How come the cars in this game are from the 1970s?
By
Bullet Barrage,
Posted on: 2010-08-21 19:45 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Because everyone knows that the automotive industry reached design perfection in the 1970s. And when you've reached perfection, why make anything different?
Goodbye, I guess.
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The rikti invasion was in 2002 soooo...
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Originally Posted by marc100
does COH take place in the 1970s?
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Goodbye. Not to the game, but the players. Goodbye. Everyone, remember to have fun. That's all I can say.
It would certainly explain the apparent homicidal tendencies of the drivers...the cars were built a lot heavier back then. A heavy steel frame is much better for taking the impact of running into your neighborhood super, when compared to the light fiberglass and polymer frames of today.
....plus they hurt more when you throw them. Much more conducive when it comes to putting down the bad guy.
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When that big bad Tank Smasher gets that "I wanna rip his head off and poop in the crater" look on him, you don't want to have to try running him down in a tinfoil Hybrid.
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Originally Posted by marc100
Ever notice the cars driving in the streets are from like 40 years ago?
does COH take place in the 1970s? |
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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I'm not sure if this is a serious question or a not so serious question... so forgive me if this is a joke and I missed it.|
Originally Posted by marc100
Ever notice the cars driving in the streets are from like 40 years ago?
does COH take place in the 1970s? |
The basic reason the cars in CoH look old is founded in two primary reasons.
The first one was networking performance. You can kind of see the network data transmission is everything mantra in other games from the time, such as Dark Age of Camelot or Planetside. The visual styles of MMO's from the 2002-2004 release cycle largely centers on large static worlds with very few, if any, in game objects that move and react to the players. The idea was to cut down on the amount of information that needed to be fed back and forth between the server and the player. Player interactions with cars were both limited, as well as the cars themselves, to save on network bandwidth.
The second reason is a little bit more legal. From the plethora of car games out there, you might not know that many car manufacturers tend to look negatively upon images of their cars being reproduced without their permission. CoH did not contain look-alikes of "modern" cars so they wouldn't have to pay licensing fees.
Okay, that was 6 years ago.
Today? I really don't know why the cars haven't been updated or given a revamp. My guess is that on the list of art assets to be looked at, replacing the cars has been a distinct last place feature. I don't know if Noble Savage and crew have plans to update the cars with their own designs or not now that Going Rogue is out the door.
It's funny...I remember on launch day when there were no cars on the streets of Praetoria, it was kind of nice not having to dodge traffic as well as bullets.
Then about midway through my play session the next day a car quite literally appeared out of no where and proceeded to swerve into me, then pull a physics defying U-turn and come at me for another pass before disappearing again.
So while they may look like they are from the 70's, I assure you they have some scary futuristic tech under the hoods....and a taste for capes.
Eagles may soar, but Pigions don't get sucked into Jet engines.
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Now stay with the group everyone! Watch out for the Killer Cars!
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Originally Posted by ClayPigion
It's funny...I remember on launch day when there were no cars on the streets of Praetoria, it was kind of nice not having to dodge traffic as well as bullets.
Then about midway through my play session the next day a car quite literally appeared out of no where and proceeded to swerve into me, then pull a physics defying U-turn and come at me for another pass before disappearing again. So while they may look like they are from the 70's, I assure you they have some scary futuristic tech under the hoods....and a taste for capes. |
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Originally Posted by ClayPigion
It's funny...I remember on launch day when there were no cars on the streets of Praetoria, it was kind of nice not having to dodge traffic as well as bullets.
Then about midway through my play session the next day a car quite literally appeared out of no where and proceeded to swerve into me, then pull a physics defying U-turn and come at me for another pass before disappearing again. So while they may look like they are from the 70's, I assure you they have some scary futuristic tech under the hoods....and a taste for capes. |
Seriously, this was my experience too. I even commented on there being no cars out there. They're still a bit scarce and that's fine, I can't see why there are even cars in Praetoria at all.
They do have a plentiful supply of junkers in their scrap heaps though, in Neutropolis.
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Repurposed
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Could be worse.|
Originally Posted by ClayPigion
Then about midway through my play session the next day a car quite literally appeared out of no where and proceeded to swerve into me, then pull a physics defying U-turn and come at me for another pass before disappearing again.
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Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
...you know...I was wondering why there were no trains on the subway tracks in the underground....
Apparently they have evolved enough to leave their natural habitats....
Eagles may soar, but Pigions don't get sucked into Jet engines.
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As long as we're discussing this seriously (Ha ha ha).|
Originally Posted by ClayPigion
So while they may look like they are from the 70's, I assure you they have some scary futuristic tech under the hoods...
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In a matter of decades (overnight on the scale of things), we see a lopsided civilization where working class families buy nano-goo at the corner station to keep their station wagons running; and down the street at City Hall, intelligent machines are registering for citizenship. All you need to do is imagine the weirdness that would ensue in a world suddenly gifted with the five origins of power. The end result would be a world where some industries would evolve more quickly (because of better science and technology), while other industries would be less in demand (because we'd have magic or mutation to fulfill those needs) and would therefore evolve more sluggishly.
Some things are more advanced in the City of Heroes universe--partly because of a MUCH higher number of super geniuses and inventors existing in the world after the incident with Pandora's Box (an effect not unlike the ancient Celestials' tampering caused in the Marvel universe), as well as alien technology salvaged after the war. Other things look inconspicuously primitive, like old junk that is now re-purposed, or even sentient.
And many things would never be required to advance as quickly as we'd expect, thanks to everyday magic, and an explosion in magic artifact sales. On Primal Earth, the public at large seems to enjoy more access to magic, while exotic technology is tightly controlled by governments and moreso by Super Groups. Praetoria seems to be the reverse, with magic more tightly controlled and a ban on organized groups of metahumans.
So imagine how many more miles you could get out of your beat up old Ford if the local sorcerer was running a nice sale on magic wands that bless anything related to transportation with wheels-- the wand might be ancient, but it might not distinguish your Ford from any old chariot. On the flip-side, imagine being wealthy enough to afford a handful of self-replicating assemblers (nanotech). In that case, perhaps you'd simply grow some of the parts needed to remedy an ailing transmission, or even a lost or stolen purse!
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Basically, after the Rikti Invansion, the Golden Age of Automotives sank into the Dark Ages. With many of the STC's used for the newer models lost or destroyed, the Automotive industry was forced to resort back to the older models. Although now the automotive industry COULD start researching new technology again, the Auto-Priests of M.A.R.S. have decided this would upset the Automotive spirits that rest inside each automobile, and have since begun stonewalling any attempts to update the designs.
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Originally Posted by marc100
Ever notice the cars driving in the streets are from like 40 years ago?
does COH take place in the 1970s? |
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Nice WH40K reference. |
Originally Posted by LiquidX
Basically, after the Rikti Invansion, the Golden Age of Automotives sank into the Dark Ages. With many of the STC's used for the newer models lost or destroyed, the Automotive industry was forced to resort back to the older models. Although now the automotive industry COULD start researching new technology again, the Auto-Priests of M.A.R.S. have decided this would upset the Automotive spirits that rest inside each automobile, and have since begun stonewalling any attempts to update the designs.
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@Captain-Electric � Detective Marvel � The Sapien Spider � Moravec Man � The Old Norseman
Dark-Eyes � Doctor Serpentine � Stonecaster � Skymaiden � The Blue Jaguar
Guide to Altitis � A Comic for New Players � The Lore Project � Intro to extraterrestrials in CoH
I love the way the cars in CoH look. My favorite comics are those from the 70's and early 80's and the cars in CoH look to be from that era. I also like the way the T-shirts in CoH are skin tight, just the way they were drawn in comics back then. It's too bad we don't have bell bottoms for male characters as well.
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Please never mention this again. Ever. This horrific ret-con is best left forgotten and unmentioned.|
Originally Posted by Captain_Electric
MUCH higher number of super geniuses and inventors existing in the world after the incident with Pandora's Box
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As far as car goes, unfortunately I don't think there's much that can be done about them. There are far too few cars on the street for what ought to be a large city, and the physics involved in increasing their number are unpleasant. Updating the cars' look, on the other hand, IS something I'd like to see, at least in Praetoria.
What I'd really want to update from the old days of 2002 games is civilians. We've already seen that it's perfectly possible to use NPCs to provide roaming individuals, as seen by Midnighters in the club, Cimerorans in Cimerora and so forth. Sooner or later, I want to see all of the old NPCs and their "travel paths" and their walking on air and their walking through walls scrapped entirely and replaced with NPC civilians who move like NPCs do - with intelligence. That would cause them to stop pushing us around once their paths are no longer pre-determined, and would actually cause them to walk around us, as we've seen in the Midnighters' club.
It would also allow for many of them to be made to look a might better by rendering them though the character creator, rather than the poor-quality uni-models they have now. This would have the benefit of making the game look less like Quake 2 and more like a 2010 game. It would also make blending in with the crowd on our "civilian clothes" costumes a LOT easier when we're made of the same building blocks. I'd even like to see a few more extravagant PCs, like dudes in biker jackets, chicks in thigh-high boots, old guys with top hats and so forth.
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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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100% agreed....I was flying through Kings Row not to long ago and rescued an NPC from a purse snatcher...two blocks later, same NPC, same purse snatchers...another block after that rinse and repeat.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Please never mention this again. Ever. This horrific ret-con is best left forgotten and unmentioned.
As far as car goes, unfortunately I don't think there's much that can be done about them. There are far too few cars on the street for what ought to be a large city, and the physics involved in increasing their number are unpleasant. Updating the cars' look, on the other hand, IS something I'd like to see, at least in Praetoria. What I'd really want to update from the old days of 2002 games is civilians. We've already seen that it's perfectly possible to use NPCs to provide roaming individuals, as seen by Midnighters in the club, Cimerorans in Cimerora and so forth. Sooner or later, I want to see all of the old NPCs and their "travel paths" and their walking on air and their walking through walls scrapped entirely and replaced with NPC civilians who move like NPCs do - with intelligence. That would cause them to stop pushing us around once their paths are no longer pre-determined, and would actually cause them to walk around us, as we've seen in the Midnighters' club. It would also allow for many of them to be made to look a might better by rendering them though the character creator, rather than the poor-quality uni-models they have now. This would have the benefit of making the game look less like Quake 2 and more like a 2010 game. It would also make blending in with the crowd on our "civilian clothes" costumes a LOT easier when we're made of the same building blocks. I'd even like to see a few more extravagant PCs, like dudes in biker jackets, chicks in thigh-high boots, old guys with top hats and so forth. |
I was about ready to pay a visit to Pocket D after that one.
Eagles may soar, but Pigions don't get sucked into Jet engines.
If you look at some of the road design in Paragon, Skyway especially springs to mind, you'll understand why nobody ever wants to drive a new car in CoH.
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Okay, I'm about to contradict myself, so hold onto your seats.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I'd even like to see a few more extravagant PCs, like dudes in biker jackets, chicks in thigh-high boots, old guys with top hats and so forth.
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First up: old guys with top hats? Top hats for anything other than the most formal occasions went out with the First World War. So these old guys would have to be, what, a hundred and thirty?
That said... the CoX world does seem much more retro than ours. Civilians in three-pieces and fedoras are common... as someone mentioned, T-shirts are of the short, snug 40s/50s style... and apparently new, shiny cars have 60s/70s aesthetics. My take? Maybe super-science meant that what looks 'modern' to us has already done its run in the CoX-verse... maybe super-powered individuals having such a huge role in society (it's not called Paragon City for nothing, and all) means that American culture has embraced a similar sort of individualism, and people want big, distinctive cars with lots of gewgaws.
70's cars were more blocky. Blocky = less polygons. The end.
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I often think the game is missing a trick by not updating the civilians and cars. Would improve the look and feel of the world a lot. I always think of the newer GTA games, and how awesome CoH would be if our world was like that. Maybe CoH2, eh? ;-)
I love it, myself. The car designs remind me of the retro-future, sort of 'sideways-in-time' city design in Mystery Men. (The visual design in that movie - sort of a 'timeless comicbook city' look - always resonated with me.)
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FYI those light polymers used in modern cars are stronger than steel. There's very little metal at all in the best race cars, and they are much, much, safer than old metal clunkers.|
Originally Posted by ClayPigion
A heavy steel frame is much better for taking the impact of running into your neighborhood super, when compared to the light fiberglass and polymer frames of today.
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Originally Posted by je_saist
The basic reason the cars in CoH look old is founded in two primary reasons.
The first one was networking performance. You can kind of see the network data transmission is everything mantra in other games from the time, such as Dark Age of Camelot or Planetside. The visual styles of MMO's from the 2002-2004 release cycle largely centers on large static worlds with very few, if any, in game objects that move and react to the players. The idea was to cut down on the amount of information that needed to be fed back and forth between the server and the player. Player interactions with cars were both limited, as well as the cars themselves, to save on network bandwidth. |
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Stronger on a "per unit of weight" basis, just as how titanium is stronger than steel for its weight because it's a lighter but still very strong metal. Old cars, especially "barge cars," have A LOT of steel in them, which makes them practically rigid.|
Originally Posted by Zaion
FYI those light polymers used in modern cars are stronger than steel. There's very little metal at all in the best race cars, and they are much, much, safer than old metal clunkers.
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Speaking of which, plastics and polymers are designed to crumple and, fold and collapse, absorbing impact as they so. Steel frames are (or were) designed to simply be rigid and take impact in a similar fashion to armour plating. Good for keeping the chassis intact, bad for keeping the passenger off the steering wheel.
And considering this is a super hero world where cars are as often chucked as they are driven, I'll still take a heavy steel death trap that hurts a lot when you hit people with it than than a collapsible plastic car that's safer.
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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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Yes, Although Stephan & Marcus (as Recluse and Statesman) go back to their origins in the 1930s, the modern-day CoH is set in the late seventies / early-to-mid eighties:|
Originally Posted by marc100
Ever notice the cars driving in the streets are from like 40 years ago?
does COH take place in the 1970s? |
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| Sometime before the 1980s, the Freedom Phalanx disbanded, later coming back together with the Statesman, Dr. Raymond Keyes (Positron), Justin Sinclair (Manticore), Steven Berry (Synapse), and Shalice Tilman (Sister Psyche) to battle evil in Paragon City once again. |
Ever notice the cars driving in the streets are from like 40 years ago?
does COH take place in the 1970s?
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