SuperOz

WotC's major problem is that they try and tie everything together thanks to their parent company (Hasbro) insisting the game gets played with miniatures or some other tier of product that people really shouldn't have to buy. The sheer bull headedness of making a game system dependent on miniatures always struck me as ludicrous.

I actually play a 4th Ed game, but seeing as I'm not the GM, I've been able to opt totally out of buying the game books or anything beyond a miniature for my character. And it really is as every bit as boring as I thought it would be. If it wasn't for the fact I was hanging out with friends and generally goofing off, I wouldn't bother.

The biggest trend I see in tabletop gaming is customisation and doing what you want. D&D stubbornly clings to levels and ways of gaming people increasingly care less about, at least in my opinion.


S.

So if I'm following things correctly, there's only a finite lifespan left graphically speaking to this or any other game using the OpenGL code? I know that's what drove the switch to CoH using Raedon video cards over Nvidia, and now I'm wondering if that's a short to medium term move only, if there's only so much life left for the overall code.

Dr_Mechano, seeing as you're currently the most knowledgable so far in the thread, what would be an optimal game engine to run with for a potential CoH 2? Or is it more of a case that Paragon Studios would have to custom one of the newer engines for their needs? I seem to recall that the engine for Age of Conan was entirely their own design, but I don't know how accurate that is. Presumably the most wanted features would be physics stuff along with a lot more customisation with hair and so on, so would it be a hybrid sort of system? Lot to work out, I'm sure.



S.

Hi all. This is part wish list, part thoughts on what I loosely term 'game engines'. I really don't pretend to know what a 'game engine' is, other than that I know that console games that I own have them and that MMO's often make their own custom ones that let them do....well...stuff. Like ride horses or let you wear shiny gear and so on. So I guess I have three areas that I'd like help understanding.

1)What does a current 'game engine' let you do and what are their limitations? I understand that the Unreal 3 game engine lets you do a lot of stuff and I think something like Arkham City uses it, though I could well be wrong. I associate this stuff a lot with physics and grabbing and breaking stuff, but I don't really know that for sure. I was told that the Hero Engine for the Star Wars game has a limitation built into it in that if you play through a specific instanced area for your character, you can never go in there again in the lifespan of that character. How does that work?

2) Are 'game engines' and character design bound together or are they mutually exclusive? By that I mean are the ways characters built an influence on what a game can do or is it the other way around? I guess I also think about this in the sense of costume/gear design as well, as customisation is the byword I seem to hear more and more in games.

3) How much work is there involved in 'upgrading' a game engine? I heard Age of Conan did this, but I don't know what was there before to be upgraded. Does this radically change how a game plays? Is it something that redefines the end user experience? I've had in my personal wish list the ability for CoH to have the ability to damage or affect the environment in some way or directly engage enemies, but I don't know precisely what that takes to make happen. For me, seeing powers like Shield Charge or the new Super Jump tier attack seem to be that sort of thing in action, so I naturally think 'oh, everything else can be like that, right?'


This stuff has rattled around in my head for a while, so I'm just hoping people more knowledgeable than I can help me understand the more technical side of games that I like so much.



S.

The biggest suggestion I'm seeing about this movie (because quite frankly, does anyone buy the fact that this close to release they now think that 3D is a good move?) is that in the wake of the Avengers' huge success, there's going to be a call for a movie that's similar to beef up and expand upon the team dynamics.

GI Joe's core and why a lot of people like it is for those relationships (Snake Eyes and Scarlet just for one) and I can see a studio looking at the Avengers and going 'you know what people are saying about the Whedon movie?'

I know I would be with over a billion dollars in gross so far.



S.

My recommendations:

Previews magazine. These come out every month and you can subscribe; this is the single best way to get an overview of what's out there right now by just about every publisher there. You're never going to get a better entry point into seeing what the market's into at the moment and more importantly, something that speaks to you as a reader. A lot of the time, comic shops won't carry independent titles or lesser-known titles. I know this because I worked in a comic shop a decade ago, and sometimes you just have to take a chance on a title that looks promising or has an interesting premise. But Previews is that first look-in to what you'll get into that's on shelves right now.

Trade paperbacks. Browse the shelves, browse the libraries. Maybe there's a comic you've heard of you'd like to have a read of. Or an adaptation of a movie, or a graphic novel you've heard good things about. Take your time, browse. If your local comic store doesn't let you browse and have a bit of a read, go somewhere else.

Good luck starting in on stuff! And don't worry, the bigger comic companies regularly do 'jumping on' issues when a new writer starts, and don't require you to know everything that's gone before.


S.

Time for me to show my age.....

The earliest comic that I have any memory of reading was a 1950's black and white reprint of World's Finest, featuring the Batman/Superman robot. As for an actual issue of a comic (in Australia, there wasn't much in the way of dedicated comic book stores back in the 70's), it was New Teen Titans #1 (reprint, of course). Made me go and buy virtually every back issue ever printed when I was an adult.


S.

The bottom line is that this game has long since passed the point where additional advertising isn't realistically going to bring in new customers and additional revenue.

Going Rogue was probably the last big attempt to generate new revenue for this game, and now we've shifted to a hybrid model instead where whilst new revenue is going to be generated, it's unlikely at this stage the game was going to grow in terms of numbers. Wisely, the decision's been made to move to maximising the retention of the playerbase we do have.

I will say I'm not in favor of everything being done in that regard, but by the same token, it's the smartest thing to do for whatever lifespan the game does have in it.


S.

Seems like that family was always touched by some sort of tragedy; there was the younger brother Andy and his cocaine addiction and far too early death...then Maurice...and now Robin.

Barry, the eldest, the sole survivor. I can only imagine how hard it is for him to lose all his younger brothers.


S.

Hello!

As the title may suggest, the event that I'm canvassing interest in is purely roleplaying in nature and is trying to capture some of the epic drama of our big-screen compatriots, The Avengers. I began to wonder openly if City of Heroes could manage something like this, and after a bit of back and forth on the forums, the considered opinion was 'perhaps not'.

But I am undeterred! I thought to myself, 'why not try and make a bit of a blockbuster event with the events we have?' So myself and a friend from Pinnacle (who would be more than happy to bring a character over) gave some thought to the very simple following scenario:

In the wake of the loss of Statesman and the month-long attempt by Nemesis to gain a foothold in Paragon City, the remaining Rikti Traditionalists have come to the conclusion that an all-out assault may give them a chance (perhaps their last chance) to break the confines of Paragon City and achieve what they set out to seven years ago.

In response, the heroes of the city must band together not only to shut down the Rikti Mothership and the troops pouring out of it, but also work with the mysterious Lady Grey to prevent Nemesis from doing yet more damage....


In obvious terms, this means a tandem event, all roleplayed with an appropriate sense of urgency, to combine the Lady Grey TF (with as many teams as could be managed) along with as many teams as could be managed to do a Mothership Raid or three. The end result could have multiple zones triggering Rikti Invasions (and this would be warned about well in advance for those not wishing to be attacked) and ample opportunity to roleplay a genuine threat to the city.

Why the RWZ? It's a zone pretty much anyone can get into, hero or villainside, the raid itself has no Incarnate requirements and even the Task Force is doable by a decent team. If this proves successful, we can look at other Summer Blockbuster events to involve our great roleplaying community.

But I'd like to hear from as many Virtueites as possible! Is this a good idea, bad idea, should some things be dropped, or added? I want to hear from you!



S.

No, that's quite true. The Making Of documentaries for Incredible Hulk show Norton's face being applied with a greenish powder for the laser scanner to capture his face. But yeah, he was all over every aspect of the film, which I have no doubt annoyed the heck out of the production team. Scriptwriting, performance capture, character modelling on the Hulk, you name it....



S.

Having read the article and digested it a bit, and then reading the replies here, I personally agree with a lot of the theories put forth in said article. My own take on what I felt was going on is as follows.

As the article says, time and money and a reinvestment into Paragon Studios was undertaken with Going Rogue. And when I look at the final product, I can see that the studio decided they wanted to take a chance at something new, both in terms of presentation and in story. In addition to that, they were getting the opportunity to make a city (as I seem to recall being mentioned by War Witch in the videos leading up to the release) as they'd always wanted to, with proper locations, proper geography and rationale for things to exist in.

The storytelling to me at least is both its strength and its weakness. There's a desire here to try and go for more 'shades of grey' storytelling in a genre not known for it aside from some pieces known for it (Watchmen, V for Vendetta et al) that could be argued that's still being tried today with mixed results (some elements of SSA#1 and First Ward) and encourage the player to find their moral compass through two distinct factions with sub-factions. That's certainly more complex than the hero/villain binary we currently stand with.

The weakness here, as others have noted, is that it ends far too soon and asks you to go back to a binary decision (hero/villain) without then coming back to where that character evolved from. Is this then a direct consequence of Going Rogue not performing as hoped or a lack of foresightedness? I know as someone who loves at the very least the more vibrant feel of Praetoria City, it feels like just as I come to embrace the setting I have to leave it. And that's sad.

Moving 'on' to First Ward where you're supposed to see the evil of Cole's decisions (although I personally felt the actions of the Furies to be disempowering to the characters) is a story I feel that comes too soon after coming to a point where a Praetorian character's moral compass has already been fixed. Night Ward potentially threatens a damnation of at least some of those choices.

But it's the overall decision of how the Praetorian storyline is handled that I think led to its ultimate demise as a valid storyline. I think adding in the Sutter/Apex/Tin Mage II TF's come off as awkwardly positioned. From a strictly linear point of view where your current level is the present, then seeing the attack on Skyway City at level 30 or so only to then never hear about the Praetorians (who you've last heard of around level 15, presuming you've playing the Shining Stars arcs) again until level 50. Where they apparently attack for 'the first time'. This disjointed approach to the story combined with the rest of the 'War' (I've never been convinced of it as an actual war as a player, I'll explain why) in concentrated bursts (the Trials) makes the experience far less effective than it could've ever been. It never feels like a war. There's some visually effective moments of attack in the Tin Mage/Apex TFs but these never seem to get expanded upon. In fact, it becomes incumbent upon the story to tell them only through the Incarnate System, which promises a gradually increasing godlike power...until you realise you are one of perhaps twenty-four godlike beings having to work together.

The Incarnate System also seems to have been curtailed from the original and tantalising glimpses given in the Alpha Slot arc. The ramblings and revelations of Prometheus go from a demanding Titan to one who seems almost apologetic and revisionist as time goes on.

There's a number of things here that seem to start as one thing and then inevitably become another, and one presumes it stems from Going Rogue's performance below what was expected. I agree very much with the notion that the Devs (especially in the Market) are throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks. 'Does this work?' 'What about this?' And the result is we get hit and miss moments. I can personally say I love the last arc of Who Will Die? whilst feeling disconnected and even a bit insulted with the telling of the events of chapters five and six.

Costume sets unrelated to anything other than a desire to be an astronaut/animal/pirate/post-apocalyptic survivor/etc. are just rampant. That's not necessarily a bad thing for a game prided on its costume creator, but it certainly doesn't speak to a unifying theme or conscious awareness of product. It's as if the masses speak and the loudest voice is chosen as the direction to go in for a given month. That's strictly a personal impression, but it's a strong one.

It seems likely now we may see the Battalion by the end of the year, and then what? Will there be a design imperative to restructure the content so that older content disappears in favor of the Praetorian/Battalion War? If so, the narrative lines need to be cleaned up quite a fair bit in my opinion. For a game that often states that your current level is your present, their sense of tense seems often confused.

And then what of the Great Experiement, Praetoria? Some want to see it transformed into a post-war zone where people could mission again, which would mean a revamping of the entire city, let alone a zone. Perhaps that version of Praetoria is just wiped away ala Galaxy City and the basic infrastructure becomes some newly imagined district of Paragon City? It's hard to imagine all those assets being just cast aside in an era of Atlas Park makeovers. I don't know myself, but I know I'm very sad to see it virtually never used.

And lurking behind all of this is Paragon Studios' secret other project, where the vast majority of the names we know from this game are now working, bar War Witch and Positron. I do in fact expect at some point they too will go to this project; their experience and skills cannot be underestimated or underutilised. I feel the torch for costume designs has been passed from Noble Savage to Dink, and this is entirely reflective of where the design team is right now. I know a handful of names now who actively work on this game, where even a year ago, I could safely rattle off nearly ten or so in some capacity or another.

And ultimately, if the game is to recieve no new expansions, if no further expansion in revenue comes save from microtransactions, and the major storylines of the game are being brought to a head that have been around since its inception, then is NCSoft going to let it coast on this road until it does (as all games will inevitably) lose enough money to cause them to close it down? This isn't doomcrying, I must state. But it's something at least for myself I see being raised less as a conjecture and more as of a question in recent times.

Food for thought for this player, at least.




S.

Hi everyone.

I think it's worth me saying here that in the sense of a total story, the SSA did what it set out to do and I don't think anyone has a problem particuarly with the last part, which really did go for the epic conclusion, and has a press conference and has an epilogue that ties it off nicely.

However, it's the construction as a story that I think people rightly should have issues with. The most obvious are these are the logic gaps that occur when Statesman and Sister Psyche die, and they were enough at least for me to be jarred out of the story and broke my suspension of disbelief. The Statesman cutscene is appropriately dramatic, but the placing of the Obvious Trap (especially given how convenient it becomes that Statesman a)Seems to ignore his vast experience as a hero (can anyone imagine Captain America falling for this after having seen The Avengers?) and b) is somehow unreachable by any means to facilitate the death.

I don't mind if any character is being written out for whatever reason, so long as that writing is internally consistent with the characer and isn't doing things to forcibly make the character seem less than competent. This extends to the Sister Psyche death, where not only is the player character blatantly removed from the situation so as to unimpede the progress of the story, but extremely elementary precautions aren't taken to protect her at any point.

These aren't personal observations, they're simple observations on the writing. If I'm presented with a story and I'm immediately asking questions or finding myself unable to suspend my disbelief, that is a bad thing.

I'd like to think SSA 2 will be better than this, but it's not a good start.



S.

Whedon/Moffat co-production. Ta-da. Whedon guarantees budget, Moffat writes amazing script, Whedon goes all Avengers, instant blockbuster.

...I should be a Hollywood producer.



S.

Worth noting that on the Thor Blu-Ray, there's not one but eleven deleted scenes, suggesting a lot more backstory and character development the cinema cut got. And Captain America has up to eight, I think.

So for those interested in the more 'expanded' story, this might be where people might like to turn.


S.