Color Customization

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To me, this is one step removed from letting us shoot our powers out of devices of our choice, provided BABs wants to give every dang powerset a weapon choice

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I think you just blew my mind even more than the devs already had with this possibility. Sure, it would be more work, but with what they're doing I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't at least be possible now.
Suggestion when the devs have time for it (post-GR, I'm guessing): alt animations for ranged powers where it's shooting out of a wand or staff.

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Very much what I'm hoping to see. Practically speaking, though they really DO try to shake things up, most "blast" powers share the same 5-6 animations between all sets that have them. There's Energy Blast's Power Bolt with two fists closed, Energy Blast's Power Blast with two palms open, Fire Blast's Fireball with one palm open, Fire Blast's Fire Blast that's more of a toss, Ice Blast's Freeze Ray that's a backhand toss and... That's pretty much it. I suspect a few "cast" animations from support sets may be used here and there, but for the most part the animations are all the same. It's the effects that differ.

And that's not a bad thing. Really, when you look at a character who fires a variety of, say, eye beams, do you REALLY care about which way he squints and how he tilts his head, or do you care about ZOMG LASER EYE BEAMS! COOL! But with that in mind, it should be possible to retain blast power EFFECTS, but give them alternate animations that consist them shooting out of different parts of the body. Of course, making them all the same isn't cool, but you don't really need more than half a dozen of variants to shuffle around in each set just to prevent the motion from being repeptitive, and you can rely on set effect to carry over the actual power.

What does that mean? Well, most powers are fired from our hands. Let's take Energy Blast as that's purely hand-based. What would that mean for it? Well, for one, you could have power blasts coming out of your solar plexus with, say, the Teleport animation and a few derivatives. Or, perhaps you're more of a thinker and you want to have Power Blasts come out of your head (they're too broad to define it any close to eyes, mouth or forehead, so "head" has to do). Or maybe you want them all one-handed? That ought to be doable, as well, though Power Bolt may be a tad problematic.

This should all be currently POSSIBLE given the technology for altering animations, though obviously also involve a LOT of work for BABs and minions. I don't want to sound ungrateful, so I want to say - I'm VERY, VERY pleased with what we are getting, but the potential door this opens for further additions in the future is simply... Intoxicating

What may or may not be currently even POSSIBLE is giving people the choice of whether to use weapons or not. Weapons aren't exactly power effects. They used to be, but they were turned into costume items with weapon customization, and costume items appear to be set up per powerset, and I've seen no evidence that what CLASS of weapon you use is customizable. An AR Blaster can pick from a selection of assault rifles, but he cannot pick to use, say, a pair of handguns. Even if his animations could be altered, he would likely still be locked into using that selection of weapons. I'm guessing, of course.

The transition needed to make actual WEAPONS be a power's emanation point (and making them customizable, of course) is giving the editor the ability to pick weapon CLASSES, including none, from which people could choose, and to tie the act of picking those to choices the players make. I'm not confident it has this functionality at this time, specifically because this isn't about just giving us a bigger pool of custom weapons, but rather a selection of pools of custom weapons based on what we want to use.

The other big problem is weapon draw. It takes time to draw the weapon, and this has been considered as a balancing variable in weapon sets. Allowing, on the one hand, non-weapon sets to use weapons has the potential problem of introducing draw to sets that didn't previous have it. Allowing, on the other hand, weapon sets to not use weapons has the potential problem of removing draw from sets that have it. This is no longer a cosmetic addition, it is a genuine balance concern which cannot simply be handwaved away, and will likely be a major principle stumbling block towards the last bastion of power customization functionality - allowing us to fire our normal powers out of weapons.

But think about it from a practical standpoint - how much RAW POTENTIAL would such a change have? Some people bah humbug power colour customization because they were happy with the colours of their powers anyway, but look at how many, many people were asking and voting for energy blades. But an Energy Blade is a rather specific idea. What, however, if you could pick a weapon for, oh, I don't know... Energy Melee? That could be say... A blade. That is made of energy. Because it has to deal energy damage. An energy blade, as it were. Hmm... Granted, there's the problem of Energy Melee dealing Energy and SMASHING damage, but that was just an off-the-top-of-my-head example.

The potential for such a functionality is HUGE, to the point where it borders on letting players CREATE their own sets by tweaking and customizing existing ones. Sure, it may not be PRACTICAL customization as the powers are the same with the same power effects, but being able to turn something as outlandish as Energy Blast into an Energy Rifle is... Well, as close to a new powerset as we're likely to get without out-and-out making a new one from scratch. Even with just what we're getting in I16 (which is a WHOLE FRIKKIN' LOT, let me restate this), you can turn Energy Blast into the same "Light" Blast that Legacy Chain casters use.

This is this game's primary strength, by a very, very wide margin. It gives us the tools to make characters, but the tools allow us to twist, turn and morph their original design into characters that are truly our own, and truly unique. I16 is a giant step towards a better ability to customize, and I look forward to what other wonders the future might bring.

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

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Very much what I'm hoping to see. Practically speaking, though they really DO try to shake things up, most "blast" powers share the same 5-6 animations between all sets that have them. There's Energy Blast's Power Bolt with two fists closed, Energy Blast's Power Blast with two palms open, Fire Blast's Fireball with one palm open, Fire Blast's Fire Blast that's more of a toss, Ice Blast's Freeze Ray that's a backhand toss and... That's pretty much it.

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-Flares/Energy Bolt/Nightfall/Lightning Bolt
-Fire Blast/Blaze/Ice Blast
-Ice Bolt/Dark Blast/Neutrino Bolt
-Gloom/Cosmic Burst/Charged Bolts
-Power Blast/Power Burst/Tenebrous Tentacles
-Bitter Ice Blast/Energy Torrent/Ball Lightning
-Proton Volley/Sniper Blast/Zzap

-Tesla Cage/old Flares
-Rain of Fire/Ice Storm/Blizzard
-Power Push/Torrent
-Life Drain
-Blazing Bolt
-Bitter Freeze Ray/Thunderous Blast
-Electron Haze
-Irradiate
-Short Circuit
-Neutron Bomb/Repulsion Bomb

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How I feel.

[/ QUOTE ] how i feel regarding power customization...particularly the martial arts animations thing


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How I feel.

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-Fire Blast/Blaze/Ice Blast

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Fire Blast and Ice Blast use the "tossing" animation, if I remember correctly, but Blaze uses the "cast" animation that Fireball uses.

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-Ice Bolt/Dark Blast/Neutrino Bolt

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Incidentally, isn't that the one?

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-Power Blast/Power Burst/Tenebrous Tentacles

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Technically different (e.i. longer) but practically indistinguishable from the Flares/Power Bolt/etc. animation.

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-Bitter Ice Blast/Energy Torrent/Ball Lightning

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If that's what Bitter Ice Blast uses, what does Freeze Ray use? I thought it was the backhand toss?

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-Proton Volley/Sniper Blast/Zzap

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Plus Moonbeam, but yeah - every snipe without a weapon, minus Blazing Bolt.

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-Blazing Bolt
-Bitter Freeze Ray/Thunderous Blast

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I'm pretty sure those either use the same animation, or use animations incredibly similar to each other.

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-Tesla Cage/old Flares
-Rain of Fire/Ice Storm/Blizzard

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Again, I'm not sure if those are technically different or not, but they look like the same animation.

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-Neutron Bomb/Repulsion Bomb

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Neutron Bomb I haven't seen, but doesn't Repulsion Bomb use the same animation as the Power Push family?

Please understand that this isn't an attempt to argue. Those are genuine questions and/or observations. I'm surprised how many there are to list, though. I haven't played any Defender/Corrupter restricted sets, so most of the Dark and Rad powers I'm not familiar with, and I can't really judge animations based on seeing other people use them a few times.

Still, these are animations shared between Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Electrical Blast, Radiation Blast and Dark Blast. I'm not sure if Sonic Blast and Mental Blast really count, what with them having some animation unique to them, but I know at least Telekinetic Thrust and I suspect Telekinetic Blast are borrowed from the "cast" animation, I suspect they may, partly. In the case of Blast sets, though, it seems like animation is secondary to effect, and that can make adding customization to them a bit easier. Hell, Assault Rifle and Archery practically use the same animation for all 9 powers

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

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You're quite welcome BaBs. Know what'll be even more rewarding? Watching a Hami raid or mothership raid light up like an acid trip.


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I had a similar thought last night. At its basest form, this is nothing more than a paintbrush. It's that "simple."

But that "simple" addition to the game is going to change how it looks so much to what we've been used to for the last 5 years that I've no doubt many of us will be running around watching other people in awe at the art they get to create using that paintbrush on their characters.

We'll be playing the same game, but it's going to look SO much different.

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On a somewhat unrelated note, I just want to take a second to thank you guys for being so positive and excited about this feature that's consumed so much of my life for so long. It's been a very long haul and tremendous amount of work from many people on the team. Your excitement about this feature is making it so much easier for me to continue to be excited about it, and that's making it a lot nicer to get through the final stretches of finishing this issue up and into your hands. I can't speak for the other people who've done a tremendous amount of work on this feature as well, but for me personally...it's a huge deal.

The handful of non-glowing responses I've seen have been very reasonable and more in the realm of disappointed but still understanding. For that I'm exceedingly grateful.

So thanks for staying positive and constructive, it makes reading the forums so much easier and working on this game so much more rewarding.

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Thank you, BaB, and your team, for all your hard work and dedication to keep this game great. It's much appreciated.

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-Ice Bolt/Dark Blast/Neutrino Bolt

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Incidentally, isn't that the one?

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You are. Blaze and Fireball should be here.

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-Power Blast/Power Burst/Tenebrous Tentacles

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Technically different (e.i. longer) but practically indistinguishable from the Flares/Power Bolt/etc. animation.

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Not true. Those powers are a pronounced cast forward with open hands.

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If that's what Bitter Ice Blast uses, what does Freeze Ray use? I thought it was the backhand toss?

[/ QUOTE ] I couldn't remember. I think the right hand cast.

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-Blazing Bolt
-Bitter Freeze Ray/Thunderous Blast

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I'm pretty sure those either use the same animation, or use animations incredibly similar to each other.

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If I remember correctly, BBolt is taking a dump followed by pushing hands forward.

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-Tesla Cage/old Flares
-Rain of Fire/Ice Storm/Blizzard

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Again, I'm not sure if those are technically different or not, but they look like the same animation.

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Former have hands at a 45 angle forward, latter have them 45 angle to the sides and head back.

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-Neutron Bomb/Repulsion Bomb

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Neutron Bomb I haven't seen, but doesn't Repulsion Bomb use the same animation as the Power Push family?

[/ QUOTE ] That's Force Bolt. This is the "make stuff over head and throw" family.

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Hell, Assault Rifle and Archery practically use the same animation for all 9 powers

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AR:
Burst
Slug/Buckshot/Beanbag/M30 Grenade/Sleep Grenade
Sniper Rifle/LRM Rocket
Flamer
Full Auto <- MIGHT be /Flamer
Ignite

Archery:
-Snap
-Aimed
-Fistful
-Blazing/Explosive/Stunning
-Ranged
-Rain of Arrows

My question is, if we're getting alternate Martial Arts animations that use fists instead of kicks, can we get the costume department to stop using Martial Arts as an excuse and FINALLY give us long skirts/robes?

But really, Power Costumization is so very much appreciated. Thank you Paragon Studios team for a tremendous feature.

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-Power Blast/Power Burst/Tenebrous Tentacles

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Technically different (e.i. longer) but practically indistinguishable from the Flares/Power Bolt/etc. animation.

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Not true. Those powers are a pronounced cast forward with open hands.

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Oops! I meant to say "identical to the Power Push family." It seems to me that Power Blast is a short "hands forward" with a blast whereas Power Push is a short "hands forward" with a... Blue whirlwind miniature version of the universe... thing.

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-Blazing Bolt
-Bitter Freeze Ray/Thunderous Blast

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I'm pretty sure those either use the same animation, or use animations incredibly similar to each other.

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If I remember correctly, BBolt is taking a dump followed by pushing hands forward.

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I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a "watch left hand, watch right hand, both hands forward" as Bitter Ice Blast and what Energy Transfer looked after the change, but before the appeal to kill the head movement. Incidentally, I feel the head movement should be killed on all powers that share that animation.

I believe what you're describing is closer to the Energy Melee/otherwise unarmed Assassin's Strike.

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-Tesla Cage/old Flares
-Rain of Fire/Ice Storm/Blizzard

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Again, I'm not sure if those are technically different or not, but they look like the same animation.

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Former have hands at a 45 angle forward, latter have them 45 angle to the sides and head back.

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Right! One is cast forward, the other cast up. Understood.

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-Neutron Bomb/Repulsion Bomb

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Neutron Bomb I haven't seen, but doesn't Repulsion Bomb use the same animation as the Power Push family?

[/ QUOTE ] That's Force Bolt. This is the "make stuff over head and throw" family.

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Doh! Force Bolt, right. I've no idea what Repulsion Bomb is, then

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AR:
Burst
Slug/Buckshot/Beanbag/M30 Grenade/Sleep Grenade
Sniper Rifle/LRM Rocket
Flamer
Full Auto <- MIGHT be /Flamer
Ignite


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I'm fairly sure that Flamethrower and Full Auto share the same animation, yes. If not before, then certainly now, after the changes. I suspect Ignite may share the Burst animation, but I admit it seems like a stretch.

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Archery:
-Snap
-Aimed
-Fistful
-Blazing/Explosive/Stunning
-Ranged
-Rain of Arrows

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I highly suspect that Snap Shot is simply a sped-up version of Blazing, Explosive and Stunning shot, and aside from the big wind-up (which I think was partly present in the other Archery attacks before they were shortened) of Ranged Shot, it looks like it has if not the same, then almost the same animation. Fistful of Arrows is indeed different with using the bow horizontally, but I highly suspect Snap Shot has the same animation, maybe a little sped up.

Again, thank you for this

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

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One small question. When talking about subtractive colours, you say "each colour absorbs all colours except the one it reflects." Does that mean that, say, Cyan absorbs everything BUT cyan?


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Because this got lost in the shuffle I figured I'd answer it.

The three primary colors of light are red, green, and blue.

The three primary colors of pigment are absorbs-red, absorbs-green, and absorbs-blue. What gets reflected is then blue/green (cyan), blue/red (magenta), or red/green (yellow).

Yes, red light and green light make yellow light. You can prove this to yourself and blow your own mind with any modestly-equipped science center or a couple of flashlights and colored cellophane.

This is why on any package printed with ink you'll often see a test grid in cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cmyk

Is actually a pretty good page for coverign the basics of subtractive colour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Additive_color
However, the additive colour page is a little lacking. One day I may get round to expanding it.

I'm very excited for these changes and hope some day we will be able to change our power names to match our colors.

I've learned that nothing is impossible within CoX... And I'm sure that's a lesson BABs will regret teaching us.

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how i feel regarding power customization...particularly the martial arts animations thing

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Not sure what a satirical song about Japan's lost decade has to do with power customization. But I guess you can dance to it.

They said "never". I cancel my account and now look = /
Still very cool, even if i don't get to enjoy it.

Snipping vortexes.

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Oops! I meant to say "identical to the Power Push family." It seems to me that Power Blast is a short "hands forward" with a blast whereas Power Push is a short "hands forward" with a... Blue whirlwind miniature version of the universe... thing.

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Power Push has a very pronounced "hands to chest and PUSH!" motion.

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I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a "watch left hand, watch right hand, both hands forward" as Bitter Ice Blast and what Energy Transfer looked after the change, but before the appeal to kill the head movement. Incidentally, I feel the head movement should be killed on all powers that share that animation.

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I'll have to doublecheck.

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Doh! Force Bolt, right. I've no idea what Repulsion Bomb is, then

[/ QUOTE ] Holo Man uses it, as do Shivan bosses and any MA or FF custom.
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I suspect Ignite may share the Burst animation, but I admit it seems like a stretch.

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Ignite has a unique animation where you steady the rifle then recoil pushes it way back.

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I highly suspect that Snap Shot is simply a sped-up version of Blazing, Explosive and Stunning shot

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Snap is a quick shot with the bow diagonal. B/E/S has the character stand up with spine straight with the bow vertical.

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On a somewhat unrelated note, I just want to take a second to thank you guys for being so positive and excited about this feature that's consumed so much of my life for so long. It's been a very long haul and tremendous amount of work from many people on the team. Your excitement about this feature is making it so much easier for me to continue to be excited about it, and that's making it a lot nicer to get through the final stretches of finishing this issue up and into your hands. I can't speak for the other people who've done a tremendous amount of work on this feature as well, but for me personally...it's a huge deal.

The handful of non-glowing responses I've seen have been very reasonable and more in the realm of disappointed but still understanding. For that I'm exceedingly grateful.

So thanks for staying positive and constructive, it makes reading the forums so much easier and working on this game so much more rewarding.

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I'm just still in total shock over the entire thing. My suggestions for the game have been so tempered by my understanding of the effort required to make them I'm just finding myself continually floored by what you guys are doing with the new company. I keep wanting to bite my tongue on impossible suggestions for powers, but then I find out the foundation for things like alternate animations are already built and want to go into some kind of headless chicken "could you?" frenzy. I think I'm more excited about what this means for the future than the feature itself. Knowing you guys finally have the resources to do huge systemic changes like this makes me very excited to see what the future will bring.

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... Mastermind primaries, for example, do not show up as customizable, ...

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Now that I've seen more of the screenshots, including the one that shows what Audrey (from Plant Control) looks like when tinted? I know that BAB and the other developers are busy at SDCC this week, but can you please spare a minute to explain why mastermind minions' uniforms, for at least the original four (mercs, ninjas, zombies, bots) aren't tintable but controller minions are? I know that you have tintable color palette versions of those models available, I can see them (as allies) in Mission Architect. What's stopping you?

QR

I needz to see the SS/MA alternate animations! I neeeeeedz it.

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QR

I needz to see the SS/MA alternate animations! I neeeeeedz it.

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Golem's right -- some pics and/or descriptions of at least a few of the alternate animations would be greatly appreciated.

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On a somewhat unrelated note, I just want to take a second to thank you guys for being so positive and excited about this feature that's consumed so much of my life for so long. It's been a very long haul and tremendous amount of work from many people on the team. Your excitement about this feature is making it so much easier for me to continue to be excited about it, and that's making it a lot nicer to get through the final stretches of finishing this issue up and into your hands. I can't speak for the other people who've done a tremendous amount of work on this feature as well, but for me personally...it's a huge deal.

The handful of non-glowing responses I've seen have been very reasonable and more in the realm of disappointed but still understanding. For that I'm exceedingly grateful.

So thanks for staying positive and constructive, it makes reading the forums so much easier and working on this game so much more rewarding.

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Anyone who is not happy can SUCK IT.

This feature is GREAT.

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*nod*

Thanks for making this happen. Looks great so far. I predict renewed interest in my MA scrapper and a host of new alts.

im very excited for I16 and cant wait to play with all the new features but i do want to make sure of one thing: kinetics can be colored red yes?

either way great work BaB you're the best(even if i cant have red kinetics)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At-pf...eature=related

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is it sad that I know every word to that song?

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Anyone who is not happy can SUCK IT.

This feature is GREAT.

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Hear, hear!

Best. Issue. EVAR.

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My question is, if we're getting alternate Martial Arts animations that use fists instead of kicks, can we get the costume department to stop using Martial Arts as an excuse and FINALLY give us long skirts/robes?

But really, Power Costumization is so very much appreciated. Thank you Paragon Studios team for a tremendous feature.

[/ QUOTE ]Can you find where they ever stated that it was martial arts holding it back? Looking through jay's post history he mentions robes/dresses below the knee just looking below his standards on player characters, but never mentions the animations being an issue, could you source that?

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.