Mission Architect knowledge base.

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If your can't earn merits from MA story arcs....well, I'll just say that would be a shame.

[/ QUOTE ]So far as it's known, no i13 merits will be awarded through the Architect. However there will be "skee ball tickets" awarded. How these might be redeemed is presently unknown.

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Merits for the Hall of Fame missions might be good...

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I would assume that once a mission is chosen as worthy of Hall of Fame/Devs Choice status, it would give all rewards as normal.

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This is not presently known. And I'm afraid I haven't seen anything to support it. Sorry.

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Also, this.

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here is the question you can add to your list ImpulseKing will we be able to add effects like fog thing DA.

im thinking how creepy some of the open area mission would look with that effect.

the second one will we have open air missions?

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Whether or not we will be able to add fog or other weather effects wasn't addressed at Herocon, so I can't say. My instinct would be not at launch as we have a few fogged maps already.

As M_B pointed out, yes there will be outdoor maps available as all premade maps including unique ones will be in at launch. (Just replayed Tavish Bell's Code Merlin yesterday. Excellent indoor fogged map on the last mish. I highly recommend checking it out sooner over later.)

And thanks for the link JDouble! I had forgotten that particular post. Still not ready to call it known, but I suspect we will get it confirmed one way or the other within a month or so.

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It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.

One question I do have that I'm not sure has been addressed here.

I know that published, public story arcs will be available across all US servers... but will that also include the European ones as well? (I've got a few fans over there that would love to play through my arcs, but I'm here and they're there.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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Good question, Michelle. I suspect that they will not cross-publish between European and US servers for normal player published arcs, but I do hope those that become '"hall-of-fame" arcs are cross-published.

Hopefully we can get more official info soon, with closed beta soon to start.

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Very disappointed at the lack of reskinning/changing factions. One thing I really wanted was the freedom to add new and very different groups, to avoid stepping on dev toes and their canon.

Meh.

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Very disappointed at the lack of reskinning/changing factions. One thing I really wanted was the freedom to add new and very different groups, to avoid stepping on dev toes and their canon.

Meh.

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To what are you refering? As far as I know, nothing has been said about reskinning/renaming factions. Did I miss something?

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Very disappointed at the lack of reskinning/changing factions. One thing I really wanted was the freedom to add new and very different groups, to avoid stepping on dev toes and their canon.

Meh.

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You imply that the devs haven't allowed us to do such a thing over fear of what the players would do with such a tool, when it's almost certainly a limitation of tech. I'm certain reskinning NPC models isn't like throwing a costume on a player character.

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Again....did I miss something? Did the Devs say somewhere that we can only reskin EB/AVs?

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Very disappointed at the lack of reskinning/changing factions. One thing I really wanted was the freedom to add new and very different groups, to avoid stepping on dev toes and their canon.

Meh.

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You imply that the devs haven't allowed us to do such a thing over fear of what the players would do with such a tool, when it's almost certainly a limitation of tech. I'm certain reskinning NPC models isn't like throwing a costume on a player character.

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Just go to an area with 50 PCs standing around. It'd be the same experience.

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Current Published Arcs
#1 "Too Drunk to be Alcoholic" Arc #48942
#2 "To Slay Sleeping Dragons" Arc #111486
#3 "Stop Calling Me"

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One question I do have that I'm not sure has been addressed here.

I know that published, public story arcs will be available across all US servers... but will that also include the European ones as well? (I've got a few fans over there that would love to play through my arcs, but I'm here and they're there.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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Yeah that IS a good question! It wasn't directly addressed at Herocon and so it isn't "known", but I'm unwilling to completely snuff out hope based on a detail that WAS mentioned.

The Architect, like the markets, will have their own dedicated servers. So I propose a corallary(sp?) question. Do the same market servers for the US also interact with the European servers? That may offer our best clue.

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It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.

you wouldn't reskin each enemy in the map individually. Likely you'd have a custom minion, ltnt, boss and one special EB or AV if you want. Possibly more than one EB/AV but that's not guaranteed. So really only 4 costumes to load

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Liberty
My 50s:
Hero: Armor Assassin (scrapper), Cross Dresser (scrapper), Surly Seaman (blaster), Defensive End (Tank), Rad Rhino (Cont)
Villain: Beast Infection (Corr), Sweet Zombie Jesus (MM), Milk Weasel (Stalker), Orgullo (MM), Agent Eris (Crab)

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you wouldn't reskin each enemy in the map individually. Likely you'd have a custom minion, ltnt, boss and one special EB or AV if you want. Possibly more than one EB/AV but that's not guaranteed. So really only 4 costumes to load

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Yeah, but you'd need to load it for every minion LT and boss. Which is the same net effect.

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Current Published Arcs
#1 "Too Drunk to be Alcoholic" Arc #48942
#2 "To Slay Sleeping Dragons" Arc #111486
#3 "Stop Calling Me"

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Very disappointed at the lack of reskinning/changing factions. One thing I really wanted was the freedom to add new and very different groups, to avoid stepping on dev toes and their canon.

Meh.

[/ QUOTE ]An interesting perspective. I might respond that the Devs have VERY thick skin. Tell the stories you want to tell and the Devs will not be offended in the least. (Mandatory disclaimer: This assumes they are within the boundries of TOS and EULA.)

They WANT us to have our fun, that's the entire point.

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It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.

lol hurry up dev and start shelling out more info =P

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sincerly yours:
Bzald of TopTen

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you wouldn't reskin each enemy in the map individually. Likely you'd have a custom minion, ltnt, boss and one special EB or AV if you want. Possibly more than one EB/AV but that's not guaranteed. So really only 4 costumes to load

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Yeah, but you'd need to load it for every minion LT and boss. Which is the same net effect.

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The effect possibly being a substantial increase in lag, especially depending on how many enemies are spawned.

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in that case, how is it any different than loading every enemy in missions now? especially considering the majority of enemy groups have multiple costumes available per min, ltnt, boss

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Liberty
My 50s:
Hero: Armor Assassin (scrapper), Cross Dresser (scrapper), Surly Seaman (blaster), Defensive End (Tank), Rad Rhino (Cont)
Villain: Beast Infection (Corr), Sweet Zombie Jesus (MM), Milk Weasel (Stalker), Orgullo (MM), Agent Eris (Crab)

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in that case, how is it any different than loading every enemy in missions now? especially considering the majority of enemy groups have multiple costumes available per min, ltnt, boss

[/ QUOTE ]Here's how the game differentiates different flavors of the same critter:
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Arachnos_Crab_01
Arachnos_Crab_02
Arachnos_Crab_03

[/ QUOTE ] Those are, in order:
Crab Spider Slicer
Crab Spider Longfang
Crab Spider Webmaster

Here's what a player character looks like:
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0 48 COSTUME 1 89a0ea 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 -0.118681 -0.006593 -0.102857 -0.253846
0.014769 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight tights !Hips_V_Pattern_Strips_01 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight tights !chest_Fat_Stripe 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME V_fem_Head.GEO/GEO_Head_V_Asym_Standard !Face_Skin_V_Fem_Head_19 !Face_V_Mask_Executioner_01 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Flare smooth_matte !glove_Sharp 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Smooth tights !Boot_V_Pattern_Stripe_01 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none ffffff ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Student_01 Long_01a Long_01b 00fdff 1c67ff
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight base Lion_01 00fdff 00cacc
0 48 PARTSNAME Smooth spiked_01a spiked_01b 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00fdff 00fdff ffffff ffffff WEAPONS/Custom_Claws/Fem_ClawsRight_TalsorianBlade01.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Half Cape_Top_01 none ffffff ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Half_31 Generic_01a Generic_01b 00fdff 3fbeff
0 48 PARTSNAME none Cape_01 none ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff capes/CapeLongFem.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00fdff 00fdff ffffff ffffff WEAPONS/Custom_Claws/Fem_ClawsLeft_TalsorianBlade01.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000

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EDIT: ack, broke the width, sorry, fixt!

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Paragon Wiki: http://www.paragonwiki.com
City Info Terminal: http://cit.cohtitan.com
Mids Hero Designer: http://www.cohplanner.com

Right. Each NPC is considered one model, while a player character (PC) is made up of several models. That's why, when you hit a highly populated area like a market or Atlas Park, there's typically a large lag spike as the client loads up costume pieces. Now imagine the same thing with a level of 200 enemies composed of all player character bits. You'd hit a lag spike every time more enemies would need to be rendered. Rooms full of many enemies made in such a fashion would be akin to a pre-I10 Hamidon Raid.

So customization is great for a handful of key NPCs in a mission, but would be murder for every single NPC in a mission.

Edit: thinking about boss customization, if I wanted to make a Sky Raider boss, he'd need a jet pack. I wonder if Jay et al finally figured out a way to do that for player-created models (without slider-induced clipping), and if player characters will finally get some backpacks for themselves...

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If you created a minion thru the MA, wouldn't be saved as Minion_01 once created instead of --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0 48 COSTUME 1 89a0ea 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 -0.118681 -0.006593 -0.102857 -0.253846
0.014769 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight tights !Hips_V_Pattern_Strips_01 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight tights !chest_Fat_Stripe 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME V_fem_Head.GEO/GEO_Head_V_Asym_Standard !Face_Skin_V_Fem_Head_19 !Face_V_Mask_Executioner_01 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Flare smooth_matte !glove_Sharp 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Smooth tights !Boot_V_Pattern_Stripe_01 0000d4 990002
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none ffffff ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Student_01 Long_01a Long_01b 00fdff 1c67ff
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Tight base Lion_01 00fdff 00cacc
0 48 PARTSNAME Smooth spiked_01a spiked_01b 0000d4 ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00fdff 00fdff ffffff ffffff WEAPONS/Custom_Claws/Fem_ClawsRight_TalsorianBlade01.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME Half Cape_Top_01 none ffffff ffffff
0 48 PARTSNAME Half_31 Generic_01a Generic_01b 00fdff 3fbeff
0 48 PARTSNAME none Cape_01 none ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff capes/CapeLongFem.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00fdff 00fdff ffffff ffffff WEAPONS/Custom_Claws/Fem_ClawsLeft_TalsorianBlade01.fx
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000
0 48 PARTSNAME none none none 00000000 00000000?

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Probably not, because the game doesn't have a standard file for Minion_01. Also, other clients wouldn't know what Minion_01 was.

Just to give one a fundamental understanding of how the game renders NPCs, the game uses a caller function to pull up a pre-generated model (here's a comprehensive but incomplete list by Scuzzbopper). These models exist in the PIGG files as pre-fab NPC models created by a developer. If the game can't find the model called up in the mission or zone script, it will pull up the first model in the long list of models, which is currently 5th_Archon_Burkholder (Burkholder in his 5th Column uniform). It used to be 5th_Mek_man, which is why sometimes Mekmen would mysteriosuly pop up in missions (do to the caller referencing a non-existing model, or because of a script typo).

But in order for custom models, like player character models, to be loaded between clients, the client has to understand how to draw it, so that the model looks the same for everyone. That's why player charcter models have a long script of items that let the client know how to draw the various body parts, costume items, auras, slider settings, and colors of those various things.

Theoretically, if the game client simply saved a model of a reskinned model as Minion_01, for example, that model wouldn't exist on another client, so the client wouldn't know how to draw it. So to others, all the NPCs may look like Archon Burkholder, for example.

It could be possible that the game could compile a custom character and save that character to the MA server so others could download it from the server, but extremely unlikely. With the amount of mission that will be created, that could take up a lot of space on the MA server's hard disks, and it could cause the client's overall size to possibly increase by gigabytes, depending on how many missions with custom characters they ran.

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I would think the first call of the npc would be quicker, because its pulling it from the piggs, but once it is called, doesn't the pc model stay in the cache? In the demo text example used above, if the pc gets called again it is called by its variable name, not by the entire set of model parameters.

If so, I am thinking that the initial load of the custom npc would be slow, but after that it would not be.

Also, loading a second copy of minion_01 would not be resource intensive either, once you have defined the model in the cache. So you could have 200 of the same custom npc on the map without too much trouble, its only when you tried to pull up 200 different custom models that you would see problems. So, they might consider limiting it to four or five custom npc /types/ per mission, but as many of each type as they would normally allow.

Admittedly, regardless of the tech involved, its not likely that minion customization will be put in for quite a while.

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If all NPCs in player created missions are not customizable then the MA is a bust. Period. You can't tell me they delayed the MA for 3 months and counting JUST to customize bosses. That's just horribly stupid and I really hope it isn't true.

Untill I see a redname specificly say "No, you cannot customize any NPCs besides bosses" I'm gona keep hoping you guys are wrong.

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I would think the first call of the npc would be quicker, because its pulling it from the piggs, but once it is called, doesn't the pc model stay in the cache? In the demo text example used above, if the pc gets called again it is called by its variable name, not by the entire set of model parameters.

If so, I am thinking that the initial load of the custom npc would be slow, but after that it would not be.

Also, loading a second copy of minion_01 would not be resource intensive either, once you have defined the model in the cache. So you could have 200 of the same custom npc on the map without too much trouble, its only when you tried to pull up 200 different custom models that you would see problems. So, they might consider limiting it to four or five custom npc /types/ per mission, but as many of each type as they would normally allow.

Admittedly, regardless of the tech involved, its not likely that minion customization will be put in for quite a while.

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You've got a valid point there. So initial loads may be the only concern as far as scripting is concerned, but a bigger concern is the number of polygons used in costume pieces per customized NPC in a situation where many of them may be running around (like in your example with 200 foes using custom models). For example, Sister Solaris uses something like four cape systems. There again, there are only one of her floating around on the map. Doubtful we would have creation tools to that scale, but a bunch of minions all wearing Pain Pads (high poly count) might bog down a system.

For example, with many NPC models, a developer has clipped out extreneous polygons where things like shoulder pads and boots meet the shoulders or legs. Basically, extra costume parts may become part of the NPC's "skin." But on player characters, even though you can't see it, the shoulder pad will go through a character's body, to look right regardless of slider scales and so forth.

In other words, player models aren't optimized like NPC models are. The video card may be rendering several other polygons per model that you can't actually see because they're sunk into a character's body. That's really the biggest drawback of character customization. Most video cards have enough steam to handle non-optimized models (biggest exception being pre-I10 Hamidon Raids, for example, or large parties in Pocket D), but you may see adverse effects if the same sort of thing were used on every NPC in a mission, due to the increased polygon count per character (thanks to extra costume bits).

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Hi all. If you haven't heard, i14 closed beta starts today. I do not yet know if I am in it and before I do, I felt the urge to stop in here and be clear about how I, personally, am going forward with keeping this guide updated and complying with any Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) I may find myself agreeing to at the same time.

For those who may not know what all I'm talking about, the next free update or "issue" just started limited testing. One of the perks of attending Herocon was to be an invite to this testing or "beta". There was no guarantee made that I recall of exactly what point in beta Herocon attendees would be admitted.

Here's the obvious rub. Testing the game in beta comes at the price of agreeing to an NDA that says you won't blab about being in beta or what's in it until NCNC says we can.

So IF I'm in beta, I cannot tell you. This makes it pointless to ask at best.

AND... I will choose not to comment here on any information that isn't available from official releases.

I would like offer appreciation for your generous understanding in advance!

Ok back to the guide in progress.

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It's not how many times you get knocked down that count. It's how many times you get up.

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The Architect, like the markets, will have their own dedicated servers. So I propose a corallary(sp?) question. Do the same market servers for the US also interact with the European servers? That may offer our best clue.

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Yes, the market goes across the ocean. You can buy something on Liberty that was sold on Defiant.

What about the chat system? That has its own server. Can you global friend a person on a European server? I've never tried, but I'm guessing the answer is no.

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Avatar: "Cheeky Jack O Lantern" by dimarie