Way of having multiple shortcuts to start the game in different ways?

[biostem]

This kind of relates to a thread a posted before;  Is there any way to create a shortcut to start the game with the simpler rendering path for normal play, and another to use higher settings when I'm just creating a costume or such?  I know I can have tequila save the client commands, but every time I try to launch the coh.exe itself, it basically errors out.   Any suggestions?  Thank you! 

Edited July 26, 2019 by biostem

[biostem]

So I ended up just saving a text file with the -usetexenvcombine command line switch, then pasting it back into tequila whenever I need performance over appearance.  I don't suppose anyone has a better way of achieving this?  Can I create a shortcut to launch the game with that switch directly?  Trying to launch the exe by itself results in an error to use the launcher...

[GM Capocollo]

As far as I know, the only way to achieve this would be to write your own manifest file that includes different command line arguments for the various settings you'd want to use, but you'd have to deal with it potentially breaking every time Homecoming updates the manifest or the client.

[JadeFalcon]

You don't need to use tequila to launch the game, just to update it.

 

Create a shortcut to homecoming.exe and add this to the command line:
-patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146

 

Don't forget to add a space after the path to the binary.

 

For example:
"C:\Games\City of Heroes\homecoming.exe" -patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146

 

Then create another shortcut to homecoming.exe and add this to the command line:
-patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146 -usetexenvcombine

 

If there's an update, you'll receive a version error in the login screen and will need to exit and run tequila. The updated command line arguments in the manifest will then need to be edited in the shortcuts.

 

The game hasn't been updated since June 5th, so I haven't launched the game with tequila in about 7 weeks. :)

[WanderingAries]

There is one Other option you could try that is a little tricky and requires you to do an extra step Before launching the game.

 

Now I'm not going to write out the specific method for this, but the basic concept is to create a pair of registry files that you would load before launching the game. One for High GFX and one for low GFX (labeled accordingly). You would take the related COH registry key and export that for each and then Merge them as needed. It should work and would only have to be created once per settings.

 

IE: Setup the GFX the way you like and exit the game. Goto the Cryptic/COH registry key and export it and rename it. Go Back into the game, change the settings, and exit. Export the key again with the appropriate name.

 

If you understand what the different entries Mean, then you could always just edit the files manually as well.

 

***I've not tried it, but it Should work for any settings that the system registry controls.

[biostem]

On 7/28/2019 at 1:16 AM, JadeFalcon said:

You don't need to use tequila to launch the game, just to update it.

 

Create a shortcut to homecoming.exe and add this to the command line:
-patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146

 

Don't forget to add a space after the path to the binary.

 

For example:
"C:\Games\City of Heroes\homecoming.exe" -patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146

 

Then create another shortcut to homecoming.exe and add this to the command line:
-patchdir homecoming -patchversion 2019.06.05 -auth 51.79.19.146 -usetexenvcombine

 

If there's an update, you'll receive a version error in the login screen and will need to exit and run tequila. The updated command line arguments in the manifest will then need to be edited in the shortcuts.

 

The game hasn't been updated since June 5th, so I haven't launched the game with tequila in about 7 weeks. :)

I shall try this.  Thanks!