Majik

Awesome name, too.

Done a few. They've all been successful. Can't say they've been all that enjoyable though.

Things I liked:

1) It's obvious that some real thought has gone into the contruction of the trial, and use of the tools available to make it 'different' (cutscene time freezes, zone-wide DoT etc).
2) The trial lends itself to more subtle tactics from players than has been seen before - especially to try and do the badges.
3) The monologue from A.M. really makes you want to punch him on the bugle.

Things I didn't like:

1) It's all good and well designing content that requires clever tactics and co-ordination - but the playerbase represents the full gamut of both playing skill and also the ability to listen/work in a team, and unforutnately the larger the team size, it's easier for those commodities to be in short supply.
2) Continuing on from the first point - a lot of the new content recently (specifically trials) have introduced a lot of 'lag' into gameplay. By this I don't mean the lag of 24 players' particle effects choking video cards (yeah yeah I know, we should now turn *off* all the nice Ultra Mode effects that were trumpeted so much recently), or the mapserver creaking at having to sent HP/End bar/buff information to every client in a league (although these are problems in their own right) - but there is also increasingly the lag of just getting *going*. It used to be considered a drag if a TF took more than 5 minutes to recruit and get going but now I find myself regularly stood in RWZ(x) waiting for a trial to fill - and once filled there are often instructions from the leader to wait for (none more so than for K.I. recently - instructions for last nights badge runs were generally 15 minutes long). I realise this always gets better with time but I can't help but being depressed that if I log on to play for a couple of hours, often the majority of that time is taken up by standing around. Oh, and I never used to have a problem waiting for a TF - I guess I'm kinda trying to point out that if *I'm* getting antsy, then either I've picked up a case of ADHD, or the 'downtime' really has increased a lot.
3) ...is specifically about badges. I like collecting 'em. I have willies that we're seeing more and more badge requirements that rely on *noone* in the team (and now League)messing up - which I don't like both for reasons of having to rely on people other than myself for an 'acheivement' badge for myself, and also for the stigma that my fellow players attract or feel if they are 'the one' that is unlucky enough to get caught in the green (or get one-shotted by LR, or Aeon, or Reichs, or the Freedom Phalanx, etc). That's all.
4) I don't feel very uber (or 'Incarnate', if you will) if a AM pulse plus a Vicky looking at me the wrong way, or I get to watch an Obliteration beam form under me *after* time freezes, all meaning I wake up in the hospital multiple times throughout the trial. I'm a blaster, I'm used to controlling my agro, playing well and I generally aim as a point of honour to not faceplant once throughout a whole TF/Trial. K.I. has changed that play experience dramatically unfortunately. And yes, I can still keep myself alive, but that often means keeping way out of where the action is (again, doesn't lend itself to feeling all that 'super').

Also, as a general nag (although it would help with the 'downtime' issue i mention above) - it's dissapointing that the LFG interface, which seems a really nice and powerful way of kicking off these large teams, doesn't seem to be getting used as it seemed to me to be initially intended. We all wait around until there are 24 in the League. Why? Because seemingly no one uses the LFG option to join events now. Why? Because (even though the interface says a <2min wait) they can put it on and wait 20 minutes and nothing happens. Why? Because we all wait around until there are 24 players in the League...

I'm hoping the 'PUG' league changes will help out with this

Anyway. That's my bleating fwiw.

I only ever really popped in and out of the 'park back in those days, but it would be nice if the park, or at least Maggies' rock (that seemed to be the centre of a lot of things) would still be identifiable in the new zone, even if it's only folks that are doing the tutorial.

Gratz geezer. Here's to the next 84.

Keep it up chaps, you're good guys.

I admit, i fell for this...like a lamda the slaughter

Guilty as charged. I'm GMT +-0.

Not on so much right now though, so when I am, I'm normally pumping a bit of XP rather than RP, but feel free to prod @Prestidigitator if you see me

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I did rather embarrassedly muck up the HTML error one (it was a 500 error, not a 404... I think).

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There wasn't an option for 404 or 500. None of the options I had were real HTTP codes. They were something like 414, 454, and 483. Hence the WTF reaction.

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I'm actually geeky enough to have actually *heard* of that one - but not so much that i knew it was a 418

http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2324.html

(yes, it is apparently a genuine RFC! - although rather a !&amp;$# of a question imho)

Mwaha - beat 163 if you dare!

http://www.areyouadigitalgenius.com/

(okay, my first score was like, 90-something - but I think that how fast you work out the games (without instructions!) is part of the test...)

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Just what the hell is a 'Code 6' and why has there been one going on at 105 North Avenue for FOUR YEARS?!

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Coffee &amp; donut run.

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That.

Explains.

EVERYTHING!



(srsly. i've had this disproportionate level of unhappyness with hearing it *every time* i zone/tram/hosp/market/train etc...to the point of it kinda becoming an immersion problem. Now i can just assume that North Avenue is in Faultline... )

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I'm liking the idea of a Dark Astoria TF that would have (for at least some of it's instanced missions) the zone *without* the fog/darkness... For someone who's bumped into buildings in there since beta, actually being able to SEE THE WHOLE ZONE(!) even for just one mission, would be 'squee'

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I guess you missed the (was it a whole issue? I want to say it was) time when there was a glitch and the fog went bye-bye.

That zone is like old Faultline, a hidden gem.

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Khhhaaaaaannnnn!!

(i guess i did)

Anyways, just thought of another thing i'd like fleshed out story-wise...

Just what the hell is a 'Code 6' and why has there been one going on at 105 North Avenue for FOUR YEARS?!

I'm liking the idea of a Dark Astoria TF that would have (for at least some of it's instanced missions) the zone *without* the fog/darkness... For someone who's bumped into buildings in there since beta, actually being able to SEE THE WHOLE ZONE(!) even for just one mission, would be 'squee'

Maybe if the game engine has the ability, some realtime lifting (or... um...dropping?) of the fog as the team accomplishes (or fails to accomplish) objectives would be quite groovy too Kind of like in RV maybe?

Also (with ref to the above) it'd be great if there was some climatic battle that was so big that you actually *needed* NPC help - same sort of thing as Woodsmans pals in the Eden Trial (but where the NPC's wern't as useless as chocolate fireguards). So for instance you'd have to lift the darkness from several Dark Astoria neighbourhoods in order to have a chance at being able to defeat Lughebu (perhaps he can regen, or summon Adamastor when he's in a 'dark' area or something)... perhaps Lughebu has untyped damage and the NPC's are the only ones that can debuff it (or buff heroes resistance to it - a'la the Reactor Room)...

...be cool if Lughebu couldn't be taunted either - and had some really random 'hate' AI - so instead of clinically meeting him when the team is ready at the end (as is the norm), he autoagro's upon entering and whilst the team are having to run around doing whatever they need to do to uncover the fog/darkness, they are also having to run in terror from Lughebu as he cycles through his agro on the team...maybe even spice it by giving him zone-wide teleport abilities (reuse Sky Raider / Rikti Lt teleport AI), only short/medium-range damage powers (maybe just a slow 'drain health' power, which would scare the ahoihoi out of the recipient, but allow them time to flee)...

Would also be nice to reuse the code from the pedestrians you get city-wide, so he directs verbal taunts at the *names* of his current target...

..ramble....ramble...

Sorry, guess i was in a creative mood. I hope there's some sauce for Hero-1's (as well as Castle, BaB and Posi's) goose in there somewhere...

Another superb job!

Nice one guys!

(loved the crack about Virtue, too)

I took some time off from CoH to play Eve a couple of years back - I've got to say that I can't believe how struck I am with the difference in Devs.

From secretive we-won't-even-tell-you-our-names-nevermind-what-in-game-organisations-we're-currently-helping-to-cheat, to the kind of candid posts we've had from our CoH Devs - the difference couldn't be wider.

I'm singularly impressed by our current Dev team (even a jaded and grumpy old cynic like me), so here's my voice to add to the rest:

Thanks - you guys rock. Playing the product of your labour makes a positive difference in mine and other peoples lives, so thanks for that, and I hope Karma comes and give you a big hug for it sometime.

Wow, a whole new forum just for film guys? - nice one!

FYI there are a couple more Operatives videos:

'Real World' (which I uploaded to Youtube 'specially for you)
and
'Crash Landing' - our (kinda last minute rushed) entry to the 2005 Film Festival.

I'm pondering doing another one...(but no promises)

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Well, it's happened everyone... sorry, no more Operative Video's on the horison... I've been caught, nay, I've been shot down in my prime by someone far more intelligent, crafty and eloquent than I am. Oh, the humanity. /em melodramaticswoon =)

Snip-snip from the email:
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how did u catch the [censored] warburg misle? im reporting ur [censored] [censored] 4 hacking say godby im tellin everone statsman is going 2 kick ur [censored].

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Somone actually sent him this...

all i can say is ...roflsauce!

/em tips hat to db

Feel free to use Presti... even though he's my main, he's never really seen the light of day community-wise. (well, apart from making a name for himself for terrible puns at hammi raids, but that was a long long long time ago!).

Uhoh...

Sounds like someone has met the Flaming Sambuka.

I hope she behaved...

I officially consider myself pwned

(and I haven't even seen it with sound yet!)

I used to hate my Illusion/Kinetics controller. I mean really. I'd shout at the screen and everything.

Never have two powersets been more opposed to each other IMHO. You have heals and buffs that favour friendlies in melee range, and your primary 'dood' is a Phantasm that stays at range, and also knocks mobs around, meaning that it's even hard work trying to get a heal yourself a lot of the time! (Seeing the green or blue rings from a sucessful transfusion/transference activate on a mob thats just been bounced away from you 0.1 seconds after you hit the button used to lead to a lot of the screen-shouting).

Eh? What? - is this completely OT or what!11!!

Notabitofit. Group Teleport changed the Illusion/Kinetic experience overnight. By setting up lctrl+lbutton to activate Group Teleport in exactly the same way as the normal alt+lbutton bind for teleport, I could do the two following, lifestyle changing, things:

1) Setting up for the next group of mobs - work out where the best possible place for the Phantasms Energy Torrent (cone) would be, activate GTP to that place, the queue up Fulcrum Shift targetted on what's going to be the nearest mob. Having it queued up seems to mean that there's nothing the Phantasm can do to mess it up... Yes! - finally the Phantasm actually gets some FS lovin'. The Phantasm then immediately always opens with ET, and the ET knockback saves us from a *lot* of returning alphastrike (instead of what happens a lot of the time which is that the Phantasm runs two steps towards the group and then uses ET on the first mob to come into range - thereby using his nice multiple-target cone power to hit a grand total of *one* mob. Only way past this was to constantly run *past* the mobs before we engaged to get him into some kind of proper range, then of course run back to try and FS, which was not worth it as the Phantasm had knocked them away by then. Gah.)

2) Need to heal me/phantasm etc? - take 1 second to Ctrl-Click next to the mob i'm dragging the heal from before (like above) queuing up the heal. Cha-ching! - I can heal my pet now.

3) Okay, more than two, but this one isn't so important. Because the range is a lot less than normal TP (i also only slot a single endrx in it), and it's so easy to swap from alt-click to ctrl-click, it's often useful as a 'coming-in-to-land' teleport. For instance, you're approaching a tram station from behind and normal TP would have you waaay overshooting it - use ctrl-click instead and GTP to a point around the 'stair area', and with a bit of practice you can then TP (or GTP!) straight to the tram doors.

I didn't discover how horrendous Illusion went with Kin until (obviously) I got to 32 and took Phantasm. Then *really* started to hate it when i got to 38 - yes, teams LOVED FS and the other Kin buffs, but solo, it was very uphill. Because this actually made me think a bit more about pet vs secondary powerset pairings, I rolled a Fire/Kinetics, and she shot all the way to Lv50 most enjoyably.

So ser'sly. I happily reccomend Group Teleport for Illusion/Kin. As already mentioned above (and in the OP) you need to have some courtesy when using it in teams - just warn them that you'll be standing off to the side with your Phantasm before each engagement and not come stand next to you unless they want a ride into battle (i've actually found a few scrappers, and even some blasters, that like to do this! - it ensures them a nice FS for one thing).

There - it's all off my chest now... Ramble over.

[P.S. Oh, another couple of uses that i've not seen mentioned above - it's great for picking tanks (or other teammates) off 100 x stacked caltrops after a fight (you could do it during, but it generally gets too confusing for the team to use it mid-fight). Another time it's gone down well is about 0.5 seconds after the GL says "bypass this room" at that nasty holey-rock-bridge room in oranbega - shazam, we're all at the other side. I also used it once or twice to place the ISS (Illusion Suicide Squad - as it was known on Virtue) next to Hamidon (before it became de-rigour to PA-drop instead). ]

Appendix B – How Did I Do It?

Hopefully you have seen the ‘Real World’ video by now – if not, then have a peek at the media section of www.trimmers.org. In order to finish off this guide and bring everything together, I thought I would give a run-down of the scenes used in that video and the methods used to capture them. Shhh, don't tell anyone! :P

(Note - It may give you an idea of just how intimately involved in the project and the corresponding demo files you get when putting together a video, to know that I typed out the whole of the below explanations, from memory, without even having to watch 'Real World' one more time or refer to the .cohdemo files that were used etc...)

Titles
Produced in Adobe After Effects

Intro Shots
Just three ‘Straight Shots’ of well-known areas of the game. Minimal editing to remove distracting heroes within the shot and to set the time of day etc.

“I wonder what it’s like to be a rainmaker…”
A ‘Dolly’ shot of the entrance to Operatives HQ (location secret!). I captured the camera commands myself using a character with Hover. I also had someone log out and log in right next to that door to get the ‘entry’, and replaced their appearance with that of Operative Slate. I had to do a fair bit of tweaking to the ‘entrance’ so that Slates feet looked ‘natural’ (i.e. weren’t sunken into rock etc) and to speed up the door animation (they stay open for a LONG time naturally!). Add the camera pan and the entrance together, and put in some emotes with the right timings and the scene is almost done. The last thing to do was to insert a ‘Freezing Rain’ FX at the camera position at the appropriate time.

“I’d store it in boxes…”
Another example of capturing the scene first as the CAM. I used hover to get the (empty) scene from the perspective of the camera (it took several attempts), and then went and stood in the right place next to the box to get the position for Slate. I then edited the camera demo file and ‘inserted’ Slate in the correct position as a new object. I had previously got a Storm controller in the SG to ‘demo’ some powers for me, so I knew which MOV and FX commands made up the ‘Summon Stormcloud’ and inserted them where they would fit in with the song (Slate looks like a ‘Y’ for the word ‘Yellow’ etc)

“And you could come and see them…”
Bit clever this (if I say so myself). When I was getting Slates position next to the box, I swung the camera around (using the cameralook key in-game) so that a ‘point’ emote would point straight at the camera. I then took a demorecord capture of me swinging round to the right. I then just had to take the very last CAM POS from the resultant file to get the position the camera had to change into from the previous shot, and also had all the PYR commands needed to make Slate swing round. I manually added the point and nod emotes (to fit in with the music) and finished the scene with another thundercloud summon, as before, but using the coordinates previously used for the CAM POS as the POS for the FX, so the camera got shrouded in smoke.

“I wonder what it’s like to be a Superhero…”
Easiest shot of all. I tried a bunch of times to get a nice tracking pan (whilst zooming in), but they all looked like a dogs dinner. So I ended up with a simple shot, both hero and camera captured in the same demo file. Just needed to change the hero into Slate and change the time of day.

“I wonder where I’d go if I could fly around downtown…”
If you tried to do this one mathematically, you’d still be scratching your head (the camera is following a sinusoidal path through the air whilst also tracking the flying hero!). Instead, I simply set the hero flying, put the camera into ‘mouse look’ and then started to swing the camera around them at the right point (so that the huge statue in the middle of Steel Canyon wouldn’t be shown). The demo file was then edited to substitute Slate.

“From some other planet, I’d get this funky high…”
Both swinging shots here worked exactly the same as the flying pan, but this time the subject was stationary.

“And boy I’d bet my friends would all be stunned…”
AoE stun a bunch of Hellions (or were they Skulls), replace the NEW commands for the NPC’s for ones that set them as other Operatives and placed Slate in the middle doing an emote at the right time. Had to edit a HUGE amount to replace the right mobs (there must have been six or seven groups of mobs ‘within range’ in that area of Perez, you can imagine how many ‘NEW NPC’ commands that meant there were in the captured demofile.

“Straight up!...”
I actually had the real Operative Slate use gale on those Skulls – I was stood behind him (off camera) with my tank having taunted a whole bunch of groups and herded them up so they’d run almost into Slate (if he’d have agro’d them, they’d have stopped short to fire their pistols etc). I then trimmed any mobs that were missed by the gale from the demo file and placed the camera in the best position.

“If I was someone else…”
Some more genuine footage of Slate tangling with some Malta. We all hate Malta. I just adjusted the footage in the video editing program so they fell over kinda in time to the music.

“I wish the real world, would just stop bothering me…”
I had my flying hero gank a bunch of mobs with hostages in Atlas Park, making sure to stay in the air so that the hostages couldn’t get to me. I then landed and faced in the right direction so they ran up in front of me to do the ‘thank you’. Once that was done I did another quick demo record to get an aerial camera position that would capture the whole scene and edited the original demo to take out all the CAM’s (used the ### replace technique), place the new CAM in the right place, Substitute me for Slate, and have Slate start off with a newspaper and then do the ‘No’ emote at the right time.

“And you…” etc
Couple of very simple ‘Straight shots centred on the player” Again, zoomed the camera to where the character would /em point straight at it and then swung them round while demorecording. Just needed to add the point emote in ‘post production’, make all the CAM commands into ### (I don’t want the camera to swing round with the player), and move the final ### POS and PYR commands to the very start of the file and restore them to CAM.

“I wonder what it’s like to be the head honcho”
High dreams indeed! – the leader of the Operatives is Operative White! (currently MIA though). This involved a lot of editing of the demo file – firstly to capture the camera track and pan, then to place all the Operatives, and then to put everyones emotes in.

“I’d send out an order…”
Simple shot, Slate is still in position and is doing the emotes (carefully timed when placing the clip in the finished video so that it was in time to the music).

2nd Chorus
The dance! I had already worked out the timings for the various lines in the dance – this version, I did demofiles of Slate doing it (in its entirety) at several ‘interesting’ locations and then used the video editing software to fade between them. That rock in the Shadow Shard doesn’t half look like a willy.

“Please don’t change…”
A ‘straight shot not centred on player’. Captured three positions, one for Slate, one for Operative Mist, and one for camera. Then just placed the actors in their spots and had Operative Mist perform the change into Nova form while Slate did the ‘No’ emote (I had my own Kheldian go Nova in a demorecord to see what the commands were – would you believe it’s just an FX?).

“Please don’t change…” #2
Similar to last shot, but this time I had captured the PYR’s for the ‘Slate’ actor to turn round and then back again. I added the emotes afterwards. (Note: One of the other servers still has ‘Trimmer Babe’, the blonde character model with huge gazoongas that I quickly whistled up to get a demorecord of, logged out in Outbreak. I can arrange an introduction for the right donation of inf.

Bridge
One of the best shots imho of the video, and ironically one of the ones that required the least demo editing! I just hovered around Slate in-game while he wailed on some Nemesis. Just goes to show eh? (Only thing I put in was about 15 copies of a Freezing Rain FX, to make it really pour down).

Chorus #3
Straight shot – really simple demo file (as there is no movement or turning etc), just the emotes at the right timings for the music. To capture the positions for the Operatives, I just stood in each one briefly, hit the demorecord and demostop buttons and extracted the POS and PYR from the temp demo.cohdemo (same for the camera position). Also put in the ‘easter egg’ of Statesy himself having a dance and a clap on the roof of the building.

Credits
Actually used Adobe Premiere itself to create and insert them.

Ghost Falcon!
I just let myself be pushed by someone while I stood at GF, found the ‘moment of contact’ in the demo file and spliced in the MOV and FX I had captured earlier from punching a (very surprised) Skull in Steel Canyon. I then had the pedestrian do the ‘falling down’ emote from when you interrupt a bagsnatch and coupled it with a few POS commands that reversed their path (so they’d be really knocked back)

End Titles
Done with Adobe After Effects.

Appendix A – Character Models, MOV Emotes and FX.

In case you really want to have a dance with Statesman etc (did you notice him in the ‘Real World’ video? ), here is a quick run-down of the major character models used in the game. Remember, if you see a particular NPC or Hero in-game that you want to use, getting their appearance settings is as easy as snapshotting them with a quick /demorecord.

Statesman - Model_Statesman
Agent Six - Model_AgentSix
Ghost Falcon -Model_GhostFalcon
Babbage - Giant_Sprocket
Dr. Vahzilok - Vahzilok_01
Mark IV - Model_MarkIV
Serafina - Model_Serafina
Requiem - 5thRequiem
Sunstorm - Model_Sunstorm
Maestro - Council_Maestro
Positron - Model_Positron
Numina - Model_Numina

For a very much more comprehensive list - check out Scuzzbopper's truly truly excellent site.

TIP: If you want to get an NPC, particularly if it’s a pedestrian, then mouse-over them to get their name at the time you take the recording – it’ll make it a lot easier to find them in the resultant demo file, especially if it’s a ‘busy’ one.

As I’ve already mentioned, there are FAR too many emotes in the game to list them all in this guide. Again, the best thing to do if you want to use a particular one is go out searching for someone doing it (or someone who can do it on request!) and snap them with a quick /demorecord.

Again, Scuzzbopper has just about every MOV conceivable covered on his site, but here are a few that were used in 'Real World' to get you started though

Explain - ARGUE_REASON
Thumbs Up - EMOTE_THUMBSUP
Moment of Glory - GLORY
Clap - CLAPPING
Point - EMOTE_POINT
Silly Dance - D_MONKEY
Shrug - EMOTE_WHAT
Arms Out - EMOTE_WELCOME

To get FX, i'd reccomend the 'find someone with that power and snapshot them using it' approach