Tamagojin

Not sure if this is the right place or not, but I wanted to make a suggestion.

One of the places where the game shows its age, IMO, is in the animations of interactions:

- After clicking on a manhole cover or a truck, your toon jumps off to one side, missing the opening completely.

- Opening a door to a building, your toon slides sideways through the door into the opening.

- I know the train gate timing has been adjusted in the past, but it doesn't look realistic when you can't click on the gate to pick a destination until after the train closes its doors and leaves, then your toon walks through the closed gate in front of the next train.

- Multiple toons entering the same mish overlap. I think it would be better if they enter, one at a time, without stepping on each others' feet. The client doesn't have sit there and show all the toons entering, just show the progression start, and then fade out.

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When I use those attacks on a mob, they are knocked around and scattered, but yet anyone else on the team can still attack them cause they can see where they went.

Now does this mean that the inital knock** attack would be correct since we had knock** effect before physX (thus the location would be correct), but then the bounces afterwards would be somewhat "random" cause that is using the PhysX on the client side?

If you wanted to simplify the BRB then you could just have it work like a mob (without rolling around or bouncing around after the inital knock**), but I think that would take out alot of the fun. That way it would be just like a mob before PhysX was coded in.

Kinda like the old days where people would take force punch and 6 slot it with knockback and "punt" hellions in Atlas around.

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The difference is that knockback is handled on the server, and has nothing to do with physics. This becomes clear when knockback sends a critter up through the ceiling or off the map entirely. It is my impression that the ragdoll portion of the knockback is calculated on the client, while the knockback itself is determined on the server. I could be wrong in that.

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just trying to explain the reasons why it's not practical, as I understand them.

There are a number of issues that I see as hurdles in the way.

A. They might need to change the network protocol to handle a different kind of update. This isn't an absolute. They might be able to shoehorn in updates similar to how knockback works, or even use the same kind of packets that knockback uses.

B. They probably need to come up with a new/special mob type. The game has some fairly concrete definitions of what a mob is. Some of them are targetable, and others aren't. IIRC, only targetable mobs are able to interact with a player character, but if it's targetable, is it attackable? The game flags might already be able to handle this case, but I can't think of an example right off hand were we can see that it does.

C. The physics calculations need to be moved from the client to the server. This one has a couple sub-problems with it.

C.1. First of all, physics calculations use up a lot of computing power. The math involved with a 3D vector and a single collision detection aren't all that bad, but the sheer number of vector calculations and collision detections needed per second to make a sphere bouncing in an irregular environment grow exponentially. The load on the server would increase dramatically, even if it's only handling one instance of the ball at a time (i.e. zone maps only). Server lag is already noticeable during a Hami raid or a seasonal event. Whether that lag is a network bandwidth limitation or a processing limitation, handling something like the ball could have a noticeable negative impact on both.

C.2. The current scheme with calculations on the client, partially for the reasons listed above, allows use of a 3rd party add-on card. This helps with the performance of calculations on the one client, but moving the calculations to the server would deprecate the usefulness of the PhysX card. Not only would users be unhappy that an extra purchase of theirs no longer improves their performance, Ageia would likely not appreciate what would probably be a breach of contract.

I personally have nothing against a Big Red Ball in the game, but it appears to me that the structure of the game is heavily stacked against being able to pull it off in a practical way.

It is stated here in this thread. It's just buried amongst all the "But I REALLY want it!" posts.

In short, the reason is the same reason why propel doesn't show the same thing for everyone. Also, it's the same reason why a Physics card is an option.

The thing is that the physics calculations are done on the client, and not the server. With the calculations performed on different machines, and no mechanism to synchronize them in the current protocol, any differences in the environment (like the ones caused by differing network latencies) would cause different results, and the ball would be in a different place for different people.

In short, the network protocol, server, and client are not structured to handle putting the ball in the same place for everybody.

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If you have already done the story arc, why should it be extra hard to get the reward?

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Because you've already gotten a reward for story arcs that have already been completed.

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Pure speculation here, but perhaps the option to hide the spines all over the body is, at least in that picture, an option.

Wouldn't that be a kind of power customization?

One can always hope.

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I am having diffucilty trying to come up with an explination why this should not be put in the game. I mean, I should have dozens of reasons. Yet, I can think of none. So, this gets my vote without any counter argument.

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Not technically possible. Read the thread to see why.

Just because you can't think of an argument doesn't mean that one doesn't exist.

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This is all I got.

Hmmmm. Needs more desu.

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Currently listening to Snake River Conspiracy's Sonic Jihad

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Um, what does desu mean anyway?

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linky

*Is NOT going to mire this thread down with a non-theistic != amoral argument*

*takes a few breaths*

Minds are like parachutes. They do their best work when open.

*feels better*

*steps away from the thread*

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There is already a significant precedence for temp and "semi-temp" powers to be earned:

- By completing a special trial, TF, or story arc.
- By logging in during an event or completing an event mish.
- As badge accolades (both vet rewards and badge combos)

These methods (or some variation therof) would provide additional ways to get these powers without sacrificing slots and powers on the "tight" build. The caveat being that these temp powers cannot be slotted.

Whether they are temp powers or power pools, though...

/signed

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Coming from the FPS side of things, I was fine with the latest incarnations of Unreal, Half Life, etc. Family life was full of interruptions (still is, to a lesser extent), so I didn't want to get tied into online "commitments".

My sister dragged me into Uru, and I fell for the gorgeous scenery. The online portion was, however, quite disappointing (and short-lived).

Then, she showed me CoH. I took one look at what she was doing and thought, "yeah, if I needed something to suck all my spare time out like a raw egg." I told her I had too many things I wanted to do with my time as it was. So, she bought my son a copy. After watching him work with it for a while, I thought I'd give it a try...

A year later, and my new girlfriend is cracking CoH widow jokes already.

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An initial thought before I go through and read the whole thread.

We get the country we deserve. If you don't vote, don't write letters to your congressperson, and don't in general make your voice heard; these are the people who will control your world.

This is for anyone who is complaining and doesn’t take the time to vote. There is a reason why this is a win/win political agenda and that is most gamers don't vote. Not really an exaggeration most of the gamers I talk to consider politics and voting a waste of time. The part I don't get is that the gaming industry should be a political powerhouse now. The money the industry makes and the many folks who game, spells raw political power. However, our political machine thinks that it's safe to trample on the industry precisely because gamers don't take an interest. Make your voice heard or the jerks you see in this video clip will make laws cheaply appealing to the voters who don't game. It's safe for the lawmakers because you won't vote them out of office.

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QFT

No need to preach that the video was not accepted by this group, us being gamers, after all. We can also point fingers and blame the parents. Finger pointing is a popular game, too. There are, however, other things you can do, besides gnashing teeth, that might actually make a difference.

BTW, I voted, and will again.

I would say instead of "Rock the vote", we should say "Game the vote", but that has different connotations...

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I like the concept, whether it's tied into Inventions or not.

/signed

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but was that Riven or maybe Myst 3: Exile at 0:56-0:58?

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That was my thought, also. Obviously, this was the worst of the violent games they're worried about. *rolls eyes*

These movies that charade around as documentaries, but only play on emotions and (mis)quotes and (mis)facts worry me. Too many people seem to actually fall for them.

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Can you please make it so there is a lvl limit for each area's presents? I'm getting sick of being out ran by 50's taking all our low lvl presents.

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At least on the hero side, there's enough zones with enough presents that you can simply change your path, or find a similar level zone to run in for a while.

I was working on my badges in FF last night, circling around the borders clockwise, and I'd run across someone else who was opening presents. I'd go counter-clockwise for a while, or switch to an inside orbit for a while. There were enough around that it was easy to find my own presents.

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Low lvls with no travel powers shouldn't have to move to another zone when their in the zone they belong in. If I'm on my 50s or anyone I go to the zone thats my lvl. For more then one reason.
*1:I get xp
*2:I'm not out running low lvls (if people lvl 14+ dont have travel power thats their fault)
*3:Because I know its wrong to do.

Do you know how many times my new characters had a higher lvl follow him so they can out run me to presents? It became really really bad to the point I had to log out for a while to lose them. Another thing is why would lvl 50s go to a lvl 1-20 zone when they can just as much go to any other zone thats about 5 lvls under them? Kind of bad when thats the truth.

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I'm sorry you had a bad experience with that. In my case, I was playing a 50, and I was in Founder's for something else. Instead of zoning, I just started hunting presents there. That said, I was very aware of other people getting presents around me. The few times I did run into someone (it was kinda late at night to begin with), instead of racing ahead of them, [u]I[u] took an alternate path so they wouldn't have to.

The point of my post is that there are plenty of presents to go around. I see nothing wrong with going to a lower level zone to get presents, as long as you give the "right of way" to any zone level-appropriate characters.

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Can you please make it so there is a lvl limit for each area's presents? I'm getting sick of being out ran by 50's taking all our low lvl presents.

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At least on the hero side, there's enough zones with enough presents that you can simply change your path, or find a similar level zone to run in for a while.

I was working on my badges in FF last night, circling around the borders clockwise, and I'd run across someone else who was opening presents. I'd go counter-clockwise for a while, or switch to an inside orbit for a while. There were enough around that it was easy to find my own presents.

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The Devs already posted they can't do this, why bother posting it again and again? It can't be done. Get over it.

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i COULD be done were they to devote the proper time to it. but they are unwilling to devote that kind of time. I'm hoping one of the programmers makes this a "pet" project... and does it just for fun and then all of a sudden... BOOM!!! BRB bouncing around

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I'd venture to say it's more than just a problem of dev time. You're talking about moving all (or at least some) of the physics stuff that currently goes on client-only over to the server. That means the server has to tell all the clients in the area what's going on with the physics-enabled objects. This would aggravate the rubber-banding and lag problems some players see already. Preloading, caching, and packet compression only get you so far.

So, add to the list of dev time requirements for this change (client physics exceptions, server physics calculations and related overhead and performance tuning, QA and deployment) a revamp of the client-server protocol.

Not to mention that physics calculations are intensive enough that there is dedicated hardware available to help process it client-side. Imagine taking 100 instanced missions-worth of physics calculations and adding that to the server load. Even if the BRB is an exception to client-side physics, there is still significant server-side overhead added in collision detection between the ball, all PCs and NPCs and environment geometry. The number of calculations increases exponentially, not geometrically.

You might as well ask for inverse kinematics on your character, which while really, really cool, is simply beyond the technology of the game at this time.

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Poz could possibly add some limited sorting to the Badge window, but it would be SO limited, it would be almost useless to you (we can't sort by "when you got it" for example, since we dont track that).

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I respectfully disagree. Sorting exploration badges alphabetically, for example, would make setting your title MUCH easier. Try looking through a list of 94 badges for "Egg Hunter". Keeping the achievements together by type (all the healing badges together) would make that tab look much more professional, IMO.

A big deal? Not really. Almost useless? Erm, no.

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The second option you can use to report bugs is /petition. When using this command in-game, it will create a ticket for customer support. Unlike /bug, this command DOES NOT provide us with any information about your character. Keep these things in mind when using /petition.

1.) Tell us about the bug – Make sure you provide us with all your information such as;
a. Account name (not password)
b. What bug you are seeing or experiencing
c. If it’s a mission bug tell us the mission name, the contact that gave you the mission, which zone.
d. If it a power bug tell us which power sets you have, origin and archetype of your character.

2.) Make sure you provide us with your system specs.
3.) Someone WILL reply to your ticket in a timely manner – If you do not need or wish a reply, use /bug.
4.) Give us a step by step account of how to reproduce the bug.

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Is there a particular reason why /petition doesn't provide some of this information? Certainly, the account name, the current mission, contact, and zone are well known by the client application. On the other hand, if I'm not the mission holder, I don't have any way to knowing the contact involved. The character currently played is also available, though the power in question may not be clear to the software.

I also think the option to include a screenshot directly to a /petition or /bug would be a big help. How many EULA violation descriptions could be shortened to "see screenshot of a costume violating copyright" or "see screenshot of players performing obscene/offensive act" if that option was available? An in-game screenshot also avoids the he-said, she-said problems involved with doctoring a picture to get some innocent player in trouble.

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As for people who complain/state that their post disappeared (either in this thread or another thread), it is not because your post was in violation. The way the CoX forum software works, when you delete a post, all of the posts that are replies to that post get deleted as well. (I don't know how far down the reply path it goes, but I suspect it is quite far)

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My understanding of the forum engine (IANA UBB code developer), is that a thread is stored as a reply tree. Every reply is a sub-branch to what ever branch or root (OP) message that the reply is set to be "to". When you trim a branch, ALL replies under that branch, sub branch, and leaves, are deleted as well. I've actually tested to see if they simply got orphaned, and they did not. Requesting to view a sub-branch to a deleted message resulted in an access denied message.

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Civil disobedience is just an excuse for breaking a rule.

It in no way should suggest that the person doing so shouldn't face the full punishment.

If someone means to try to relate it to forum moderation then I say to them go ahead and break the rules if they feel they have to but then accept any deletions, locks, or bans that result as the fully expected consequence.

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QFT

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Geas of the Kind Ones... (mez...?)

Energy blasters are quite handy
He should quit while he's ahead

I'll upload more sometime.

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Not sure if this is an issue, but I recently upgraded my 5500 video card to a Ge-Force 7800GS 512mb, and I've been experiencing much better visuals in the game overall, after upping many of my settings.

However, in Faultline, something is seriously odd with the bloom effect or world detail or something. Anything in the distance is super cloudy and super soft, almost cartoon like (and it's not all that distant either). Other zones, such as in CoV, have a very nice distance effect going on - but Faultline is bizarre. The Faultline zone is like traveling in a bubble of clarity, while everything outside of it is horrendously soft and blurry - it kind of looks like a menacing dream sequence.

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Sounds like depth of field. I have DoF and bloom effects turned off. I might try turning water effects down from "High" to see if that does anything with FSAA, too.

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Perhaps you need to re-locate the beacon?

I like the idea of a "Badge Hunter" wall decoration. Maybe with a control, so you can pick which SG member the wall shows...