Titan Icon

This article is about the program that enables solo character creation and access to maps. For other uses of Icon, see Icon.

Overview

Icon is a freestanding executable file created by Codewalker which allows players of City of Heroes to access the character creation module of City of Heroes and to be able to enter and view the maps of City of Heroes. The program files and maps of City of Heroes were distributed for free to anyone who wished to play for free by NCSoft while the game was in operation.

Installation

Current Version

The current version is 1.6 released on May 31, 2013. Version notes are located here.

Download

Program Download Link

Source Code Download Link

Source code is provided solely for programmers to add their own stuff.

Requirements: You must have either the latest Issue 23 (version 2320.201207182341.1) or Issue 24 (version 2400.201208211101.1) game client installed. The NCSoft launcher is not required. The Issue 24 client has more costume parts available and is recommended if you have it. If you need to refresh your I24/Beta client, see here.

Instructions for PC

Save icon.exe into your City of Heroes program folder. On a default install, this may be in C:\Program Files\City of Heroes, or C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes on 64-bit systems. It should have a cityofheroes.exe file in it as well.

Use Explorer to browse to that folder, and double click icon.exe. You can create a shortcut to it if desired.

Instructions for Mac

IMPORTANT: MAKE A COPY OF YOUR CITY OF HEROES FOLDER. Since we'll be modifying it irrecoverably, it's best to work with a copy.

Download icon.exe from the link above.

Toss the NCSoft Launcher in the trash. Not really necessary, but it's fun. Laugh while the trash empties.

Use the finder's Go To Folder command and select ~/Library/Preferences.

Delete com.ncsoft.* (anything beginning with that) and City of Heroes preferences.

Right click on the City of Heroes application and select Show Package Contents.

Go to Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > coh .... or that last part might be Program Files > City of Heroes.

Drag the icon.exe into the path above.

Back up to Contents and select MacOS. Click slowly twice in the name "cider" to rename it. Change the name to "cider_die".

Right-click on cider_noui and choose "Duplicate". Click slowly on the name "cider_noui copy" to rename it. Change that name to just "cider".

Backup to Contents again.

Download this Icon.plist file: http://repo.cohtitan.com/icon/Info.plist

Go to Contents again, and drop the Info.plist there, replacing the existing one.

Close everything up and launch the City of Heroes application. It will go directly into the costume creator!

(OPTIONAL) Change the name of the City of Heroes application to something like "CoH Costume Creator" to differentiate it.

Parameters

NPC (Developer) Edit Mode: To launch the game in NPC Edit mode, you need to run Icon with a -n switch. On Windows, the easiest way to do that is to create a shortcut to icon.exe (right click on icon.exe and use "Create Shortcut"). Once its created, right click on the shortcut and go to properties. In the first box, "Target", go to the VERY end of the line, after everything else. Add a space, then type -n, Hit OK. You can then rename the shortcut so that you know it's for the NPC editing version, or move it to your desktop if you want. OR.. download this file Icon-npc.bat to your CoH file directory. It is a simple .bat file that will execute icon.exe. -n

Bypass Character Creator:Icon now supports a -r command line option to create a random character and jump straight into Atlas Park. Random is random, you have been warned. Issue 24 Client Only!

How to Operate Program

You can now enter Paragon City, Praetoria, and the Rogue Isles with your NPC-mode costume creations.

Valid Commands

Load a Map

/loadmap_prompt · Default keybind: F1 · Maps can be loaded! You can either use the F1 key for the dialogue box or the /loadmap slash command. The map name should be specified in the same format as it is found in demorecords. The game doesn't care if the name ends in .txt or .bin, so you can use geobin/ paths too (just cut out the geobin and start the path with maps/). When changing maps, Icon parses the newly loaded map and attempts to find a suitable spawn point to move your character to. It picks one completely at random; the intent is to simply get you somewhere "inside" the map. This might mean in an interior area like a shop or hospital. It also means that on maps with an Arena, you have a chance of spawning inside the infamous Matrix Room. List of internal Map Names found here.

/loadmap [mapname] · Default keybind: None · Loads the map specified in the parameter bypassing the dialogue box.

/time [num] · Default keybind: None · Changes the time of day. Should be specified as a number between 0 and 24 -- fractional values are allowed. The default time is 12 (Noon).

Jump to New Spawn Point

/prev_spawn, /next_spawn, /random_spawn · These are by default bound to [ ] and F12. They allow you to jump between player spawn points on the current map. If you don't like where you spawned, you can press F12 to go to a (probably) different random place within the map, or use the square brackets to step through the spawn points in order. Especially useful if you don't see a map or don't see the other sections of a map that you would normally 'warp' to by clicking a door or elevator while on a map.

Fly

/fly · Default keybind: 1 · Take to the skies!

Edit Position (Jump to Coordinate)

/edit_pos · Default keybind: F3 · Toggles a panel in which you can edit your X/Y/Z coordinates in order to instantly teleport to any desired position. The button switches between accepting absolute coordinates, and relative coordinates for moving just a "little to the right". Affects self if nothing is targeted, otherwise, it affects targeted NPC.

Detach Camera

/detach_camera · Issue 24 Client Only! · Default keybind: F2 · Detaches the camera from the player; excellent for precision placement for screenshots. While the camera is detached, W/A/S/D move the camera, Q/E rotate it, Space raises it, Z lowers it, PgUp/PgDown tilt the view, N/M roll, and B resets the roll to zero.

Developer Map Editing Mode

/map_dev · Default keybind: F4 · Show normally hidden developer markers most likely used as part of the map editing process. Neighborhood volumes, spawn points, etc. More importantly, it also makes indoor sections (which are normally invisible when you're not inside them) show up, so they're easier to find in no-clip mode. Pressing F4 again turns it off. You can see but not really edit markers.

Developer No-Clip Mode

/no_clip · Default keybind: F5 · Toggles no-clipping mode on and off. Basically the same as using /nocoll 1, but is a toggle so it can be easily bound, and also displays an on-screen message to notify you if it's on or off.

Spawning, Moving, Deleting NPCs

/spawn_npc · You can use this slash command to create an NPC at your current position. It takes two parameters, the costume to use (this is the same as shows up in demorecords), and the name for your NPC. Some examples:

/spawnnpc Model_Statesman Statesman
/spawnnpc 5th_Mek_Man Mr. Roboto
/spawnnpc Nemesis A Plot?

See here for a list of NPC models

/move_npc · Default keybind: G · Useful for fine-tuning NPC positioning for screenshots, using this command or pressing 'G' will teleport the targeted NPC to your position. Note that this will bump you out of the way unless you have noclip mode on, because: Citizens > All. The F3 Coordinate Editor works on targeted NPCs.

/delete_npc · Default keybind: Shift+Delete · Sends your poor targeted NPC to the great bit-bucket in the sky. Why would you want to be so heartless?

Animations (Emotes)

/mov [name] · Default keybind: None · Makes your character, or the NPC you have targeted, play an animation (what players know as 'emotes'). The animation should be specified in the same format as MOV commands from demorecords. Note that the normal /emote (/e, /em) commands do not work, nor do the normal naming conventions ('dance,' 'newspaper'). You can only use '/mov' as a command and the internal names of the animations. You can find a full list of the internal MOV names here.

/rememberap33 · Default keybind: 2 · Raise a torch in remembrance of all the heroes who have walked the streets of Paragon City. (And the Villains because... FIRE!)

Notes

This is an experimental feature, so many things won't work. Notably, doors are not usable and will freeze the client momentarily as it waits for a reply from a nonexistent server.
Certain weapon unlocks (Rularuu weapons, Romulus weapons, etc) still don't work in I23 version. You can still use NPC mode to access them in I24/Beta version.