Johnny_Butane

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Including the Power Pools as well as Patron/Epic Pools in customization is a must if they are going to do this right.

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Well most of the hero Epic pool powers are also found in primary and secondary sets they already annouced will be customizable. So it shouldn't be too much work to get them working eventually.

The villain Patron powers are another matter.

For the pool powers, at first glance I don't see much worth customizing in:

Fitness
Leadership
Presence
Teleportation

That leaves just:

Concealment
Fighting
Flight
Leaping
Medicine
Speed

I can easily see them addressing the pool powers, Epics and Patrons in a patch after i16, but I don't expect them any time before that.


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Am I strange for wanting a Traps customization set based on rigged baked goods?

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Why would anyone in a combat situation approach a croissant with green clouds hovering around it?



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REALLY hope that it is an oversight, I really dislike the animation/colors of hasten and super speed... so much.

[/ QUOTE ]The list on the overview page is the stuff they've got ready. There's still time between now and i16 to get more sets in, and I think BAB said they're working on Traps already.

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hmm... what exactly will there be to customize in traps?

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Look of some of the various devices in the set. Doesn't acid morter put out a green acid halo effect that could be customized, force field gen's shield color, triage beacon's energy coming off of it. Web grendade's webs could be colored or customized. I'm not too familiar with the set, but thats just what's coming to my mind.

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Not to mention more thematic variations on the idea of Traps.

With customization you could turn Traps into a Killer Toys power set.

- Acid Mortar spewing teddybears.

- Model helicopter Seeker Drones

- Green army men Caltrops

- Exploding doll Trip Mines

- And so on.



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Khan?

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Nahk! (only, this time, Pinky says it instead of Kirk)

/been wanting to customize flight for a long, long, long, erm, long time.

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It would be cool, now that the interface supports it, to be able to pick your default flight pose from the 5 they made a while back.

Yeah I have a macro for it now, but it would be better for the game to support it automatically.


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Do you have some kind of chemistry issue that makes it physically impossible for you to be happy? I haven't seen one positive post from you anywhere.


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Just last week I spend several paragraphs almost gushing about the ITF, the Faultline arcs and to a lesser extent, the RWZ arcs.

I've also gone on record as saying the game's lore is top notch, if a little self-contradicting and having been muddled over the different media it's been featured in.

I think Hero 1 does an awesome job for the most part and that Manticore is very cool for the Q/A thread thing he's doing lately. Jay is awesome and he'd be more awesome if he found the time to add an unzipped version of the Racer jacket for Males/Females and Huge. I'm a fan of War Witch's zone work. I've praised the concept artists in general and David Nakayama's art specifically.

I've got nothing bad to say about any of the community relations people and moderators I've had contact with for both negative and positive reasons.

I thanked BaBs for increasing the size of Hurl's projectile. I thanked Castle for Invul's buffs.

That's just stuff off the top of my head.

All in all, I think I praise a greater number things than what I criticize. I just criticize those few things so often and so heavily that's what gets seen the most.

Regarding i16, I said it was a good start. I'd like to see it expanded upon in the near future with alternate animations for every power, the ability to pick emmination points (having an Ice Blaster who's ice attacks come from a freeze gun, etc), including pool and epic powers to the list of customizable powers (Tankers, Scrappers and Controllers should be able to get pink Fire Balls and blue Laser Eyes too) and allowing players to add and remove effects to attacks like screen shake and debris.

And maybe, just maybe, down the road, the ability to change performace aspects of some powers. Being able to change a -def debuff effect to a -res effect. Being able to remove knockback from a power and add extra damage. That is the longest shot of all, IMO.


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They may have to tweak it for it to look ok.

The position of the arm that's supposed to be holding the shield may not like right when there's no shield.


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Hey, if we're really lucky, i16 will allow alternate animations for our powers.

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Knowing BaBs, we would have to be astronomically lucky.

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Goodbye "Johnny_Butane", hello "Astronomically_Lucky"!

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The comment still stands.

They are delivering only two sets with alternate animations for i16, as opposed to every set.

"For our powers" in this case doesn't apply to anything that's not SS or MA, which is the case for MOST of the powers in the game.

So if you're not SS or MA, they are not providing alternate animations to you powers in i16.

If I instruct someone to "stack the boxes on the floor" and they only stack two of the ten boxes on the floor, the job is not complete. You shouldn't have to specify "stack ALL the boxes on the floor". It's implicit.

In this case, it should have been implicit I was referring to all the attack animations in the game, not just MA and SS.

The i16 info actually vindicates me. We're only getting a couple sets with alternate animations for i16. Even if we get some later, that still wont be for i16.



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I'm just in the "I hate KO blow animation camp" and the thought of having the option to improve it is just so cool, that the thought of the alternative being something I like less, just makes me sad.


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The thing is, what animations do they have to replace it with?

- Energy Transfer's new "My hands...SMELL THEM!" animation.

- Total Focus/Thunder Strike.

- What else?



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I was wondering what BaBs was doing on the grassy knoll.

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If you'll look closely you'll see the new Hurl animation goes back and to the left. Back...and to the left.

Back. And to the left.


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Yes, Hurl looks like the most likely animation change to me as well.

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What makes me wonder if it got the Propel treatment is that BaBs said he was in there already when people asked him about the /e alakazamreact changes. He said he was mucking around in the files already so it wasn't a big deal to do.

Now, Propel itself isn't a big candidate for customization, so why was he in the files for it?

Perhaps to copy the effects for an alternate Hurl. Maybe. We'll see.



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Read. It says "alternate animation".

Not plural. So there's a swap out for Hand Clap, but that's it.



Seriously, it's a start. I'd rather at least three for each punching attack, and the ability for it to randomize (sometimes it uses the old animation, sometimes the new).

But it makes me wonder if they did anything for Hurl, and if they just copied Hurl Boulder from stone melee or added the random Propel object code to it.


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Most of the jackets have this problem. Even older ones like Racer. Perhaps everything Jay owns is made out of fabric three inches thick?.



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His faceplaTe does some cool stuff too. Like:

- Gives him the ability to have a personal nemesis that's not part of make-believe simulation at AE and forces everyone to be wrapped up in their quarrel.

- 80k KO Blows.

- Consolidates his invulnerable resistance into ONE power instead of five individually ineffectual pieces so he actually has room for his electrical attacks and other pools, not that he needs Fitness or Stamina.



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All good answers. So, what about my math, is it correct? Is there no way to Solo Dominatrix as a tank? Is there no way to Solo, almost that whole list when you use SS?

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I'd say, likely not.

S/L damage, even when backed by a power like Rage, gets shafted, especially on a Tanker.



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Something like this is what Shield Charge was meant to be. Alas, despite a LOT of work from Sunstorm, BABs and myself, there ended up not being a way to get this functionality to work.

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Ever thought about doing it another way?

Have a click power that for a short period (5 seconds) buffs your run speed, gives you a repel aura, a high damage but short range damage aura and Bob's your uncle?


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How can Statesman fight against LR with his SS and win?

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A variety of reasons.

- Being a character created by a dev, he can do whatever he wants. For reference, see Positron, an armored Defender with more HP than any Tanker, or Castle the Fire/Fire tankmage.

- He's an actual, top tier hero. Player heroes and villains are 3rd class. We rate below canon sidekicks. That's why few player made characters can beat signature characters toe to toe when they're not watered down to EB status.

- He's also got a variety of electrical and energy attacks at his disposal.

- His faceplace cancels out Enhancement Diversification. That's why players aren't allowed access to it as a costume piece.



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a never-ending fountain of exploding

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You make that sound like a bad thing.



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QR to Samuel_Tow


Thee things that could be done to fix the Shadow Shard:

-Add some non-TF content to it besides repeatable missions.

-Compress the whole area. Move all the islands closer together.

-Add some nasties there to hunt. Create some EB class extra dimensional monsters that are semi-rare that spawn outdoors. Seriously, almost anything goes being a freaky dimension of wierd crap and all.


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The animation system *itself* is a very complex system, but the connection between the powers system and the animation system is, if a bit Rube Goldbergian, not very complex or fragile.


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You're contradicting yourself.

Rube Goldberg:

2. deviously complex and impractical

If the connection is "Rube Goldbergian" as you put it, that implies it is also complex and impractical(to change).

Consiering the number of animation and effect breaks the seem to have happend recently, I'm thinking it's more fragile than you're giving it credit for.

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The real issue (for BaB, anyway) is aesthetic, since picking animations that are too short would induce pauses at the end of attacks, and picking animations too randomly can create transition problems in some unusual cases where powers were not designed to follow each other.

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Which is why I said "if they still looked OK" after being re-timed, assuming BaBs wasn't re-timing them each by hand.

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My guess that such a feature is added in some form within the next twelve months is much, much higher (better than even money: I'd take that bet).

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I wouldn't lay any money down until I saw how Going Rogue performs. It's quite possible there will be some "team restructuring" if GR doesn't live up to what NCSoft hopes, and that would alter the scope of any subsequent development of the game.


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Also, given J_Bs posting history it's pretty clear what he means.

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I'm very familiar with Johnny's campaigns and posting history, but I'm just not clear on what the inference is.

Whether or not any powers ever get alternate animations has nothing to do with luck. I've never personally been against the idea of having alternate power animations, quite the opposite. We've simply lacked the tech to do that and the time to create said animations.

The infamous knockout blow animation wasn't even something that I animated, so I have no attachment to it and don't feel any need to defend it's quality. I happen to like it, I know plenty of others do as well, and I know a great deal of people who don't.

What any of that has to do with 'knowing BABs' and the likelihood of this happening at any time is where I'm confused.

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This thread passed way under my radar since that post.

Allow me to clarify.

Knowing that:

-You've implied in the past the animation and power systems effects were held together by Elmer's glue and thumbtacks, and that changing animations was cumbersome.

-Cast times for animations are not standard, greatly cutting down what animations could be swapped around without impacting power balance. Unless a system was created to auto re-time them and assuming they still looked OK...or unless you created dozens of versions of the KO Blow animation to fit every conceivable cast time, I wouldn't see the work involved being worth it just for something as minor as every attack having one alternate animation.

-You're already swamped with work doing just the particle effects tinting aspect of power customization, which as far as we know is the extent of the customization i16 will offer(the already existing weapon customization system not withstanding).

-Melee sets without weapons are the minority. There's more bang/buck ratio for putting work in to custom weapons and tinting particle effects.


...and combining that with the answers you've commonly given about things like power customization and your posting history, I suspected that you and the other devs would deem swapping cast animations, along with things like changing emination points (ie Laser Eye Beams from my hands) or entire particle types (Ice Blast being able to shoot fire balls) as being beyond your means to deliver.

In short, alternate cast animations seems like a long shot given the things you've said, and we'd have to very very lucky to roll that seven.

Also...I don't know... something something the devs hate Tankers. Whatever you expect me to say.


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I hear that you have to do the name three times, like that famous incantation 'Hickman Hickman Hickman'.


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If Hickman was writing for Going Rogue, I'd be a little excited.

If they had the tech and improved mission design to capture his stories properly, like the Twilight Son and Mender Silos TFs fail to do, I'd be more excited.


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Now how cool would it be to have Recluse as a brother?

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Not very. Considering he very likely gave his own sister terminal cancer as part of a tactic to make Statesman leave Paragon City at a crucial time so Recluse could execute yet another city domination plan without him getting in the way.


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I know they exist. Rikti with uniforms and armor that are different from the standard. Ones with splashes of red, for instances. Or the Gunmen with more green on their armor than usual. I only ever see them on Mothership raids. Why don't these Rikti show up in normal missions more often and break up the monotony?

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They are generally found in the Midnighter Arc missions, the Cape mission and occasionally in non-newspaper and non-RWZ missions where Rikti appear.

In the i10 beta, they were the Rikti who showed up in invasions and the other kind were the ones on the mothership. Then they were switched around just before open beta.



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Plenty of wiggle room to try and 'fix' the canon.

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I never said it was broken to begin with. The writing could stand to be tightened up a little.

Honestly, the canon is the last thing in this game I'd complain about. Most of it is fantastic, if not sligtly muddled over the various mediums it has been presented in.


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Miss Liberty picked up her father's (Statesman's) supernatural gifts. Statesman doesn't age. So, it would be natural to assume that Miss Liberty doesn't age, or is very long-lived.

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Which is fine for Miss Liberty being 41 and raising a 9 year old daughter.

That doesn't explain away people dubting Ms. Liberty's leadership skills, calling her "too young" at 32 or the way she acts.

Also, the Phalanx novel establishes they didn't pick up all his gifts and they do age, because a big plot point is Statesman losing his elderly wife and dreading going through the same thing with the next two generations. The massive number of people he's had to say goodbye to while he stays young is implied as being the major reason he went from dashing, Errol Flynn-like hero leader in the 1930s, to the cynical, figurehead with a chip on his shoulder and a stick shoved someplace else he is today.


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