Laughing_Boy

I did account for every (PC) model, and I can't imagine why the skins of the costumes would change the actual rigging. I will give the height variations considerations.

The mocap for a powerset could be done in a day, easily. There's no harsh interactions and most of them don't involve rolling around on the ground or extreme contortions. The moves are only 2-6 seconds long, each.

The nine moves then must be adjusted for heights. If the average animation time is four seconds, that's 36 seconds or 1080 frames. If you stretched those frames across a five-day workweek, that's 216 frames per day (7.2 seconds or just under 2 moves per day), and with a work day of eight hours, that's 27 frames per hour, or not even a second per hour. That's slow as heck. A competent animator could adjust six moves a day easily, which is 720 frames a day or 90 an hour.

If you assume there are 10 different heights, which I think would cover all the varying heights well enough, and three models, each set would have to be adjusted 30 times. Obviously there are initial ajdustments made to the animation that make it correct, and then there are adjustments after that to make it right for each type and size of model, therefore the adjustment time per move after the initial adjustment should drop considerably. Half is a good estimate.

So with 30 variations, and at a moderate five moves per day intially and ten after the initial adjustments per body type, that's 30 days, adjusted for a normal workweek giving six weeks. Far less than three months.

If there's any more to it, I'd say something wasn't planned correctly.

[ QUOTE ]
Motion Capture/Armature Time : 3 months

[/ QUOTE ]

Hell no. If you have a competent mocap team and a competent animator, nine moves (the number per powerset) should take a week, tops. Even if you needed 27 moves, a set for each body type, that's still less than a month, and 27 moves in a month is still slow.

[ QUOTE ]
I suppose that's the lovely irony. After the devs made initial sets too powerful, and needed to scale them back (aka "nerf"), folks kept suggesting that they make the sets weaker to start with, and buff them as needed.

And when it looks like they're doing that... folks complain that the new sets just aren't powerful enough. You just can't make 'em all happy...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, there's a huge difference between doing five under the limit and doing 20 under. There's cautious and there's ridiculous. Electric Melee falls into the later category if the Devs didn't want it to be overpowered on launch.

[ QUOTE ]
MMO players are not different.

[/ QUOTE ]
I beg to contest. While there is some crossover, I highly doubt any less than half of the people I've met on CoX, SWG, EQ, AO, or MxO would be able to sit through two sessions of D&D or M&M.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
See, I just don't see that. I see the CIHYS response as a way of stating "I'm apathetic about your participation in this game. But I do recognize where I can gain. If you're serious, care to put your virtual money where your mouth is?" But maybe that's just me. I laugh a little in the back of my mind everytime that comes up appropriatly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting. If someone replied to "Can I have your stuff?" with "Slag off!" would you read it as "Sorry, old chap, but I'm afraid that since this is a total loss for me there's no reason I should turn it into a capital gain for you"?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I'd see it as the same whine-whine as the original "This sucks, I'm leaving," post. Of course, if someone did reply with the "sorry, old chap," line, then I'd really laugh.

[ QUOTE ]
The "Can I have your stuff?" line is actually spitting right back as far as I'm concerned. In a "You too!" kind of way.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, I just don't see that. I see the CIHYS response as a way of stating "I'm apathetic about your participation in this game. But I do recognize where I can gain. If you're serious, care to put your virtual money where your mouth is?" But maybe that's just me. I laugh a little in the back of my mind everytime that comes up appropriatly.

[ QUOTE ]
When we release levels 41-50 in CoH, we quickly realized that these levels didn’t offer any new powers. Players would be choosing from powers that were already available. While extra powers are nice, it isn’t very interesting. So we asked ourselves what would players want? All Archetypes chafed under their limitations – Tankers had no range, Blasters no defense, etc. – so we thought we give each Archetype the ability to choose lesser versions of powers that would address their weaknesses. Unfortunately, new powers are incredibly art intensive. Instead of making new sets, we choose pre-existing powers and renamed them as Ancillary Power Pools.

[/ QUOTE ]

If this was the same intention of the PPPs, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then there is a critical failure. The MasterMind PPPs offer things that are covered by secondaries already. Furthermore, there is no choice in powers. We can choose whether to take the powers or not, but our choice of powers in non-existant since every Patron's Powers are the same thing with different graphics. That's not a choice of powers; that's a choice of graphics.

[ QUOTE ]
Many have complained that this hinders creativity and roleplaying. After all, not everyone wants to be a villain that works for Arachnos. Certainly, a large strength of the City franchise has always been its customizability. To a degree, the Patron powers somewhat inhibit this by compelling people into “working” for certain Arachnos agents. The powers also do not dovetail perfectly into current power sets.

[/ QUOTE ]

An understatement. Nevertheless, correct, the powers do limit us story-wise and in the area of power syncronization. But you're forgetting the final piece to this trinity of limitations: thematic limitations. Three of the four patron power sets are magical. One is non-magical and relies upon the person carrying a mace. None of those fit in with the theme of my current Brute, MasterMind, Stalker, or Corrupter. Yet each could easily take an APP, if they were offered, and it would mesh with their theme.

[ QUOTE ]
What fascinates me is how new this discussion is to the MMP world. I’ve played lots of games over the years, and usually customization wasn’t that big of an issue.

[/ QUOTE ] I don't think it was ever a priority on teh developer's side, and thus nothing was known to be missing ont he player side. It's human nature to be unique, even if it's only a facade.

[ QUOTE ]
Positron and I will certainly keep this in mind for the future… And, unfortunately, Chum Spray has been renamed to Bile Spray. Our powers guys’ felt that Chum was just too campy.

[/ QUOTE ] Well that blows chunks. Please seriously reconsider the PPPs as they are now. Add more Patrons of non-Arachnos origin and add in APPs to the villain side. Give CoH Patrons, too. There, everyone's happy.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For the people who don't like the PPPs, there is really nothing to try.

My Stone/Stone Brute (that's based on STONE) does not want to spray anyone with chum.

My Plant/Thorns Dom (that's based on PLANTS) does not want red lightning or a big frickin' mace.

It's really that simple.

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps you will have a happier life if you wait with the hate 'till you have something better than press releases to base it on. Like, say, five minutes of experience.

[/ QUOTE ]

Back the train up... we're talking about thematic choices here, not functional choices. Irregardless if Chum Spray lets me kill every enemy in Recluse's Victory at once and costs 5 END with a 2 second recharge timer, it still doesn't fit the theme of my Robots/Force Field Mastermind, who is himself a robot containing no biological matter and shuns "meatbags" for their inefficiency.

We know the themes, descriptions, and graphics of the powers enough to know if it will simply not fit a character's theme. Test it till your keyboard breaks from button pushing, it won't change the thematic dichotomy of a character and that power(set).

[ QUOTE ]
the way that CoV handles the storyline has always left me feeling a little patronized.

[/ QUOTE ]

Two drums and a cymbal fall off a cliff.....







Ba-dum, CHH!


Honestly, the PPPs lack in the two areas that I normally associated CoX with; thematic freedom and functional diversity. The choice of one of four patrons, each of which will give me the exact same powers with just different looks based upon a narrow band of themes is not much of a choice.

It was mentioned that _Castle_ stated they were reconsidering the PPPs. Is there a link to that?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Our pets get nothing?

[/ QUOTE ]
Your zombies and ninjas don't have to chase crap down because you get Immobilizes and Holds.

[ QUOTE ]
No new playmate?

[/ QUOTE ]
You have six!

[ QUOTE ]
No new toys?

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you kidding?

[ QUOTE ]
They do all the work and take all the pain!

[/ QUOTE ]
Which is what they're there for.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now, let's put all the pieces back together again and glue it together with logic, the way it was meant to be.

[ QUOTE ]
Our pets get nothing? No new playmate? No new toys? They do all the work and take all the pain!

[/ QUOTE ]

The general idea behind the Mastermind is one who commands others to get his or her work done, and their role in the matter is guidance and planning. If we arent' given powers that (a) enhance our minions, the ones doing the work or (b) help our minions by way of guidance and planning, then we take a big step away from Mastermind and into another AT. Obviously the Hold is useful to MMs, and the Devs know that since they made it the last power.

Now, the point of P3 and APP is to fill in our character's weaknesses, but this shoudln't come at the cost of what we are. MMs are unique in that we fight through our minions. A buff to us is debatable, but a buff to our minions is what makes the AT.

Ranged AoE attack (corrupter) should be given to our minion(s).
Immobilize (stalker? huh?) could be given to a minion(s). But better for the MM.
Shield (brute) should be given to a minion(s).
Hold (dominator) could be given to a minion(s). But I'd rather keep that one.

Frankly, and this is a tangent, I'm not certain what influence the Stalker has on the MM P3s.

Anyways, if you want to make the P3s useful for MMs, make them support the minion or the guidance we give the minions.

Heck, if I had to design them, I'd do it as so...

P3s for MMs are the result of a MM working around other villains and learning what works. They pass this knowledge onto their minions in the form of tactics on the battlefield.

Who would win? Ghost Sharks or Snakes on a Plane?

I have to admit, I'm very dissapointed in the MM PPPs. Our pets get nothing? No new playmate? No new toys? They do all the work and take all the pain! This is a slap in the face to MMs.

Hey, I was wonderign if anyone could tell me if the following set of bind files would work as I hope they would. Taking the initial binds from the OP...

File name: teammate1.txt
t "/team_select 2$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate2.txt"
b "/team_select 8$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate8.txt"

File name: teammate2.txt
t "/team_select 3$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate3.txt"
b "/team_select 1$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate1.txt"

File name: teammate3.txt
t "/team_select 4$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate4.txt"
b "/team_select 2$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate2.txt"

File name: teammate4.txt
t "/team_select 5$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate5.txt"
b "/team_select 3$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate3.txt"

File name: teammate5.txt
t "/team_select 6$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate6.txt"
b "/team_select 4$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate4.txt"

File name: teammate6.txt
t "/team_select 7$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate7.txt"
b "/team_select 5$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate5.txt"

File name: teammate7.txt
t "/team_select 8$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate8.txt"
b "/team_select 6$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate6.txt"

File name: teammate8.txt
t "/team_select 1$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate1.txt"
b "/team_select 7$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate7.txt"

File name: shield1.txt
g "powexec_name deflection shield$$bind_load_file c:\coh\shield2.txt"

File name: shield2.txt
g "powexec_name insulation shield$$bind_load_file c:\coh\shield1.txt"

Would this allow me to scroll through my team using T to go up and B to go down, with G to apply the two bubbles in progression? Thanks.

So..... With Enhancement Dictatorship on the horizon, how will traveling be affected? Will Teleport (formerly benefitting from six-slotting) remain the fastest, or will Super Speed take the lead?