So, you've played City of Heroes since beta. You love the game. And you just got a shiny new computer. You go to install COH on it and... *gasp* the dog chewed up the disks. Or they're on vacation in Hawaii. For whatever reason, you no longer have a viable hard copy of the game.
Or, maybe you still *have* the original disks, and really don't look forward to a multi-gigabyte download every time, you just want to reinstall.
Well, in these and other situations - there's a solution.
Downloading the client:
First, something *not* to do.
If you go to http://www.plaync.com's account management page and check your City of Heroes account, you'll see a link that says "Download game client." Sounds convenient, right?
Don't do it.
This leads to an 875 Mb download from 7/5/05 - an older version of the software. Big deal? Well, after that download, you'll have to redownload over a gig, *again.* (I hear amounts from a gig and a half to two gig. Either way, frustrating when you want to play.)
What's good about this link, though, is that it gives you the address of the COH FTP site. Most (I'd say all, but someone'll point out an oddball) browsers will open up FTP sites inside and let you download. So - go to ftp://client.coh.com.
Inside, you'll see several files and two folders. Ignore everything but the folders. The folders you'll see are EU and US. Click on US. Inside, at time of writing, you'll see five files. (The European folder only has one, the updater. Click and save.)
COH.zip - 876,532 KB. Ignore this one, it's the same outdated client.
CohUpdater.exe - You want this. Click and save. 992 Kb.
CohUpdater.zip - A zipped version of the updater. 308 KB.
COH_CD1.zip and COH_CD2.zip. Ignore these as well.
(Before someone says "I have City of Villains!" the COHUpdater is for City of Villains, as well. They share the same files.)
When you get this file, double click it. You'll see the update window, then a small dialog box will pop up - "Coh will be installed to C:\Program FIles\City of Heroes. Select NO to choose a different folder." Just hit yes, it will start downloading (let this go overnight, it's still a long download.) When it's done, City of Heroes will be installed.
Transferring or copying the folder - DVD or CD
But what if you already have City of * installed already? Either on a current system, or you have an old system you want to transfer it from?
City of Heroes is not like a single player game. There's no license that says you can only have it installed on one system. THe reason is that the game's "guts" run on the NCSoft servers. You log in with an account, and if you try to log in a second time on the same account, at the same time, it'll log the first instance off. You could compare it to a web browser, honestly - the "content" is on the servers, not on your machine. So copying and moving the client around is not a big deal.
If you've newly installed City of *, and have a DVD RW drive, just copy the City of Heroes folder onto a DVD. You do NOT need the following:
Screenshots folder
Client_Logs folder (chat logs.)
coh.checksum file (in fact, you *don't* want that.)
If you see a file that says "Crash_description.txt," you don't need that.
You do want every other file, as well as the /data and /piggs folders.
You *can* also do this onto CD, but it will take several CDs. Make sure you know what's going where.
You may want to do this after major patches or issues, as well, to keep your archive copy up to date.
When you restore it, put it back to the same place - by default, a City of Heroes folder inside /Program Files. Then right click that City of Heroes folder. If "Read Only" is selected (has a dot in it,) click that to clear it. It'll ask if you want to do the same to all subfolders and files - say yes.
If it starts redownloading when you try to run - cancel and make sure you don't have a checksum, lock, or manifest file listed. If you see any of those, delete them and try again.
Now, this *will not* make a Start Menu entry for the game. You can do that manually, or just go to the folder, right click "COHUpdater.exe" (or COVUpdater.exe for City of Villains) and select "Send to desktop (shortcut.)" On your desktop, you'll have a file called Shortcut to COHUpdater.exe. Right click, pick REname, call it "City of Heroes."
You can also drag this right to the start button and it'll make a shortcut on the initial Start menu.
Transferring or copying - Network
If you don't have a DVD burner (hey, $30 or so these days, but still) but want to transfer from another system - say an older one to a new, shiny gaming system - just make sure they're networked. I'm not going to get into setting up a network here - there are plenty of sites out there that can get you through the basics. Or you can pay someone to do it, as well.
Once your systems are networked and can see each other, you do much the same as the DVD instructions - browse to the other system's /Program Files directory, and just copy the City of Heroes folder into there. (Just copy the folder, everything inside will go in.) Again, there won't be a start menu icon for it, as you just copied the program itself over. The same instructions about making a desktop shortcut and start menu item apply.
Start menu
OK, ok, so you REALLY want a City of Heroes or City of Villains folder showing in your start menu. This is purely optional.
RIGHT click the "Start" menu. You have a decision to make. If it's a single user computer, either will work. If multiple people use the computer, you have to decide if you want everyone to see it or not (assuming everyone has their own login name.) You'll see a choice to "Explore" near the top, or "Explore all users" near the bottom. The bottom one will set this for everyone, not just you.
Once you make that decision, you'll see a "Programs" folder. Double click.
You'll see folders - not everything that's on the start menu is in here (some install for single users, some for everyone.) Right click a blank space and select "New > Folder." A new folder called "new folder" will come up. Rename it "City of Heroes" or "City of Villains." When you're finished, double click it - it will be blank inside.
If you have the City of Heroes or City of Villains icon on the destkop, you can right click it and drag it into here, giving you a choice to move or copy it. If you don't want it on the desktop, move. If you do, copy.
When you're finished, close the window, then click on Start - All Programs, and you should see City Of Heroes (or City of Villains) there with your icon inside.
Downloading and Reinstalling COx.
So, you've played City of Heroes since beta. You love the game. And you just got a shiny new computer. You go to install COH on it and... *gasp* the dog chewed up the disks. Or they're on vacation in Hawaii. For whatever reason, you no longer have a viable hard copy of the game.
Or, maybe you still *have* the original disks, and really don't look forward to a multi-gigabyte download every time, you just want to reinstall.
Well, in these and other situations - there's a solution.
Downloading the client:
First, something *not* to do.
If you go to http://www.plaync.com's account management page and check your City of Heroes account, you'll see a link that says "Download game client." Sounds convenient, right?
Don't do it.
This leads to an 875 Mb download from 7/5/05 - an older version of the software. Big deal? Well, after that download, you'll have to redownload over a gig, *again.* (I hear amounts from a gig and a half to two gig. Either way, frustrating when you want to play.)
What's good about this link, though, is that it gives you the address of the COH FTP site. Most (I'd say all, but someone'll point out an oddball) browsers will open up FTP sites inside and let you download. So - go to ftp://client.coh.com.
Inside, you'll see several files and two folders. Ignore everything but the folders. The folders you'll see are EU and US. Click on US. Inside, at time of writing, you'll see five files. (The European folder only has one, the updater. Click and save.)
COH.zip - 876,532 KB. Ignore this one, it's the same outdated client.
CohUpdater.exe - You want this. Click and save. 992 Kb.
CohUpdater.zip - A zipped version of the updater. 308 KB.
COH_CD1.zip and COH_CD2.zip. Ignore these as well.
(Before someone says "I have City of Villains!" the COHUpdater is for City of Villains, as well. They share the same files.)
When you get this file, double click it. You'll see the update window, then a small dialog box will pop up - "Coh will be installed to C:\Program FIles\City of Heroes. Select NO to choose a different folder." Just hit yes, it will start downloading (let this go overnight, it's still a long download.) When it's done, City of Heroes will be installed.
Transferring or copying the folder - DVD or CD
But what if you already have City of * installed already? Either on a current system, or you have an old system you want to transfer it from?
City of Heroes is not like a single player game. There's no license that says you can only have it installed on one system. THe reason is that the game's "guts" run on the NCSoft servers. You log in with an account, and if you try to log in a second time on the same account, at the same time, it'll log the first instance off. You could compare it to a web browser, honestly - the "content" is on the servers, not on your machine. So copying and moving the client around is not a big deal.
If you've newly installed City of *, and have a DVD RW drive, just copy the City of Heroes folder onto a DVD. You do NOT need the following:
Screenshots folder
Client_Logs folder (chat logs.)
coh.checksum file (in fact, you *don't* want that.)
If you see a file that says "Crash_description.txt," you don't need that.
You do want every other file, as well as the /data and /piggs folders.
You *can* also do this onto CD, but it will take several CDs. Make sure you know what's going where.
You may want to do this after major patches or issues, as well, to keep your archive copy up to date.
When you restore it, put it back to the same place - by default, a City of Heroes folder inside /Program Files. Then right click that City of Heroes folder. If "Read Only" is selected (has a dot in it,) click that to clear it. It'll ask if you want to do the same to all subfolders and files - say yes.
If it starts redownloading when you try to run - cancel and make sure you don't have a checksum, lock, or manifest file listed. If you see any of those, delete them and try again.
Now, this *will not* make a Start Menu entry for the game. You can do that manually, or just go to the folder, right click "COHUpdater.exe" (or COVUpdater.exe for City of Villains) and select "Send to desktop (shortcut.)" On your desktop, you'll have a file called Shortcut to COHUpdater.exe. Right click, pick REname, call it "City of Heroes."
You can also drag this right to the start button and it'll make a shortcut on the initial Start menu.
Transferring or copying - Network
If you don't have a DVD burner (hey, $30 or so these days, but still) but want to transfer from another system - say an older one to a new, shiny gaming system - just make sure they're networked. I'm not going to get into setting up a network here - there are plenty of sites out there that can get you through the basics. Or you can pay someone to do it, as well.
Once your systems are networked and can see each other, you do much the same as the DVD instructions - browse to the other system's /Program Files directory, and just copy the City of Heroes folder into there. (Just copy the folder, everything inside will go in.) Again, there won't be a start menu icon for it, as you just copied the program itself over. The same instructions about making a desktop shortcut and start menu item apply.
Start menu
OK, ok, so you REALLY want a City of Heroes or City of Villains folder showing in your start menu. This is purely optional.
RIGHT click the "Start" menu. You have a decision to make. If it's a single user computer, either will work. If multiple people use the computer, you have to decide if you want everyone to see it or not (assuming everyone has their own login name.) You'll see a choice to "Explore" near the top, or "Explore all users" near the bottom. The bottom one will set this for everyone, not just you.
Once you make that decision, you'll see a "Programs" folder. Double click.
You'll see folders - not everything that's on the start menu is in here (some install for single users, some for everyone.) Right click a blank space and select "New > Folder." A new folder called "new folder" will come up. Rename it "City of Heroes" or "City of Villains." When you're finished, double click it - it will be blank inside.
If you have the City of Heroes or City of Villains icon on the destkop, you can right click it and drag it into here, giving you a choice to move or copy it. If you don't want it on the desktop, move. If you do, copy.
When you're finished, close the window, then click on Start - All Programs, and you should see City Of Heroes (or City of Villains) there with your icon inside.
Now go play.