Ask a Dev: Matt Stults (The Television)

As part of our ongoing "Ask a Dev" article series, we are proud to introduce you to our next developer: Lead Programmer Matt “The Television” Stults!



Self portrait in oil. I’m way prettier in person.

City of Heroes "Ask a Dev" with CoH Tech Lead Matt “The Television” Stults


Introduction:
Matt “The Television” Stults:
Product Facts

Contains:
H20, deoxyribonucleic acid, glycogen, various proteins, lipids, apatite, glucose, degrees in “science” and “fine arts”, more time spent in formal education than he cares to admit, 20 years under successive Bush and Clinton administrations, equal time spent in Iowa and California with a close minority of time lived in Colorado and Texas, previous employment in the fields of programming, illustration, assorted retail, food service, barista-ism, academic research, etc.

% of day/% of daily value: (actual amounts may vary dramatically)

Sleep:					                          33%/29%
Programming:				                          1%/7%
Communicating in various forms:		                  32%/22%
		(meetings):                                          20%/10%
		(electronic):			                  11%/8%
		(water cooler):			                  2%/4%
Walking:				                                  8%/7%
Driving:					                          2%/0%
Reading:				                                  10%/22%
		(for work):			                          4%/2%
		(for pleasure):			                  6%/20%
Playing CoV:				                          4%/9%
Attempting Wit:				                          10%/5%
		(to the chagrin of those around him):        9%/<1%
		(to the amusement of those around him): <1%/8%

Hi there Matt!

Where do you see this game going in the next year?

Has there ever been an instance where the Devs had a clear scope of what they were doing and a player, through sheer luck, makes a comment or develops an idea that makes the Dev table go "holy crap! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?!"

Clarification on K, L and M?


Outside of the Incarnate, Tips and Morale Systems... how many more new systems are being planned for CoX?


New Fall lineup on stations CoH and CoV or more reruns; anything new for Public Access?

Do you ever plan on revamping the enhancement combination system that is a major time waster, as well as the entire respec system that sucks the life out of this game by limiting us to pulling off ten enhancements, instead forcing people to waste time/money on respecs, or for some of us, rolling a completely new toon to avoid the painstaking respec process?

With the new Organic Armor and Bioluminescent costume sets included as part of the Mutant Booster pack, there's a new degree of weird that can be applied to characters. Is there any thought between the Devs of pushing this further, such as misshapen limbs or other deformed features, or even the choice to have an under or overweight hero or villain? What I mean is that some character concepts don't exactly fit the "buffed up" mold that is currently a default in CoX. No matter how large or skinny you make a character, they're still ripped, and I was wondering if there will ever be the chance to make heroes or villains that are, say, not so healthy?

I have three questions, and although I do not think them particularly complex, due to the fact that I am in marketing myself, and as such have a good idea of what would be allowable information to share, I don't particularly expect all of them to be answered... at least, just yet.

First, as someone who is just getting into the game design industry as a hobby/possible career/possible company to start, I'm curious as to how you got into the industry. What was the first game you worked on?

Second, what would you consider to be the most innovative part of the CoX world?

Lastly, If there was any one feature that you wish was never included in the game, what would it be? Conversely, if there is any one feature that you would like to drop everything to include, what would it be?

I've got so many "why don't you do this" or "why isn't this that way" questions... But I'll skip those and stick with ones more in the spirit of the feature...

So, be honest, how much fun is your job, really? I mean, are you livin the gamer geek's dream, or is it way more work than you ever thought it would be?

Oh, and on a side note... Since you are, like, The Television and all... Can you do something about the annoying glut of reality shows and vampire programming? Just thought I'd ask

1: Please list what you see as the top 3 bugs in the game you are making progress on.

2: How many issues/months ahead are you developing tech for?

3: Please name a tech request that you are all like, "Great idea! Not gonna happen without rewriting the engine."

4: Are you overhauling the CoH engine, and if so, is the process ongoing or something that is intended to happen at some point in the future?

5: What's up with the patch notes (they have gotten better; thank you)?

6: Are you working on a happy friendly developer UI for powers creation/content development? I've heard one would be ...useful.

7: What were you thinking?

And most importantly...
Can you save Happy Town?

What is the funniest bug you encountered during in-house testing?

Will we ever get a "hats with hair" option? the default hair that is chosen for us ruins the theme, therefore keeping me away from the hat option in general

Are there any plans on putting characters in the game as enemies that aren't currently in the game? I know we finally got Protean from the last Issue, but theres so many more I would like to see and do battle against. One example is Midas of the Goldbrickers. We always here the Goldbrickers talk about him, but we never see him.

Will SGs be made co-op in GR, considering the markets are now merged. It also wouldn't force the Rogue running a Hero STF from travelling the long way. IP > Talos > PI and back again to continue running the STF. Be easier if SGs were co-op and you could use telepads.

Did any of those bugs you were working on deal with pvp?

If not could you at least give one a stab?

Thanks in advance.

I'm curious as to why some form of SuperGroup self invite hasn't been incorporated into the game. Even if it only allows the founder of the SG to auto-invite their toon creations, I'm thinking this would be welcomed with open arms. Guild Wars offers this feature and everyone in that game seems to love it.

Can you explain why the Tab targeting system sometimes puts more priority in targeting a foe that's on the far side of a room or even, when outside, so far away that the foe isn't even rendered, rather than the foes in your immediate area?

Any chance of MM's getting any pet modification ability, even tinting like the controllers have?


Please just a bucket of bot paint!!!!! qq

Since the Cathedral o' Pain is gettin' re-released in GR, what're the odds that Items o' Power will make their return? Perma-buffs aren't really an issue anymore, what with set bonuses and all.

And speakin' o' Rularuu-related content, could it be expected to have the Shadow Shard get finished, or even better, finished AND made co-op?

if the EU numbers contiunue to decline after the launch of GR will there be anything in place to stop the end of our servers that will let us keep our toons and or jump over to the american servers?

Hello Matt,

My question is this: Are you all planning to increase the level cap? If not why not?

Thanks,

Windwalker

1. Can we at some point get the ability to set up autopay for our SG base rent? Or at least the ability to "mail" it rather than having to pay in person?

2. What's the deal with City Vault these days?

3. What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?