Underwater?

Really? Everytime someone wants to prove Aquaman is somehow better than Namor, the pull this "even-a-dog-has-his-day" moment.

Strong and generally well written, yes. Cool? Ankle wings sez no.

My Arcs
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Mission Architect Handyman

Hon, I'm old. I was that audience in that day. He was lame. He was a joke. They had to come up with ridiculous contrivances to give him something to do. Even my little brother knew he sucked.

That was supposed to look like he was underwater? I thought he simply posted in the wrong thread.

This is why I love Back Alley Brawler!

Underwater Zone == Lame.
Moon Base Zone == Lame.
Back Alley Brawler == Freakin' AWESWEETASTIC!

I'd sure hope so. If Sega could make an underwater research facility look good for
their online games seven-eight years ago, I refuse to believe this staff can't make
a decent one now.

His powers had the best sound effect on the show, though, if you don't count "Inuk-chuk!" as a sound effect.

I hate the idea of an underwater zone, but I LOVE this idea. Having a window that shows an underwater scene, or a space scene, or the shadow shard would allow missions to use normal maps yet be set in underwater or outer space bases. Ideally they'd make those same windows available to base builders for ambiance.

BABs also didn't say no to this. He said no to "all swimmy, all the time zones/missions" and gave very solid reasons as to why they won't ever be doing anything of the sort. I wish everyone would drop the, "But it'd be easy if you did (blank) (aka, half-*** it)," or the "You guys are just scared of a challenge" bull, but meh, this is the internet.

But a domed city or undersea lab with portholes showing the ambient ocean outside would be pretty awesome. Also, as far as I know, that's WarWitch's department, so BABs can't specifically crush anybody's dreams on that one.

Originally Posted by Nethergoat it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

Totally agree. What purpose do those wings serve, especially at the ankles? At least Aquaman has the decency to wear pants and a shirt. Not bare chested and speedo. As for Aquaman being a dog that had his day against Namor, I don't see Namor dropping whales on anyone. That's just pure PWNAGE no matter how you slice it. Next control set should be Whales.

And I still stand by that if you gave Aquaman to someone like Geoff Johns he'd be written well. I'd actually go as far as to say Black Lantern Aquaman was cool. Summoning undead sharks and all.

50s - Energyman, Elec^3 Blaster - Light Bringer Prime, Triform PB - OxyStorm, Robo/Storm/Mace MM - Widow Lotone, NW - Psi-Vox, Ill/FF/Earth Control

Don�t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. - R.W. Emerson

Let's see . . . It's 2009 . . . Marine Boy first aired . . . That makes you . . . Not a day over 18.

[disclaimer- I'm on BaB's side in this issue]

The emo-theatrics weren't necessary Deej. While BaB may not want to do it, that doesn't mean it's the end of the world and your hopes and dreams are crushed. He's one of many, and design choices are made by committee. Of course, considering he's Lead Animator and most of the work would fall on his lap, that means he would have a bigger vote than most anyone except Positron.

Was he flippant? Yeah, that's because he's a funny guy. Does that mean you need to take it personally? No.

... what the crap.

Spoilers:

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

... what the crap.

I will always have a special place in my heart for that show. Marine Boy fueled my imagination hugely when I was 5 years old, great stuff. Big thumbs up.

See, there is a big problem with this notion of, essentially, walking along the bottom and using powers in water as though you're using them in air. In real life, you can tell you're underwater because you can feel the water with your body, because you can sense the drag of it and because you can feel how differently sound and shockwaves travel through it. In a movie or in a game, even when you actually shoot underwater, it's often hard to TELL it's water and not just air. As a direct example, a lot of those shots of submarines from the outside in movies aren't in water at all. They're in air, illuminated by a blue light and shot in relative slow motion. If you stick players running along the bottom and using their powers as they would in air, then you have nothing to actually show us that we are in water, other than the mission's word for it. And even if the mission tells me it's water, when I can see it's a blue cave, I'm not going to be impressed.

If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's probably not a buffalo even if the tag on its cage says so.

Here's the thing - movies and games that feature significant underwater sections are rare. You'd be hard-pressed to find more underwater movies than you can count on one hand. Offhand, I can only think of four - The Abyss, Deep Star Six, Leviathan and The Sphere. As far as games with large underwater components go, these are rare, and even more rarely done well. Water is done well in Tomb Raider. Less well in WoW. About the only game with any major emphasis on underwater environments is Aquaria.

In movies, it's often hard to tell which shot is supposed to be underwater and which is supposed to be in air unless you rely on secondary cues. Underwater, people's hair drifts rather than hanging down, lighter objects float around, actions are slowed down and cumbersome, heavier objects feel lighter and sounds are muted and booming. It's the ambience and effects of water on people and their abilities that demonstrates what is water and what is tint-lighted air. That's what I've been saying all along - you can have an underwater environment that looks anything other than silly unless you add sufficient ambience, and BABs has already spoken on how likely the amount of work needed to add that level of ambience would take.

As that screenshot we already saw demonstrates, just sticking people underwater isn't enough to make them feel like they're underwater when the game lacks ANYTHING to add underwater ambience to it.

On the other hand, here's something that I WOULD like to see - visible bottoms! I am SICK SICK SICK of the "floor" we have under every major body of water in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Remember how Arbiter Sands' submarine pen has a real, visible bottom? That's what I want for the oceans in the game. I believe the Going Rogue graphics settings can limit visibility in water, so I don't expect to see the bottom of the Marianas Trench, but I'd like to feel like our coastlines at least HAVE a bottom, and not just this fugly uniform floor all around. I don't need to be able to swim down to the bottom, just see that it's there.

P.S. And, yes - underwater bases with glass windows looking out into the ocean, pretty please! As many of those windows as we can get!

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.

This is the completely wrong setting for Summon Bigger Fish.

Yes, hysterical. See how so many of us are laughing our butts off at his dismissal of one of our favorite characters.
But I suppose that's just more emo-theatrics, too.
Whatever. Onward.

What if we combined the two into the Whalers on the Moon patch?

We're whalers on the moon,
We carry a harpoon,
For they ain't no whales
So we tell tall tales
And sing our whaling tune.'

Ecco the Dolphin


...


you may continue.

My Arcs
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Mission Architect Handyman

Follow the links for the origin of the Spectrum wars or whatever they're calling it.

Just think, this whole plot line derived from trying to explain away and then re-justify the very, very silly weakness-to-yellow thing.

The War of Light is what it's called, which stems from The Blackest Night Prophecy. As for doing away with the silly yellow weakness, I rather like what they've done with Green Lantern. The extra Corps seems a bit much and I was hoping for more than the "I was taken over by an alien parasite that made me do things I didn't want to do" when they brought back Hal, but Geoff has done a good job in making the cliche into original and expanding on it and making something larger out of it. In Geoff I trust and I'll ride out his concept to the end. If nothing else it's revitalited Green Lantern. Which is what people are expecting out of his Flash Rebirth, which is why I think if you gave him an Aquaman Rebirth you would make that character cool as well.

As for the whaler moonbase, I'm sold.

50s - Energyman, Elec^3 Blaster - Light Bringer Prime, Triform PB - OxyStorm, Robo/Storm/Mace MM - Widow Lotone, NW - Psi-Vox, Ill/FF/Earth Control

I know I'm laughing.

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.