What places do you look forward to seeing in Ultra mode?
By
Alasdair,
Posted on: 2009-11-26 24:15 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
In the shallow pools I want to see the reflections of the ones i am fighting as well cause when I watch my replays of my sessions i notice things i could have done better and with the reflections. it would make it more epic when i watch my game films to improve my game play.
if it does effect missions i plan to redo the Frostfire mission just to see if you can see yourself in the ice. But also in Steel Canyon I plan to check out the hellion fires and see if the smoke from the burning buildings cast shadows on the street. like they would in a real fire. raking leaves made me think of those got to love housework.
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What obvious reasons?
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Originally Posted by Orion_Star_EU
They said the new shadows would not be in indoor missions for obvious reasons
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The sun in outside zones is a light source. In-mission maps don't have an actual light "source" rather than a light "ambiance". "Ambient" lighting can't have shadows that aren't static (more or less part of the map itself).
It's easier to understand if you've done lighting work in bases. Basically, changing ambient lighting is changing the "brightness" setting over an area. There isn't actual light, it's just that in the area defined a three dimensional rectangle X by Y by Z, all objects have magnitude Q brightness. It's...kind of like having a whole room filled with invisible candles. Everything is lit the exact same without an actual place said light "begins". Bah. I'm sure someone else could explain it better.
Blue: ~Knockback Squad on Guardian~
Red: ~Undoing of Virtue on [3 guesses]~
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Actually, missions very much do have light sources, at the very least occasionally, and all of them look like basic omni lights. They're not in places you'd expect, though, such as torches casting light. They don't, nor do street lights. But in many places, there are omni lights on the ceiling that you can walk under, such as in a lot of Warehouse entrance rooms. The big Arachnos rooms with the pool of green goo also have a rather strong yellow-greenish light at the core of the reactor inside that pool. So there ARE point lights, they just don't provide all (or indeed the majority) of the lighting in missions.|
Originally Posted by LostHalo
The sun in outside zones is a light source. In-mission maps don't have an actual light "source" rather than a light "ambiance". "Ambient" lighting can't have shadows that aren't static (more or less part of the map itself).
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But then, this extends to the outside world, as well. The sun and the moon are good and all, but what about the omni-present street lights that don't actually cast any light? Here's a paradox - it's brighter WITHOUT a light, because lights have those artificial light coronas that actually make it HARDER to see. Because of this lack of lighting, no darkness can be truly dark, so we end up with either bright night time, or things so dark you can't see what you're tripping over. I really, really, REALLY feel that dynamic lights are probably the biggest thing that could happen to this game.
Mind you, I don't believe ANY lighting in the game actually respects geometry. Even sunlight. Yes, it casts shadows, but the question is - will it still bleed its colour onto you even if you're in the shade?
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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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Call me petty and evil but I look forward to seeing the the reactions of the CO fanbois when they get confronted with visual awesomeness that is Going Rogue.
I'd love for things like street lamps, torches, and even vehicle headlights(which turn on at night) to be dynamic lights. But I'm not really holding my breath for it. All of this Ultra Mode stuff sounds mostly like post-processing effects and putting in lights for those things would require alterations to the maps themselves, which I can't see them taking the time to do for Paragon or the RI.
I could maybe see them making Praet street lights and such dynamic from the start, though.
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Reflections inside - Yes. Lighting, I think, was "Not sure, probably (initially) no.")|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
So far, they've not said if mission maps will be using the new graphics or not - although, the actual sewer zones will most likely have them.
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Originally Posted by Chyll
I can't help thinking that any sewer map is gonna be real interesting...
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Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
If you ask me, Cimerora looks amazing already WITHOUT Ultra Mode!
to 
TO THE END!Villains are those who dedicate their lives to causing mayhem. Villians are people from the planet Villia!
For me it'd have to be the waterfall in the Abyss. I can just imagine what it'd be like in Ultra Mode to stand on the rock fork in the water flow just above the falls and watch the sun peak up over the edge of the map.
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Fine then, the sewer zones.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
So far, they've not said if mission maps will be using the new graphics or not - although, the actual sewer zones will most likely have them.
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Shadows, liquid, stones, stray pipes and objects. It'd look cool.
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
Chyll - Bydand - Violynce - Enyrgos - Rylle - Nephryte - Solyd - Fettyr - Hyposhock - Styrling - Beryllos - Rosyc
Horryd - Myriam - Dysquiet - Ghyr
Vanysh - Eldrytch
Inflyct - Mysron - Orphyn - Dysmay - Reapyr - - Wyldeman - Hydeous
I'd have to say Atlas, Galaxy and Mercy.
Just starting new characters, if I ended up playing them or not, I've probably spent more time in those zones than any other.
Other than that, I'm interested to see if on outdoor maps the buildings behind the war walls are affected by the dynamic lighting, if we'll even be able to tell because of the walls at all.
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I like your line of thinking sir |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Call me petty and evil but I look forward to seeing the the reactions of the CO fanbois when they get confronted with visual awesomeness that is Going Rogue.
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It's a bit like your avatar...which still makes me blink when it runs at just the right time.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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The bridge up to the mission door for the final ITF mission would look pretty damn epic, if you ask me! 
I hope they add some visual effects cues for things like extreme vertical heights, like distance fog, birds taking off etc. to really enhance idea that you are really high up when using fly and SJ.
The Abyss will be the neatest place to see then.
The DOF and Bloom are nice but getting a bit long in today's graphics. I hope turning every graphical option on will actually challenge some of the crazy hardware that's being released now.
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I'd have to look at them directly but I'm fairly confident those are just ambient light 'emitters'. Basically, you can't put a grate in front of them and split the light or reduce it on the other side, everything in the area is either has the light on or off with no other considerations.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, missions very much do have light sources, at the very least occasionally, and all of them look like basic omni lights. They're not in places you'd expect, though, such as torches casting light. They don't, nor do street lights. But in many places, there are omni lights on the ceiling that you can walk under, such as in a lot of Warehouse entrance rooms. The big Arachnos rooms with the pool of green goo also have a rather strong yellow-greenish light at the core of the reactor inside that pool. So there ARE point lights, they just don't provide all (or indeed the majority) of the lighting in missions.
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Blue: ~Knockback Squad on Guardian~
Red: ~Undoing of Virtue on [3 guesses]~
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Some of them remain unimpressed from what I've read, but deep down inside, they are jealous.....
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Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Call me petty and evil but I look forward to seeing the the reactions of the CO fanbois when they get confronted with visual awesomeness that is Going Rogue.
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Luckily, "Ultra Mode" won't have Smellovision, or else Mercy would spark cries of "Plz turn off Burning-Tires-Mode!" and Sewer teams in AP would be rather scarce . 
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Having mentioned that, I paid close attention. There very much are real light sources scattered throughout the missions which have, at the very least, direction and distance. They're easiest to locate via the oldest trick in the book - bright spots on the floor, walls or ceiling. I ran through a CoT map and spotted several. They were concentrated over stone obelisks, magical circles, crystals and sometimes just smack-dab in the middle of the room, though not, surprisingly, at the many torches..|
Originally Posted by LostHalo
I'd have to look at them directly but I'm fairly confident those are just ambient light 'emitters'. Basically, you can't put a grate in front of them and split the light or reduce it on the other side, everything in the area is either has the light on or off with no other considerations.
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From what I could see, these lights were both coloured and while, they had a specific direction, such that walking by them would shift illumination front to side to back, and they were only active up to a certain distance. The only really powerful ones are in Arachnos bases, though, and they'd be the easiest to check. Try and get one of those huge, huge rooms with the green pool at the bottom. This one is most easily evident.
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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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I know. |
Originally Posted by Nightphall
Some of them remain unimpressed from what I've read, but deep down inside, they are jealous.....
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I saw a few responses when someone linked the You Tube demo and their envy was palpable before the thread got deleted.
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Of course, the light could be just part of the map textures and not actual "light".|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Having mentioned that, I paid close attention. There very much are real light sources scattered throughout the missions which have, at the very least, direction and distance. They're easiest to locate via the oldest trick in the book - bright spots on the floor, walls or ceiling. I ran through a CoT map and spotted several. They were concentrated over stone obelisks, magical circles, crystals and sometimes just smack-dab in the middle of the room, though not, surprisingly, at the many torches..
From what I could see, these lights were both coloured and while, they had a specific direction, such that walking by them would shift illumination front to side to back, and they were only active up to a certain distance. The only really powerful ones are in Arachnos bases, though, and they'd be the easiest to check. Try and get one of those huge, huge rooms with the green pool at the bottom. This one is most easily evident. |
Also, adding coloured light to the player character is not the same as actually illuminating a room... or even illuminating a player character.
While it would make sense in real life, remember that most of these sort of things are only designed to look realistic in the limited number of instances they are used and wouldn't translate at all when used elsewhere or for different means.
I'm 90% sure that most "lighting" in the game at the moment only effects player models and doesn't illuminate them or effect the "world".
Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a very dark map, and only power effects would cause much light in it?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Wouldn't that be called 'the Storm Palace'?
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a very dark map, and only power effects would cause much light in it?
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There is no such thing as an "innocent bystander"
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I actually like Perez Park a lot for its feel and mystical dark forest flair to explore or get lost in, even with the current engine. (Though the respawn rates inside are a little too high. Its rather annoying and everytime you turn back on a path its suddenly full of enemies again.. )|
Originally Posted by TheSpellbinder
Echoing Golden Girl, ALL of them...but I think some of the lesser visited areas like Perez Park could really use the boost. Perez has the potential to be absolutely gorgeous, as do other areas, and it would be fantastic if the upcoming graphics boost could help generate or regenerate play in areas which have fallen fallow.
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Its the zones where you'd see actual shadows that give me headaches, as it appears totally random what has a shadow and what doesnt, and the shadows that are there often plain DONT WORK. As in being cut off on an edge, sticking to the underside of the bridge they are cast upon, shadows not being subject to fogging but sticking out black in the grey...
Rather than look at that I usually turn shadows off. Better have none than have wrong ones or wonder why that tree cast a shadow although it should be in the shadow of something much bigger that doesnt cast one.
So yes, I'm looking forward.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, missions very much do have light sources, at the very least occasionally, and all of them look like basic omni lights. They're not in places you'd expect, though, such as torches casting light. They don't, nor do street lights. But in many places, there are omni lights on the ceiling that you can walk under, such as in a lot of Warehouse entrance rooms. The big Arachnos rooms with the pool of green goo also have a rather strong yellow-greenish light at the core of the reactor inside that pool. So there ARE point lights, they just don't provide all (or indeed the majority) of the lighting in missions.
Mind you, I don't believe ANY lighting in the game actually respects geometry. Even sunlight. Yes, it casts shadows, but the question is - will it still bleed its colour onto you even if you're in the shade? |
I am very sure that while you see all nice neon lights at the ceiling indoors e.g., for the game engine they are just the same as the dustbin in the corner, only with a different shape and brighter texture.
So while those select few point-sources of light might be able to cast proper shadows with a new engine, all the other "lights" that you see will not, because they are not there.They'd have to go into all those maps and put actual light sources into everything single light bulb and neon tube, plus tone some of them down so it doesnt get too bright where they put many, and still have some ambient light so it isnt pitch black where they just didnt put any. Or redo the entire map to have an even distribution of light sources. Both is a lot of work, so its a lot easier to just assume the light comes homogeneous from all directions inside all those buildings, a little more from above, which is actually pretty close to what you get when you have lots of neon lights spread out evenly on the ceiling and thus doesnt look too bad for an office building or warehouse with high ceilings.
(So I think its not a matter of what the engine can do, but of how the maps were built.)
Is there a link to a video of this? What is it exactly? A graphical overhaul?
Blue: ~Knockback Squad on Guardian~
Red: ~Undoing of Virtue on [3 guesses]~