Updates & Comments

• 2009-09-10 : COMMENT : Long time, no update. I figured I owed some sort of status report on me and the Codex. I'm still subscribed (pre-paid up through something like July 2010) and still playing occasionally, but the time I'm spending on the game is way down, probably only a few hours a month. I have NOT left CoH for Champions Online or anything like that, but more of my time is being spent in the meat world these last few months, for various reasons, leaving a dearth of both playing and Codex updates.

  I don't know when or if to expect my CoH time to pick back up, so the next thing I plan to do, when I can scrape together a few minutes, is to port the Codex data over to the Paragon Wiki. That will serve the two-fold purpose of preserving the CoH Codex (without being directly dependent on me or my web hosting) and opening it up to further expansions and updates by others. I've talked about maybe doing that before, and this is just to say that it's now my specific intent to do so. Might not be real soon, but hopefully by the end of this year.

• 2009-02-17 : UPDATE : Models caught up to I13, finally, including Leandro's finds. Figured with the I14 Beta announced I should get off my butt and finish them. Looking at the name variations there might also be some more (unused) merit vendor models. At some point I'll try out the obvious permutations and see if those pan out.

• 2009-02-06 : UPDATE : Discovered I had missed the drop-down navigation in updating to the new web domain, so they were all broken. Now fixed. I hope that's the last of them. Small update to start making a dent in the promised I13 content. Mostly adding the merit vendors (well, the "live" ones anyway). More soon. More importantly, check out what Leandro took the the time to do. Much better back up than my SkyDrive files and quite possibly the future of the Codex data.

• 2009-01-22 : COMMENT : Yes, I'm still here. For anyone who hasn't read on the CoH boards, this -- http://home.roadrunner.com/~scuzzbopper/ -- is the new home of the City of Heroes Codex, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. Apologies for the whole site SNAFU and the subsequent lack of updates. Time Warner cable failing to notify me of their web hosting changes, and then the customer service journey through hell to get it fixed, left me pretty burned out and needing to take a break.

  Just in case there are ever any future disruptrions (which could come from just something as simple as me moving and no longer having the same ISP), I have uploaded an off-site copy of the CoH Codex web site to SkyDrive, and I'll try to keep that quasi-up-to-date. That should be available to folks as a fall-back in case of future ISP/web hosting problems I might have. I have also played around a little bit with the notion of porting the Codex whole hog into the Paragon Wiki. The Scenic Maps page was a baby step in that direction (starting new features on the wiki rather than on the Codex). I don't think that it would necessarily be a bad idea to move all the Codex data to the wiki and even opens up a lot of possibility for group effort and expansion. For me, it mostly boils down to inertia. But I will say that if anyone wants to undertake the task of copying the Codex's data into the Paragon Wiki, you have my permission and blessing. I have no plans to stop working on Codex, but recent experience has shown that fan sites of an individual are subject to what befalls that one individual, so I did want to publicly give permission if nothing else.

  Anyhow, wanted to give reassurance that the Codex is still here (and so am I). Even though I've lost all my Google love. That's the one big teeth-grinder.

  Barring any more ODTAA, I plan to be over my burn out/taking a break for Double XP Weekend, and then back to updating the Codex. Need to get all the I13 content included (which I've already captured) and also Leandro's latest contributions. For some good news, for a change, the Time Warner move to new hosting has increased the size allocation for my web site, so there's the potential to expand the Codex, whereas before I was already bumping pretty close to the ceiling.

• 2008-12-03 : COMMENT : Just an FYI that I think I have all the new I13 models. I'll try to set some time aside to add those this weekend. I'll also try to capture the lion's share of the shield and pain domination FXs and MOVs. Unless there was an unexpected wipe, I've got some level-bumped 50s with these power sets on the test server, so should be easy enough to capture the core content for these sets.

• 2008-12-03 : UPDATE : Added links to Dark_Respite's (AKA Samuraiko/Johanna Sinclair/Michelle) Hero Con presentation video to the guides & tools. A couple other minor tweaks to this page (removing links affected by the CoH web site update, getting the CoH Wiki links to point to the Titan site, etc.). Also some small changes to the home page, including a section on supporting the Codex. Some folks have asked me about that this year and it wasn't something I had even thought about before, so I did and settled on a way that folks could show their support and/or appreciation, if they would like to do so (see the Codex home page for how). I've also got a T-shirt design up on CafePress if you'd prefer another option (which I'll just tuck away here as the stealth method).

• 2008-12-02 : UPDATE : Been a while. Updated the demo guides & tools to the new address for Zloth's tools. Word is that Time Warner is redoing all their web hosting so the Codex might have to have a new URL soon.

• 2008-09-18 : UPDATE : Since models had their turn, did an update of everything else. Didn't have too much new, but added a half-dozen maps, 30-some FX, and somewhere around 200 additional MOVs.

• 2008-09-18 : UPDATE : Finished the last of the models which Leandro posted. Did some minor reorganization (mostly to Objects) along the way.

• 2008-09-17 : UPDATE : Got most of the Leandro models in. About 25 to go.

• 2008-09-16 : UPDATE : Added another block of the Leandro models. Running a bit behind getting them added. About 180 more to go.

• 2008-09-16 : COMMENT : Congratulations to 8 Baller for winning the grand prize in the Gametrailers Machinima contest! And to Leandro for his win, too! And the other person whom I don't know. ;) Congrats all!

• 2008-09-04 : COMMENT : No Codex updates today, though I hope to finish the rest of Leandro's models this weekend. Wanted to mention that I've added a Scenic Maps section to the Demo Editing entry on the Paragon Wiki. This had been a feature I'd toyed with adding to the Codex, but I think the wiki is probably a better fit for it (in part since other people can contribute as they wish). Had been slowly building it for a while and pushed it "live" just the other day. By no means complete, but a good start, I think.

• 2008-08-23 : UPDATE : Leandro keeps the hits coming. Two more threads with new models (here and here). Plus, on top of that, he's also working on a new demo tool -- the City of Heroes Poser -- to let you generate and manipulate the demo ragdoll code. I've added to the Codex the first hundred or two of the new models he posted. A couple hundred more to go (working on it). No promises as to when this bounty will trickle down to the visual list. In the meantime, check Leandro's thread. He included screenshots to some of the highlights. I also broke down and added all the doors I had while I was at it. I've been avoiding added doors for so long, that must be some sort of sign of the (zombie) apocalypse or something.

  Oh, and if you are reading this and wanted to go vote for Leandro's "Donuts" movie in the Matrix Machinima Contest, somehow I don't think he'd mind. Also, there's 40-some other CoH movies to watch there, many featuring demo-editing.

• 2008-08-10 : UPDATE : Leandro discovered a number of new models (see here) which have been added.

• 2008-08-01 : UPDATE : Added the Zombie Apocalypse models (under the Halloween grouping) from yesterday's test on the training room. Looks like most, if not all, of the models are already in the live build code.

• 2008-07-01 : COMMENT : I imagine anyone who reads this page already knows, but just in case you don't, they've announced a new CoH machinima contest. The grand prize includes a new car! Here's the announcement on the CoH site: Win a New Car in the Matrix Machinima Contest!. And here's the official contest page: The Matrix Machinima Contest: Get In Touch With Your Dark Side. You might not want to expect too many updates to the Codex for the next month or so. ;)

• 2008-07-01 : UPDATE : Small update to the Demo Guides & Tools page. Primarily to add a link to the Demo Editing entry at the Paragon Wiki. So far that entry is just me, but other contributors are welcome (that's why it's on the wiki). Still mostly a work in progress.

• 2008-06-08 : UPDATE : Added the Statesman Task Force "Strike the Thorn Tree" named bosses. Thanks to Lycaeus for the demo.

• 2008-06-05 : UPDATE : MOVs updated. Up to 3,467 total (and I know just from the naming conventions they use that there are still a bunch more out there).

• 2008-06-02 : UPDATE : Small additions to several areas. Models (Proximo's new model name), FX, and Maps (including the balance of the reference coordinates for the special/unique maps). No MOVs today, but I have some on deck.

• 2008-06-02 : COMMENT : Wanted! I'm looking for a demo, if there are any kind souls out there that can provide one. Specifically, I'm looking for the "Strike the Thorn Tree" mission from the Statesman Task Force. I want to grab all the boss models that appear in that mission. If you have or can get a demo of this mission, I would love it if you could pass on a copy to me. Got it. Demo provided by Lycaeus. Many thanks!

• 2008-05-29 : UPDATE : Added the lion's share of map reference coordinates for all of the special, unique, and "artified" maps. I still have a few more to pull, but not many. After that, I don't plan to put much effort into gathering reference coordinates for the "generic" map groups. I figure it's the special/unique maps that folks will be interested, so for the generics I'll just pull reference coordinates for them when I happen to already be poking at them for some other reason or data.

  While compiling the reference coordinates, I also happened to notice a couple models that weren't in my list. Somewhere along the way, I must have missed pulling data from a few of my demos. I revisited all of them and came up with about a dozen "missing" models, many of them unique NPCs. Probably the highlight of the bunch is the Nemesis Mole Machine that I remembered seeing, but didn't realize I had missed. There's also likely some more MOVs and FXs to be pulled out of those demos I'd inadvertently skipped, so expect an update to those in the near future.

• 2008-05-27 : UPDATE : Added the first batch of map reference coordinates. Not a lot, but focused on the unique maps to start.

• 2008-05-25 : UPDATE : Added second and third VEAT contacts. Not sure if there are more after that.

• 2008-05-23 : COMMENT : It looks like I12 has fixed at least some of, if not all, of the demo map crashing issues. Sometime "soon" I'll check all the ones I had previously flagged as crashing to see if it has fixed them all.

• 2008-05-21 : UPDATE : I polished up the Models page a bit for I12's release, adding the new contacts, stores, and trainers, as well as generally flushing out the beta I12 models I had added. Also added Dark_Respite's web site to the demo info page (past due).

• 2008-05-17 : UPDATE : Quick update to the Demo Guides & Tools page adding Dark_Respite's City Scoop article, a link to the CoH music download site, and restoring the links to the hi-res Hype movies which are working again (for now).

• 2008-05-14 : UPDATE : FX and Models updated, mostly with I12 open beta content. 70-some new FX. I think I've got close to all the new Roman FX, but I'm probably pretty sparse on the Soldiers of Arachnos FX; so room to grow there. I've added all the I12 models I've captured with the exceptions of the new contacts, trainers, and stores. I'll probably wait until it goes live to add those. Ghost Widow's two new Roman-style costumes added to her entry. Also added some more "missing" models (Crey Scorpinoids, Dr. Quatrexin, Goddess Hequat, Serafina [combat version], Koago, and combat/ringless versions of the rest of the Vanguard crew). I'll flush out the names associated with the new models once I12 goes live.

• 2008-05-13 : UPDATE : MOVs updated, including I12 open beta content. 241 MOVs added. The most notable are probably the four versions of "STANCE_GHOSTWIDOW".

• 2008-05-12 : UPDATE : Major Maps update. No reference coordinates yet (sorry), but just about everything else. I flushed out all the incomplete map groups, testing all the likely sequence gaps to identify valid maps. Also tested every (live build) map I've captured or extrapolated and identified all those which crash on demo playback (at least for me). Maps which crash are listed with red text. The date each map was last tested on the live build is also listed. I've also included what I12 maps I've captured so far, although I'll be waiting for them to reach live before giving them the tested stamp. Apart from reference coordinates, that's pretty much "done" for maps, although I'm sure I'm still missing some (probably mostly SFs/TFs). Contributions welcome and I'll be starting work on the reference coordinates soon.

  I12 content is on deck. The first batch of models will be next, along with a few more "missing" models.

• 2008-05-06 : UPDATE : Another "missing" model. Namely, 3K Kelvin. Somehow I had always missed that Billie Heck story arc.

• 2008-05-04 : UPDATE : A small model update. Added Shockstorm (Longbow NPC from Operative Renault's Strike Force), the 48 month veteran pets, and lastly Dr. Brainstorm. After seeing the images of Dr. Brainstorm in the I12 articles, I played the name-guessing game and found a model for him after a half-dozen tries. I suspect there may also be a "damaged" version of him, judging by some of the screenshots, but I haven't figured that one out yet. I grouped Brainstorm under the signature characters.

• 2008-04-18 : COMMENT : Wanted to add a note that a new batch of health issues have raised their ugly head. I don't expect it to outright stop me from playing or working on the Codex, but I will have to back-burner some of the things I was working on here (Maps has been the main thing I've been poking at -- flushing out the gaps, checking functionality, and building ref coords). Hopefully, I'll be as recovered as I can be in time for my I12 closed beta invite (hint, hint).

• 2008-03-31 : UPDATE : Updated the Demo Guides & Tools page to include Storm_Knight's return (and Stage6's departure).

• 2008-03-06 : UPDATE : A few small additions. A couple models (most notably the Nemesis Warhorse that I just recently learned about), a few maps, and a little over a dozen each of MOVs and FXs (mostly TF/SF stuff).

• 2008-03-04 : UPDATE : Added Valentine's Event models (including the Wedding live event).

• 2008-02-28 : UPDATE : Updated the CoH Demo & Movie Guides, Tools, & Links page. I have all the Valentine's and Wedding models on deck. Hopefully will have them added this weekend.

• 2008-02-12 : UPDATE : Added combat model versions of Shadow Spider and Viridian. Model info provided by Vanden. Also added the new marriage proposal emote MOV (EMOTE_MARRIAGEPROPOSAL_PRE).

• 2008-01-24 : UPDATE : Added the throw rice/confetti/rose petals emote MOVs. These aren't currently active (either on test or live), but the naming convention is straightforward and they do work in demos played using the current test build. I don't know what the MOV code for the new "propose" emote is, however. I didn't catch it during the brief window these were live on the previous test build that got rolled back, and it's *not* "EMOTE_PROPOSE" (or a few others I tried).

• 2007-12-30 : UPDATE : Added the new ski chalet models.

• 2007-12-09 : UPDATE : The "Visual List of Models" is up. Not complete, but a good chunk, I'd say. This is an extension of the model images mentioned in the last update. I've added this page as a direct linking to the list of images, complete with its own nav tab. I haven't added any more links to the regular model page yet. I'd rather get it more or less finished first, so I only need to do one significant update to the models page (not counting the 5th Column test case). The visual list of models is a work in progress, so might be a few bits of oddity or error in there at this stage. I've also found 2 or 3 minor errors in the model list while working on this and have made the appropriate corrections on the model page.

• 2007-12-05 : UPDATE : I've created a test case for a new feature. On the models page, the 5th Column group header is now a link which will open a new window/tab showing images of all the models (see it here). As I said, this is a test case at the moment, while I decide how big to let it get. It will also inevitably become unsynced with the model list, as realistically I don't think I would update the images as often for pre-existing groups. Still, could be a nice addition.

• 2007-12-04 : UPDATE : Updated Guides & Tools with a couple new movie links and a hi-res version of Dies Irae courtesy of Aral. Moved a couple models for consistency and added a demo of all MOVs (link on the MOVs page).

• 2007-11-29 : UPDATE : MOV and FX updates for I11. I think I've got most everything for Dual Blades (aside from the costume-based weapon customization) and a good chunk of Willpower. I re-organized the FX a bit, more according to the alphabetical FX name and less according to the grouping. Keeps it easier to maintain.

• 2007-11-28 : UPDATE : A quick model update for the I11 launch. Reorganized the Ouroboros stuff and included some late changes (like Mender Roebuck getting his own model), added the ringless tutorial NPCs from the Flashback intro missions, fixed a couple of small typos, and added in some missing military/soldier NPCs.

• 2007-11-26 : UPDATE : Minor model update. Sorting through my later I10 stuff. Not a lot. Mostly a few Rikti, miscellaneous unique NPCs, vet pets, and the Shadow Freaks. Also stumbled across a JLove appearance (at the RWZ pre-launch event on test) using a unique model (Bug_Dude_01). Realized I'm missing the university NPCs, so I'll get those added sometime soon.

• 2007-11-21 : UPDATE : And Maps and FXs done! That's everything I've got up through early I10, and models up through the I11 open beta. 'Bout as good as it gets. There are a lot of obvious sequence gaps on the maps that I just haven't encountered "live". If circumstances permit at some point, I'll take the time to play fill-in-the-blank and check those gaps for valid maps. FXs are solid as far as everything I've captured. Now I just need to worry about I11.

  Have a good Thanksgiving!

• 2007-11-20 : UPDATE : MOVs done up through I10 (no I11 beta MOVs [yet]). 555 added. I'm a little worried that a few typos may have crept in (I noticed a bad delimiter when I was sorting them), but I'm reasonably sure I caught them all. If you spot any bad ones, please drop me a PM. Again, "done" just means all those I have, not all that there are.

  Also added a new feature -- Dev Costumes. Someone had asked me a few months ago if I had any of these, but I wasn't able to find any at the time. Went digging a little deeper and came up with a few. These are costumes as used by devs and community reps at events and other public appearances. Only includes those folks who use actual player-type costumes (so no Ghost Widow, Manticore, War Witch, etc., as they just use the regular combat models for their corresponding signature characters).

• 2007-11-16 : UPDATE : Models done! (Except for doors.) Doesn't mean it's all that there are, just all the ones I've been able to lay my hands on. Plus they could use descriptions, more linking of the raw models to the actual enemy, etc., etc. All the usual. But as far as the straight up models, that's it. All I've got (at least so far). There are some I know I'm missing and just need to catch in the wild, so to speak (like vet pets). If you find any I'm missing, feel free to drop me a PM with the info. Probably the one notable highlight of this update is the Civic Squad (in full).

• 2007-11-14 : UPDATE : Digging deep to fill in missing models. A few of the highlights in this update include: Ghost Widow's Valentine's (red) costume, the Eye of the Leviathan, Glacia, Infernia, and the tailors (sorry, Serge, for leaving you out for so long). Also found some "ringless" versions of some of the Facemakers, including some extra models in the same group. Added them under the Vahzilok group.

• 2007-11-13 : UPDATE : More model tweaking. I was going over the "civilian" models in more detail and noticed that the villain (MaleNPC_Villain_01, for example) and non-villain (MaleNPC_01) versions of the civilian models appear to be essentially the same (except that villain women are taller), right down to each mapping to the same corresponding model number. Consequently, I removed the individual entries for the villain civilians and just pointed them to the "generic" versions (rather than needlessly pad the list with individual entries for them all). Also, I was reading the boards today and someone mentioned that a dev had, at some point, made an appearance as Hero 1. So I played around with model names that seemed likely and discovered this: Signature_Hero_01 (added to the model list).

• 2007-11-08 : UPDATE : Catching up on some old model stuff that I've been putting off: Nemesis Automatons and Spetsnaz Commandos. Also finished filling out the "civilian" NPCs (minus descriptions) and last year's Winter Event additions. With the exception of a few RWZ, Faultline, and TF uniques (and doors...) I think that's darned close to every model. Will probably look at adding some of the more unique doors "soon", maybe all of them just for completeness, and then on to polishing up the MOVs, FX, and Maps.

• 2007-11-05 : UPDATE : Added the balance of the I11 models I have so far (Vandal [the only "new" 5th model], the Loyalists and President Marchand, Candy [Mandy], Cyrus, Jimmy, and Miss Liberty). Might be missing one or two villain-side (haven't done all the red-side Flashback TFs).

• 2007-10-29 : UPDATE : I11 just went open beta, so I added a few quick I11 models (Jade Spider, 1960s Arachnos, and Ouroboros). More to come.

• 2007-10-21 : UPDATE : Mid-sized model update. Mostly unique non-AV models (such as bank hero & villains), elder snakes, and civilians. Covers pretty much all my pre-I10 backlog (for models), with a few exceptions (such as Spetsnaz & the New Years Event). The exceptions are on deck. The civilian models are a work in progress. Should have descriptions for the new additions in soon, as well as the balance of the "villain" civilians (I've currently entered just the first five as placeholders/reminders). Also redid the "My Characters" page with some better group shots. Trying to get fully up-to-date in time for Issue 11.

• 2007-09-12 : COMMENT : I PM'ed Lighthouse today asking if there were any prospects of the Film Festival Contest being resurrected. He replied that they're talking about what they're going to do for this fall and winter's contests and that return of the Film Festival Contest might be one of these prospects. Nothing definite, but thought it might be worth mentioning.

• 2007-09-12 : UPDATE : Doing a little re-organizing. Namely dumping one of the minor links (my list of retired heroes) and adding this "Updates & Comments" page. It's as much for myself as anything -- a way to keep notes on what change and updates I've made.

• 2007-09-11 : COMMENT : I uploaded a small cohdemo file to the new w00t Studios site, specifically to their File Depot. Mostly to try it out. For more info on w00t Studios, see the Announcing: w00t Studios post on the CoH Forums. Among other things, they are providing hosting services for CoX screenshots, movies, and raw (or zipped) demo files.

  The specific demo I uploaded is just a simple clip of the Missile being launched in Warburg. This comes from an idea I've been vaguely toying with of building a "Stock Footage Vault" of demo recordings. Things like the Warburg Missile, all the assorted Giant Monsters, things like that so that someone can download an actual demo of these things and have all of the attached MOVs and FXs, and a complete recording, rather than trying to assemble all of that from just the extracted data (which is all my site provides). I hadn't really gone anywhere with this idea, for all the usual reasons, but also because I'm hosting this site on a very low-end free account. Maybe with w00t Studios providing the space for the demos, I might actually go somewhere with the "Stock Footage Vault" idea (or maybe not).

• 2007-09-11 : COMMENT : I haven't done much in the last couple months because of work consuming a lot of my time (and energy and mental capacity and will to live...) beyond just the nine to five. That's eased up a bit now so I should be catching up on the site a little more. Probably just in time for a whole load of new I11 content.

• 2007-09-11 : UPDATE : Some updates to the list of models. I updated the "Contact and Mission-Related ('Delivery') NPCs" section to also include "General Zone NPCs" (by which I mean folks like the Supergroup Registrar and the Recluse's Victory status NPCS -- folks that aren't generally tied to any specific mission, but have their own models and are typically associated with a particular zone). Then filled out this whole section with stuff that was missing (all the I8+ Fautline contacts, all the new RWZ contacts, all the brokers & detectives, etc.).

  Also flushed out the "Store NPCs" section with the Faultline stores, the Vault, Wentworths, and Black Market models. I'd call this complete except I realized I forgot the RWZ Quartermasters (which I'll correct "soon").

  Also made additions to the Trainer & TF NPCs lists (Lady Grey, Positron's new look, finally getting Castle added, etc.). Vanguard section added to the NPC Groups (which probably should be renamed from "Villain/Enemy Groups"), updated Rikti group (and Monster/AV section) with Hro'Dtohz and The Honoree (credit to Zloth for getting me the TF demos), a couple of objects added, and a few miscellanous (Faultline) AVs. Still have a lot of Faultline content to catch up on.

• 2007-07-05 : COMMENT : Of best laid plans... Okay, let's try this again. Unfortunately, not long after the previous update I had a run of bad luck. In and out of the hospital for more than a month (not fun and I'm still dealing with the bloody hospital billing companies having lost record of one of my payments). Then, after more-or-less recovering, both of my two computers (one sort-of-new and one ancient but still marginal) died in the same week. Which of course happened at the same time as having to pay a thousand-plus dollars in medical bills, even with insurance (vote for socialized medicine!). Anyway, now, at long last, I have a replacement computer and will be giving things another go. Knock on wood for me that things go better this time.

• 2006-10-10 : COMMENT : Back in the game. I'm back, at least for a little bit and possibly for a while. I'll be updating the Codex's demo info in the coming weeks as I catch up with the game.