Status Update (November 13)

[avelworldcreator]

I believe this is the sort of discussion he's referring to.

Indeed I believe you are quite right! Good find!

[mikenovember]

Thanks a whole bunch for the update, Tony!

And I'm glad so many former devs have found other work-- even though it breaks my heart to see them all broken apart like that.  And it sure doesn't look like there's much of Paragon Studios left to bring another game to fruition through kickstarter or what-have-you....  Oh well, I'm glad they safely landed on their feet, and all those others games will be so much better off for them all being there....

Having worked on such issues with software this isn't necessarilly the problem one might think.  They will need to erect a 'gardenwall' - essentially the team doing the disassembly cannot provide knowledge or technical basis to the team doing actual development.  The design/development teams will need to work off a type of 20 questions kind of arrangement when doing the reverse engineering this insures that none of the original IP is actually used and that patentable or trade secrets are not stolen.  Basically from a legal perspective it's perfectly legal for you to create completely NEW software which does the same thing - you just can't copy it.  This, of course does not apply to specific design, art or copyrighted works.  But something like a server technology, since it's already arguable that the work you're creating from is already copying someone elses concept... let's face it, client/server technology is not exactly new, we've had it for decades - so long as you're not directly copying it, and you're creating your own 'NEW' client server tech... you're in fairly good shape.

Now, as to the features and content for the client - you need to be careful. There's a lot of design stuff that has to be very carefully vetted to insure that it isn't shared with your design/dev team.  The same applies for the database section of the 'server' application.  But with a bit of insight and care you can often make a far superior product since you're not limited to the design descisions which were used in the original.   ;)

[dreamghost]

hugs, just hugs... and thank you

[Tanglefoe]

Thanks for the update.  I haven't posted much lately but I have been keeping tabs for posts like this.  I appreciate it.

[Ice Trix]

If I'm not mistaken (fair warning, I haven't researched the TR emulator so I might very well be), it was probably because the Tabula Rasa emulator also emulated the IP within the game.  That is illegal; it's copyright and/or trademark infringement.  They can also nail you if you distribute the game client; it will be up to players to keep their copy of it.  Those have never been the intention of the emulator, though.  It will only emulate the server, and will contain no City of Heroes intellectual property.  (Unless at some point we're able to acquire the IP from NCsoft or whatever company ends up with it if they are sold or go out of business.)

Does that (emulate server) mean not being able to much more than costume edit or being able to play missions etc?

Thanks for the update too.

[Nightwatch]

Just joined Titan Network today .. I am such a slacker usually.

Just wanted to say ty to TonyV and the team for their work on behalf of the CoX community.

More importantly I also wanted to send my very best wishes to Moonfyire101 and her dad.  My dad and mum are no longer with me and I still miss them.  All the best to your family.

[MaidMercury]

Thank you for the update. I'm happy some of the CoH staff have found other jobs.
A difficult thing to do in this economy.
Sorry to hear about Moonfyire101and her father. I will keep them in my prayers.

I still feel there's more to the story about CoH closing but I got the message.
I've been laid off work before and understand companies do what they do.

I still feel CoH is a victim of their own success, that game has come a long way.
NCSoft doesn't have any other game of interest to me....I don't see a substitute
anywhere else either.
Microsoft which is x100 bigger than NCSoft even let their old games be run by fans,
like Crimson Skies......NCSoft is disingenuous at best. If they're losing money-it's management
not the game itself.

[caine6900]

Thanks for the update Tony. It will be a sad day when Dec 1st rolls around. No more playing my favorite hero(s) or Villain (s). Just hope the current project will be done at some point in the near future. So we can enjoy it and have fun.
My thoughts and prayers are will all that have lost those who are close to us. Take care!

[TonyV]

Thanks for the update Tony. It will be a sad day when Dec 1st rolls around.

Hey now, that's by birthday!

[Sophronisba]

Hey now, that's by birthday!

Does NCSoft know that? Because that's like the worst birthday present ever.

[eabrace]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i.chzbgr.com%2Fcompletestore%2F2009%2F6%2F11%2F128892126357010439.jpg

[Dasher]

Thanks for the update, Tony!
Still grinding it out on Protector Server...
DASHER

[Osborn]

Does that (emulate server) mean not being able to much more than costume edit or being able to play missions etc?

Thanks for the update too.

Presuming somebody less scrupulous doesn't pirate the intellectual property, I don't even think you'd be able to log in without a zone to 'appear' in. But it might be possible for fans to make their own content which in itself wouldn't (shouldn't, anyhow) be illegal as long as their content was original.

[JuneDeluxe]

Thank you so much Tony for the update. It truly means alot!  :)

[Death_Volt]

Thanks for the update Tony! Glad to hear that many folks from Paragon have found jobs.  And LOL at NCSoft's stock drop...

It might be a long way off, but I'm already impressed at the work pouring into Plan Z. Really exciting stuff!

[Sol Eternal]

 I'm hoping the City can be saved. I just told my 8 year old son he can play as much as he wants until it shuts down. I've recorded some nice clips using FRAPS which you can find online (free trial). I've never been much into any online community but I posted a tribute and a short battle sequence on YouTube. The links are below if you are interested...They are "Journey Through Our City Of Heroes" and "Battle: Paragon City." I just don't want to forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5lE2uETMdI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJFONxN7gY

[saipaman]

You can also use FRAPS to capture frames as images.

I've turned on this mode while on the server character selection screen.  I selected each character, waiting 15 to 30 seconds, to get a variety of stances.  After that, I selected the best views and I'm now using those as a screen saver.

I'm sure this will make me sad later on but right now it is pretty cool.

[epawtows]

This may be a silly suggestion, but there is a /r/CityofHeroes on Reddit.  Not that it has a lot of traffic.  I made a comment in it about these forums and PlanZ;  but could someone who is more eloquent than myself say something over there?

[Sensate]

Love and well wishes all ^_^

I am delighted we are pressing forward.
As so many have said, this is more than just a game to alot of us. And we do really appreciate all your efforts to help save it ^_^.

Prayers for Moonfyre and her dad

Sensate
- the lil reaper princess of Virtue-

[Daimyoshi]

I been under the impression that that Demorecord files will still play on the cliet without the server. has anyone tested that at all? I pretty sure it does wotk that way so you at least have that for a while.

I am confused a little how much of the program is actually on the server even?