Screenshot and Demo Guide

[Ex_Libris]

HOW TO MAKE A SCREENSHOT
In the upper right area of your keyboard there should be a key called "Print Screen" (or PrntScreen or some such). When you press that, you should get not one, but two screenshots.

The first shot made has exactly what you see on the screen, including your chat window. This screenshot is not really saved, though, it is just put in your copy & paste (aka Clipboard) buffer. To see it, you need to open a compatible program (IrfanView works extremely well and is free, though Microsoft Paint should also work fine) and paste it in, probably with control-V.

The second shot is saved for you in .TGA (targa) format. IrfanView (a free viewer at www.irfanview.com (http://www.irfanview.com)) can read that format just fine but TGAs are rather huge so I suggest re-saving in JPG format. These screenshots do NOT have the user interface (nav window, chat window, and so on) on them. Unless I'm taking a shot of a bug, that's the one I normally use. The files are saved in your City of Heroes directory under Screenshots.

The second screenshot is taken a split second after the first so they will not quite look the same even if you ignore the UI. It does take a second to save the TGA file so you'll know you made a screenshot when you do one.

{Note for users of the newer Microsoft keyboards: If you are using function keys and the little light under "F" is turned on, you can not take a screenshot. You will have to hit the F-Lock button, then hit the PrtScreen. That, or do some key binding.}

HOW TO MAKE A DEMO
A demo is a recording of your game session. When you replay them, they are pretty much without user interface. These are not MPG's or AVI's or any of those, these are simply text files that the game engine reads to repeat what happened when you recorded. The feature is not supported and there are glitches but, I'll tell ya, they leave screenshots in the dust. They are small, too - a recording of a good battle typically takes about one megabyte.

Recording one is really simple - just enter the command:
/demorecord Whatever
where 'Whatever' is the file name you want to use. Then play the game just like normal. When you want to stop recording, use the /demostop command. Recording will automatically stop if you zone to another area.

Watching them is not so simple. You do it by creating a shortcut to the CityOfHeroes.Exe and pass in a command parameter like “-demoplay YourDemoName.cohdemo” to play the demo. Honestly, it’s a lot easier to use a program like my demo player (see my sig). The demo must be in you City of Heroes client_demos directory or a subdirectory in that directory to play it back.

That about wraps it up. You are now ready to make your own scrapbook and home movies! Share and enjoy.

[Ex_Libris]

Quick addenda....

Screenshots in the character creation only go to your clipboard.

For the folks out there who have no problem with passing command parameters, here are the commands as a dev posted back in beta:

[ QUOTE ]
In game commands:
/demorecord <demoname>
/demostop
Saves your demo to cityofheroes/client_demos/<demoname.cohdemo>
Quitting the game or changing maps will force demostop to get run.

Playback commands:
These commands all run from the command line when you start the game. So you would (for instance) make a shortcut to cityofheroes.exe and add these to the ‘target’

-demoplay <demoname>
plays back the demo. Loops forever, writing performance data to cityofheroes/client_demos/results/demo_name. (It has min,max,avg and time for each frame)
-demopause <msecs>
This is for videocard performance debug. Runs until it gets the the frame given (in milliseconds) then redraws that frame forever.
-demodump
Dumps a .tga file of each frame rendered to client_demos/screens/<demoname>/*.tga
-demofps <frames per second>
Forces the player to simulate a fixed frame per second. This works well with demodump to get a smooth movie.
-fullscreen
Put game in fullscreen mode (overrides the registry key)
-screen <xsize> <ysize>
Set the screensize. Ex: -screen 1024 768

[/ QUOTE ]

Fullscreen actually takes a parameter. Fullscreen 0 will turn off fullscreen mode even if your game is set up to play in fullscreen. Handy, given that demos in full screen mode typically have to be stopped by doing control-alt-delete and killing the game with task manager.

As of this writing, demos are having major playback problems. Try to keep the demos short and you'll have better luck.

[Ex_Libris]

Is there a way to quit the demoplayback with a key command that's bound to something like /quit?

So I could type a key and quit the demo or close the program?

[Cellblock]

For one reason or another, I have been unable to take a print screen of my character in the character selection portion. In game I can take as many as I want, but the CS doesn't allow me to do it :(

[Sgt_Savage]

[ QUOTE ]
For one reason or another, I have been unable to take a print screen of my character in the character selection portion. In game I can take as many as I want, but the CS doesn't allow me to do it :(

[/ QUOTE ]

Once you hit print screen in the CS menu. Open MS Paint (or any graphic/paint program) and select Edit->Paste. The CS menu only copies the screen to your clipboard, you need to paste it into a document/image to see it. You can even Paste it into Word.

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a way to quit the demoplayback with a key command that's bound to something like /quit?

So I could type a key and quit the demo or close the program?

[/ QUOTE ]
If you are in full screen mode, the way to quit out of a demo is to control-alt-delete and use task manager to kill it. At least that's how I do it. (Mostly I stick to windowed mode when viewing demos. Then you just close the window and it's gone.)

[ElectraWoman]

Wow Zloth!!! It worked just like you said! Thanks much for the effort you've put into this...

[Wascen]

FYI, Demo playback is still crashing constantly. The ONLY demo that I could get to run at all required me to:
1. Stand on the edge of the zone
2. Pass no more than 3 enemies.
3. Activate no more than 2 powers (sprint, then super-speed)

Even then, it still crashed after 6 seconds. At least it displayed the super-speed power first. I would LOVE for demo recording to actually work...

[Magick]

i wonder if using a bind to do a /screenshot (dont know if thats the correct slash or not) to build a libary of .jpeg's consecutively would work. then use a movie editor to build a .mpg out of the .jpeg's.

of course there would need to be a way to subtract the .tga file because of its size.

/bind screenshot "print_screen tga=0" or something to that effect

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
i wonder if using a bind to do a /screenshot (dont know if thats the correct slash or not) to build a libary of .jpeg's consecutively would work. then use a movie editor to build a .mpg out of the .jpeg's.

[/ QUOTE ]
No it wouldn't work. Well, technically it would, but the way the program has to pause a bit while it writes the screenshot file would result in a movie with horrible FPS.

Use the demodump and forced FPS options of the demo function for making actual movies.

[Metal_Core]

At 3 megs a frame, I hope you have some free space on your HD. :)

[CelticKOR]

Is there a way to convert these demos?

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a way to convert these demos?

[/ QUOTE ]
Nope. The only thing in the world that knows how to read them is your City of Heroes program.

As somebody said earlier, you could do a demodump option and set it to 10fps or something, then take the resulting TGA files and load those into some animator program. It won't be anywhere near the quality of the actual demo, though.

Demos still crash a lot. A few of mine work but even those only work sometimes. I'll play a demo back and it will run all the way through just fine. Then I'll try to play it again and it will crash on load.

A new data entry has popped up in the demo text files, too. XLU. It shows up toward the end of some character models. Dunno what it is yet. (Testing is kinda hard when you crash four out of five times just starting the demo.)

[nunix]

I've found that ALL my outdoor demos crash; all the indoor demos play entirely, we're talking 10+ minutes sometimes.

I started talking to CS about this, but they decided to close the issue because their reply system is borked. I will probably try again.

[Dannon]

I have been able to get Fraps 2.0 to record decent movies within COH. I had to lower the res to 800x600 for a complicated scene, but for just flying around, high res worked also.

[Ex_Libris]

Yeah I also have Fraps. Haven't used it in CoH, but have used it in other mulitplayer games. Ususally FPS, which is very cool to watch yourself kickin some *** in game. Fraps files can get very large though, but if you have a good program to compress them, they can look very cool for a website playback. Or to share with your buddies.

[Ex_Libris]

Just tried to do this but can seem to get it to work. Was wondering exactly how should the target line look.

"C:\Documents and Settings\Andre L. Nedderman\Desktop\CohUpdater.exe" -demoplay argas.cohdemo"

Is that correct?

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
Just tried to do this but can seem to get it to work. Was wondering exactly how should the target line look.

"C:\Documents and Settings\Andre L. Nedderman\Desktop\CohUpdater.exe" -demoplay argas.cohdemo"

Is that correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

Almost. But you want to run cityofheroes.exe not the updater.

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just tried to do this but can seem to get it to work. Was wondering exactly how should the target line look.

"C:\Documents and Settings\Andre L. Nedderman\Desktop\CohUpdater.exe" -demoplay argas.cohdemo"

Is that correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

Almost. But you want to run cityofheroes.exe not the updater.

[/ QUOTE ]

heh I tried running CityofHeroes.exe passing in that command line option (demo file in place in proper directory) and all I get is a dialogue saying that it cannot be run directly.
"Please run updater instead". :mad:

[Ex_Libris]

Something is up with the quote marks. Argas is nice and short so it shouldn't need them.

Like the previous poster said you're running the main exe, not the updater. If you got a message about running the updater then it didn't see your command line parameters for some reason.

[Ex_Libris]

By the way, if you want the UI to be included in the TGA files, you can do "/screenshotui 1".

[Ex_Libris]

Zloth, I was merely quoting the other post.
Let me rephrase it.

I have tried using that command line parameter calling cityofheroes.exe. It simply does not work. It displays the typical mfc dialogue with a simple message staying You cannot call cityofheroes.exe directly. Please try running the updater instead.

I've tried numerous things for passing in the parameter and always get the same. Not that it matters anyway, the in game demos aren't very useful at all: no UI showing, no chat, no target window, etc. About the only thing it's good for is eye candy, or a screen saver lol.

[Ex_Libris]

i have wondered why i coulnt see the tga files thanks for the info

[Ex_Libris]

Demos have been working a LOT better lately! Thanks Cryptic!

[Ex_Libris]

The /ScreenshotUI command is used to toggle whether or not your saved (TGA) screenshots include your user interface. This command doesn't itself make a screenshot, it's just a setting for your future screenshots. /screenshotui 1 to include the UI, /screenshotui 0 to make shots without the user interface.

The /screenshot command does the actual screenshot.

These are covered in the in-game help on the last tab under Slash Commands.

[ODeere]

Thanks, Sloth! This is a big help :)

[Warbride]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Is there a way to quit the demoplayback with a key command that's bound to something like /quit?

So I could type a key and quit the demo or close the program?

[/ QUOTE ]
If you are in full screen mode, the way to quit out of a demo is to control-alt-delete and use task manager to kill it. At least that's how I do it. (Mostly I stick to windowed mode when viewing demos. Then you just close the window and it's gone.)

[/ QUOTE ]

??? In testing the demo feature for the first time I just pressed the escape key to stop playing the demo. Maybe that's something new.

Also, I played the demo by adding all the -demoplay stuff to a copy of the regular CoH launch icon, which runs the updater first. It worked, after clicking through the license screen. Then I tried doing it with cityofheroes.exe instead, and that also works, of course bypassing the license screen.

I intend to use -demodump to save a sequence of still .TGA files, then load it into Premiere, which knows how to treat the sequence as a single animated video clip. Yeah I've got plenty of hard drive space. I'll probably mount my big drive to the client_demos folder. If for some reason the game pukes on that, I'll move the whole game to the big drive. But I ain't using fraps. Not good enough. Demodump is exactly the kind of uncompromised capture quality I want. Thanks Cryptic for including it.

Now here's where it gets interesting. You don't have to play the demo at the same resolution you used when you recorded the demo. You can use -screen to choose any resolution you want to use when you play (or dump) the demo. If it isn't supported by windows as a fullscreen resolution, then you can use -fullscreen 0 to play the demo in a window instead. Furthermore, you don't have to use the traditional 4:3 ratio. Can you say widescreen?

Oh man, the possibilities. This is going to be fun.

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
??? In testing the demo feature for the first time I just pressed the escape key to stop playing the demo. Maybe that's something new.

[/ QUOTE ]
It IS new, and it's terribly handy! Thanks T_H_X!

Yep, you can demodump at all sorts of resolutions. I sometimes dump at 2048x1536 when I want a good picture of a character. Or you can start a demodump in windowed mode at low rez then, when you get to a good part, maximize it and make bigger shots for that part.

Also, since you aren't playing and worried about frame rates, you can crank your video card's Anti-Aliasing and whatnot up. I'm not sure what game options a demo uses (it always seems to have chat bubbles on, for instance), but you can probably crank up the game details as well via the registry or just by setting them right before you quit a game session.

-demofps is also very handy. It lets you speed up and slow down how fast the demo will play. Lower numbers make it go faster. I mostly use this when doing demodump but it can also be used to speed through a demo to see what happens inside.

You can also change the time of day real easy. It's the third line in the demo and I believe it's just the hour of the day as military time. Set it to about 19 for a sunset, for instance. (Obviously time won't mean dink inside indoor missions.)

If any devs out there are looking for suggestions, it would sure be nice to be able to change perspective. Let us hit a key and have the demoreplay ignore camera instructions. Then let us move around freely. (We'll likely need a slow and precise movement speed as well as a maxxed speed to keep up with the speed demons.) Extra credit if we can re-attach the camera to any character we find!

Having the option to turn off chat bubbles would be nice, too. I can do it myself by going in with notepad but that's a bit of a pain.

P.S. The Zloth account was from beta so I had to make a new one.

[Zloth]

I've created another FAQ file describing the demo file format (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=851278&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1&PHPSESSID=) which gives some editing tips to those who would like to fiddle with their demos.

[The_Spinning_Top]

I dont have Premiere. Is there any freeware software that will allow me to string demodump TGA into an animated gif or mpg of somekind?

Or is it more effective just ot use moviemaker and record the demo while its playing. Thanks.

[LukeG]

Great guide, thanks.

[Ex_Libris]

Wow, I'm tagging this because this is just simply amazing. This is going to help make some seriously cool animations. Now if they only allowed for things like "Show UI" mode with -NoConversations so you can't see what people type, you do get chat bubbles but everything else is safe.

This is great, Oh my god, this is the coolest thing I've seen added to a MMOG in forever.

Hexadecimal

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont have Premiere. Is there any freeware software that will allow me to string demodump TGA into an animated gif or mpg of somekind?

Or is it more effective just ot use moviemaker and record the demo while its playing. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny you should ask, because I just found out how to make WMV files using the game's own demodump, Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/), and Window's Movie Maker 2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=82887484-6f21-43e2-b4e2-051f72c11a77&DisplayLang=en). All free!!

Just do the -demodump at 640x480 rez and a fixed 8 frames per second. This will create a boatload of .TGA screenshots. Now fire up Irfanview and select the batch processing under the File menu to convert all those TGA files to BMP format. (They come out about the same size.)

Now bring up Movie Maker 2. Look under the Tools/Options... menu and select the advanced tab. Turn the picture duration down to 0.125 and click OK. Click the Import Pictures link on the left side, go to where your BMP files are, highlight one, and press control-A to select all the files in the directory and open them. Now just drag all those pictures down to the bottom area and click "Save to my computer" in the left area. Crank crank crank crank.... POOF! Semi-instant movie!

I haven't seen a way to get MM2 to go higher than 640x480 or show pictures for less than 1/8th of a second but, for outright free, I think this does pretty good!

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
This is great, Oh my god, this is the coolest thing I've seen added to a MMOG in forever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Air Warrior did it back in the late 80's! In fact, they had some things better. We could detach the camera there and fly it around in the demo so we could easily see the action from a different perspective. Very nice!


As to the chat bubbles - you can edit them out easy enough. Just send the demo to notepad, find the chat text you don't like, and change to an empty string. See the demo edit faq (linked to above) for more info on that.

[Gladius_NA]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I dont have Premiere. Is there any freeware software that will allow me to string demodump TGA into an animated gif or mpg of somekind?

Or is it more effective just ot use moviemaker and record the demo while its playing. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny you should ask, because I just found out how to make WMV files using the game's own demodump, Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/), and Window's Movie Maker 2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=82887484-6f21-43e2-b4e2-051f72c11a77&DisplayLang=en). All free!!

Just do the -demodump at 640x480 rez and a fixed 8 frames per second. This will create a boatload of .TGA screenshots. Now fire up Irfanview and select the batch processing under the File menu to convert all those TGA files to BMP format. (They come out about the same size.)

Now bring up Movie Maker 2. Look under the Tools/Options... menu and select the advanced tab. Turn the picture duration down to 0.125 and click OK. Click the Import Pictures link on the left side, go to where your BMP files are, highlight one, and press control-A to select all the files in the directory and open them. Now just drag all those pictures down to the bottom area and click "Save to my computer" in the left area. Crank crank crank crank.... POOF! Semi-instant movie!

I haven't seen a way to get MM2 to go higher than 640x480 or show pictures for less than 1/8th of a second but, for outright free, I think this does pretty good!

[/ QUOTE ]

Grab VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org), it's free and can render the raw .tga's to AVI. It's a very useful program.

Open VirtuaDub and select File > Open Video File

Navigate to the directory with your .tga's. Make sure that in the bottom left corner of the file select dialogue "Automatically load linked segments" is checked and then select the first .tga in the sequence and open.

press F7 and chose where to save the finished AVI and you are done.

[Zloth]

Wow, that does work well! No 640x480 limit! Thanks Gladius!

(Though there were a couple more steps. You really have to go in under Video->Frame Rate to set the source frame rate to match whatever you used to record. Probably smart to select a compression format, too. I went at 12fps at 800x600 with no compression and was using just under one gigabyte per minute!)

[Gladius_NA]

I've got lot's of drive space and never worry about compression until I'm ready for a final product to distribute. I tend not to think about it when working with raw files during editing.

The missing steps were an oversight on my part resulting from my editing habits..

[Synistros]

I've got a small demo of me and two of my SG mates fighting Dr. Vahzilok, if anyone has some webspace and wants to host it I can send it to you.

Overall, it was a pretty easy fight mainly due to the awesome debuffs from our rad defender. I remember facing Dr. Vahz a while ago with a different character and it was so darn hard to beat him. We were constantly getting our butts handed to us. This time it was the reverse, I took most of the hits and only at the end of the fight was my health in the red. I was able to finish him off with a snipe right as he shot at me so I didn't take the dmg from the last hit.

Send me a PM if you'd like to watch it or can host it for me. The file is about 1.3mb uncompressed and shouldn't be much of a hassle for anyone with broadband.

Laters,
Murphy

[Storm_Knight]

If you want to get rid of the chats and the floating damager numbers, go to the link in my sig and download my demo editor / launcher app.

:cool:

The (free) software I'm using to get video from my demos is gamecam.
http://www.planetgamecam.com/

[Gunderstorm]

Hey Storm, what hotkey settings are you using for GameCam? The defaults really conflict with some pretty standard CoH keys.

I can't even get the in-game remote to come up. Any advice would be appreciated. The site isn't very helpful.

[Gunderstorm]

I found the info from the GameCam forums. It varies slightly from their own "Getting Started" info as follows:

[ QUOTE ]
What you need to do...

1. Go into your CoH Profile in Game Cam, delete it.
2. Go into your CoH folder in my computer... find the file "CityOfHeroes.exe" drag and drop it into the Profile Manager.
3. Keep Game Cam running in your system tray.
4. Launch City of Heroes like normal..

I've been using Game Cam for weeks with CoH works great! Have fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll try it over the weekend.

[Ex_Libris]

Interesting stuff. I'll have to give this a try.

Is there a way to take a screenshot of the front of your character in game other than having someone else do it for you?

[Ex_Libris]

uh, just rotate the camera, mid-mouse button.

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
uh, just rotate the camera, mid-mouse button.

[/ QUOTE ]

Somebody over in MMORPG.net was having problems with that - the wheel-as-mouse-button thing wasn't working at all for him. The Page Up key should work like the middle mouse if your mouse wheel/button isn't working right for you.

[Ex_Libris]

Actually, I figured it out.

The answer is, I am sofa king we todded.

Thanks for the help.

[Stoner_Rock]

Awesome! New toys to waste my time with :p Thanks Zloth! I used VirtualDub to turn my demo into an AVI. It was a huge file but it was my first try. Hey Gladius, is there any way to crop the images in VirtualDub? Through my whole demo 90% of the screen was unwanted. If VirtualDub can't do this do any of the other free ones? Thanks again!

[speeka]

Great program Zloth...thanks!!

[DevilSpear]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah I also have Fraps. Haven't used it in CoH, but have used it in other mulitplayer games. Ususally FPS, which is very cool to watch yourself kickin some *** in game. Fraps files can get very large though, but if you have a good program to compress them, they can look very cool for a website playback. Or to share with your buddies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's a thought for the Fraps people. Do a /Demowhatever to make a demo inside the game, then load the demo using the instructions above and record your recording!

Without having all the processor overhead that actually PLAYING the game can cause, your Fraps videos (which are just recording other videos) should be able to be recorded at high speed and good quality!

I have Fraps and will give this a shot myself.

[Zloth]

Or better yet, dink around with your demo (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=screenshots&Number=1032920 &fpart=&PHPSESSID=) first and then FRAP it.

[Neo_Bane]

Whether Fullscreen or Windowed, ALT+F4 will close it immediately and properly. CTRL+ALT+DEL causes windows to end the thread which can have adverse effects on the file.

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
Whether Fullscreen or Windowed, ALT+F4 will close it immediately and properly. CTRL+ALT+DEL causes windows to end the thread which can have adverse effects on the file.

[/ QUOTE ]
Nah, it's just reading the file so it won't mangle it. (I guess the Results folder isn't done any more so no worries there.) However, I found out later that you can end these demos in full screen by just hitting the ESC key. I think it's back in this thread somewhere. That and Alt-F4 are definitely better to use than killing the thread.

[TwilightSinger]

I'm having trouble viewing demos.

I've downloaded the Launcher.exe but sadly it errors and never starts, something about not finding some library.dll thing.

So, I go via the manual route - I've shortcutted both the updater and standard .exe of the game and set their target parameters to display -demoplay demo.cohdemo etc, and start up. They start up just fine, both of them, but then I get shown a slowly moving night sky with a black void beneath it. Nothing else happens.

Where am I going wrong?

[Zloth]

It isn't finding the demos. Your demo file MUST be in the client_demos directory.

For the viewer, the DLL error probably means you didn't get the NetFX thing installed. You'll need to get it from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3&DisplayLang=en) and install it.

[TwilightSinger]

[ QUOTE ]
It isn't finding the demos. Your demo file MUST be in the client_demos directory.

[/ QUOTE ]

The .cohdemo files are in the client_demos directory. Nowhere else.

[ QUOTE ]
For the viewer, the DLL error probably means you didn't get the NetFX thing installed. You'll need to get it from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3&DisplayLang=en) and install it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll give that a spin and get back if things change/stay the same.

[TwilightSinger]

Got them working. Didn't even need to download the .NETfx thing, though I did and now sort of wish I didn't seeing as it's more stuff cluttering my system, but eh.

My PC had converted all the demos I'd been d/l'ing into .txt files, regardless of me renaming them .cohdemo. Hence not working. Deleting all my old demo files now and replacing them with properly d/l'ed ones

*sighs* thanks for the help anyway.

[Zloth]

Huh? .cohdemo files ARE text files.

[TwilightSinger]

[ QUOTE ]
Huh? .cohdemo files ARE text files.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. However, if you save them as text files (the default save option in windows as it recognizes them as such), they won't play.
You must select 'all files' from the dropdown file window or they save as notepad icons and neither the Launcher nor manual updater will recognize them.

[Stoner_Rock]

Heya, I just recorded a demo on test server and tried to view it with Zloth's demo launcher. Of course that didn't work because it was in my CoH test demo file folder not the main. So then I think well I will just move it. Duh, there are changes to test that arent on live so it won't play there. So is there a way to make the demo launcher open my CoH test or do I have to do the line command deal? I don't really understand that so could someone explain it? Thanks!

[Spacekitten]

Do something like the following for running it from test:


D:\COH\CohUpdater.exe -test -demoplay "D:\COH\CohTest\client_demos\demo.cohdemo"

of course changed to your directories.

[Zloth]

D'oh - well, you ... uhhh.... use the special test version of my demo launcher which I made for myself and never uploaded. <blush>

A little radio button to have it load from your Test directory is on my to-do list.

[Zloth]

A bit of an update here. As of Issue #2, images will save as .JPG files by default so you don't need to mess with third party programs to view them. If you liked the non-compressed TGA format, though, you can go into options in the game and set them up. Also you can now bind a /screenshotui toggle to a key, though it doesn't give any feedback about whether you are turning it on or off.

[KnockKnock]

How Do I remove the names of the places from the demo, like "Perez Park" or "Bettis Hill" etc.?

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
How Do I remove the names of the places from the demo, like "Perez Park" or "Bettis Hill" etc.?

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think you can. They aren't actually in the demo file, it's just something the demo playback does when it starts.

What you can do is change one of the early instructions (one of the ones after all the 0-time setup instructions) to last about 5 seconds so the action doesn't start happening until the zone title is gone.

To do this, open the demo in Notepad and scroll down a bit, past all those lines that start with a 0. Go to the second or third one without a 0 and change the 0 to 5000. Save the demo (probably to a new name unless you want to risk your original) and try it out. I'm guessing on that 5000 so you may need to adjust it up or down.

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
D'oh - well, you ... uhhh.... use the special test version of my demo launcher which I made for myself and never uploaded. <blush>

A little radio button to have it load from your Test directory is on my to-do list.

[/ QUOTE ]

Added and uploaded. You can now switch between using the Test version of CoH and the standard version. If you don't have the Test version then you won't even see the options. If you had the Test version then removed it without removing the registry entries then it will try to force you over ot the standard version.

[FilmorePendrgn]

[ QUOTE ]
A bit of an update here. As of Issue #2, images will save as .JPG files by default so you don't need to mess with third party programs to view them. If you liked the non-compressed TGA format, though, you can go into options in the game and set them up. Also you can now bind a /screenshotui toggle to a key, though it doesn't give any feedback about whether you are turning it on or off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is there a way to make demodump use TGA instead of JPG format?

[FilmorePendrgn]

Found it!

use -demodumptga instead of -demodump

[FilmorePendrgn]

[ QUOTE ]
The /ScreenshotUI command is used to toggle whether or not your saved (TGA) screenshots include your user interface. This command doesn't itself make a screenshot, it's just a setting for your future screenshots. /screenshotui 1 to include the UI, /screenshotui 0 to make shots without the user interface.

The /screenshot command does the actual screenshot.

These are covered in the in-game help on the last tab under Slash Commands.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not quite sure EXACTLY what it does, but `/e3screenshot 1` yields some pretty screenshots.

[KnockKnock]

[ QUOTE ]
Found it!

use -demodumptga instead of -demodump

[/ QUOTE ]

ROFL, i asked support this same question and they told me it was impossible.

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
Found it!

use -demodumptga instead of -demodump

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, it doesn't tell me this is a bad command line parameter but it doesn't work for me, either. It just runs through the demo without saving any screenshots. Has anyone actually gotten TGA's out of this?

[FilmorePendrgn]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Found it!

use -demodumptga instead of -demodump

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, it doesn't tell me this is a bad command line parameter but it doesn't work for me, either. It just runs through the demo without saving any screenshots. Has anyone actually gotten TGA's out of this?

[/ QUOTE ]
I did some more experimenting, and it seems to fail if the directory isn't allready created. Can you try running it as just -demodump, then hitting ESC to quit (thus setting up the directory) then using -demodumptga

[FilmorePendrgn]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Found it!

use -demodumptga instead of -demodump

[/ QUOTE ]

ROFL, i asked support this same question and they told me it was impossible.

[/ QUOTE ]
There's 2 reasons for that.

1) Tech support only knows what's in their manuals (unless you're lucky)
2) This feature is undocumented and took some uncouth digging to retrieve, like the "e3screenshot 1" option

[Mr_Fury]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The /ScreenshotUI command is used to toggle whether or not your saved (TGA) screenshots include your user interface. This command doesn't itself make a screenshot, it's just a setting for your future screenshots. /screenshotui 1 to include the UI, /screenshotui 0 to make shots without the user interface.

The /screenshot command does the actual screenshot.

These are covered in the in-game help on the last tab under Slash Commands.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not quite sure EXACTLY what it does, but `/e3screenshot 1` yields some pretty screenshots.

[/ QUOTE ]

Example? What's the difference?

[Zloth]

Demos are NOT a supported feature. If they work, great. If not, oh well. You won't find any advertising on the web site or anywhere else trying to get you to buy the game because of this feature. It's just something the code can do and we have fun with so some of the devs (possibly even just one of them?) have been keeping it alive. Given that the feature is unsupported, Support isn't likely to know a lot about it.

[Nefandus]

Thanks to you and everyone else on the thread for great info!

[FilmorePendrgn]

Zloth2:
Have you ever considered making the demo player and demo editor open source?

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
Zloth2:
Have you ever considered making the demo player and demo editor open source?

[/ QUOTE ]
Heck, the source for the Demo Launcher is so small I can just about post it as a message here! I want to add the -demodumptga thing in there, though. I'll put that code out when that's done.

I've dumped the code for the edit program into a zip. There's a link to it now on the demo edit page (http://home.kc.rr.com/dasloth/CoH/Demos/DemoEdit.htm). If anyone wants to use the code for their own programs, go for it. (If you use it in a for-profit program without even mentioning my name, though, I do reserve the right to call you a mean person!!) Or download it just so you can giggle at the n00b .NET programmer trying to teach himself inheritance.

[Elle]

Hey Zloth, what exactly is the command line that the tool generates when -demodump is on? I cannot seem to get -demodump to work from the command line, no matter where I put it. The demo runs fine with all the options except demodump; as soon as I add demodump, the demo won't run (it crashes after loading with that "what happened" dialog). So, I figure I'm missing something that goes along with it, or it needs to be in a certain place on the command line.

Ordinarily I would just use the launcher, but I want to also use the -disable2d switch (which isn't in the launcher) to get rid of text.

Thanks!

[Zloth]

[ QUOTE ]
Ordinarily I would just use the launcher, but I want to also use the -disable2d switch (which isn't in the launcher) to get rid of text.

Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh my gosh! I didn't know about the -disable2D option! Well, it's in the demo launcher now. Sure is a lot better than having to rip out all that text with an editting tool! Big thanks right back at ya, Elle_M! I put in support for dumping to TGA files, too.

[You can download the source code for the launcher now, too.]

To answer your question, I always put the demodump option first. Something like the following:

"C:\Games\CoH\CityOfHeroes.exe" -demodump -demofps 9 -demoplay swarm.cohdemo

But I don't think it really matters.

[Elle]

Yeah, I discovered -disable2d in the help file in the game. I figured if the /demoplay and other demo commands listed in help also work on the command line, some of the others might too. :D Not only does it get rid of chat, it gets rid of player labels and that pesky zone title at the beginning.

I still can't get demodump to work on the command line. Now I'm wondering if the launcher isn't setting some environment variables (I haven't looked at the code yet). When I run from the command line, I switch to the City of Heroes directory (I have to, or it complains it can't find files), then I run a command like the following:

cityofheroes.exe -demoplay "F:\CoH\mydemo.cohdemo" -screen 1024 768 -disable2d 1

That'll play back the demo just fine, but if I add -demodump, the game crashes with the "what happened" box. Doesn't matter where it is on the command line; I tried it like your example and the same thing happened. The reason I'm asking about environment variables is that your demo name doesn't have the path, indicating that the client_demo directory is the active directory or otherwise doesn't require the path (and, if you have to include the path to the exe, then the game directory might not be the active directory). I've tried changing the path variable so that it'll find files in the game and piggs directories, but that wasn't enough. Any thoughts?

Of course, now that the launcher is improved, I won't need to use command line. Still, I'd like to understand why the launcher works and bare command line does not.

[Elle]

Duh. Duh duh duh.

No sooner had I posted that than I thought of one more thing, and it worked. It is an evironment variable, PATH to be exact, but not the path to the exe. The path to the demos. So, for a command line execution with demodump, you first have to add the client_demo directory to the path. Then you can run the command line normally. So, here's what I do to run a demo with demodump strictly from command line:



Start -> Run -> cmd, then type the following at the command prompt:

D:

CD \Games\City of Heroes

SET PATH = %PATH%;D:\Games\City of Heroes\client_demos

CityofHeroes.exe -demoplay mydemo.cohdemo -screen 1024 768 -disable2d 1 -demodump -demofps 10



(Note, drive and paths are the location of my files, and my switches are just examples. Your mileage may vary. Also, the change to the PATH variable only lasts as long as that command window is up. Also, the SET PATH line is *only* necessary if you're using the -demodump switch, but if you don't set the path, then you have to use the fully qualified path to the demo file.)

Booyah, grandma, booyah. :D


Edit: The SET PATH step may not be necessary, as per my discovery in later posts. I came up with it when, for some reason, my playback wasn't picking up the demo in the client_demo directory. It's supposed to pick it up automatically without having to change the path. It won't hurt anything, though.

[Zloth]

I just tried a pretty new demo from a DOS command line with -demodump on the end and it worked fine. All the launcher does is change the current directory to the exe's directory then launches the exe with the command line.

I presume you have enough drive space?

Hmmm, that command line isn't right. Demos MUST reside in the client_demos directory (or a directory below that) to get it to work.

[Elle]

Even if I use a demo in the client_demo directory, and do not change the path variable or specify the path, I get the dark sky picture, what I usually get if I get the file name wrong. So, I think it is a path issue; for some reason, at least on my machine, it doesn't automatically pick files up in or under the client_demo directory. Maybe that's why manually updating the path works for me.

Edit: And now it's working. I was using a fresh command window for each test, so it wasn't some weird setting carrying over. I don't know why it wasn't working before.

So, anyway, now all I have to do is be in the game directory, and, as long as the demo is in the client_demos directory, the -demodump command works. No PATH variable needed. However, if you want to just play back without demodump, you can still play a demo in any directory as long as you use the fully qualified path. I did this regularly for video capture; I'd organize demos in a variety or directories then play back from there. It works as long as you don't use demodump. I think the path confuses things when it tries to set up the subdirectory that stores all the bitmaps.

Anyway, thanks, and sorry for the PATH red herring. (It works, but may be unecessary.) :)

[herofan9414]

just tried downloading the demo launcher, and it doesnt seem to be working. I get the download prompt, but no prompt to title it/save it, and just end up with a blank web page staring back at me.

Oh...wait...I am using Firefox...going to trie IE quick..

[herofan9414]

<----- moron.

I didn't realize it was such a small file. It downloaded so fast.

so, in effect now I have 6 copies of your launcher. Guess I should have checked my destination folder first.

:p

[Gladius_NA]

Hey Zloth, are you going to update the demo launcher to account for the new /demodumptga command since /demodump defaults to .jpg now?

EDIT

Just read back a few posts and saw you bring it up

[X_SunRay_X]

TY TY TY TY TY TY TY TY TY TY TY etc etc etc etc

Very helpful and handy. I am 36 and have had a computer for only 2 1/2 years, and have had to learn alot. With Heroes like you to help the code ignorant savages out there, ( Like Me ) Makes it Soooooooooooooo much more enjoyable.

Had collected comics since I was 3, ( Not that I knew it then ) and still daydream of heroes flying thru Manhattan skyscrapers all the time. I also see Shadowrunners doing thier thing also, but thats another tale. Been playing RPing games since Chainmail, and Champions was my all time FAV. ( Shadowrun also, but thats another tale.) Suffice it to say that the ideas have never stopped. Yet not knowing how to get the computer to do what I want, being unable to speak its language can be AGGROvating. And I have Ideas. If they work I want to share.

I bow to your TechnoSavvyness. THANK YOU $$e Fancybow

If............If..........You do plan on updating your demo editor..???..

please put a listing of the command options to use in the help or sumtin. From what I gather your video making guide is a lil dated with what you have in this posting. Since you have a way of putting it in simple terms, It would be appreciated if you could provide more of your new understanding of demos. Timing, Reference, Command, and Value.....???......A drop down menu....help file....PDF file...???....I dont know what would be easier.

I'm not nitpicking your work. Just you kinda lit a FIRE, and like a forest fire. It needs a fireman the direct where the fire will go. And Baby I'M ON FIRE.

[Zloth]

You are most certainly welcome!

The Demo Edit is pretty much in the state it's going to be in for awhile. It should work just fine with current demos. There's a LOT that could be done, to be sure, but the ones I would like to do are things that aren't so easily done. Plus the more you put in the more you have to maintain.

[Zloth]

A feature and a bug are causing some screenshots to not be saved.

1. Empty folders (like your screenshot directory if you've cleaned it out) are deleted now.

2. TGA screenshots will not automatically create a folder for your shots. (There's a similar problem doing a demodump in TGA format.)

The upshot is that, if you save your screenshots in TGA format and you keep your screenshot directory clean, then your screenshots won't save. There's no problem if you use JPG format which is the default. Or you can make a screenshot directory and leave a dummy file in there.

[X_SunRay_X]

I've been wondering why I cant save UI screenshots. Been trying to save pics of my mish info so I can use to follow storyline and possible tie-in of plots. This helps to explain a few things. Thought it was me and mine acting up.

Once again Thank You Zloth2 /e fancybow

[Zloth]

In honor of my name getting switched back (BIG thanks Cuppa!), I've updated my screenshot/demo guide to version 2 (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1874789&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=&fpart=&vc=#Post1874789)! Now info on /screenshotui and the new JPG format are in the FAQ itself instead of hiding deep in the topic thread.

[Weevil]

I have a demo question that I hope someone can answer.

If I record a demo at low resolution (I.e. with my game settings turned down low), can I play it back later at a higher game rsolution?
I read the post about resolutions, but does the demo file actually record the settings of your resolution, or does it just record the game info & can play it back at whichever resolution your game is set to?
-Thanks in advance!

[WingedKagouti_NA]

The demo file doesn't contain any information on what graphics setting you're using.

[StabbinPayne]

Hey, I found a neat trick to make demos easier to view. Simply make a shortcut on your desktop to your cohupdater and add the -demoplay flag after it. Now you can drag 'n drop .cohdemo files to it, and they will play!

I.E. my desktop shortcut looks like:
Target: "C:\Applications\Games\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -demoplay
Start in: "C:\Applications\Games\City of Heroes"

I can drag 'n drop .cohdemo files to the shortcut on my desktop and they seem to play fine :D.

If you want to add any of the other options, you should be able to stick them after the -demoplay.

[Zloth]

Huh, hadn't thought of that. Good thinking StabbinPayne! I bet the -demoplay will have the be last, though.

P.S. NEW Screenshot & Demo Guide (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=faq&Number=1874789&fpart=& PHPSESSID=) topic!

[judgestarx]

good info

[Sir_Noir]

I have been interested in this stuff for a while, Its just my brain doesnt work that way, I'm a illustrator, so I can picture a lot of this but stuff looks like greek code to me. any idiots guides to demo editing for coh movie making? I have all the stuff needed, the demo editor, fraps, etc....

[Willpower2050]

I have made many screenshots of my game using the printscreen button, but the screenshots I get in my screenshots folder are JPGs not TGA files. I would rather them be TGAs as those are higher resolution. I am trying to use some of these pictures for character sheets, and so I was hoping for Hi-Res. Is there anyway to make the program give me TGA files instead of JPG?

[Zombie Man]

This was a very old and outdated thread. Check my sig for a link to the Guide to Guides and in it, look for the list of Demo guides for the more recent and more comprehensive guides.

===== Please do not post to this thread. =======