Samuel_Tow

As far as "seriously threatening" goes, the game does two factions very well - the Malta Group and the Nemesis Army. Stupid memes aside, both factions are generally ruthless, ambitious, and above all CAPABLE. The Malta Group, specifically, are simply amazing, blackmailing governments, killing presidents, brainwashing, threatening or kidnapping actual super heroes... Everything they do is on a large scale, is a high-stakes game and is usually pretty dang nasty. Whenever they are involved, you know things just got a LOT more serious. The narrative of the game just simply always treats them like that, and I am BEYOND GLAD that the corny jokes at NPCs' expense haven't gotten to them.

I don't have a problem with talkative enemies when it makes sense that they would talk. I DO have a problem with talkative enemies when they should be out-and-out mute, or highly reluctant to speak. Wasn't there something about the mute Batgirl in this vein? Anyway, I want to see at least a few factions that don't monologue evil plans and don't wise-crack without provocation, and who only speak when strictly necessary. We need some of those, too.

It wasn't fresh when it was created. What possible use could it have now? The answer is the same as it always was.

/servertime - this gives you the current time on the machine the server is running on. I assume East Coast and West Coast servers will have different times.

/localtime - this gives you the current time on YOUR machine, pulled straight out of your Windows clock.

I wouldn't know, honestly. Back in the day, I just got a copy of Flash from... Somewhere, I don't remember where. It was a long time ago. Since then, that's practically all I've ever used. If Illustrator is the same, only without the penchant for animation, I'll definitely look at that when I have the chance.

In my case, I was looking at a light source above and to the left, possibly somewhat forward of dead centre sideways. I've no knowledge of actual art, but I do have a fair bit of knowledge in 3D geometry and vector mathematics, thanks to an Applied Mathematics degree, so I've tried to apply that and sort of reason my way through the dilemma. I've basically put the highlights around where I think the optimal reflection angle from the light source over the cone shapes and to my eyes will be... For the most part. On a few round shapes I've given multiple highlights just because they're large enough to be picking up a distinguishable reflection of... Something else indeterminate, and I'm just drawing it as a highlight.

From observing reflective cylinders and spheres (christmas ornaments and certain door handles are really good for this), I notice that their shape tends to reflect a VERY wide field of view, with most of the fine image actually squashed around the specular highlight centre, an the rest of the reflection stretched out and distorted, which is why they produce a "speck" of a highlight. Cylindrical, on the flip side, tend to reflect a wide field of view around their curve, but actually reflect a fairly narrow field of view along their length, which gives them a highlight line running top to bottom, with fine reflections squashed in and around it. Since I'm not actually drawing reflections, I've settled for just a highlight. Where a cylinder ends in a hemisphere, such as the tip of a finger, I've tried to approximate a highlight line ending in a speck, with varying degrees of success.

Shading is... A different story. I've no idea where cylindrical and spherical objects actually shade, or if they do at all, so I've basically resorted to giving them a specular or line shadow about on the opposite end of the object. For the most part, those actually ended up looking like reflections. The sword hilt has a shade line to the right, seemingly reflecting her head, and the glove has a shading to the right of all its shapes, seemingly reflecting the sword. At least in my head, that is.

Flat objects are... A problem. This is probably where I freehanded the most. I have NO idea how flat objects are supposed to shape, other than a very, very basic understanding of Phong Shading. Basically, soft colours are brightest nearest the light and darkest farthest away from the light, and specular highlights show up where the angle of reflection from the light source to the surface goes up straight into the viewer's eye. Which does me no good, considering this is a method for shading complex curves, which would produce a very uniform, flat colour on a flat slab. So I've resorted to the only other thing I know, which is "cartoon glass" which my friends and I practised drawing when we were, like, 10.

Cartoon Glass, my biggest memory of which is Commander Keen 7's alien office building level, typically has a flat, uni-coloured slab with diagonal white bands of varying widths drawn across it. I seem to have picked up the "wide line with two narrow lines to the sides" variant. This does, I will admit, give flat surfaces a nice shine, but I have no idea what that's supposed to imitate or what the logic behind it is. It's some combination of reflection and highlight, but for the life of me I don't know what. I basically have that, curved over the gems, the hilt and the blade just to give them a bit of shape.

And then there are edges. I've basically highlighted a lot of the edges, because any edge that's not PERFECT will be slightly vevelled, which will act like a small cylinder and gather a specular highlight ring on the tip of the edge. It makes things look more shiny

As of yet, I have no idea what I'll do with the actual body, but I hope a friend of mine who actually graduated from an art school will drop by my house at some point today and help me out with at least colour ideas and knowledge of where to put what muscles.

The pictures and your explanations help a great deal Lady Judgement, thank you. As I said, I have no feel for these things, so the more information I have, the more I can reason the problems away.

I'm using a mouse, but since I'm quite opposed to LITERALLY free-handing things, as in drawing them right on the page in a free hand, it wouldn't be any less tedious, anyway. In Flash in particular, if you try to free-hand anything, the program just jams it full of redundant points and really, REALLY screws up your ability to manipulate lines thereafter. I try to keep my actual points as few as I can manage and keep the bulk of my lines as curves. It's easier to tweak if I see something odd.

I also don't actually draw anything. I start with straight lines, or a stepped shape of straight lines if I need a complex curve, then curve each individual line, snap the points into place, bend the lines into shape and, if I still can't get it right, resort to tweaking each point's individual Bézier handles. The handles are actually an easier way to manipulate curves than the basic Flash tugging on lines and points, because basic tugging makes a LOT of automatic assumptions and limits you in a big way, which makes it HARDER to get the right shape. Bézier handles are a little more cumbersome, but with them you can get EXACTLY what you need right on the first go, so it's both faster and less annoying.

It's not really as bad as it sounds. It's just a LOT of work because I make it a point to add SO MANY needless details that I manufacture my own pain. Easy example - look at the rivet on the gauntlet. That has a highlight on the top left of the shape and on bottom right of the centre hole, as well as a shadow on the bottom right of the shape and the top left of the centre hole. This gives it shape, but it's a shape that would be completely invisible when this picture is looked at from a normal distance. A lot of my details are like this, but you know what? I don't mind. One of by far the most impressive moments I've had with great artists is when I obtain a much higher resolution of their art and marvel at all the fine detail that you can't really see from afar, but actually makes the pic as impressive as it is. I'm not a great artist, clearly, but it's something I enjoy just the same. After all, I went with vector graphics in order to get "unlimited detail," right?

Actually, missions very much do have light sources, at the very least occasionally, and all of them look like basic omni lights. They're not in places you'd expect, though, such as torches casting light. They don't, nor do street lights. But in many places, there are omni lights on the ceiling that you can walk under, such as in a lot of Warehouse entrance rooms. The big Arachnos rooms with the pool of green goo also have a rather strong yellow-greenish light at the core of the reactor inside that pool. So there ARE point lights, they just don't provide all (or indeed the majority) of the lighting in missions.

But then, this extends to the outside world, as well. The sun and the moon are good and all, but what about the omni-present street lights that don't actually cast any light? Here's a paradox - it's brighter WITHOUT a light, because lights have those artificial light coronas that actually make it HARDER to see. Because of this lack of lighting, no darkness can be truly dark, so we end up with either bright night time, or things so dark you can't see what you're tripping over. I really, really, REALLY feel that dynamic lights are probably the biggest thing that could happen to this game.

Mind you, I don't believe ANY lighting in the game actually respects geometry. Even sunlight. Yes, it casts shadows, but the question is - will it still bleed its colour onto you even if you're in the shade?

It's not actually photo manipulation, so much as I'm just tracing over the pic's lines with vector graphics and finning in the colour. The pic I was given is raster graphics, and even though it's HUGE, it still has finite detail. Vector graphics have nearly infinite detail, at least for the levels of zoom that make sense. Plus, that very much IS the only programme I know how to use. I've heard it said that Corel Draw does vector graphics, but since I neither have Corel Draw nor know how to use it, I couldn't say one way or the other.

It should be easier if I just show you.

This is the original pic I was given as a generous gift, ink by Darkmoore, colour by War Griffin (credit against his will ). It's a pretty cool piece, and it's actually done for me, personally, which I appreciate very, very much. It inspired me to fire up the old Flash and give it a go, myself.

Because what I'm doing is hideously tedious, all I have done right now after a solid 10 hours of fiddling over two days is this - a sword and a gauntlet. And here is where I repeat that I cannot draw, because here is where it becomes relevant. For the most part, I traced over Dark's lines, making sure to change nothing. I HAVE deviated in a few places, but most notably I swapped the scale pattern on the glove for the Celtic swirly thing, and I hope to God I got the shape and bend right.

I've put highlights and specular lighting practically everywhere. I've no idea what I'll do when I run out of metal and start working with skin, but as long as I have metal or gem to colour, I'll practically step on the speculars big time. And again - I have no idea what I'm doing. Everything, all of that which wasn't in the original lines, is done completely by stabbing in the dark and trying to reason through my lack of skill and knowledge. I think it came out pretty well, but I'd need someone who actually knows what he's doing to comment on that, and I've had some degree of trouble running this through the original creators and actually getting an opinion on it.

Anyway, that's that. The Celtic pattern wasn't as big or intricate as I originally envisioned it being, but I think it actually works pretty well with the gloves.

That's something I think we all pretty much agreed on was a good thing back in that thread. BABs hasn't spoken on the subject, but I don't see a technical problem with it. There's just the workload involved in actually making these maps, but I feel this would be really cool nevertheless.

I feel the need to restate that, because, for one, it's a personal shame of mine and I need to remind myself to hopefully some day rectify it, and to also give credit where credit is due.

Also... That sig pic of yours looks like almost exactly what I was looking for

Well, given that I'm completely terrible at drawing, I might have to take some sort of shortcut like simplifying the pattern, specifically since I need to clone it over both gloves, both shoulders and both boots, but I wouldn't really consider skimping on the shading. The devil is in the details for these things, and even though most of that won't be visible from far away, little highlights and shadows actually do a LOT to enhance the appeal of a piece like this.

The biggest reason this is problematic for me is that I can't actually draw, which is why I'm tracing over someone else's lines, but this one in particular I might want to go the extra mile on.

That's a large part of it, though. They're painted as these hapless comic relief villains who can't steal a purse or break into a car, and who have the world's most insufferable girlfriends. They're both street gangs, yet outside of a few select instances, we almost never see them engage in actual gang violence or *GASP* murder! Their missions are OK, but out on the streets, they feel more like kids playing robbers than like actual gang thugs.

And, yeah, some closure on their stories would be nice. Something more than "Eh, I don't bother with them any more."

The magical artefact ring is actually Hellions -> Outcasts -> Warriors. The Tsoo are pretty much allies with nobody, and every time you do an arc for them, they're trying to screw everyone over.

Which actually brings up another good point - the Warriors. They're almost exclusively used for cheap laughs, with them being menaced in the streets by Freakshow and saying things like "You're scaring me!" Uhh... Considering the Warriors are actually MONUMENTALLY more dangerous than the Freakshow for the levels they spawn at, it's outright absurd they're treated with such disdain by the narrative. Two Hewers are enough to ruin anyone's day, I gotta' tell ya.

But, yeah, the connection is only mentioned, but almost never explored. It'd be nice to get more on that.

Well, crap. And here I was hoping for the next best thing to dynamic lighting.

Also, you still earn experience while exemplared, and there is no longer any sidekick distance limitation. Super Sidekicking is NOT optional. You are SKd/EXd the moment you get on the team, and you cannot decline this or reverse it as long as you are on the team. The only way to break out of the SK/EX is to quit the team. This means that, from now on, the maximum level difference on a team is 1 level, between the level-holder and exemplared people, and the sidekicks who go up to -1 to the level-holder. Also, when doing a mission, you scale to the level of the mission HOLDER, not the mission, itself, so if his mission is old for him, it'll be lower-level for you, too.

That, and wasn't Issue 16 Power Customization?

What obvious reasons are those? Are you saying we got lighting and shadows, but they can only ever work with a single parallel light source and never with individual omni-directional lights? I'm not specifically asking for raytrace shadows here, but if at least regular light sources can't produce shadows and shading, then that would be a REAL let-down.

That said, I don't look forward to any place in particular. I expect the new graphics settings will make EVERYTHING look better. For what it's worth, I prefer improvements that don't rub it in my face how AWESOME the graphics are, but rather just make everything feel so nice and natural I can just take it for granted. "What do you mean it hasn't always been like this?" I don't really expect to be blown away, but I do expect to be consistently and constantly pretty pleased. And that would be a smashing success, in my eyes.

You know, you really should write the two words separately, because I kept reading "Biglots" as "Bigots" and kept wondering what kind of intolerant shop that could be.

That's pretty much what it comes down to. If I want to get a collector's edition DVD for the US version of the game - the one I actually OWN - then I have to either import it or buy it from someone else who imported it. Neither option is appealing. Well, there IS sort of a third option. A friend of mine offered to buy it for me, give me the code, keep the physical... Everything and I could PayPal him the cost. Since I haven't used that service, however, and since I'm a bit skittish about using my credit card online, I haven't committed to it. I don't want the physical stuff, anyway. The code is all I want.

Well, at least I know what it looks like now, but HOLY HELL will that be tedious to do! I'll probably use some combination of this for the straight lines and this for the corners. But all of that stuff looks like it's embossed, which means I'll be drawing little highlights and shadows on ever frikkin' ridge and groove and that'll just frustrate me out of my MIND! But, you know, anything that's worth doing is worth doing well, and I'm doing it for myself, so I might as well go the extra mile. The little touches really make all the difference.

And, yes, I'm drawing it in Flash, but I don't think a brush would help me, and I'll be drawing this over a curved surface, and sideways a lot of the time. And you know what the worst part is? I CAN'T DRAW! Seriously, I'm terrible at it, that's why I'm tracing over a pic from a friend - I couldn't even begin to imagine starting from scratch. I'd never get proportions or anything right.

I could post work in progress if the original creators will permit, but basically all it has at the moment is a broadsword stuck in the ground with half a Medieval glove slung over it. And the worst part is, because I had to draw the Broadsword underneath the glove separately just to get its dimensions right (had to tweak the measurements a bit), I actually ended up giving it highlights where the HAND will cover them. And you just don't GET highlights in the shadow. Which means I'll have more work to do fixing work I've already done, and I'm doing this whole thing BLIND! I've no actual idea how shading and highlights work, only guesses and suppositions, so I spent most of yesterday just staring at metal objects. Thank goodness I had a flashlight and a nail clipper handy

The Kelly Uqua arc is insulting to any character with enough intelligence to tie his own shoes. It's OBVIOUS she's a Rikti spy from practically everything you read and do, or even from just looking at her. And you NEVER catch on if you complete the final mission. You only suspect that there might be something going on, but you're too dense to figure out what. And if you fail the mission and read the Ballista's report, you only vaguely, vaguely begin to suspect that something might just possibly be wrong with Kelly Uqua, but you can't figure out what. This is worse than any incredibly obvious ninja.

So, yeah, a branching arc that allows me to develop a brain would be VERY welcome.

A couple of points brought up in the past:

One-off contacts scattered throughout the zone, each of which has only a single, one-shot mission. Like the little girl standing next to a manhole cover, who will ask you to save her mother from the zombies who dragged her in the sewers, or a man looking into an alley who will ask you to find his son that was kidnapped by walking plants and dragged in the building next door. Since each contact is a mission, the zone can be given a couple dozen just to keep thing interesting, and you're never introduced to them. They just talk to you if you run by them.

Another thing that came up last time was getting a "recipe" drop from beating on enemies, which is actually a plan or a case. You then get a few missions to gather "salvage" in the form of evidence (identity of mysterious villain, proof he's involved, etc.) and then "invent" the final arrest warrant at a crime lab workbench like you invent the Lost Curing Wand. The system is already in place to do that, the question is if it can.

The engine already supports breaking down large doors and, presumably, large sections of wall, so this is indeed one of the BIGGEST things I've always wanted to see. Opening doors is cool, but occasionally BREAKING doors is even cooler. Or zoning into a warehouse not via the main lobby, but into a Janitor's closet, where you have to smash an interior wall to get inside the mission OTHER than by the front door. And who wouldn't love the occasional "I'm the juggernaut, meme!" moment of moving through a row of rooms via the walls? The tech seems to be there already. It's a question of using it.

This is always a good idea, but it also always requires a custom encounter, which just isn't something that happens with most elite bosses. I'd love nothing better than to be able to beat an elite boss like you beat a boss in your average action game, personally. Hit him until he staggers, drop a crane on him, hit him until he turns on his forcefield, break his four generators to drop it, then beat him down the remainder of the way or some such. The Hydra Head works like that, but those are rare events, unfortunately. And even then, they're not always all that interesting. The hero-side Reichsman fight is just boring.

If you have to ask, you know what I'm going to answer.

It's fairly easy to maintain close to a constant 50% damage buff, on top of Warrior's Challenge which offers another 100% damage buff. That, combined with the insane damage on Shield Charge, tend to make Shield Scrappers feel a lot stronger than their primary has any business being. I have a Sword/Shield Scrapper who is simply... Amazing. There simply is no comparison among all my Scrappers to that.

Does it need a damage buff? Well, not NEED, but of all the Scrapper sets out there, this is the one where I would most appreciate one. Martial Arts outgoing damage just leaves me unimpressed. It can't kill entire spawns quickly like other sets can due to only having one small AoE, it can't really bring hard targets down as fast as other sets, and its secondary effects are right mess. I guess I could handle not having as much outgoing damage if I could do something else reliably, but not only are there no useful secondary effects to be had, even the ones that ARE there don't trigger a lot of the time.

Unlike all my other Scrappers, Martial Arts "feels" off. More off than Dark Melee used to feel before the fairly recent changes.

I don't necessarily mean a one-hit kill, but just more damage for that absurd animation time. Right now, if I hit Aim and Build Up, I'm actually hurting my damage output by using a snipe, and that's just wrong.

That'll work. As long as combat conforms to the current framework, cooler ways to initiate it are always welcome. Instead of an ambush running in from around the corner, they come in a car and jump out. Not bad

We'd have to come up with some way to make this happen away from roads, so maybe have enemies come out of a 4x4. I'm not terribly worried about this happening on remote islands because the Bruiser is already capable of riding his Harley to any god-forsaken location, so a bunch of mobsters driving a large Landrover to Primeva doesn't seem out of place.

Please, just imagine I did a nested quote.

Yes, I would very much like the ability to pick Vanguard merits instead of Merit mertis at the end of War Zone arcs. But, of course, I'm biassed, in that I have absolutely no use for Merit merits at all.