logins, and then permissions come back into play just like it does on a Mac. (Ignoring that, every player of CoH on the same Linux system is a 5GB penalty: every user space installation is a separate copy of HC Launcher and the game client.) Regardless, the same reasoning for both: you're preparing the OS to run a Windows-based game using Wine.

Walt Disney Corporation. It'd have to be an amoeba with goofy eyeglasses and a mustache or something.

I guess I can offer up another list of "hey, try this next" for troubleshooting advice. All of this is generalized, from the posts above, there doesn't seem to be a clear path of what's wrong software wise. #1 -- Hardware Failure #2 -- The Battle against Slog. #3 -- Laptops Only: And I know you're probably on Windows 7 for a reason, but it needs to be said at least once, consider using Windows 10. 7 has had end of life for three years now and there are patches being issued over the last three years for fixes that your system isn't getting anymore (your games are patching with these glitches and fixes in mind, even if your OS and Graphics Driver is not.) Microsoft 'ended' their upgrade program from Windows 7 to Windows 10, but it still works anyway. Punch in your OEM or Full Copy Windows 7 key into Windows 10 for activation, and you can upgrade it free of charge. If it doesn't, odds are you can run the installer a 2nd time to "Upgrade" and it'll work anyway. Generic advice delivered. Fingers crossed one of those touches a root cause for you!

Well... our doom is cuter.

At your house, I'd look at using a client such as Moonlight, since Nvidia ended their "remote play" solution (but they can't kill off NVENC, which is a hardware feature) or AMD Link if you use Radeon graphics. If the hardware requirements make you cross your eyes, check out the software ones below. Hardware solution Both have requirements: NVidia requires a GTX 600 for it's oldest H.264-supported encoder, but cards since GTX 1050 support H.265. Radeon cards need RX 6000 and newer cards in order to work with AMD Link. This works best involving a gaming desktop. There's some laptop host support (Discrete Radeon Graphics only - hard to tell, but AMD Link does not include integrated graphics like Vega, Navi or Radeon on Chip) but admittedly it's a crapshoot. Intel, Arc GFX card may do this, but I'd have no idea. (IGPs like Xe, Iris & GMA 4000 may do it if it supports VAAPI. The rest definitely won't.) CON: Your gaming system is technically still powered on. And if you want a purely headless system (no screen, wireless keyboard or mouse) you have to use a HDMI or DisplayPort dummy plug (they're cheap on Amazon.) Also, a recent router or mesh Wi-Fi network would be a good idea (at least 150-300Mbps wireless on router and your device.) PRO: Any phone, tablet or low-spec laptop can now play City of Heroes in your house. Go do a MSR in your kitchen. Software solution There's also Sunshine, which attempts to bridge all the remote video specs together to the same open-source server, but it needs homework done on your part. https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine If successful, any Moonlight client system can see the Sunshine-running system and connect to it. And Parsec don't give a damn what you got. But it doesn't work as well if the graphic card doesn't use H.264/H.265 output (if your card uses AMD Link/NVENC, it'll try to use it, if it doesn't, it won't) and takes a slight performance hit over the above being primarily software driven. However, Parsec does have easier remote use away from home - each client syncs with a cloud login similar to Remote Admin products like TeamViewer or VNC. https://parsec.app/

In Privacy and Security, did you give Launch CoH permission to open files and folders? Full disk access should not need to be enabled. I have it off on my Mac, and it runs fine without it. I think the most critical permission is Network Volumes, since Wine reaches the COH folder in Applications as a Z: drive (I could be wrong.)

I don't mean to dump on a prior post but Wine has nothing to do with ISP use. If it's a network issue, you should be able to get at least to the login screen and once you try to enter a password it won't continue. In Island Rum or HC Launcher, see if adding "-console 1" as an client argument helps. This opens a second window (which may need trickery to switch over to it and see the output) which may tell where the client is halting in the loading process, or if the client loads normally and there's something else wrong. For example, silly stuff like the Wine window isn't present while the client is actually working, or the window is out of bounds on your display and needs to be brought back to the monitor somehow. (If the console shows "Done loading." the login screen should at least be visible. Also, don't worry too much about errors on resources not found or graphics driver issues, those don't 100% go away even when the client works.)