Environment setup

TODO: organize and clarify the information on this page.

TODO: upload picture galleries documenting each process listed within.

Setting up City of Heroes: Volume 2

Volume 2 has made great strides to simplify the setup process from traditional guides.

The CoX/Source repo has a working default configuration that allows for localhost connections, and requires changing a single line to work over LAN/WAN.

note: AuthServer does not require a File DSN anymore and can connect to the cohauth table via a connection string. It is backwards compatible for older setups.

Compiling the source code

This section is only necessary if you plan on making changes to the server/client executables. You can download prebuilt executables from Gitlab (referred to as build artifacts). Extract them to C:\CoH\bin if you go that route.

Prerequisite software

• A git client of your choice, i.e. regular ol' Git

• VS2019 Community

Setting up Visual Studio 2019

Download Visual Studio Installer. Select "Desktop development with C++" and "Game development with C++" during the install process. Restart your computer after.

Building from the Source repo

Download CoX/Source.git based on the instructions in "Running a server."

Open C:\CoH\build\vs2019\master.sln. Switch the target configuration and platform to Release x86.

Build the solution (F7) and wait. You may close VS after this if there were no errors.

Making data changes

i2401-bin-server is a complete binning setup that's ready to be used immediately after downloading. It is largely 1:1 compared i24 with some exceptions, like badge definitions being slightly off because they require a specific order to be used when updating bins.

You can download prebuilt piggs from Gitlab (referred to as build artifacts). Extract to C:\CoH\bin\piggs if you go that route.

Prerequisite software

• A git client of your choice, i.e. regular ol' Git

git clone https://git.ourodev.com/CoX/i2401-bin-server.git

Binning from the data repo

Read the instructions in readme.txt on which scripts to run and in what order.

TODO: This section should be expanded on.

Running a server

Prerequisite software

• A git client of your choice, i.e. regular ol' Git

• SQL Server 2019 Developer
• SQL Server Management Studio

Downloading the Source repo

I'm going to be using git from the command-line. You just need to clone the repo and submodules, the client does not matter. There is a built-in Git extension in VS2019 to handle commits, or if you use VS Code there is a built-in Git interface to manage commits/diffs there.

Open a command prompt in the root of your C: drive.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://git.ourodev.com/CoX/Source.git CoH

Once this command completes you can continue.

Setting up SQL Server 2019

Download SQL Server 2019's Installer. Select "Basic" installation and leave all settings default. There is no need to restart after this step.

Setting up SQL Server Management Studio

Download SSMS' Installer. Simply click Install and wait for the process to finish. Restart your computer after.

Importing database schemas

Open SSMS. Connect using the default settings.

Run each SQL file located in C:\CoH\Assets\DBSchemas. You can select all the files in Windows Explorer and drag them into SSMS to open them. Click on each tab and press "Run Query" for each tab.

If you do not plan on using an AuthServer (as it's not necessary and can be a hindrance in dev setups), set UseFakeAuth to 1 in C:\CoH\bin\data\server\db\servers.cfg

If you plan on using an AuthServer you will need to add a server entry and register an account:

1. Edit the table "cohauth.dbo.server" -- set id 1, name anything you want, ip external or LAN IP (this is what clients connect to), internal_ip 127.0.0.1 or LAN IP (this is how auth server determines what server has connected internally), ageLimit 0, pk_flag 1, server_group_id 1, client_port 7000.
2. To create an account use the query generator here https://cohstuff.dreamhosters.com/makeaccount.php. Execute the output in SSMS.

Installing the latest data changes

Follow the instructions in "Making data changes." Place bins in their correct places inside the data folder, or place the generated piggs under the piggs folder.

Starting the server

Create a shortcut to C:\CoH\bin\ServerMonitor.exe -connect. Launch that shortcut. DBServer will create cohdb and all the necessary processes will finish starting up after a few minutes.

If you don't want to pre-start all maps on startup (useful to avoid mission door bugs, not useful for testing sourcce code changes fast), switch to the Processes tab in ServerMonitor and remove -startall from DBServer's entry. Close everything and open ServerMonitor again to apply.

Connecting to your server

Run Ouroboros.exe -auth <IP>, e.g. 127.0.0.1. Your game will load and you can begin playing.

If you are not using an AuthServer you should use -db <IP> instead.

Recommended tips

Rapid testing environments used for local development should specify UseFakeAuth 1 and DefaultAccessLevel 255 inside of servers.cfg.

Launch your client with -nopopups.