Halloween event GM spawn maps

[AboveTheChemist]

Please limit discussion/feedback in this thread to the use and development of this mod. Thanks!

 

In order to facilitate the hunting of giant monsters (Eochai and Jack in Irons, along with their Unseelie Court) that appear throughout various zones during the Halloween event, I developed a set of in-game maps depicting their spawn locations in the 37 zones in which they appear during the Halloween event. These maps replace the existing in-game maps for those zones. Notes regarding map installation, map use and symbology, as well as map development and other notes, are contained in the spoiler sections below.

 

Please, at the very least, read the sections on Installation and Removing/Deleting Old Installations, as most of the answers to questions I receive are contained in those two sections.

 

If anyone would like to use this mod as a starting point to build your own mod, please feel free to do so. All I ask is that I be acknowledged for the work that has been done to date, and that you take credit for any modifications that you make to this menu.

 

Here's an example of one of the maps (Atlas Park):

 

 

 

This mod can be installed either via City Mod Installer, or via manual installation. For those that might prefer to remove this mod when not needed, uninstallation instructions are included. An offline version is available at this link.

 

Installation

Spoiler

The current version of the Halloween event GM spawn maps is available via the City Mod Installer as Halloween Event GM maps (version 1.2). Installing via City Mod Installer is the (strongly) recommended installation method.

 

Manual installation is via a .pigg file (named maps_halloween.pigg) available on Google Drive at the link below:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NV5UimM76GMpdnKUn8y0a4eEO2nxgyxr

 

For manual installation, locate the root folder for your CoH installation (which I'll refer to as <CoH Root Folder>). If using the new Homecoming Launcher, click the settings button (which looks like a little gear) in the upper right corner of the HC launcher. When the settings window appears, the installation location is shown at the top of the window. The following screenshot illustrates what you will see (the settings button appears in green here):

 

 

If using Tequila or Island Rum, you will either need to search for the install folder manually, or you should be able to check the properties of the shortcut used to launch Tequila/Island Rum, and the installation location should be listed there.

 

The .pigg file is a self-contained archive that functions identically to the .pigg files that contain all of the game data. It should be placed in:

<CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods

If your <CoH Root Folder>\assets folder does not contain a directory named 'mods', please create a directory named 'mods' within <CoH Root Folder>\assets and place the maps_halloween.pigg file within.

 

The final step is to modify your game launch parameters to tell the game to check your <CoH Root Folder>\assets\mods folder for the new mod by adding the following text:

-assetpath assets\mods

This is a one-time change so if your launch parameters have already been modified to add the above text, then there is no need to do it again. Instructions for locating and modifying your launch parameters can be found in the post at this link.

 

Users that have one or more existing launch parameters can simply add a space at the end of the existing parameter(s) before adding the new parameter.

 

When GM hunting is complete, the user may wish to uninstall this mod depending on the user's in-game map preference.

 

Removing/Deleting Old Installations

Spoiler

Users that had previously installed the Halloween event GM spawn maps either manually or using the CoH Modder tool will need to remove or delete their old installations in order for the new version to be visible in game. This is because the installation process now uses a .pigg file and the old process installed the mod files individually into the <CoH Root Folder>\data folder.

 

Old versions of the Halloween event GM spawn maps were installed to the following folders:

<CoH Root Folder>\data\texture_library\MAPS\Dark_Astoria_makeover
<CoH Root Folder>\data\texture_library\MAPS\static
<CoH Root Folder>\data\texture_library\V_MAPS\static

The folders listed above must be relocated or deleted in order for the new version to work correctly.

 

Use and Symbology

Spoiler

These maps will appear via the in-game map window (or in your web browser if using the offline version). Each GM spawn point will appear as a glowing purple skeletal hand (which is a modified version of the Ghost Touched badge icon), as detailed in the example posted above. Only one GM can spawn per zone, so the user may need to visit multiple potential spawn locations in order to locate the GM. With a couple of exceptions, each map will contain ten potential spawn points (Warburg has nine and Neutropolis has eight), with each spawn point located at ground level.

The zone maps themselves are the stock game maps (without typical vidiotmap markers) that have been lightened slightly so that the GM spawn icons will appear more prominently.

 

Development

Spoiler

The spawn locations on these maps were obtained from the leaked game data files and loaded into GIS software to facilitate map production. I won't delve into the entire (complex) process of map production, but if anyone is curious feel free to contact me and I can explain further.

 

While I am confident that I found all Halloween GM spawn locations, I cannot be 100% certain that I found them all. I checked for other zones which might contain Halloween GM spawns, but only those zones containing Halloween GM spawns are included here. If anyone finds a Halloween GM spawn that I missed, or a zone that contains Halloween GM spawns that is not included here, please let me know and I will add them.

 

I would also like to thank Paragon wiki user Thirty7, who created and uploaded to the Paragon wiki the modified version of the Ghost Touched badge icon which I have used as the GM spawn icon. This icon is available on the Homecoming wiki at this link.

 

Available Zones

Spoiler

Halloween GM spawn maps are available for the following zones:

Hero

Atlas Park

Boomtown
Brickstown

Crey's Folly

Croatoa

Eden
Faultline

Firebase Zulu
Founders' Falls

The Hollows
Independence Port
Kings Row
Peregrine Island

Perez Park
Skyway City
Steel Canyon

Striga Isle
Talos Island

Terra Volta

Co-op

Dark Astoria

Echo: Dark Astoria

Kallisti Wharf

Rikti War Zone

Villain

Cap au Diable
Grandville
Mercy Island
Nerva Archipelago
Port Oakes
St. Martial
Sharkhead Isle

Praetoria

First Ward
Imperial City
Neutropolis
Nova Praetoria

PVP

Bloody Bay
Siren's Call
Warburg

 

Efficient GM Hunting

Spoiler

I performed a cursory analysis of the density of GMs within each zone, using several different methods. The list below ranks the zones from the shortest average distance between GMs, to the longest average distance between GMs. The rankings change slightly depending on method used, and some zones may have heavier competition from other players for GMs, so please use this list as a general guide rather than an absolute truth.

 

In general, those wishing to hunt GMs quickly should choose a zone from near the top of the list, and avoid the zones near the bottom of the list.

 

Note that all zones on this list contain ten potential GM spawn locations except those which include a number in parentheses denoting the number of potential GM spawn locations in that zone.

 

Sirens Call
Warburg (9)
Perez Park
Mercy Island
Creys Folly
Eden
Steel Canyon
Nerva Archipelago
St. Martial
Croatoa
Faultline
Nova Praetoria
Striga Isle
Skyway City
Port Oakes
Atlas Park (8)
Brickstown
Dark Astoria
Echo: Dark Astoria
Cap au Diable
Sharkhead Isle
Imperial City
Grandville
The Hollows
Rikti War Zone
Terra Volta
Boomtown
Bloody Bay
Founders' Falls
Neutropolis (8)
Kings Row
Peregrine Island
Kallisti Wharf (7)
First Ward
Independence Port
Firebase Zulu
Talos Island

 

Update Log

Spoiler

Sep 24, 2022:

• Initial publication

Oct 03, 2022:

• Added seasonal variant Atlas Park map to account for internal changes to how the Atlas Park map is handled
• Uploaded mod to CoH Modder tool as Halloween Event GM Maps (v2)

Oct 12, 2022:

• Added remaining seasonal variant Atlas Park maps to account for internal changes to how the Atlas Park map is handled
• Added map for Kallisti Wharf
• Uploaded mod to City Mod Installer as Halloween Event GM maps (version 1)

Oct 17, 2022:

• Removed maps for the following zones, which were found not to spawn Halloween GMs: Echo: Faultline, Echo: Galaxy City, Echo: Rikti Crash Site, and Night Ward
• Uploaded mod to City Mod Installer as Halloween Event GM maps (version 1.1)

Oct 25, 2022:

• Updated the map for Atlas Park (including all seasonal variants)
• Uploaded mod to City Mod Installer as Halloween Event GM maps (version 1.2)

 

Edited February 24 by AboveTheChemist

[AboveTheChemist]

As noted above, the spawn locations for Kallisti Wharf and Echo: Atlas Park were not available in the leaked game files, so I plan to collect the spawn data for those zones the old-fashioned way. I'll publish those maps as soon as I have completed the data collection.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by AboveTheChemist

[AboveTheChemist]

I've updated both the CoH modder installation and the manual installation files in the top post to include a new seasonal variant of Atlas Park map. Users will not notice any difference in the Atlas Park map appearance. This change was necessary due to some internal changes with respect to how the Atlas Park map is handled during seasonal events.

 

Once the Halloween event starts, if you notice that your Atlas Park map has reverted to the stock map, then installing this update should cause the Atlas Park Halloween GM map to display once again.

 

One other issue of note, now that I have had a chance to do some testing on the Beta servers, is that I have not currently found any Halloween GM spawns in any of the Echo maps other than Echo: Dark Astoria. I am going to continue testing once the Halloween event goes live, but I think there is a good chance that there are no Halloween GM spawns on the following maps:

 

Echo: Atlas Park

Echo: Faultline

Echo: Galaxy City

Echo: Rikti Crash Site

 

Once I can test and confirm that no Halloween GMs spawn in those zones, I will remove them from this mod. In the meantime, just be aware that looking for Halloween GMs in those zones may not prove fruitful. However, if anyone finds a Halloween GM in one of those zones, please let me know.

 

Happy Halloween GM hunting!

[AboveTheChemist]

I have updated the top post to account for the new mod installation tool that Michiyo developed. Part of that update changes the manual installation process from a zip archive of individual files, to a single .pigg archive. Users will need to refer to the installation instructions in the top post to account for this new installation process. I also added a section for removal/deletion of the old installation, which will be necessary in order for the new installation to work. Going forward, I think this new installation process will greatly simplify mod installation, particularly for mods with multiple files such as this.

 

I added a map for Kallisti Wharf with all the GM spawns I could find (after a week of intensive searching). I removed the maps for Echo: Faultline, Echo: Galaxy City, Echo: Rikti Crash Site, and Night Ward, because I tried repeatedly to find GM spawns in each of those zones without any luck. I also added maps to cover the other seasonal variants of Atlas Park, if someone wants to use these maps out-of-season for any reason.

 

If anyone notices any errors, please let me know!

[AboveTheChemist]

I've updated both the City Mod Installer and the manual installation files in the top post to include an updated Atlas Park map (including all seasonal variant maps). During the course of the Halloween event I discovered the GM spawn locations for Atlas Park were out of date, so I collected enough data about each spawn point to correct them, removing two unoccupied spawn points in the process.

 

If anyone notices any issues, please let me know!

[AboveTheChemist]

Seasonal bump for anyone Halloween GM hunters that could use a map to help find Halloween GMs in their favorite zones!

 

As far as I know, no locations have changed from last year but if anyone notices any GMs in a new spot, or in the wrong spot, please let me know. Thanks!

[Captain Fabulous]

5 hours ago, AboveTheChemist said:

Seasonal bump for anyone Halloween GM hunters that could use a map to help find Halloween GMs in their favorite zones!

 

As far as I know, no locations have changed from last year but if anyone notices any GMs in a new spot, or in the wrong spot, please let me know. Thanks!

When I installed the Halloween maps on top of Vidiotmaps via City Mod Installer it said there were file conflicts and asked if I wanted to overwrite. I said yes. I assume this means once the event is over and I remove the Halloween pack I will have to reinstall Vidiotmaps?

[Michiyo]

43 minutes ago, Captain Fabulous said:

When I installed the Halloween maps on top of Vidiotmaps via City Mod Installer it said there were file conflicts and asked if I wanted to overwrite. I said yes. I assume this means once the event is over and I remove the Halloween pack I will have to reinstall Vidiotmaps?

No, you won't have to reinstall.  That warning is just to let you know that you've installed 2 mods with conflicting file edits.  No actual file overwrites are done.

[AboveTheChemist]

Seasonal bump for any Halloween GM hunters that could use a map to help find Halloween GMs in their favorite zones! As Michiyo notes above, if you install the Halloween maps on top of vidiotmaps, when you are done GM hunting just uninstall the Halloween maps and vidiotmaps will appear again. Of course this only applies to zones that have Halloween GM maps. Vidiotmaps in other zones are unaffected.

 

As far as I know, no locations have changed from last year but if anyone notices any GMs in a new spot, or in the wrong spot, please let me know. Thanks!

[AboveTheChemist]

Just out of curiosity for folks that use these maps to hunt Halloween GMs, would anyone be interested in an optimal path popmenu, functionally similar to the one I developed for badges/plaques that is available at this link, that uses thumbtacks to waypoint the optimal paths to the Halloween GMs? The idea is that it could be used in lieu of this map mod for finding GMs rapidly. I've had a somewhat surprising positive response to the badge/plaque popmenu, but I wasn't sure if Halloween GM hunting was a niche activity that might limit the appeal for an optimal path popmenu geared towards that activity.

 

Also just FYI I will be updating these maps at some point this week to account for the KW GM spawn move, and to account for better data collected for the Atlas Park spawns.

[Ukase]

For me, the map is perfectly good. I appreciate your efforts!

[Display Name]

In Peregrine Island, I have a map marker for [-1639.0 96.2 -4198.5]

But I've *never* seen a GM spawn there.  Is this an error?

Edited October 16 by Display Name

[AboveTheChemist]

17 minutes ago, Display Name said:

Is this an error?

 

No

[tidge]

16 hours ago, Display Name said:

In Peregrine Island, I have a map marker for [-1639.0 96.2 -4198.5]

But I've *never* seen a GM spawn there.  Is this an error?

 

As far as I have observed, with regards to both event spawns and standard zone spawns, that there are some identified spawn points that are more likely to have a spawn than others, but there are no spawns points for which I have never seen a Giant Monster spawn. There are some spawn points where I can a couple of months pass between observations of a giant monster thereat.

 

I can't attest that I've been to every identified spawn spot in every zone, but I have covered almost all of the zones hero side, most of the zones villain side, and multiple runs in gold zones. I've done this for regular zone giant monsters (so mostly blue) and holiday events in the red and gold zones.

[AboveTheChemist]

31 minutes ago, tidge said:

there are some identified spawn points that are more likely to have a spawn than others

 

I agree. The data for the KW and AP maps had to be collected the hard way, by killing the GM and observing the locations where it respawned (thank goodness for Beta powers). Some locations were far less likely to spawn a GM than others. Between the two zones I probably had upwards of 100 GM kills before I had enough data to consider the dataset complete.

 

That being said, the PI points, like every other map in this collection that isn't KW or AP, was parsed directly from the leaked game data files. I suppose there is a slim chance that the HC devs turned off that particular spawn point in PI, but I doubt it because there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to do so. As of last night I have characters stationed at that point on each live server, so I can log in occasionally to cycle through them in hopes of confirming that the GM does spawn there. I feel like I have seen a GM there in the past but I don't have logs, a screenshot, or a demo to definitively prove it. The other option would be to hop on Brainstorm and start blasting Halloween GMs in PI until I spot one there, but that could take a while and will be my option of last resort.

 

I have the new maps completed, I just need to do a final QC check before I update the mod with them. And for anyone that read my message from last week about the popmenu, I did create an optimal path menu for the Halloween GMs. Given the apparent lack of demand for it, I don't plan to release it publicly but if anyone would like to try it out, I can provide a copy.

[lemming]

18 hours ago, Display Name said:

In Peregrine Island, I have a map marker for [-1639.0 96.2 -4198.5]

But I've *never* seen a GM spawn there.  Is this an error?

I don't remember ever seeing either  Jack or Eochai spawn in that location and I do the GM hunt in PI fairly often.    I think the banner GM has?

 

Other locations in PI from the @AboveTheChemist map, I've seen them spawn often enough.