Windows Vista

Overview

Windows Vista is Microsoft's latest operating system. Unlike the jump from 2000 to XP, (almost the same code base, most games couldn't tell the difference), the jump from XP to Vista is like going from 98 to 2000, massive changes to the OS that broke a lot of games. This time, however, games are smarter and the OS is slightly forgiving.

Tips and Tricks for running CoH under Windows Vista

(from Official Boards)

Missing Mouse Pointers

In some instances, loading the game client on Vista will result in your cursors/pointers not showing up. This is an easy fix.

1. Right click your desktop shortcut for the City updater.
2. Select 'Properties'. Make sure you are in the 'Shortcut' tab.
3. Select the 'Target' field. It should look something like this: "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe"
4. Add -compatiblecursors 1 to the end of the target, so that it looks like this:

   "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -compatiblecursors 1

   If you have installed your game to the default location, you can copy and paste the line above into your target field.

CoH Not Using Dual CPUs

Dual core processors are becoming extremely popular, however CoH doesn't always detect and use both processors (and this is especially true in Vista).

---

CoH is supposed to detect the dual processors automatically but that code is currently buggy. May as well put it in yourself and force the issue. Even hyperthreading processors can take advantage of renderthread!-Zloth

---

Correcting this is similar to the Missing Pointer fix above.

1. Right click your desktop shortcut for the City updater.
2. Select 'Properties'. Make sure you are in the 'Shortcut' tab.
3. Select the 'Target' field. It should look something like this: "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe"
4. Add -renderthread 1 to the end of the target, so that it looks like this:

   "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -renderthread 1

   If you have installed your game to the default location, you can copy and paste the line above into your target field.

Multiple flags in shortcut

You can combine both the Missing Pointer and Multiple CPU fixes into one shortcut.

Example

LIVE "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -compatiblecursors 1 -renderthread 1

TEST "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -test -compatiblecursors 1 -renderthread 1

CoV "C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -cov -compatiblecursors 1 -renderthread 1

Low Framerates

This is a neat little tweak that was posted by Barata. You can see the explanation why this works HERE(not working). Many thanks!

1. Right click your City desktop shortcut.
2. Select 'Properties'.
3. Select the 'Compatibility' tab.
4. Click the box beside 'Disable desktop composition'. ***You may need to select a system build (IE: Windows XP (Service Pack 2).***

This works equally well on the shortcut or the CoHUpdater.exe file. I have the settings changed on both.

NVIDIA PERFORMANCE TWEAK

This little gem of information was gleaned from the multi-page Vista Users thread. Thanks muchly!

I have tested this with my Nvidia Go 7600 and I did notice an increase in performance. Your mileage may vary. Doing this may also help non-Vista users.

---

With NVidia, another setting if you use FSAA, is to NOT use the FSAA setting in the game. It works ok, but does not give the same performance if you set this setting in the driver. Open the NVidia Control Panel and turn Anti-Aliasing to 2x,2xQx,4x, etc, whatever setting you normally like to use, then in the game turn off FSAA. This setting can make an impact on some video cards by a factor of doubling the speed and keeping the anti-aliased screen.

---

1. Open your NVIDIA Control Panel. (I open mine through the computer's Control Panel which can be accessed via the Start Menu.)
2. Select 3D Settings.
3. Click "Adjust Image Settings With Preview".
4. Click the radio button beside 'Use The Advanced 3D Image Settings' and click the 'Take me there' link.
5. Find the Antialiasing Setting and select your desired setting.
6. Disable FSAA in the advanced graphics settings in game.

It has also been noted that there are FPS hits when using Bloom and Depth of Field with Nvidia cards. Disabling these effects may increase your performance.

See Also

• Game Client