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Graveyard => Save Paragon Retirees => Save Paragon City! => Topic started by: TonyV on September 06, 2012, 07:03:04 PM

Title: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: TonyV on September 06, 2012, 07:03:04 PM
Okay, no time for a lot of fanfare and hype, so I'll make this short:  Remember me telling you not to delete your characters (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=296586)?  Well, here's why.  Announcing...  Drum roll please...

The Titan Network Sentinel+ Extractor (http://cit.cohtitan.com/sentinelplus/), courtesy of one of the best damn third-party tool developers in any community, Guy Perfect!  Keep in mind that this was developed in a very tight time frame, so there might still be some bugs to iron out.  But Guy is a very tight coder, it's passed all of our internal testing, so I really kinda doubt it.  :)

Enjoy, and let us know if you have any questions or problems!  (Also note that if you lose the link for any reason, there's a link on our main home page at cohtitan.com (http://cohtitan.com) to the right of our "Save Our City of Heroes" banner.)

Keep up your spirits everyone, and know that we are really pulling out all the stops on ensuring that this game lives on.  Don't forget to click the link below if you haven't already.  And I can never say it enough times: thanks a TON for all of your support!  Okay, less speech and more work.  Gotta run!

Quick note: We've had a few people asking where the utility saves the files.  It saves them in the same directory that SentinelPlus.exe is run from.


2012-09-08 UPDATE:
Guy saw your bug reports and has released a new version of the tool, version 1.1.  It's got the same filename and is accessible at the same link posted above.  Here's the changelog:


EDIT:
I've seen some posts and gotten some questions about what the purpose of this utility is, exactly.  It is to create a data file that contains enough information about your character's stats and information to recreate it if necessary.

What it does record is your vital stats; inventories (enhancements, inspirations, salvage, vault, recipes); all costumes, including parts, colors, scales, and various options; all build information, including second and third build if they exist, and primary, secondary, pool, epic/patron, and ancillary powersets, slot counts and slotted enhancements, and Incarnate powers and slotting; and if you open your info window before running the utility, all badges including individual and supergroup badges.

What it does not record is any rendered graphical information, such as screenshots (http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Screenshots).  It contains the data that describes your character, but not any kind of actual picture of your character.  It also does not record supergroup information, including membership, base layouts, or storage bin inventories.  Your temporary powers are not recorded.  Also, nothing in your auction house inventory is recorded, so if you want this data captured, be sure to pull your items out of the auction house before performing the snapshot.  Your Paragon Store purchase history and slotting of Paragon Tokens in the reward tree is not recorded, though some things are detectable via other recorded data.

Why would you want this?  There are three possible reasons I can think of:

Your own personal record.  This would be useful even outside the context of the game possibly shutting down.  It's a heck of a lot easier to run this utility and make a snapshot of your character than to write or type or screenshot everything you might want to capture about them.  Yes, it's in XML format which when opened, looks a little wonky, but at least it's human-readable.

Third party utilities.  This utility has actually been in the works for a long time.  We've had access to this data for, sheez, over a year now I think?  We were holding off on final implementation because the intention was to build a bigger, better, kick a** upgraded Sentinel utility that would report all of this information to a bigger, better, kick a** City Info Tracker (http://cit.cohtitan.com/) web site (part of what we've dubbed "Titan 2.0" internally).  Obviously, we've nixed those plans for now and Guy grabbed the reins of churning out a useful version in less than five days.  If all goes well, we'll still go forward with the plans of turning it into an uber-Sentinel/CIT upgrade.  If not, then we'll probably work on releasing a utility that will allow you to see and use the data in a more user-friendly manner.  Those of you with development experience who want to, feel free to write utilities to do whatever with the data as well.  :)

Reimporting your characters.  We don't know what the ultimate outcome of this will be.  Specifically, there is a chance that City of Heroes might be acquired by another publisher, studio, or organization, but that in the process the account database can't be transferred.  If that happens, we will offer whoever acquires the game the algorithm used to generate the checksum that detects whether the file has been modified, which would give them the capability of accepting these files and re-importing the characters onto alternate servers with a moderately high assurance that people haven't, for example, futzed around and made their level 23 blaster a level 50+3 Incarnate.  You might not be able to import everything due to the possibility of exploit by shuffling inventory around, but at least you won't have to start over from scratch.

I hope this helps!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: frostcoh on September 06, 2012, 07:07:19 PM
WOW, ya'll are fast!

Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mister Bison on September 06, 2012, 07:08:24 PM
Okay, no time for a lot of fanfare and hype, so I'll make this short:  Remember me telling you not to delete your characters (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=296586)?  Well, here's why.  Announcing...  Drum roll please...

The Titan Network Sentinel+ Extractor (http://cit.cohtitan.com/sentinelplus/), courtesy of one of the best damn third-party tool developers in any community, Guy Perfect!  Keep in mind that this was developed in a very tight time frame, so there might still be some bugs to iron out.  But Guy is a very tight coder, it's passed all of our internal testing, so I really kinda doubt it.  :)

Enjoy, and let us know if you have any questions or problems!  (Also note that if you lose the link for any reason, there's a link on our main home page at cohtitan.com (http://cohtitan.com) to the right of our "Save Our City of Heroes" banner.)

Keep up your spirits everyone, and know that we are really pulling out all the stops on ensuring that this game lives on.  Don't forget to click the link below if you haven't already.  And I can never say it enough times: thanks a TON for all of your support!  Okay, less speech and more work.  Gotta run!

what link below ???

Could you inscrease the number of threads per page on this forum ? in a week it's goint to get annoucements only !
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 06, 2012, 07:09:42 PM
Tony has the save COH link in his signature on the official forums, probably forgot to set it here.  :D
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mister Bison on September 06, 2012, 07:11:50 PM
Tony has the save COH link in his signature on the official forums, probably forgot to set it here.  :D
Thanks for the 'splanation good sir.

Forgot to say : Right on !

And errr how foreign-friendly is it ? My french but English-shy comrades could use that, can I provide a translation of the basics (like the commands, I know the power translations are lost anyway) ?

Edit: nevermind, it's a launch & forget utility >_> NICE WORK !
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mr. Wentworth on September 06, 2012, 07:13:23 PM
*applause applause*
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Torben87 on September 06, 2012, 07:20:23 PM
Wow, that's amazing. Thanks alot for this awesome tool. :)

I've just viewed at the "example character export". For me it's plain html text. Is there any way to get a more "meaningful" view on my character?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: blue storm on September 06, 2012, 07:25:52 PM
Much Kudos and Thanks to you all !!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mister Bison on September 06, 2012, 07:26:03 PM
Wow, that's amazing. Thanks alot for this awesome tool. :)

I've just viewed at the "example character export". For me it's plain html text. Is there any way to get a more "meaningful" view on my character?
You want a screenshot ? Truly this is one feature that is cruelly missing  :roll:
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 06, 2012, 07:26:47 PM
Currently the XML is pretty raw. But the point is that all the information is there, so if we want to go back later and create more tools to "pretty it up", we can take our time doing that rather than rushing.

For example, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a script that reads that file and generates a .cohdemo that you can then play back using the client -- whether the servers are still around or not -- and view your costumes.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Kheprera on September 06, 2012, 07:29:51 PM
I'm just glad to have it, and so quickly. Great job, Guy!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Torben87 on September 06, 2012, 07:34:58 PM
Currently the XML is pretty raw. But the point is that all the information is there, so if we want to go back later and create more tools to "pretty it up", we can take our time doing that rather than rushing.

For example, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a script that reads that file and generates a .cohdemo that you can then play back using the client -- whether the servers are still around or not -- and view your costumes.

Yeah, that sounds like what I had in mind.

But I can see the point of this tool now: Saving plain information of the characters that might could be used for more later. That's smart. ^^
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Streakbreaker on September 06, 2012, 07:38:37 PM
This is fantastic; thank you!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: emu265 on September 06, 2012, 07:39:54 PM
Currently the XML is pretty raw. But the point is that all the information is there, so if we want to go back later and create more tools to "pretty it up", we can take our time doing that rather than rushing.

For example, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a script that reads that file and generates a .cohdemo that you can then play back using the client -- whether the servers are still around or not -- and view your costumes.

Thanks for all the work guys.

I didn't quite understand why this was useful until you said so.  So thanks for the that too.  Even if the info is never used, at least I know I can save my characters in some form if it comes to that :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: JustJane on September 06, 2012, 08:23:59 PM
Wow, that is some diligence! Thanks so much for banging that out with time to spare.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Omega Mark V on September 06, 2012, 08:38:09 PM
Had to run it in Compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 on Windows 7, if anyone has issues getting it to work.

But, I got my file... Literally!

Omega Mark V, session complete.

Thank you, Guy Perfect and TonyV.

Don't stop!.. Believing!..

//Execute Music... Complete.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 06, 2012, 08:43:03 PM
We just had ourselves a little Journey moment there.

Saw 'em in '83 in Fresno. Place was crawling with chicks.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Cyclone Jack on September 06, 2012, 08:44:04 PM
Thank you Guy, TonyV and everyone else involved for not only the work involved, but how quickly you were able to respond to get this out!  You all are awesome!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Myriade on September 06, 2012, 08:57:46 PM
Awesome. Does it save incarnate powers?

*edit* yes it does. Sorry lol. It exports EVERYTHING. Even inspirations and costume parts!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 06, 2012, 09:00:38 PM
Awesome. Does it save incarnate powers?

*edit* yes it does. Sorry lol. It exports EVERYTHING. Even inspirations and costume parts!
Even your Vault inventory.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Yinepuhotep on September 06, 2012, 09:07:48 PM
This is amazing.

Thank you!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 06, 2012, 09:08:41 PM
The only things I know of that it doesn't get are:

Wents/Black Market slots (so claim them first!)
Email box
Temporary Powers (including Inherents, but many of these are account-wide)
Souvenirs
Contact Progress

So not perfect, but all in all a pretty good representation.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: LightofthePhoenix on September 06, 2012, 09:09:37 PM
Does it copy every costume file or just the one active at the time of copying?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 06, 2012, 09:11:59 PM
Every costume and every build on the character is exported simultaneously.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: WanderingAries on September 06, 2012, 09:30:24 PM
First, *clears throat to add the dutch accent* Is he Toight like a Toiger?
Second, I think I know who my coding teacher Should have been! :-p
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Dannii on September 06, 2012, 09:36:00 PM
Thank you, I know it is just 2 small words that doesn't even begin to convey how I feel about being able to save my alter ego.  But with tears of joy in my eyes  all I can say is Thank you.  I also know who should be teaching me code, instead I'm in a school where your lucky if the instructor responds.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: agentq on September 06, 2012, 09:44:37 PM
Any chance of getting a similar utility for OSX? I'm going to try to get PC version of CoH Running under Wine, and see if i can get this utility to work under Wine as well, but would be great if there was an OSX version as well!

Thanks for all your hard work! I spent some time today spamming help channel with link to the extractor!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 06, 2012, 09:55:31 PM
Thank you very much!  This will make it so much easier to save off characters and keep them archived.  I've been really worrying about that, and was thinking of a long, complex, manual process.  This is a huge win!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 06, 2012, 10:21:48 PM
Any chance of getting a similar utility for OSX?

That's unfortunately not an option. No one here has access to Mac development or testing, and none of the Cider stuff has even been investigated. )-:



Second, I think I know who my coding teacher Should have been! :-p
I also know who should be teaching me code, instead I'm in a school where your lucky if the instructor responds.

Guy Perfect's Fundamentals of Computer Programming (GP101) is a difficult course that will turn most of what you know about programming on its head. And to pass the course, you'll have to become proficient in stuff you never thought you'd ever have to learn.

But I suppose if there's enough interest, then arrangements can be made. (-:
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: epawtows on September 06, 2012, 10:48:08 PM
Currently the XML is pretty raw. But the point is that all the information is there, so if we want to go back later and create more tools to "pretty it up", we can take our time doing that rather than rushing.

For example, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a script that reads that file and generates a .cohdemo that you can then play back using the client -- whether the servers are still around or not -- and view your costumes.

How hard would it be to get the power costomizer working?  I.E., so we could cycle the characters through their power animations? 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Vulpy on September 06, 2012, 10:53:26 PM
That's unfortunately not an option. No one here has access to Mac development or testing, and none of the Cider stuff has even been investigated. )-:

If any Mac players live near northeast Tennessee and want to borrow a laptop to run the extractor on, send me a message.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Aquashock on September 06, 2012, 11:01:04 PM
I've seen some stirrings about the non-Mac status of things. ;)

Has anyone attempted to make contact with the Mac users via our subforum on the official boards or putting out a call on the more active areas? 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ohms on September 06, 2012, 11:18:26 PM
The only things I know of that it doesn't get are:

Wents/Black Market slots (so claim them first!)
Email box
Temporary Powers (including Inherents, but many of these are account-wide)
Souvenirs
Contact Progress

So not perfect, but all in all a pretty good representation.

What about the stuff like time on patrol that's given when you talk to an NPC with a name beginning with M? I had a look through the xml file but didn't see anything obvious.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 06, 2012, 11:22:55 PM
Best of my knowledge, that's the first anyone thought about that.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Defcon Kid on September 06, 2012, 11:27:38 PM
Every costume and every build on the character is exported simultaneously.

2 quick questions...

1st... what about already saved and unused costumes? I mean, for a example a given character has unlocked up to 5 costume slots, that goes 5 costumes exported, right? but what if the character had more costumes saved in order to get them cycled from time to time? a char with 10 saved costumes in my computer would have only the 5 active ones exported, or the 10 of them? should I cycle them beforehand to have them somehow saved?

2nd... what about badges? according to what I've read, it's better having the infoself description window open before doing the export trick because that would include the badges, but would it be ALL of them in a single use, or shall we use any command like it happened back with Glycerin or Sentinel when we wanted to verify our badges?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 06, 2012, 11:30:18 PM
or shall we use any command like it happened back with Glycerin or Sentinel when we wanted to verify our badges?
Glycerine and HeroStats required cycling through keybinds to record badges.  Sentinel grabs them all whenever you have your personal info window open.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 06, 2012, 11:32:22 PM
Best of my knowledge, that's the first anyone thought about that.

DeProgrammer really wants this, and when he investigated it himself he found that the information is only ever sent to the client at the moment you click on the NPCs in question.

but what if the character had more costumes saved in order to get them cycled from time to time? a char with 10 saved costumes in my computer would have only the 5 active ones exported, or the 10 of them?

You mean like clicking the Save button on the tailor interface? Those are actually saved to your hard drive already. Check your City of Heroes installation folder for a "costumes" subdirectory. Any file ending in .costume can be kept as a record for the corresponding costume.

2nd... what about badges? according to what I've read, it's better having the infoself description window open before doing the export trick because that would include the badges, but would it be ALL of them in a single use, or shall we use any command like it happened back with Glycerin or Sentinel when we wanted to verify our badges?

The extraction utility only looks for badges in the personal info window (/info_self, etc.), and will extract a list of all badges earned by your character if the window is open.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 06, 2012, 11:33:31 PM
DeProgrammer really wants this, and when he investigated it himself he found that the information is only ever sent to the client at the moment you click on the NPCs in question.
*sad clown*
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 07, 2012, 12:01:11 AM
Yeah, that was the other big thing that it doesn't get: Power Customizations. I think we found that those are not sent to the client except when you're actually editing them in the tailor interface.

So if you have really complex color choices it might be a good idea to save them separately.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: jupiknight on September 07, 2012, 12:15:14 AM
This gives me super hope!! Awesome job~
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: jordanhb on September 07, 2012, 12:34:56 AM
It's probably a long shot, but is there any way we can dump information from a locked character?  I was on a break when the announcement came, and my account had been free to play for a month or so, and now I can't unlock one of my 50s because it's a time manipulation. 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: agentq on September 07, 2012, 12:36:42 AM
That's unfortunately not an option. No one here has access to Mac development or testing, and none of the Cider stuff has even been investigated. )-:



Guy Perfect's Fundamentals of Computer Programming (GP101) is a difficult course that will turn most of what you know about programming on its head. And to pass the course, you'll have to become proficient in stuff you never thought you'd ever have to learn.

But I suppose if there's enough interest, then arrangements can be made. (-:

I'm assuming you wrote this utility in C? I'm a programmer, know C, and have OSX. If i can get the source, i can try to see about compiling for OSX.

Also, would be interested in what GP101 would cover?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 07, 2012, 12:49:00 AM
Sentinal is not working for me .     i am useing Vista if that makes a differance ,


here is what i get :


Sentinel+ Extractor v1.0 - 2320.201207182341.1
Titan Network - August 4, 2012

ERROR: Could not retrieve character information.
 * Is City of Heroes running?
 * Is it the right version?
 * Is the character logged in?

Press any key to continue...



Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 07, 2012, 12:51:37 AM
If you're running CoH as an administrator, you'll also need to run Sentinel+ as an administrator also so that it can access it. So give that a shot and see if it exports.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: jordanhb on September 07, 2012, 12:59:59 AM
Oh, one other question too.  Does this record any information about the market?  Current bids or items listed for sale?  I didn't notice anything in the xml file, but I thought I'd ask. 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 07, 2012, 01:06:25 AM
ty CodeWalker   ran it as admin and also found Vista had Blocked it . it is running now


and also THANKS for this program you are the GURU of the Gurus , you rock.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mewkychan on September 07, 2012, 01:17:34 AM
Looks like it saves EVERYTHING!

Good show!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 07, 2012, 01:28:57 AM
If i can get the source, i can try to see about compiling for OSX.

The source relies on functions available in the Windows API. It can't be compiled for Mac.


Oh, one other question too.  Does this record any information about the market?  Current bids or items listed for sale?  I didn't notice anything in the xml file, but I thought I'd ask.

The character extractor does not record any information about the consignment. If you have items stored there, you'll need to claim them before exporting your character.


Also, would be interested in what GP101 would cover?

GP101 focuses on how programs are run by the computer's hardware. It stresses implementing solutions intelligently relative to how the CPU will actually carry out the tasks that you give it. Students who pass GP101 will be capable of producing very fast and efficient code, which more often than not also results in small code and simple source files.

On the other hand, the skills you'll learn in GP101 are only marketable in some small corners of the industry. Most employers are looking for programmers who can produce functional code as quickly as possible, since that's where the money is. If that code is inefficient, then so be it. This is a dramatic departure from the concepts taught in GP101, which stresses taking the time to do it right regardless of how long it takes.

But look at it this way... If you pass GP101, you'll be able to take shortcuts later in life if your employer needs you to, but unlike the rest of the programmers in the world, you'll know why it's not the best way to handle things. (-:
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Heavy Ion on September 07, 2012, 01:29:46 AM
When City of Heroes is saved, we're going to need a lot of RL hero statues erected in Atlas Plaza. Thank you so much for this.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: kerensky914 on September 07, 2012, 01:43:05 AM
Since you said the character has to be logged in, I guess those of us who were on Premium status with many characters locked out are S.O.L.   :'(  :gonk:
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 07, 2012, 01:45:15 AM
Not so fast. Worst-case scenario, there IS the possibility of tracking locked characters by transferring them to the beta server, which is unlocked for everybody. So don't delete your characters, even if you can't log in with them!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 07, 2012, 02:08:38 AM
ok new error after using this to save f accounts worth of toons  1 more to go , gah altitis hehe.



a new window has opened up and says


Character Snapshot exporter has stopped working and closes the program
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 07, 2012, 02:09:34 AM
5 accounts * lol love typos
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mewkychan on September 07, 2012, 02:18:38 AM
When City of Heroes is saved, we're going to need a lot of RL hero statues erected in Atlas Plaza. Thank you so much for this.
I think they'll have to create an entire district just to house all the deserving hero statues!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Sophronisba on September 07, 2012, 02:30:57 AM
Quote
If any Mac players live near northeast Tennessee and want to borrow a laptop to run the extractor on, send me a message.

And anyone in the Detroit metro area can message me.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Karzach on September 07, 2012, 02:36:01 AM

Guy Perfect's Fundamentals of Computer Programming (GP101) is a difficult course that will turn most of what you know about programming on its head. And to pass the course, you'll have to become proficient in stuff you never thought you'd ever have to learn.

But I suppose if there's enough interest, then arrangements can be made. (-:

Yes please.  Also, much thanks for the character extractor, was not looking forward to having to copy all that info down
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: WanderingAries on September 07, 2012, 03:19:39 AM
Not so fast. Worst-case scenario, there IS the possibility of tracking locked characters by transferring them to the beta server, which is unlocked for everybody. So don't delete your characters, even if you can't log in with them!
wait, what? When did they tell us about THIS?!?!
Speaking of which, does that mean that Sentinel+ reads off of Test/Beta?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 07, 2012, 03:29:19 AM
Sentinel+ is currently only for the live servers, but it will be for beta if worse comes to worse.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: srmalloy on September 07, 2012, 03:46:23 AM
When I run it (under Win7 64-bit Professional), I get the 'could not retrieve character data' error, and it asks me if CoH is running and whether I'm logged in.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 07, 2012, 03:53:26 AM
When I run it (under Win7 64-bit Professional), I get the 'could not retrieve character data' error, and it asks me if CoH is running and whether I'm logged in.
I got that error on my first run.  Then I remembered to run it as an admin.  Worked like a charm.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 07, 2012, 04:04:33 AM
This is fantastic - at least we can now take our characters wherever we go!

Architect... is there any way we can save what we've created on Architect? Thanks!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 07, 2012, 04:10:37 AM
Anything you create in AE should already be saved in your CoH folder.

You can also document any user-created content on www.ouroportal.com.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 07, 2012, 04:16:04 AM
Really? I use a Mac - can anybody help me find it, then? Thank you so much!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: cainecollin on September 07, 2012, 04:21:12 AM
Really? I use a Mac - can anybody help me find it, then? Thank you so much!

Right click on the CoH App, Show Package Contents -> Resources -> transgaming -> C_drive -> coh   that'll lead you to the folders with AE, Costume files, Screenshots and everything
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 07, 2012, 04:35:02 AM
Oh, thank you so much again! I was actually more afraid of losing my architect stuff than my characters!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Sugoi on September 07, 2012, 04:48:07 AM
I just got done making an "around the world" trip to each server, letting folks know this program exists.

I got quite a few "Thank you for letting me know about this!  I feel better now!!!"

Take a bow guys!  and by the way, I feel much better myself!

You've taken a large burden of worry off my shoulders.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Ascendant on September 07, 2012, 08:30:59 AM
Saved 30+ characters tonight without incident.  Thank you, Codewalker, Hexas Ranger!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Gilliam on September 07, 2012, 08:44:10 AM
wow awesome !! whos baby have i got to have for this !!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: angelo.pampalone on September 07, 2012, 08:59:03 AM
Wow you are great! Thank you for this tool!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mister Bison on September 07, 2012, 09:57:39 AM
Yeah, that was the other big thing that it doesn't get: Power Customizations. I think we found that those are not sent to the client except when you're actually editing them in the tailor interface.

So if you have really complex color choices it might be a good idea to save them separately.
Do you mean it's also sent everytime you *activate* the power ? because you *have* to have the information when activating a power, else, how does the client know which effect/color play ?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: dior on September 07, 2012, 10:05:41 AM
DEAR TITAN NETWORK

KUDOS - to you all - not only for being heroes to the cause, but for coming up with an excellent tool so quickly!

My main has been saved, and a donation is under way.

Keep up the excellent vigil guys!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 07, 2012, 03:06:47 PM
Do you mean it's also sent everytime you *activate* the power ? because you *have* to have the information when activating a power, else, how does the client know which effect/color play ?

Yes. It sends a "This FX is tinted this color" addendum when it sends the instructions to play the FX, whether it's yours or someone else's. But there's nothing directly tying that to the activation of the power, the client is just instructed to play an FX.

You can see them in demorecords, which -- for the most part -- are a dump of the commands that the client is receiving.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Heraclea on September 07, 2012, 03:27:06 PM
One very minor caveat.  It does not save custom binds. 

(This makes a big difference to me: banter binds are as important a part of my character concepts as names, costumes, and descriptions.  They were light roleplaying that also served a gameplay purpose: originally, let them know which mob the tank is targeting.) 

Fortunately,

/bindsave filename

is a part of the  game.  If you used them, you will need a separate file for each character.  But this too is information about my own characters that I would like to save. 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: SithRose on September 07, 2012, 03:35:03 PM
Not so fast. Worst-case scenario, there IS the possibility of tracking locked characters by transferring them to the beta server, which is unlocked for everybody. So don't delete your characters, even if you can't log in with them!

Note that this does not include Praetorians at this time - All Praetorians are still locked out on Beta server. (I tested this about 3 minutes ago.) This includes characters who are from Praetoria and have moved past that into COH/V proper.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 07, 2012, 04:09:35 PM
Sounds like you just need to purchase the Going Rogue system on the beta server. Go ahead and do that; everything in the Paragon Market costs zero points there.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: SithRose on September 07, 2012, 04:30:13 PM
Sounds like you just need to purchase the Going Rogue system on the beta server. Go ahead and do that; everything in the Paragon Market costs zero points there.

This is the sound of me facepalming. :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 07, 2012, 04:32:45 PM
This is the sound of me facepalming. :)
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i.chzbgr.com%2Fcompletestore%2F2009%2F8%2F25%2F128956915034232238.jpg)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: SithRose on September 07, 2012, 05:16:30 PM
Aaaaand....The beta market does not appear to be functioning at this time.

*goes to poke at main COH forums for any commentary on that.*
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: kwsapphire on September 07, 2012, 10:27:07 PM
Can the file that is exported by SentinelPlus be used by CIT to import character data?

(Because I still can't get Sentinel to communicate my info to the server. It logs in, and then sends NO info. And I have tried disabling my firewall and anti-virus.) But SentinelPlus is working like a charm! 13 toons down, 44 more to go from RO servers, then I have to decide if I want to grab my other 41 non-RO server characters after that... gonna be a long Friday night..

Thanks for putting this together guys, you are all truly heroes!

Edit: Since it's not grabbing temp powers, it's not grabbing purchased powers either, such as the Leprechaun pet, Flying Disc, Flying Carpet, etc. I know that stuff is account wide anyway, but is there a way we can "grab" this info other than a demorecord?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 07, 2012, 10:48:39 PM
Edit: Since it's not grabbing temp powers, it's not grabbing purchased powers either, such as the Leprechaun pet, Flying Disc, Flying Carpet, etc. I know that stuff is account wide anyway, but is there a way we can "grab" this info other than a demorecord?

I think I managed to convince Guy to include temp powers in the next version, so you may want to hold off exporting for now if you want to remember those.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: SithRose on September 07, 2012, 11:11:53 PM
FYI, Test Server's store appears to be completely down at this time, and has been since this morning.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: 4thirty5 on September 08, 2012, 07:23:04 AM
Fantastic tool.  Spent about an hour and a half getting all my characters just on Pinnacle downloaded.

To the codewiz behind this...  You are beyond category.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Tanglefoe on September 08, 2012, 11:52:58 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRhCz0ELrKs
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: TonyV on September 08, 2012, 06:58:30 PM
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 08, 2012, 11:36:36 PM
dont know if this might be relevent or not , but now i can not access the game or any of the web sites  for city , i get  a cannot connect to the server but dont know why i cant access the websites , have tried on multiple computers and my phone

any help is appreciated as i still got 1 account to try to save. thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 08, 2012, 11:40:05 PM
Are you able to ping cityofheroes.com from a command line?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 08, 2012, 11:55:12 PM
the ping times out
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 09, 2012, 12:03:04 AM
Hmm... How about tracert cityofheroes.com?  Does it at least make it out to the internet before it dies?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 09, 2012, 12:05:25 AM
request timed out
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 09, 2012, 12:10:11 AM
Sounds like something kicked in and started blocking outgoing traffic.  You can still get to other places, though?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 09, 2012, 12:11:28 AM
yes i can get anywhere else
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 09, 2012, 12:47:00 AM
Seems almost like your anti-virus/web/firewall saw something it didn't like and automatically blocked CoH from getting out.  I'm not sure what else to look at.

Anyone else have any ideas?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 09, 2012, 05:19:44 AM
Mmm.... question. I know Sentinel can't render any graphics, but are there any utilities that can? Now that I know where the Architect files are, I'd be interested in editing them while I wait for whatever happens to CoH to complete.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Mantic on September 09, 2012, 06:37:04 AM
I know Sentinel can't render any graphics, but are there any utilities that can?

Not sure what it is you're looking for... a CoH asset renderer, maybe? Nemerle said something about being able to convert *.geo files, but getting constructed characters/costumes out of memory would be something else.

Perhaps someone has a way of bypassing the latest NCSoft launcher to test if 3D Ripper DX (http://"http://www.deep-shadows.com/hax/3DRipperDX.htm") can snag things out of CoH? I haven't figured a way of connecting to the game server without going through the client since the "-project coh" (cohtest/cohbeta) command line was disabled.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Loveclown on September 09, 2012, 07:56:53 AM
Guys, I feel like the Doctor in the library...

Spanky the Loveclown has been saved!

I honestly can't thank you enough for this.  Even if nothing else happens, I always still have him as a slightly different collection of 1s and 0s.

May you live long and prosper.

Si
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 09, 2012, 04:00:37 PM
Quote
Not sure what it is you're looking for... a CoH asset renderer, maybe? Nemerle said something about being able to convert *.geo files, but getting constructed characters/costumes out of memory would be something else.

I guess so; I don't really know what they would be called. Yeah, I was thinking of something that could form a model of a character from memory...
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: srmalloy on September 09, 2012, 04:26:17 PM
Setting Sentinel+ to run as administrator worked.

Given that the XML format of the output from Sentinel+ is well-formed, would it be possible to write a convertor that read an XML file from Sentinel+ and either output an mxd file for Mid's Hero Designer or another text format that Mid's could import?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 10, 2012, 01:23:01 AM
ok reset my firewall , anti-virus and cleared web and reset that ... still cannot access the game , forums, ncsoft .com either or any other site for city.
 tried with 3 differant computers and my google phone across town and still nothing.

thanx for the help and patience with me i really dont know anywhere else to go for help on this issue.

last time it worked fine was the day sentinal + came ,  im just getting frustrated now still have 2 pages of toons to save and cant access them.

i figure all the tech people here might be able to help , thanx again.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 10, 2012, 01:42:07 AM
If it's not just one computer, there's something else in the way.  My first guess was a routing issue somewhere out on the internet, but if everything else is getting out and the CoH related traffic isn't even able to leave your house, that doesn't add up.  The fact that your phone can't reach the CoH website really doesn't make any sense.

Is anyone else you know in the area able to access any of the CoH websites?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: TonyV on September 10, 2012, 02:06:25 AM
Possibly relevant question: Where in the world are you?  I mean, geographically?  I don't need your address, but I'm wondering if they're shutting down access to certain countries or something.  I highly doubt that and I don't want to start any rumors, but I'm just curious.

Also, what is the output when you run the tracert command as Eabrace mentioned above?  I don't just mean the final no reply message, but do you see any replies from any routers in the chain?

Regarding the phone, I also suspect that what might be happening is that his Internet router might have some firewall on it that's blocking all traffic from his house to NCsoft.  His phone would be affected if, when he's at home, he's connected via WiFi instead of 3G or 4G.  Try turning the WiFi off on your phone and then getting to the forums or www.cityofheroes.com.  If that works, then it's probably your Internet router.  I can't help you with that (well, I could, but I'm killer busy right now), but try getting into your router configuration, normally via a link such as this one (http://192.168.1.1), and looking at your firewall configuration on it.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 10, 2012, 02:37:22 AM
His phone would be affected if, when he's at home
Except he said he tried that from across town.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Talos Maltalomar on September 10, 2012, 02:51:49 AM
ok good news fixed it seems my wireless router had for some reason decided to reset my settings for city gonna toss it and buy a new one ( needed to anyway )  and the phone it seems the internet was turned off  lol ,     


thanks for the help and ideas . slapped self in head for not thinking of the router sooner


                         thanks again.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 10, 2012, 03:09:51 AM
Yay!  I was genuinely concerned there because I thought it might end up being something that affected other players.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Victoria Victrix on September 10, 2012, 04:56:33 AM
OK, folks, I might have been a codehead, but I was a mainframe codehead twenty years ago.

So can you answer me a simple question:  WHERE does Sentinel+ save these files?  My computer? Your server? In a super-sekrit batcave?  I have someone who can walk me through saving my toons, I think.

When I quit the dayjob I swore from that moment on I was going to be a dumb user...beginning to regret that  :-\
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 10, 2012, 05:03:26 AM
It saves them in whatever folder you run the SentinelPlus program from. It should create a file in there for each character that you save.

I recommend creating a "Characters" folder and copying the program into it, then just clicking on it in there.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Victoria Victrix on September 10, 2012, 05:26:09 AM
It saves them in whatever folder you run the SentinelPlus program from. It should create a file in there for each character that you save.

I recommend creating a "Characters" folder and copying the program into it, then just clicking on it in there.

I heart you and will have your lovechild squidchildren
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: TonyV on September 10, 2012, 05:27:18 AM
Actually, you're the second person I've had ask that.  I'm going to update the top post.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: nataliaofvirtues on September 10, 2012, 05:29:04 PM
Sorry for the dumb question, but with the changes made to the Sentinel+ do I need to re-save my characters?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 10, 2012, 07:38:32 PM
Tony edited the first post, so it kinda got away from the public eye. (-:

2012-09-08 UPDATE:
Guy saw your bug reports and has released a new version of the tool, version 1.1.  It's got the same filename and is accessible at the same link posted above.  Here's the changelog:
  • Fixed a bug that attempted to save files using special characters reserved on Windows file systems. The filename (which includes the global handle and character name) will now convert all of the following characters into underscores: \ / : * ? ' " < > |
  • Temporary and Inherent Powers are now exported.
  • Builds with zero powers (i.e., have never been selected) are no longer exported.
  • Newlines in the output files are now CR/LF rather than only LF. (Primarily benefits people viewing exports in Notepad.)
  • The code was reorganized and simlified, and is now slightly smaller.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on September 10, 2012, 07:41:42 PM
Sorry for the dumb question, but with the changes made to the Sentinel+ do I need to re-save my characters?
So, if you saved character data before the update, the answer would be "yes."
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 10, 2012, 07:53:29 PM
So, if you saved character data before the update, the answer would be "yes."

Well, only if you care about their temp powers and inherents.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: padathir on September 10, 2012, 11:10:30 PM
Guy Perfect, you rock. Thank you for this tool.  8)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: WanderingAries on September 11, 2012, 05:58:21 AM
I'm guessing that it's simply working as advertized, but I noticed it's not grabbing from Beta. Since many of us have locked toons on live, is there something we can tweak for this to work?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ohms on September 11, 2012, 10:10:12 AM
Another quick request, would it be possible to add souvenir's (incl. Architect ones) to the exported data?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 11, 2012, 05:29:43 PM
I'm guessing that it's simply working as advertized, but I noticed it's not grabbing from Beta. Since many of us have locked toons on live, is there something we can tweak for this to work?

You are correct. Sentinel+ is designed only for the current live client:

(https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/bgng/LiveOnly.png)

For the time being, we don't want to support the beta client. Characters created there were never intended to last (as per the nature of the server), and they get all sorts of level bumps and free items. We're really hoping the devs give full access to all accounts on the live servers, which would sidestep the issue entirely.


Another quick request, would it be possible to add souvenir's (incl. Architect ones) to the exported data?

Please refer to this post for a response to this request:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=4385969#post4385969
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ohms on September 11, 2012, 06:22:58 PM
Makes sense, thanks for checking :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 11, 2012, 07:45:05 PM
First of all, many, many thanks to Mind Forever Burning for his hard work on the Mac port.

Big news: We have a Mac version that is ready for testing. Once we've verified that it's working correctly, we'll update the page on cohtitan.com to reflect its availability.

http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz (http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz)

It should be as simple as dragging the app out of that archive into the folder that you want to save your characters into, then double-clicking the app while City of Heroes is running and you have the info window up. The OS should prompt for your credentials as it requires administrator access to run.

If you have the ability to test on both Mac and Windows, we would really appreciate it if you can try exporting the same character on both and verify that the files are the same. Failing that, if you want to test and don't mind putting your XML file somewhere accessible so we can take a look at it and make sure everything checks out, that would be helpful.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: WanderingAries on September 11, 2012, 08:18:25 PM
You are correct. Sentinel+ is designed only for the current live client:

(https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/bgng/LiveOnly.png)

For the time being, we don't want to support the beta client. Characters created there were never intended to last (as per the nature of the server), and they get all sorts of level bumps and free items. We're really hoping the devs give full access to all accounts on the live servers, which would sidestep the issue entirely.
I figured this was the primary reason and if it hasn't been addressed in the official forums, then you might wanna post there as others were hoping for this solution. If I think about it and I read such requests, then I'll try to spread the knowledge.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 11, 2012, 10:04:23 PM
Quote
Big news: We have a Mac version that is ready for testing. Once we've verified that it's working correctly, we'll update the page on cohtitan.com to reflect its availability.

YAAAYYY! :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Xenos on September 11, 2012, 10:36:04 PM
Big news: We have a Mac version that is ready for testing. Once we've verified that it's working correctly, we'll update the page on cohtitan.com to reflect its availability.

That is great. Thanks so much Mind Forever Burning and Codewalker. I'll give it a whirl tonight (on a MBP running OSX 10.6.8.).

I'll PM Codewalker with a link to the .xml file.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 11, 2012, 11:42:01 PM
First of all, many, many thanks to Mind Forever Burning for his hard work on the Mac port.

Big news: We have a Mac version that is ready for testing. Once we've verified that it's working correctly, we'll update the page on cohtitan.com to reflect its availability.

http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz (http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz)

It should be as simple as dragging the app out of that archive into the folder that you want to save your characters into, then double-clicking the app while City of Heroes is running and you have the info window up. The OS should prompt for your credentials as it requires administrator access to run.

If you have the ability to test on both Mac and Windows, we would really appreciate it if you can try exporting the same character on both and verify that the files are the same. Failing that, if you want to test and don't mind putting your XML file somewhere accessible so we can take a look at it and make sure everything checks out, that would be helpful.

I have both platforms and will give it a try when I get home from work this evening.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: wmilliken on September 12, 2012, 01:25:30 AM
First, many thanks to the people who did such an amazing job getting the PC and Mac utilities out!

The Mac version does have a minor bug: the folder Sentinel+ lives in must *not* have spaces in the name. When I swapped out spaces for dashes, it looked like it worked okay, though I haven't read through all the XML.

---Walter
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: castorcorvus on September 12, 2012, 01:46:17 AM
I'm glad we've got this. Come november 27th, If COH truly is going down, I'll make darn sure the NCsoft is not taking my characters with it.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 12, 2012, 02:58:17 AM
I have both platforms and will give it a try when I get home from work this evening.

I am seeing differences between the two captures.  I'm not sure they're problems, however.  Somewhere I read that it would skip blank costumes in a newer one, and that may be what the differences are.  In general, they appear small.

I PM'd Codewalker with the details.  Happy to send it to anyone else who cares.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 12, 2012, 03:53:00 AM
Come november 27th, If COH truly is going down, I'll make darn sure the NCsoft is not taking my characters with it.

You may want to keep a collection of exports handy in case they decide November 30 is too late, or if you have an inexplicable internet outage around then.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on September 12, 2012, 04:28:34 AM
I am seeing differences between the two captures.  I'm not sure they're problems, however.  Somewhere I read that it would skip blank costumes in a newer one, and that may be what the differences are.  In general, they appear small.

I PM'd Codewalker with the details.  Happy to send it to anyone else who cares.

Can you redownload from
http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz

And see if it still happens in the latest build?

Edit: The spaces in folder name issue should be fixed in this version also, or so I'm told. :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: cxemu789 on September 12, 2012, 01:30:34 PM
Thanks you very much for this. I never thought we would have a Mac version so fast :-)

I will try to make room on the Windows partition for CoH, but I'm not sure it will fit (The partition is only 40GB and Windows 7 takes most of that).

Update:
Ok, I have exported all of my characters using the Mac tool. Never used this before, but this should work (I hope): http://minus.com/lbwW9WfvceOByD

If I can get it working on Windows I'll update this with a matching set of exports.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: kgiesing on September 12, 2012, 03:43:38 PM
Thanks you very much for this. I never thought we would have a Mac version so fast :-)

Guy made it very easy for me :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Osborn on September 12, 2012, 11:56:54 PM
I registered to the forum mostly just to say, thank you for your efforts in all this, and thank you for this resource. It was incredibly easy to use, it took folds of time longer to sign into and out of each of my guys than it did to actually use the software, which was pretty much instant.

One of my first thoughts when I heard the game was going down was about taking screenshots and finding some way to preserve my characters data, even if I could never play it again.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 13, 2012, 01:34:21 AM
Can you redownload from
http://cit.cohtitan.com/downloads/SentinelPlus.tgz

And see if it still happens in the latest build?

Edit: The spaces in folder name issue should be fixed in this version also, or so I'm told. :)

diff says there's a difference, but I don't see what it is.  Line endings or something silly?  I haven't broken out the hex editor yet...

Will send the results to you again.

Two suggestions, neither of which are really that important, but would be nice:
1: Put a version resource in so Get Info shows the version number, etc.
2: I've lost data because it overwrites files.  Either generate a new name ( file-1, file-2, etc) or warn and pop Save As instead?  Or just abort, but that's annoying too.

The second may be a feature; you may want updates to be easy, and that may be right. 
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 13, 2012, 04:44:52 AM
I just checked the validation keys produced by the Mac port and they validate successfully. (-:
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 13, 2012, 05:17:53 AM
Codewalker has just pointed out that I had an old Windows version, too.

Once I updated them both, they produced exactly the same output and store exactly the same things about my characters.

Excellent work!  I'm sure you've made our Apple friends very happy.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: kgiesing on September 13, 2012, 06:04:35 AM
1: Put a version resource in so Get Info shows the version number, etc.

Thanks for catching that, it was an oversight on my part.

2: I've lost data because it overwrites files.  Either generate a new name ( file-1, file-2, etc) or warn and pop Save As instead?  Or just abort, but that's annoying too.

I'll leave this one to Guy, but my personal recommendation would be a timestamped file name.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: laufeyjarson on September 13, 2012, 08:38:52 PM
The goal of the design might have been to allow updating quickly; just replace the old stuff with the new.  I can understand that goal, and it might be right for this tool.  The slightly odd thing I was doing where I wanted both outputs was trickier because of that feature.

Timestamped would work for me, too, but I'm a pack rat.  :)

My archive folder is on the network, and has both SentinelPlus.exe and SentinelPlus.app in it now.  I can capture data from whcihever platform I happen to be on.  Way cool!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Blargeth on September 16, 2012, 02:21:37 AM
Hi folks.. I just wanted to stop by and thank you guys for this awesome tool, and doubly thank you for making it available to us Mac users! I was able to extract the data for around 20 of my characters so far.. Only 50+ to go.. (what altitis? ;))

Thanks again!

Cheers,
-- Blargeth
Global: @blarg
Twitter: @blargmedia

Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: chaparralshrub on September 22, 2012, 09:31:11 PM
*bump*

Just in case September 30 is the real date of the final judgement, so that you can get your characters NOW if you haven't already!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Patribot on September 23, 2012, 02:30:46 AM
I used this to achieve all of my wife's and my 30+ characters tonight just incase there is any truth to the September 30th rumors that started swirling around today.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Cinnder on September 23, 2012, 10:12:27 PM
Just want to add my thanks here.  You guys are amazing.  If anyone can save CoH, it's you.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: QuantumHero on September 23, 2012, 10:18:31 PM
One quick but important question?  If one happens to have heroes with outdated costumes are they going to translate properly or do we need to remake before extracting...and thank you for this wonderful tool
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: GuyPerfect on September 23, 2012, 11:06:58 PM
All costumes will export properly.
Title: RESOLVED
Post by: Greg Lloyd on October 03, 2012, 05:26:17 AM
RESOLVED -
She ran Sentinel+ as adminstrator. Nothing to see here.
G

My friend who hates message boards is having trouble using Sentinel. She says Sentinel is not recognizing the game client running. Any suggestions?

"Sentinel+ Extractor v1.1 - 2320.201207182341.1Titan Network - August 8.2012Error: Could not retreieve character information.
*is City of Heroes running?
*is it the right version?
*is the character logged in?
*do you have administrator priviledges?
press any key to continue..."
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Fallen Angel Eyes on October 12, 2012, 04:15:01 PM
So does the Sentinel+ client support the Beta server yet? I read through the entire thread here, but I'm still unclear on that. It also doesn't do Power Customization, correct?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on October 12, 2012, 04:43:25 PM
Best of my knowledge, the candidate for grabbing data from (beta or test?  I can't remember which) went to our mac tester to try it out and Guy hasn't heard anything back yet.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on October 12, 2012, 04:57:46 PM
I got an email on it yesterday, he's swamped with work and will look at it this weekend. We'll go ahead and get the windows version posted when someone gets a minute to edit the page.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ET3D on November 03, 2012, 06:59:33 PM
I just tried it, and it works great and is very fast. I might not go over all characters (since most are locked, and I'd have to transfer them to test) but it's cool to have a backup for a few. Not that I expect I will ever get to use this data.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: MaidMercury on November 03, 2012, 07:25:55 PM
Tried extractor, seems to work as advertised. thank you. Now to go over my other characters.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 03, 2012, 08:30:57 PM
A couple of questions:

Can you happily edit these files ? (if for example you lost a name doing a server transfer or thought you shouldn't have been genericed and want to change the name back).

If the intention might be to import these files somewhere else, how do you avoid all characters coming in with full inf and a full set of purple/PvP IOs that have been transferred from toon to toon before exporting ?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on November 03, 2012, 08:51:08 PM
If the intention might be to import these files somewhere else, how do you avoid all characters coming in with full inf and a full set of purple/PvP IOs that have been transferred from toon to toon before exporting ?
The only way a toon could be imported with such OPed gear is if Sentinel+ files were basically being imported to another version of CoH, identical right down to the systems.  Nobody here is running a private server of CoH, and Plan Z/Titan City will be an entirely new game, precluding any attempt at a direct import.  I'd imagine that characters ported into Plan Z, once it's up, will basically be little more than a name, a concept, a general set of powers, one or more costumes, maybe your badges if you're lucky.

Can you happily edit these files ? (if for example you lost a name doing a server transfer or thought you shouldn't have been genericed and want to change the name back).
The files are simply XML, so they're editable.  However, there may be checks in place, once a successor is ready to import them, to prevent the use of edited files.

If you want to change a character, copy it over to Beta and use a (free in the Paragon Market) Character Rename Token to change the name.  Then re-export the character with Sentinel+ for Beta.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Kitsudragon on November 03, 2012, 10:28:32 PM
So, all characters exported with 1.1 Sentinel+. Amazingly, I have a mind-boggling 86 alts. I didn't know I was that alt-happy. :)

Anyway, is there any plan in the future for something these files could be used with? A character modeler using the costume pieces, or something, maybe?

I'm deliberately not saying the other thing I'm thinking of, because I don't want to get my hopes up. :P
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 03, 2012, 10:46:12 PM
Anything is possible. :)

Something simple like a character viewer probably wouldn't check the integrity hash to see if the file has been modified.

It is possible to detect, however. I'd recommend making a backup copy before editing it.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 03, 2012, 11:31:56 PM
So, all characters exported with 1.1 Sentinel+. Amazingly, I have a mind-boggling 86 alts. I didn't know I was that alt-happy. :)


I have that many 50s out of maybe 230 alts, not all of which I'm going to keep :) about half way through exporting the 50s and some lower level characters to keep them company.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: epawtows on November 04, 2012, 03:53:30 AM

The files are simply XML, so they're editable.  However, there may be checks in place, once a successor is ready to import them, to prevent the use of edited files.


Yes, there is a checksum in the files, so that any importer can tell if it has been tampered with.

Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: sccb4u on November 06, 2012, 06:46:32 PM
Thanks for this utility. I had already gone about recording video and taking screenshots but this also allowed me to export my character biographies as well. Something that was very important to me considering I have 69 characters between Freedom and Virtue and 95% of them had original background stories. It gave them all a sense of personality and made it all the more fun to play each one of them and advance their story. I had feared these were things going to be lost forever but not anymore  :D

Once again thank you  :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: OzonePrime on November 11, 2012, 01:51:27 PM
Pardon my ignorance, but how do you open this in game?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 11, 2012, 04:07:06 PM
Pardon my ignorance, but how do you open this in game?
You open the personal info in game, hit the windows key and run it outside the game.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: OzonePrime on November 11, 2012, 05:26:41 PM
You open the personal info in game, hit the windows key and run it outside the game.
Thank you, so much! Worked perfectly!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Starfox on November 13, 2012, 12:03:57 AM
Can you still move to the Beta server, and how do you do that nowadays?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Ammon on November 13, 2012, 01:24:13 AM
Can you still move to the Beta server, and how do you do that nowadays?
http://boards.cityofheroes.com//charactercopy.php?do=listCharacters&server=Union&=Go
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Celtic Fist on November 13, 2012, 05:11:22 PM
I have not started extracting my characters yet as I am trying to put enhancers and valuable salvage onto them before I use the tool.  Big thanks to those who developed it.  What about bases?  I thought some method of saving Base information but do not remember if it included base storage details etc.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 13, 2012, 06:19:44 PM
Make a /demorecord (any duration) inside the base and save the .cohdemo file. It contains everything, including storage contents.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on November 17, 2012, 09:41:46 PM
First, can't remember if I've said thanks for this, so if not, thanks! Second, this has probably been asked, so forgive me if I skipped over it, but is the file saved on our computers or on the Titan server, and if the former, where?

I just want to make sure I did it right. :-[
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 17, 2012, 09:47:24 PM
It's saved on your computer. It will create a file for each character in whatever folder you saved the SentinelPlus.exe file in and are running it from.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on November 17, 2012, 11:44:47 PM
It's saved on your computer. It will create a file for each character in whatever folder you saved the SentinelPlus.exe file in and are running it from.

Ah, I see it now. Thanks!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: epawtows on November 18, 2012, 10:47:43 PM
It's saved on your computer. It will create a file for each character in whatever folder you saved the SentinelPlus.exe file in and are running it from.

Just checking- I know that editing the file is a bad idea, because of the checksum.  Is it okay to rename the file?

Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 19, 2012, 02:06:22 AM
Renaming is fine, it won't affect the checksum.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: epawtows on November 19, 2012, 03:59:01 AM
Renaming is fine, it won't affect the checksum.

Thanks.

It occurs to me- should there be a warning about the checksum in the window when it runs?  Just to encourage people to be honest.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 19, 2012, 09:42:33 AM
Thanks.

It occurs to me- should there be a warning about the checksum in the window when it runs?  Just to encourage people to be honest.

There should, but not for that reason. I asked before doing it because I thought there might be such a checksum, I was only going to change the character names in a few cases.

1: I was going to give a toon that had been generic'd her name back (I don't think Debbie does Talos is offensive)
2: I played on Victory and transferred maybe 30 50s off to other servers to make space, on some of those, the original name was not available on the new server, I would have liked to edit those too.

To me, these are entirely non nefarious reasons for doing it
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Celtic Fist on November 19, 2012, 06:22:50 PM
Used the extractor tool to pull off about 30 heroes and villians.  Thanks for developing the tool.

Celtic Fist
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: biomekanic on November 25, 2012, 06:17:32 PM
Not sure if anyone else has run into this, but it doesn't like it if you're in Dark Astoria. I moved to Ouroboros and it worked just fine.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ohms on November 25, 2012, 07:27:47 PM
Works fine for me in DA.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Corlagon on November 25, 2012, 09:10:03 PM
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 05:16:04 AM
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: BryanSnowden on November 26, 2012, 05:32:26 AM
Oh, that's not good - some of them the Buffs and a few things) start as soon as you claim them, and IDK where I'm going to put all those Dual/Team Inspirations or the ones that are still random & unclaimed?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Steele Magnolia on November 26, 2012, 07:26:36 PM
Where do the saved files go so I can check to see if they are making it?

How do I run as administrator?

The program seems to run fine, I just don't know what I'm doing.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: TonyV on November 26, 2012, 07:30:08 PM
Where do the saved files go so I can check to see if they are making it?

They're saved in the directory in which you run SentinelPlus.exe.

How do I run as administrator?

Right-click on the program and select Run as administrator from the popup menu.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Steele Magnolia on November 26, 2012, 08:23:38 PM
Thank you!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 27, 2012, 02:15:04 AM
A massive thanks to everyone involved in getting this program out there. If you weren't an altaholic to begin with, almost certainly City of Heroes is the game that would make you one. Backing everything up here, a big job but thank you so much for making this possible.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Cold Bob on November 27, 2012, 03:32:42 AM
Despite being functionally illiterate with technology, I managed to archive ALL my characters tonight (it was that easy!) -- thanks everybody!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 27, 2012, 10:19:05 PM
If you just read the directions, take your stuff off Wentworth's etc., open your info window, the thing works exactly as it should.

I noticed on at least one occasion it told me it saved without badges, despite my info window being open- I closed and reopened it, and hit Sentinel+ again and all was saved.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Kadrok on November 29, 2012, 02:12:29 AM
I just wanted to thank you guys for developing this. Having my key 5 characters (I decided to let most of my alts die because I do not have the time to log in to all of them!) sitting on my computer is comforting. The thought that one day they could again, Shoot lightning/command robots/steal power, is what gives me hope that this is not the end of the City.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 29, 2012, 03:11:33 AM
Tried to use sentinel beta after the event tonight, and it wasn't working.  The beta server and character and whether the personal info window was open were all correctly detected, but trying to run it got a window with "Character snapshot exporter has stopped working" then windows goes away and looks for a solution, fails to find one and the program closes.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: ShadowRavenwolf on November 29, 2012, 07:00:13 PM
I'm trying to back up my builds for Shadow and it will save the Build 1, but not Build 2. I switched to Build 2 as the active build and ran the extractor again and it saved Build 1. I deleted the back up and ran the extractor with Build 2 active and it wrote Build 1 to the file. How do I get it to write the active build to the file?

Update: This was a weird glitch. When I opened the file in my text editor to see if everything was saving, it listed only build 1 in the file between costumes and badges. However, I redownloaded the extractor and logged all the way out of CoH and back in and now both builds are showing up in the file.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Dasher on November 29, 2012, 10:01:36 PM
I need some help, here.
The instructions are clear and simple, and I am following them explicitly, but all that happens when I open SentintelPlus is I get a screen that says this:

ERROR: Could not retrieve character information.
 * Is City of Heroes running?
 * Is it the right version?
 * Is the character logged in?
 * Do you have administrator privileges?

Press any key to continue...

What am I doing wrong?

As it is the 11th hour, here, a quick reply would be most appreciated.   :(

Dasher (Hero, Protector, @Dasher)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: estarriol on November 29, 2012, 10:23:03 PM
Dasher, are you logged in to a Windows account that has Administrator privileges?
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: nerd1090 on November 29, 2012, 10:48:09 PM
i got it, but when i try to run it, it says bad CPU int he executor. what does that mean, and how can i fix it?
im on mac, and got the mac version
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Dasher on November 29, 2012, 11:21:19 PM
Dasher, are you logged in to a Windows account that has Administrator privileges?

Hmmm... damfino! I am the only account on the machine, and going into Contr5ol panel, it lets me access the Administrative Tools panel...

I have the awful feeling you're going to tell me that's not enough...   ?  :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: BryanSnowden on November 29, 2012, 11:54:03 PM
DID anyone think to put in the "my purchases" command = to list all the stuff your account should have access to from the Paragon Store - like Enhancements Trays 2, 3, 4, 5 and all the extra Inventory = Recipes/Salvage/Vault storage?

TBH, I can't recall the exact command off-hand, but I ran it before and it was a messy list, it essentially had not just stuff bought from the store since Freedom but it had (afaik) all the old "Perks & Packs" - the powers & costumes.

Seems like there would be a to save your Account Items/Character Items, and maybe "Glee-mail"?
Does anyone know if they've backed up the data-bases w/ this info? I think they'd be insane not to back it all up on the announcement Day & maybe tomorrow before or just after shutting down the game?
Did we get info on the Paragon Store/Tokens+Tiers system (basically the Freedom version of  Vet Rewards)?

IDK, seems like all this could be preserved, UNLESS they get spiteful & Bitter about us not wanting to play their new shinies games (just because we played CoH, then say AA and then came back to CoH.  And, then to TR & back to CoH, and maybe Aion (I didn't touch that one because of the account theft I figured it was best to simple not activate the Serial Code for it and my PC at the time hated the Aion Beta Client = my video cards ram overheated in character creation! more than once, and by the time I could've played it again - I had NO interest in it anymore... Didn't like the limited flying thing - I thought that was supposed to the point (at least to a large extent) - only w/ kick-azz graphics/scenery to fly over. Throttling that flight ability = based on (whatever? I forget atm - but it irked me.)
I didn't like the anti-cheating software it required to install/play either.

But SOMEONE didn't seem to think that CoH was what kept people coming back, 'Vet Rewards' helped maintain players' CoH Subs (like mine) but they got rid of that with Freedom, and made some other mistakes = mostly about trying to pump us for money via buffs that lasted according to time played = like the "Amplifiers" & the freebie Friday thing that probably showed we weren't going to be spending lots of Paragon Points in the Store = as if it was the candy/magazines & other 'impulse purchases' at the grocery store!

This may sound crazy - But, as I recall, like the day before the shutdown (it might've been a couple days they some of the SBE's went on sale - yet, only for the full sets & lots of people saw how bad a deal that was & spoke up about it.  And, what do ya know Black Pebble (?=IIRC) went and (asked somebody or somebody went and asked him?) And they put the individual SBEs - at 20% or 25% off - (The Sets were 50% off, albeit [Some were still damn expensive = 50% off of "Crazy"].

And as we're an older group of players - we're not children snatching up candy (or at least not all the time) - and when I logged back on the next day - maybe a couple days later, & the freaking game was being shuttered :o

I really hope we can pull this off, I have a couple ideas on at least one Blue-Side thing we can do to maybe help balance out the Red-side stuff that will almost surely occur after the shutdown, or soon thereafter - I'll post the one Blue-side thing I'm feel best about, creating some goodwill (to ameliorate or counter any dastardly deeds that may occur on the 31st or after = in a separate post or maybe PM some folks with the 'Action Idea' later tonight or maybe tomorrow?  :-X  I don't want a few malevolent Uni's screwing this one up!  Although I think it's less susceptible to Bad PR sabotage...  not impossible - but let's just say I think it's pretty darn "fubar-resistant"...  :D
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Dasher on November 30, 2012, 04:21:08 PM
Estarriol and all the other folks here who would know:

Yes, I have double-chekced and I am indeed running in Administrator mode... still no luck with the Sentinel+  application.  :(

Hmmm... damfino! I am the only account on the machine, and going into Contr5ol panel, it lets me access the Administrative Tools panel...

I have the awful feeling you're going to tell me that's not enough...   ?  :)
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: eabrace on November 30, 2012, 04:28:04 PM
I'm going to throw this out there, expecting it not to actually help, but on the off chance that it might...

Did anyone having trouble saving character info happen to grab the wrong EXE?  There are two of them: one for the live client, one for the beta client.  The one for the beta client has the word "beta" in the name of the executable.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Felderburg on November 30, 2012, 05:39:32 PM
Tried to use sentinel beta after the event tonight, and it wasn't working.  The beta server and character and whether the personal info window was open were all correctly detected, but trying to run it got a window with "Character snapshot exporter has stopped working" then windows goes away and looks for a solution, fails to find one and the program closes.

This has happened to me as well with the Beta version. It seems to be hit or miss with it sometimes. The live version works like a charm every time though. I just hope the Beta version works consistently for me tonight - I was busy all month, so I've got to transfer characters and export tonight.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Daimyoshi on November 30, 2012, 07:38:20 PM
I am getting this error today, it work flawlessly until today and no it acting strangely. this bothers me greatly because none of my Virtue characters are done yet because I still been working on them.

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   APPCRASH
  Application Name:   SentinelPlus.exe
  Application Version:   1.1.0.0
  Application Timestamp:   504f90f4
  Fault Module Name:   msvcrt.dll
  Fault Module Version:   7.0.7601.17744
  Fault Module Timestamp:   4eeaf722
  Exception Code:   c0000005
  Exception Offset:   000101d5
  OS Version:   6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
  Locale ID:   4105
  Additional Information 1:   0a9e
  Additional Information 2:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
  Additional Information 3:   0a9e
  Additional Information 4:   0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 30, 2012, 07:51:21 PM
Try going to another zone, then completely exiting and restarting the game.

Not sure what causes it but for some reason certain characters / places give it issues sometimes.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Aggelakis on November 30, 2012, 08:54:30 PM
So out of curiosity, does this not work on Exalted? None of my characters on Exalted will capture. I run it, and it hangs with the first two lines
"Sentinel+ Extractor v1.1 - 2320.201207182341.1
Titan Network - August 8, 2012"
and eventually gives me a Windows "tell Microsoft/send error report" error window.

I've moved S+, I've restarted City, I've restarted the computer... nothing :(
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 30, 2012, 10:16:23 PM
I've got a couple files saved from my characters on Exalted, so it's probably something else that's causing the issue.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Aggelakis on November 30, 2012, 11:01:53 PM
Aha. All of my characters on Exalted are in First Ward.

Once I moved them out of First Ward, they captured fine!
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Codewalker on November 30, 2012, 11:07:02 PM
Just a hunch, but I bet it's an issue with the pop-up server trays and the temp power granted to you in that zone to go to Night Ward.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Minotaur on November 30, 2012, 11:12:04 PM
Tried again on beta in FF (was in RWZ), still not working, same problem as above, looks like I'll not be able to record my passport and bug hunter :(
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: c-0 on November 30, 2012, 11:41:15 PM
I need some help, here.
The instructions are clear and simple, and I am following them explicitly, but all that happens when I open SentintelPlus is I get a screen that says this:

ERROR: Could not retrieve character information.
 * Is City of Heroes running?
 * Is it the right version?
 * Is the character logged in?
 * Do you have administrator privileges?

Press any key to continue...

What am I doing wrong?

As it is the 11th hour, here, a quick reply would be most appreciated.   :(

Dasher (Hero, Protector, @Dasher)

I was getting the same error. I saw someone mention using compatibility mode back on page one and that worked for me.
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: JordanYen on December 01, 2012, 03:15:21 AM
Works beautifully. Of course, many of my characters are locked and I can't use any of my game time codes :(
Title: Re: Announcement: Sentinel+ character extractor available!
Post by: Aggelakis on December 01, 2012, 04:43:36 AM
If you've got beta installed, transfer your chars to beta (not test/training room - BETA). Everything is free on beta - you can buy up to 36 character slots as a preemie - and any archetypes you're missing.