Game Client

Overview

City of Heroes and City of Villains use a program which runs on your computer called the Game Client (and its associated game files) to generate the graphics you see and the sounds you hear. It figures out what you have clicked on and it handles the typing you do at your keyboard. The client is constantly sending information to the Server to tell it what powers you activate, what attacks you make, how you move and turn, and the messages you type to other people.

The Server is constantly sending information to your client to tell it what everyone else in your zone or mission are doing. The client shows you their actions based on that information. If something interrupts the flow of that information then everyone else will stop moving on your screen. If the flow of information is interrupted long enough then you are disconnected from the server, typically with the message: "Lost connection to mapserver".

When a new version of the game client is available it has to be downloaded to your computer before you can use it. A program called CohUpdater.exe (for NA users) or CohUpdater.eu.exe (for EU users) on the PC or City of Heroes.app on the Mac checks for and downloads new versions of the client and all its associated files.

On the PC, the game is actually played through the CityOfHeroes.exe file; if the client is up to date, the updater can be skipped.

Facts

• The same game client is used to play both City of Heroes and City of Villains, on both Windows and Mac OS operating systems.
• Both factions -- Heroes and Villains -- are available regardless of the background image or operating system.
• All character data is stored on the servers. You can access your account and character data from any computer that has the game client.
  • One caveat: files such as Architect Entertainment save files, Character Select sorting, and Player Ratings, are stored in text files on the player's hard drive and are not accessible from other computers.
• Patches are installed prior to logon and the latest version is required to play.
• The client loads in two stages:
  1. The Updater, which downloads patches and checks the client for the latest version.
  2. The Client, which contains the game itself.
• There is no CD Key required to install the game client.
• The updater can be downloaded to install the game without the original CD/DVD's.
  • Installing from CD/DVD will include an option for automatically placing a shortcut to the game in the Start Menu.
  • Both PC and Mac updaters can be downloaded from the City of Heroes FTP site.
  • Note: Installing from the updater will download the entire 2.7 GB client and may take a long while.
• Skipping the Updater is not supported by NCsoft/Paragon Studios.
• PC users can change the install directory after installation is complete (registry: HKCU/Software/Cryptic/Coh )
  • Mac users can move the entire "City of Heroes.app" to another folder
• It is possible to replace almost any resource (in game map, sound file, etc.) using the data directory, however this action is not supported by NCsoft/Paragon Studios nor their EULA.
  • This does not modify any NCsoft-owned resource/file. This adds a directory which the game client then interprets as replacing the resource once the game is launched. Removal of this change simply means deleting the \data directory. More info below.

Launching the Game

PC

These can be run from the command prompt or entered into your shortcut. You can do the latter by right clicking on your shortcut to the updater and selecting properties then adding these to the end of the target box. So, for instance, if you want to change your game to start up with the villain skin and your target box currently contains:

"C:\Games\City Of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe"

then you would change it to say:

"C:\Games\City Of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -cov

CohUpdater.exe (no switches)

• Launches the Updater which will check for updates and modify/verify files if needed. City of Heroes skin/branding.

CohUpdater.exe -cov

• Launch the Updater as above, however with with the City of Villains skin. Login screen will be City of Villains.

CovUpdater.exe

• Launch Updater, use City of Villains skin. This file is only available to those who install from a CoV CD/DVD.

CityOfHeroes.exe -project "coh"

• NOT SUPPORTED Launches the game client without looking for the updater, using the North American servers. If any patches have been applied since the last time you used the Updater, you may be able to login, but you will get a version conflict.

CityOfHeroes.exe -project "coh" -cov

• NOT SUPPORTED same as above with City of Villains skin.

CityOfHeroes.exe -project "eucoh"

• NOT SUPPORTED European Servers version of skipping the updater.

CityOfHeroes.exe -project "cohtest"

• NOT SUPPORTED Training Room version of skipping the updater.

CohUpdater.exe -test

• Launches the Updater, uses registry settings in HKCU/Software/Cryptic/Cohtest instead. Allows access to Training Room.

CohUpdater.exe -compatiblecursors 1

• Uses compatible 16-color cursors to solve compatiblity issues with Windows Vista and others.

CohUpdater.exe -usetexenvcombine

• Enables simple rendering path, which may help fix issues with certain video cards and drivers.

CohUpdater.exe -renderthread 1

• Forces the game to run using more than one proccessor/core, rather than using only one. NOTE: Though the game does this by default now, this command is still a valid option.

CohUpdater.exe -maxinactivefps 5

• Limits the graphic display update to 5 Frames Per Second when COH is not the foreground application. The number can be set to whatever maximum framerate is desired.

CohUpdater.exe -stopinactivedisplay 1

• Freezes the graphic display update when COH is not the foreground application. This can greatly reduce processor utilization when running multiple game clients on the same computer.

CityOfHeroes.exe -console 1

• NOT SUPPORTED Launches the game client displaying a console with each element being loaded. Useful if your client is freezing on load, if you want time statistics for how long it takes to load, or to see other debugging info.

CityOfHeroes.exe -exitlaunch [command line]

• NOT SUPPORTED The game will execute the given command line on close. Used internally to launch CohUpdater for issue preloads, but can be set to execute any program when you finish playing.

CohUpdater.exe -mp

• NOT SUPPORTED Major Patch; predownloads the upcoming issue data if available. Normally called at the end of a play session, but you can call it manually if you know a predownload patch is ready.

Mac

Main Article: Mac Special Edition

The City of Heroes.app "file" is really just a specialized directory. Attempting any action inside this directory is NOT SUPPORTED.

Mac Client guide posted by CuppaManga

Training Room on Mac

The developers have a separate City of Heroes.app for the training room. ftp://client.coh.com/Test/US/

Command Line on Mac

Launching the game with command line switches NOT SUPPORTED

• Assuming the game is in the /Applications directory, here are some examples that can be ran from Terminal.app:

• /Applications/City\ of\ Heroes.app/Contents/MacOS/cider --use-dos-cwd c:/coh -- C:\\coh\\cohupdater.exe -coh

  Launch updater normally, game client will have blue CoH skin.

• /Applications/City\ of\ Heroes.app/Contents/MacOS/cider --use-dos-cwd c:/coh -- C:\\coh\\cohupdater.exe -cov

  Launch updater normally, game client with have red CoV skin.

• /Applications/City\ of\ Heroes.app/Contents/MacOS/cider --use-dos-cwd c:/coh -- c:/coh/cityofheroes.exe -project coh

  Launch game client directly (bypass updater)

• Note the extra backslashes "\".

  The Terminal.app application uses bash, which uses the backslash as an escape character.

  • Since a space " " usually separates command options (switches/parameters/arguments), we use "\ " to indicate a space in a file name.
  • And since Cider is looking for a Windows(r)(c)™ directory which uses backslashes instead of forward slashes, we have to escape the backslashes as well.

    Although it is possible to use forward slashes instead of double backslash.

• Also note the double dash "--"

  The cider application can pass arguments to the application, which is any argument/option after double dash.

  • Any arguments before the double dash are options for the cider application.

    cider [options] [--] program_name [arguments]

Installing the Game

There are several methods to installing the game client, they all boil down to having an up-to-date copy of the necessary files.

You do not need your 'CD-Key' to install the game client.

The 'CD-Key' is for the http://plaync.com/ website for the creation/upgrade of your game account. After creating your account, the only time you need your serial code is if you lose access to your account and must provide proof of ownership. (Thus it's not a bad idea to keep your CD key handy, even though it's not necessary to play the game.)

Original CD/DVD

Main Article: Disc Releases

Install as you would any other program. Basically it will extract a copy of the game client as it was when the CD/DVD was created. You can then run the updater and patch to the current version.

• City of Heroes (Boxset) initial release Issue 0
• Collector's Edition (City of Heroes) current through Issue 2
• City of Villains (Boxset) and Collector's Edition (City of Villains) current through Issue 6
• Good Versus Evil Edition current through Issue 7
• Architect Edition current through Issue 14

Burned CD/DVD

Effectively a second copy step similar to installing the Training Room. One copies the entire City of Heroes directory to multiple CDs or a single DVD. Then one can copy that folder back to his/her computer or give to someone else to copy to their computer. Then create a copy of the CohUpdater.exe file, run it and point it to the folder on your HD where you copied CoH back to.

CohUpdater

You can install the Game Client starting with only the CohUpdater.exe file (or CovUpdater.exe). This file cannot be in the directory you will be installing to, as it will attempt to create a new CohUpdater.exe and will fail if it's already there.

Whenever CohUpdater is launched, it checks the registry to see if there is anything in HKCU/Software/Cryptic/Coh. If there is, then the updater proceeds normally, patches the game if needed. If there is no entry under HKCU/Software/Cryptic/Coh, then it asks the user where they would like to install the Game Client (default is C:\Program Files\City of Heroes). Once the user clicks Yes, the updater writes to HKCU/Software/Cryptic/Coh with default settings and the installdir.

Training Room

Main Article: Training Room

The simplest way to install the Training Room involves creating a copy of the live game, to avoid downloading the entire client (currently 3.1GB+) all over again. Then the flag "-test" will placed on the end of the shortcut to CohUpdater.exe. Detailed instructions can be found at the Training Room article.

Running the game from a DVD-R

If for some reason you would like to run the game from a DVD-R, or maybe a 4GB flash drive, this is possible. Being a read-only device, a DVD-R will only work as long as you burn the latest version with the current patches. However, if your goal is to play at a Net Cafe during a weekend away from home, this will be more than enough.

The steps are:

• Log into the game and set all your graphics settings to low. Maybe enable windowed mode. This is to ensure the game will work properly in whichever computer you end up running it in. If you're going to be playing the game in a decent computer which can handle your current graphics settings, you can skip this step.
• Click Start, Run, and enter regedit. Navigate the left panel to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cryptic. Right-click the Cryptic folder and select Export. Save as Settings.reg somewhere.
• Burn your City of Heroes folder and the Settings.reg file to a DVD-R.
• Take the DVD to the computer you want to play the game on. Go to the DVD drive and double-click the Settings.reg file. You only need to do this step the first time you run the game on a computer.
• Click Start, Run, then enter "D:\City of Heroes\CityOfHeroes.exe" -project coh. Replace D: with whatever letter the DVD drive is.
• Play! You can change the graphics settings on the new computer to whatever you like, and they'll be saved locally.

Registry information

The game stores its configuration information in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cryptic\Coh; even if you installed City of Villains, the key name is still Coh. If you use the Test server, its configuration is stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cryptic\CohTest.

The Installation Directory parameter is useful in case you want to move the game client to another directory or partition. Enter the full path to the game's executable.

The VerifyOnNextUpdate parameter is created every time the game crashes. When the updater starts, it checks for this flag in order to decide whether to verify all files for corruption before loading the file. Thus, clearing this flag is a good way to avoid the slow verification process.

If you crash often and would like to skip the verification process every time, simply create a text file named NoVerify.reg with the following contents, and double-click it before loading the updater:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cryptic\Coh]
"VerifyOnNextUpdate"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cryptic\CohTest]
"VerifyOnNextUpdate"=dword:00000000

Network information

Servers

In the event of connectivity problems, the route to the following servers should be checked:

• Updater
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.250.194)
  • cohupdateeu.coh.com (206.127.145.195)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.201)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.198)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.194)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.195)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.197)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.200)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.250.195)
  • cohupdate.coh.com (216.107.254.196)
  • cohupdateeu.coh.com (206.127.145.194)
• Game Client
  • Login: 216.107.249.131
  • Login (Europe): 206.127.144.229
  • West coast: 216.107.240.3
  • East coast: 216.107.248.3
  • Europe: 206.127.144.132

Game Ports

The game updater allows you to select the port to be used for data transfers. Simply add the -port flag followed by the port you would like to use in the City of Heroes shortcut. Example:

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -port 80

The game client is somewhat Firewall and NAT friendly, however any issues can be resolved by opening the following ports.

• REQUIRED
  • TCP:
    • 6994
    • 2104
    • 2106
  • UDP:
    • 7000-7200.
• One of the following ports:
  • TCP
    • 6994
    • 13094
    • 23094

Official City of Heroes/Villains Technical Forum article on ports required to patch and play the game.