Informal Art Poll

Hey, folks. So I have two overarching philosophies when it comes to the Art Direction in COH: first, that we continue to improve the quality bar with every new initiative we undertake and second, that we not forget about the legacy art as this happens. But when it comes to legacy art, there are of course items in the Costume Creator that are starting to show their age. We could hypothetically remake these assets with crisper, more detailed textures and modern shaders and do our best to maintain the 'flavor' and 'feel' of the originals, with the goal of giving you the same stuff, only better.

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But then there's a choice on how to deploy them, and that's where this very informal poll comes in: How would you, the players, want to approach this issue?


HYPOTHETICAL OPTION 1: Old assets would be removed from the Costume Creator menu and you'd have the newer, updated ones instead.

Pro: This raises the overall quality bar of the game by eliminating the oldest, least-attractive pieces; players look cooler; everything looks more consistent and modern. Less menu clutter.
Con: change is scary; perhaps some players will prefer the old pieces?

HYPOTHETICAL OPTION 2: We leave the old version alone and put the new version immediately below it in the Costume Creator.

Pro: Nothing is 'taken away.'
Con: Outmoded art remains, clashes progressively more with newer, modern assets. Menus swell with 2 options for each basic piece, making it harder to navigate.

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So you can see where I stand on this. Personally, I'd like to see the game's art evolve, improve, and remain consistent, so I much prefer Option 1. But as always, I'd be interested to hear what you guys think about this. Do me a favor and please keep your posts short and to the point.

Possible grist for the mill:
--non-animated tails were left in Costume Creator when Animated Tails were added. Do any of you use the non-moving ones at this point?

If I might ask, what are the odds for revamping some of the oldest pieces that still remain quite popular? That way we'd get the best of both worlds...

Otherwise, I vote option 1.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

To avoid clutter, would it be possible to make the two versions into sub-options of every piece? For example:

Tights
-Classic Tights
-New Tights

If everything had a sub-option it would also be easier to add new sub-options, like this:

Tights
-classic tights
-new tights
-war-torn tights
-dirty tights
-shiny tights
-super-reflective tights (like Widows)
-etc
-etc

I am for option 2. Keep both versions. Some old versions could be critical to the theme of a toon. I don't think it's right to just remove pieces. They may seem dated but that term can be subjective...some people may enjoy them.

I was rather annoyed with the upgrade to the tech pieces and how they now look out of place with so many costumes I made. I've removed all of these 'clashing' pieces and tried to make them more 'uniform' by substituting the tech piece for a non-tech piece.

While I don't think anyone really prefers fewer options, if these is no compromise between these two scenarios, I'd have to go with option 1. In some cases, menu clutter in the costume creator is bad enough as is (chest details come to mind).

On second thought, I can see why one would want to keep more consistency in the look of the game and its characters...but if consistency is the priority, wouldn't all NPCs also require these "auto-upgrades"?

Personally I'd rather see some datamining done forst to get get actual numbers on how often pieces are used (if possible), mining amongst possible other things:

1) All pieces on characters
2) Activity of the account
3) Last time a character was logged on

points 2 and 3 are there obviously to not have to take into account pieces on characters that are no longer active...

After that piece of mining (which will indeed take time and effort, as does every option really), the choice would be clearer in my opinion.

If not feasible though, I'm siding with you Noble, if only to avoid unnecessary clutter.

If it was just a tidying up of old stuff, rendering them in higher res and so on, then I'd go for Option 1.

If though, there were any real changes, then it's Option 2 for me. I'm talking about things like the alterations to thigh high boots, or the "shinyness" added to many metallic pieces with Ultra Mode. If the changes are like this, then I would still want access to the old stuff.

Chances are you're going to get complains whichever option you choose. That said, though, the 'clutter' is /already/ getting out of hand with the dozens and dozens of different pattern options on various items of clothing.

I'd personally go with a modification of option 1 - remove old versions of patters from the tailor options when an updated variant is made, but don't remove them from the database yet. That way, people who sincerely prefer to keep their costumes as is can simply keep that particular costume slot unchanged while new players don't have to suffer the clutter from the legacy junk when trying out new costumes.

Difficult question,

I usually tend towards the "More is better" option when considering the costume designer, however it all depends on how the updated pieces are done.

If the updates end up adding odd textures to the legacy pieces (like the strange hex pattern on the movie Spider Man or the odd diamond pattern on the Routh Superman) then perhaps leaving the legacy pieces in would be best. People tend to be very particular when it comes to costume pieces, even if the majority of people agree the newer additions look better. IMO, the costume creator is about letting people create what is most aesthetically pleasing to them. (even if it's hideous to everyone else)

That said, to answer your question, I can't see any reason I would ever choose one of the older non-animated tails.

For my own example, many pieces have been added to the CC recently that are more detailed/better textured and possibly better suited to my main hero, however after trying all the new options, I remain with the look he has had pretty much since GvE. (I would love updated shader options for most costume pieces so it would be easier to make everything match even better)


Edit to add: If the updates don't change anything but the resolution / warped edges, I wouldn't have a problem with the legacy stuff disappearing.

I personally would have to go for Option 2. I'd rather have to deal with an extra entry or extra clutter than risk a piece that's "improved" like so many pieces have been that change dramatically. Things like the old suit tops and such.

If the item really, truly is the SAME piece just completely improved I suppose I couldn't complain about it being replaced. I just fear the loss of useful items as has happened before.

Option 2. Its happened before when old stuff got modded over, like the metalic stuff getting reflections when people have wanted it turned back, so yeah, new players may find the creator a bit of a doozy if it gets crowded, but older players would, in general, prefer it more.

What I would really like to see now that your in arts lead is a sweep of the colour conformity. It has been my biggest problem with the costume editor for a very long time that selecting the same colour across different pieces comes out grossly different in some instances, even on pieces that are supposed to be matte textured, though the majority of these issues occur for me around matte vs a different texture.

Perhaps (and i know its a helluva lot of work) but textures could be added to all pieces to allow for matte/leather/metalic apperances.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooGirl [*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*

I'd have to go with Option 2.

Ordinarily I'd be all for reduced clutter in the menus, but since I had several costumes destroyed when certain pieces were made reflective I'm now wary of any "improvements" that replace current pieces. I mean sure, the shiny metal pieces look cool, and they're still basically the same pieces, but if you had them mixed with pieces that aren't shiny, such as tights, then suddenly things don't match anymore.

That said, if we had to choose between option 1 or no fixing old stuff at all then I would certainly take my chances with option 1.