Living in Interesting Times
By
Alphane,
Posted on: 2008-08-04 08:54 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Coding in respect for Villains is hogging all their resources.
I would rather wait a little longer for a smooth and full issue than a rocky half-baked issue.
Saying that though, it would be nice to have some info to flirt with for a bit, come on guys, tease us!
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Originally Posted by VoodooGirl
[*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*
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The point is, by December we'll already be two "full" issues worth of content development down the line. for them to badge it all under a single issue... well, I'm not expecting small potatoes....
It actually gives away ratehr a lot about the date they expect issue 13 to go live.
Winter event can be assumed to start 1st December. Issue 13 will probably be live by then, but may be delayed if serious bugs show up in testing. Such a delay shouldn't be more than a month.
Therefore they expect issue 13 to go live in the second half of November. It will probably need a lot of testing, so it will probably hit open beta early October.
I really should do something about this signature.
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Things we know are on the cards are changes to SG Bases, Villain Patron Respecs, Shields Powerset and Player Created Missions. This isn't enough to require all that development time, surely.
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Have you ever tried creating anything on a computer you spend half the time kicking the stupid thing around the room demanding to know why it won't do that entirly reasonable, fairly simple thing your asking it to do. You sit down thinking something will take you half an hour and some 3 or 4 hours later your still sitting there irrate and frustrated cursing the Gods of Silicon and all there evil spawn. To me those 4 'simple' things you mentioned is quite a significant workload already in reality.
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Things we know are on the cards are changes to SG Bases, Villain Patron Respecs, Shields Powerset and Player Created Missions. This isn't enough to require all that development time, surely.
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I find myself agreeing with Alphane here, which is rare. let's look at just a couple of those, shall we?
Player Created Missions: new artwork and modelwork, a completely new, multi-level UI, new database tables to design and implement, new game systems.
Shield Powerset: New animations, new artwork, new models (probably several due to customisation), tweaks to the costume editor, integration into the existing power selector (it's been pointed out that shields doesn't work with all combinations of powersets, so you actually need a new game system which locks you out of some power selections based on what you have already picked).
Villain Patron Respecs: not sure, but new missions, new NPCs, new UI.
Now, all of that has to be designed, coded/drawn/produced, and then it goes through unit testing, and then integration testing. It then goes into closed testing to ensure it plays as expected and may need to go back to have things revamped or tweaked (the new powerset in particular). It then goes into open beta and the players wreck it and it has to go back to be changed again because no design ever survives contact with the enemy... err, the customers. And the more changes you add to a single release, the more likely it is that something will be wrong with it.
And don't forget that players want everything perfect and now. Let them take their time and get it right. 
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Winter event can be assumed to start 1st December. Issue 13 will probably be live by then, but may be delayed if serious bugs show up in testing. Such a delay shouldn't be more than a month.
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Winter event begins Dec 15th.
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Have you ever tried creating anything on a computer you spend half the time kicking the stupid thing around the room demanding to know why it won't do that entirly reasonable, fairly simple thing your asking it to do. You sit down thinking something will take you half an hour and some 3 or 4 hours later your still sitting there irrate and frustrated cursing the Gods of Silicon and all there evil spawn. To me those 4 'simple' things you mentioned is quite a significant workload already in reality.
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Oh yeah been there. Even a tiny change can be a big nightmare developer wisely.
The Devs just want the Halloween/Winter events tested and then patched to live as part of the main codebase before they start making up their I13 build. That way, if issue 13 is horribly delayed (and from what the Devs are inferring I13 will add a lot of new features that will need heavy testing, so it could get horribly delayed by unforseen bugs and code conflicts), it won't prevent us getting the Halloween or Winter events.
If they package either of these events as part of I13 then it would mean they'd have to be tested at the same time as everything in I13, which could not only take focus away from testing certain features, but would also tie the issue into a definite timeframe (because the Devs would have to deliver I13 on time for those holiday slots).
(QR)
Oh I'm not saying the delays aren't understandable and I realise why the events are being integrated but... I smell something more than we've been told.
Personally, I've suspected for some time that a major game update will be reaching us not long before the competition come online. I won't be terribly surprised if there's a game engine upgrade in it either. Not that I'm saying we WILL, or that it'll come for issue 13... I just suspect it might happen soon.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I had wondered something similar. Partly because the devs and community reps people have not been phased by the upcoming competition, and that seemed weird to me when using a 5yr old engine. However, i haven't expressed this before because I wasn't sure whether NCNC would actually be able to impliment a new engine or not, since i know nowt bout computers.
@Jaw Dropper - Toons of all levels so drop me a line!
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Twitter me!
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Personally, I've suspected for some time that a major game update will be reaching us not long before the competition come online. I won't be terribly surprised if there's a game engine upgrade in it either. Not that I'm saying we WILL, or that it'll come for issue 13... I just suspect it might happen soon.
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I think that's likely, but I also think it's somewhat likely that the feature additions in I13 may have a bigger effect on the game than even I9's Inventions did. This is NC's first issue fully in charge of the game and I think they'll want to do something really special.
I wasn't expecting the user-generated content until next year, but it's possible it might be in I13, along with the confirmed base editor revamp, more powerset proliferation, more QoL changes, new Shields powerset, and the new costume pieces which we usually get with new issues. I think we'll probably also get either a new zone or a zone revamp with new contacts/arcs and a TF too, because the last issue was relatively content-light in terms of non-TF missions and outdoor hunting - and of course the "Coming Storm" storyline will move forward a bit more.
A game engine upgrade on top of all that might be too much to ask, but I think it will come sometime next year (I just hope it doesn't push the recommended specs up too high or cause more issues in Grandville and other graphic-intensive areas than some suffer now).
Hehe, maybe they've cracked how to do power customisation as well! 
IMO, their best course of action, engine update wise, would be to throw away OpenGL and go pure DirectX. DX is far more efficient at what it does, and would run on lesser hardware whilst giving better output.
Of course, along with a new 3D engine, new geometry for the avatars is a must too!
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Something big costumewise I think is coming... Jay's been -awfully- quite for a while, meaning either something big is coming to the system, or he's working on conversions for any possible engine update.
Technically, from what I saw at Omega Sektor, the way they design the missions shouldn't be affected by an engine change that much, but I'm Not A Programmer/Designer, it seems like it should be changable to a new system with ease.
It's an interesting time to be a hero!
Or a Villain
EDIT: In fact, it's a good time to be an X! Come on, be an X with me! <stops halfway through a star-jump>
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IMO, their best course of action, engine update wise, would be to throw away OpenGL and go pure DirectX. DX is far more efficient at what it does, and would run on lesser hardware whilst giving better output.
Of course, along with a new 3D engine, new geometry for the avatars is a must too!
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Perhaps they can finally convert the sodding Contacts list to using static images instead of actually drawing the full 3D model for each one.
Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes
My Characters
CoX Chatlog Parser
Last.fm Feed
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Something big costumewise I think is coming... Jay's been -awfully- quite for a while, meaning either something big is coming to the system, or he's working on conversions for any possible engine update.
[/ QUOTE ]Or he could just be too busy being sexy to do any work.
<imagines Jay dancing infront of a mirror>
Mind bleach please!
Also, love the new avatar MaX.
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Of course, along with a new 3D engine, new geometry for the avatars is a must too!
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As long as it's done well. Did you ever play EverQuest? Their first major engine update with the Luclin expansion brought in avatars that were technically better than the original ones, and looked better in screenshots and when stationary, but animation-wise they were atrocious, caused so much lag that on raids we tended to switch back and use the old models, and as terrain/zone graphics and most NPCs didn't get updated there was a glaring conflict in graphical quality if you used the new avatar models. Plus the face and hair options changed so much it was almost impossible to get some characters looking the same way under the new system as they did with the old.
The extra months are being spent developing an entire new engine for CoH. The engine looks and sounds exactly the same, with the important difference that players will be able to walk, as well as run. According to the US Dev Digest, this is something they have been...
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...working on for some time, although the technical challenge is immense. This update is obviously the most important direction we can take the game in at this time. In the future, we plan to implement other methods of 'civilian' transportation, such as moonwalking and hailing piggybacks from passing tourists.'
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DON'T eat muffins while I'm developing you.
Pants! Turkey Magnates! A man in a box! Rogue AI! Come one, come all, to arc ID 10107 - It's [i]'Not as long as some other arcs'[/i]!
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Where's GhostRaptor? We must demand answers
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Why don't you demand answers? Then let us know how that works out for you, if you still have posting privileges by then 
An engine update? Well, it would be good for the game, so long as there's a little something in the content stakes as well. The game already looks good on high graphics, so I guess if its that route I'd like to see the underlying tech of the engine changed to allow things like power customisation down the line.
For my money I'd like to be seeing a new shelf presence - an actual boxed update a la other MMO's. Not so much as whole new zones you can only access with the boxset, but perhaps new powersets and access to missions in new zones you wouldn't otherwise get. Kinda like purchasable EAT's (except with powersets, not AT's)...
So, I read an intriguing post on the US Dev Digest this morning. NCNC are currently maintaining the Issue 12 Build to add in the Halloween and Winter event changes they are planning (source).
Yep, there is a chance that Issue 13 may not be ready until December/Early 2009. The longest period I can recall without an official issue.
NCNC as a new studio has also been ramping up the number of staff from their previous meagre crew so they have more resources to bring to bear during this timeframe they've given themselves.
I'm adding these two things together and I can't quite shake the feeling that there is going to be something groundbreaking in the history of the game coming up.
Things we know are on the cards are changes to SG Bases, Villain Patron Respecs, Shields Powerset and Player Created Missions. This isn't enough to require all that development time, surely.
There's something new, and I can smell it... any thoughts from anyone?