Character Slots Screen: Moving Characters Around

[tripthicket]

When I'm at the character selection screen for a given shard, I have a problem that's been driving me nuts. Being an altoholic, I'm always creating new characters. As I do, I rearrange the order of the characters, usually to put them in at least alphabetical order, which, as my roster inevitably grows, means I'm often moving a character from one screen to another. It's this exact step in the process I've come to whine about.

 

My method is to hover my mouse pointer over the character I'm wanting to move, left-click and hold, then manually drag that character towards the right, and thus the next screen. Sometimes that requires moving multiple screens over. VERY often I overshoot the next screen, and it's this that's driving me crazy. I intend to move a character from the first screen to the second screen, say, but as I drag the mouse, I 'overshoot' and move 2 screens over instead of the desired one. Still holding the left mouse button down, I reverse course and try to get to the second screen, but again overshoot and end up on the first screen. This will almost surely happen at least twice whenever I attempt to move a character, often 4 or 5 times.

 

Before I run to the Suggestions forum, I'm throwing this out to you all. Maybe I'm missing something, or there is a better way that I just don't know about. Thus the question: do you move characters the same way? Or do you know of a 'trick' that makes it easier? Using the arrow keys while holding the left mouse button down doesn't seem to do anything. If there's not a cheat, I'll be suggesting this admittedly-minor QoL improvement.

 

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you may offer, except for you wiseacres who suggest that I up my OCD medication (hardy-har-har!).

Edited June 6, 2021 by tripthicket
Minor spelling errors

[KauaiJim]

I mod the playerslot.txt to manually put them in the order I want. Works WAY better than dragging across pages in that spastic touchy menu. 

 

Edited to add:

Since @Blackbird71 gave a pretty good write up that goes into a bit of detail I thought I should add that I use the playerslot.txt not only to more quickly / easily organize I also use it to insert 'blanks' (new character slots) in certain places.  For example, my entire first page is my list of my 10 Blasters, alphabetically except Maximus Power who is my main at the very top.  The next 2 1/3 pages are my list of Brutes alphabetically listed, then a few 'blanks' to complete that page so my corruptors begin on the next page, and so on.  This keeps each archetype divided and also leaves a few new character slots spread throughout so adding in new toons becomes fairly simple (unless I create a new Blaster since they just happened to fill up exactly one page).  The 'exception' being I grouped up Arachnos, Peacemakers, Warshades and Masterminds on one page since I only have one or two of each. 

 

You can manually move new character slots by dragging an actual character slot to a blank and forcing the menu to swap, but that method is tedious and way over complicated.  So once again playerslot.txt to the rescue.  Just skip the numbers you wish to leave as 'blanks'.

 

Instead of trying to visualize what I'm saying here's a copy of my actual file so you can visualize what I'm saying and go from there.  Hope this is a helpful guide to someone!

 

"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Maximus Power" "0"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Audios Amigo" "1"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Commander Gray" "2"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Cryonics" "3"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Deminder" "4"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Incineron" "5"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Niblet" "6"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Sonochron" "7"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Spraytime" "8"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Wavepulse" "9"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Dragonfury" "10"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Duplicut" "11"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Falconclaw" "12"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Full Impact" "13"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Handsome Hero" "14"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Hawx" "15"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Indemnity Claws" "16"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Justice James" "17"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Kinertia" "18"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Knightro" "19"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Mister Eos" "20"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Pompom Power" "21"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Powerburst" "22"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Quill Zone" "23"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Rhetribution" "24"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Shellshox" "25"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Shock n Roll" "26"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Strikezone" "27"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Talond" "28"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Thresha" "29"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Tough Break" "30"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Unchained Reaction" "31"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Veil of Shadows" "32"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Whacko" "33"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Afterglo" "40"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Dejavoo" "41"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Leaf Blower" "42"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Severe Weather" "43"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Whom" "44"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Cyndra" "50"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Freeze Out" "51"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Hard Targette" "52"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Kentawkwa" "53"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Think Again" "54"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Audioburst" "60"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Drainstorm" "61"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Gamechanger" "62"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Ultraburst" "63"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Violocity" "64"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Adyra" "70"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Doom n Gloom" "71"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Oculon" "72"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Psycho Salad" "73"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Bite Mark" "80"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Spindra" "81"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Cybro" "82"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Major Bravo" "83"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Celestri" "84"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Mister Ri" "85"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Troubulation" "86"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Beatdown Basher" "90"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Blue Mood" "91"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Boogieboy" "92"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Cool Beans" "93"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Crimson Tempest" "94"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Crimson Vengeance" "95"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Jade Katana" "96"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Lillypad" "97"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Loco Motion" "98"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Micromax" "99"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Redressa" "100"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Reflexion" "101"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Shinobi Dragon" "102"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Tiebreaker" "103"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "What The" "104"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Aquanox" "110"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Bumblefly" "111"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Burncicle" "112"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Dos Pistolas" "113"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Flutterbug" "114"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Full Blast" "115"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Pulsarix" "116"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Quick Thought" "117"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Snowtorch" "118"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Super Pickle" "119"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Chillride" "120"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Cobalt Sky" "121"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Minimac" "122"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Shadowghost" "123"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Shredator" "124"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Wysper" "125"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Captain Goofball" "130"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Crazy Crusader" "131"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Detrimental" "132"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Double Play" "133"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Dynacron" "134"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Furrocity" "135"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Grape Crush" "136"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Gyron" "137"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Ionicon" "138"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Isotope" "139"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Lovebunny" "140"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Omega Dude" "141"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Owie Kapowie" "142"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Pompummeler" "143"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Ready Or Not" "144"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Rocky Mountain" "145"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Swingwing" "146"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Twrecks" "147"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "What The?" "148"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Wing Ding" "149"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Picklejuice" "150"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Part Time" "151"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Full Time" "152"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Holy Guacamole" "153"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Super Taco" "154"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Burrito Boy" "155"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Chai Tea Tai Chi" "157"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Discombobulist" "158"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Handsome Ransom" "159"
"KauaiJim" "Everlasting" "Tempname7" "156"
"KauaiJim" "Brainstorm" "macetester" "0"
"KauaiJim" "Brainstorm" "Full Impact" "1"

 

Note if you have more than one account you will see separate directories for each with it's own playerslot.txt, but characters on one account but on different servers will all be in the same file (note the two 'Brainstorm' toons at the end of the list).  Lastly, as @Blackbird71 (good golly there are a lot of 'Blackbirds'!) said the order in which they are listed within the file is not important, I could literally reverse the order listed and leave the numbering as is and it would display the same.  I just like it nice and tidy to appease my OCD.  😉

Edited June 7, 2021 by KauaiJim

[Blackbird71]

As an altaholic myself, I understand your pain.  Here's the solution I've used:

Go into your CoH installation directory.  There should be a folder in there with the same name as your user name; open that.  Inside should be a text document named "playerslot.txt"; open this.  This file is what the game uses to sort your characters in the select screen; each line is formatted as follows:

 

"username" "shard" "character name" "slot number"

 

By changing the slot number, you can change where the character will appear in your list.  Note that the order of names is not important; only the number.  However, sorting the names could make it easier for you to keep track of where characters are.  I suggest opening the file in Excel or a similar spreadsheet editor, which should put all the text in a single column, one line per row; then you can sort the column alphabetically.  Then, save the file (as a text document; don't convert it to a spreadsheet format).  Now you can reopen it in a text editor, and change all the numbers to match the alphabetical listing.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Blackbird71

[tripthicket]

MUCH thanks to both @KauaiJim and @Blackbird71! With a fix like this (which I will likely use often), I see no need to suggest that QoL change--the devs have enough on their plate without addressing this extremely trivial 'problem' that isn't even in the game itself.

[Blackbird71]

19 hours ago, KauaiJim said:

Since @Blackbird71 gave a pretty good write up that goes into a bit of detail I thought I should add that I use the playerslot.txt not only to more quickly / easily organize I also use it to insert 'blanks' (new character slots) in certain places.  For example, my entire first page is my list of my 10 Blasters, alphabetically except Maximus Power who is my main at the very top.  The next 2 1/3 pages are my list of Brutes alphabetically listed, then a few 'blanks' to complete that page so my corruptors begin on the next page, and so on.  This keeps each archetype divided and also leaves a few new character slots spread throughout so adding in new toons becomes fairly simple (unless I create a new Blaster since they just happened to fill up exactly one page).  The 'exception' being I grouped up Arachnos, Peacemakers, Warshades and Masterminds on one page since I only have one or two of each. 

 

I have my own way of grouping my characters, but I do something similar, usually leaving at least one blank page between groups (sometimes two or three if it's a group I know I'm likely to add a lot of alts to.  Planning ahead and leaving empty space is a great way to make things easier to organize going forward.

 

19 hours ago, KauaiJim said:

Lastly, as @Blackbird71 (good golly there are a lot of 'Blackbirds'!) 

 

Just one I'm aware of. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird

[dangeraaron10]

I know it's only partly related to the topic, but I'd love an option to change character select to a grid view of sorts.  That way you could have 20 or even 30 characters on the "front page".  For true altoholics it could be a big QoL boost.  Not to mention it would end up looking like a fighting game roster at that point.

[Placta]

You can also use the mouse wheel to scroll between pages.

[TheZag]

27 minutes ago, Placta said:

You can also use the mouse wheel to scroll between pages.

I use the mouse wheel to scroll pages also.  It still works when you have picked up a character to drag around.

[KauaiJim]

While the mouse wheel can help with the page scrolling being twitchy, it doesn't really solve the giant reshuffle project that can ensue nor does it make leaving blanks easier.  Probably this is more of an issue for folks like me who have a rather large stable of toons and keep adding to or changing it.  For folks with fewer characters I think the mouse wheel suggestion would be helpful though!  👍

 

AND, one of the most important reasons for my original quest to find the playerslot.txt file and modify it was that I can COPY my completed file on my PC and put the same file on my laptop to have the exact same layout.  This way, I don't have a different layout on each computer that I have to manually try to make the same.  (well, it's still manual, but A LOT easier than the dreaded character select menu, lol).