The Steampunk Pack is Now Available on the Training Room!

Subjective feedback:

In my opinion the worst Booter Pack beside the Wedding Pack.
Might be because i´m not such a big Steam Punk Fan, but i wanted to give it a try on the Training Room.
So I created a Steam Punk Char and the only costume part from the new booster i did use was the Back Pack.

I´m really missing some more gadget like things for shoulders, chest detail, head details and maybe belt.
I really dislike the boots and gloves.

The Wings are very cool and probably the reason for me to buy the booster.
Kokichi(Shining Force 1) ftw.

I was really disappointed to see that you can activate the Temp Power only for 30 secs.
I really hoped for this jet pack to be a costume part.
But maybe real jet pack costume parts will now come SOON.

edit:
i´m glad for the people who wanted a Steam Punk Pack all the time.

Why don´t we get boots that complete the existing Steam Punk Costume?
There´s really no boots option which fits with it.

Not being able to change the color of male hair under the hats is something that should be fixed ASAP. Considering the moustaches are colorable (to an extent) the same should carry over to hair.

Edit:

I hate to be a downer but I had expected much more from this booster. To me, it feels sloppily thrown together and is missing 90% of the actual ability to customize. I can understand the "we'll fix it down the line" but I think this is going to turn off players to the point where people won't buy it till it's fixed.

As repeated: baked in colors, limited customization in pieces that matter (hair color, secondary hair color, all of the Steampunk costume pieces), incorrect textures (sleeves don't have the same texture as the jacket), pieces that should be for all genders, etc.

I'd suggest holding off on it because, seriously, without the customization to start, it's just stuff that really has such a limited use. As it is now, I think this might be the first booster I pass on.

The ONE thing I'd really like to hear from the devs is WHY with each new booster pack there is less and less customization available? You'd think that the more pieces you have the more ways you could use them. Not so since the Science Booster. There is not one booster made that hasn't severely clipped with all other costume pieces. Why can't I use the Vanguard face detail with the Steampunk hats? I mean, the option is there... you'd assume that you could. Nope. The hat and detail clip badly.

I really wish for 3-5 months, instead of giving us a new zone or a new TF, someone would just take a cleanup crew and get everything in order. I hate to have little to no use for costume pieces that SHOULD be good, but are too limited in their use. CoH was all about making your characters unique. In recent years we've been forced to slowly look like everyone else just to use the "latest shiny."

Subjective Feedback :

The baked in gold/brass colours , for the boots /gloves etc... while great in theory and good as an option for us, should be accompanied with one where we can change those colours as well, i.e. allow for secondary colouring. Flexibility is key and I think I didn't realise the lack of this, the first time I looked at the pieces.

Men's Classic Steampunk gloves can take two colors.

Men's Classic Steampunk Boots can only be colored one color.

This makes no sense. You can't even match the color schemes between the two supposedly matching costume pieces.

Actually if you check there are several pieces as well as the new ones that need dual color fixing, both of the ladies wedding pack tops, crab SoA gloves (Including bladed).

Others such as monsterous feet need to include several pattern options that are available for standard feet alongside the skin/hairy/reptile/fur options we currently have.

I'm not so bothered by the clipping issues - obviously, everything working with everything else would be ideal, but better having lots of options with some clipping than lots of restrictions. (That said, there seem to be lots of restrictions anyway, as it's implemented now - the lack of sleeveless options being an example.) Incidentally, colour-matching the new corset with a trenchcoat makes an awesome three-piece for ladies.

Most of my thoughts on the STeampunk Booster echo what others have already said, so I want to focus on some subjective feedback for a moment - especially concerning the faces.

They're awful! So awful, they *almost* make the 'old' batch of new faces look semi-decent. Almost. Now, the texture quality itself is good - but the faces themselves share the same horrible quality that these old ones do (Female Faces 16-30)... They're dead; lifeless... doll-like. From the plain mouths to the dull eyes; they have no emotion - no expression like the original faces do.

To demonstrate, I'll take my favorite face in the game and place it next to it's equivalent from the 'old' batch of new faces and one of the Victorian faces:



The first face is excellent. You have this narrow-eyed slight-smile that shows confidence; and maybe just a hint of smugness to it. I like! The second, however, is actually a *degredation* - the texture itself is much higher quality; but the eyes have this dull, lifeless quality to them. But at least the skin tone somewhat matches. Then you have the new Steampunk face. I think that one speaks itself: note that all three of them use the exact same skin tone and make-up color/option.

Now, if we cover the eyes...




The new faces actually look a bit better!

But if we just cover the mouths...



The new faces are *slightly* improved; but not as markedly as they were when the eyes were hidden. So it's definitely something with the eyes, I think.


Now for another issue: This time with the new jackets! I don't know if all jackets do this, but I suspect they might: but the body model beneath the new jackets uses the 'Armored' shape - which looks *very* strange on a top that shows so much torso. Observe between a bikini with no jacket; and a bikini under the steampunk jacket:



Wierd! And both of them do this.


Finally, someone mentioned the corset beneath the trenchcoat idea... I *love* the potential behind the combination... buuuuut...



Whether you're maxed or minimized, the clipping is *atrocious*. I don't normally mind clipping; but this could at least fit under the trenchcoat on slimmer settings!

And.. that's more or less all I have. I like almost everything else about the booster - but if none of these issues are addressed, then how about a pair of arm-length gloves to match the new thigh-high Victorian boots?

The short sleeve options on the jackets w/sleeves don't take into account the chest options for the upper arms and default to skin.

IMO all jackets should be combined into one category, giving an additional sleeve option of none and all the shoulder pieces from the sleeveless versions.

The same for robes/robes w/sleeves.

For an example of correct long/short/no sleeves have a look at the trenchcoat stand alone jacket with any body type (White metallic for example) and choose the different sleeve options, compared with the standard jackets w/sleeves official and the new steampunk short lacy sleeves, showing skin even if the chest is as in my suggested example above white metallic. (AKA polished chrome)

Despite the controversy over their very existence, I like the Booster Packs. While I'm not really up on the Steampunk genre, I read Girl Genius faithfully, and I like what I've seen in this latest Booster Pack offering.

Unfortunately, I have to say that I agree with many of the repeated points: coloring/customization options, clipping, lack of certain options, lack of options for all body models. I don't have anything further to add on that front.

Which leads me to the decision that I will delay purchasing this Booster Pack. Hopefully at least some changes will be made. If they are, all well and good, nothing's perfect, and I'll likely purchase it down the road for the small percentage of functionality I may be able to get out of it.

If no changes are made to the Booster Pack as it stands now, either before or sometime after release, then I will sadly decline to purchase it. For me, the "negatives" currently outweigh the positives.

Now, to study up on the Steampunk genre. Maybe I'll find a whole new world to explore and enjoy!

I'd really like the option of using the Classic Steampunk 2 belt with the Magic Bolero top

I figure I might as well put it here, too. I have a few problems.

Problem 1: Brass parts on any Steampunk item that have them are not colourable, requiring a character to always have brown and orange in their costume. Furthermore, hats on males do not have tintable hair. Finally, the Victorian jackets for males have a mandatory yellow seam both on the jacket itself as well as on the sleeves.

Suggested Solution: Introduce duplicate items which are fully colourable. This allows fro the three-colour and four-colour items that the current pieces offer while simultaneously allowing for complete customization, as well. Best of both worlds.

Problem 2: The Steam Boiler back pack IS tintable, but not correctly. Because its base texture is already coloured brown, any colour put over it receives a brown tinge, including full black, which comes off like dark brown.

Suggested Solution: Introduce a duplicate backpack with a greyscale texture which colours completely, including that one copper plate on the chimney. This preserves the "authentic" backpack for an "authentic" Steampunk look while allowing the pack to be used with other design themes.

Problem 3: Male jacket options exist only on Jacket upper body types, but not on Sleevless Jacket options. Female jacket options also exist only on Jacket upper body types.

Suggested Solution: Enable Steampunk and Victorian jacket options on the Male and Female Sleeveless Jacket torso. Furthermore, enable the female Victorian dress options on Shirt torsos, as well. This would make the pieces far more versatile without requiring new pieces to be made.

Problem 4: Male and Female Steampunk/Victorian jacket sleeves override the upper arm texture associated with the chest texture chosen and replace it with the skin texture.

Suggested Solution: Display sleeves as a mesh overlay over the upper arm associated with the chosen torso. This allows for the existing functionality - sleeves over skin arms - to be retained while expanding it to sleeves over any kind of arm.

Problem 5: The Steampunk faces are terrible. Their shading is far too extreme, their surfaces look too smooth and unnatural and their texture quality is far, far too low.

I have no suggested solution to this problem.

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Speaking of faces in general, I want to note that I vastly prefer expressionless, emotionless faces to ones that come with built-in emotions, as those allow me to pick the appropriate face for a character without having to reject better options for having the wrong expression.

Quote:

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.

^ Everything Sam said

Quote:

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Okay, lots of pretty cool stuff but:

Quote:

Originally Posted by InfamousBrad Let me join the legions of people who are disappointed that the Jacket options aren't offered to female characters. Come on, Paragon, didn't you take enough grief over this with the Magic pack? I thought the Science pack showed that you'd learned your lesson here.

Count me in.
Disappointed is an understatement as far as I'm concerned. Seriously, you've been designing some awesome costume pieces and it's really frustrating to see each time female characters limited to "girly" stuff.
Come on, I know stereotypes are expected with superheroes but please, if I want to dress like this...



... why shouldn't I?

And I still hope to see one day the Magic jacket available to female characters while we're at it.

That being said, I love those new costume parts (the faces not so much though), but we're really too much restricted in their use.

So I finally found the time to fiddle around with the steampunk pack. I really like the overal look and quality of this pack. I do have a number of issues with it though:

1. The faces. I can't say I really like them. The look fairly low texture to me, a definite step down form the awesome mutant booster faces. Also the lighting on them looks off, the shadowing looks weird to me. They just don't look natural overal.

2. Male classic steampunk jacket: The texture of the sleeves doesn't match that of the jacket at all. It really looks bad. You can't even get them to be the same colour.

3. The bowtie on the jacket should be removed or there should be a version without it. The bowtie clips horribly with the (imo superior) tie options under chest details.

4. Female hats: Can we have those corkscrew curls as a seperate hair option without the hat? please? please? please?

5. Female face detail 2: The choker. Why is it only available with standard faces :/ This really bugs me. At least make it available with 'masks + hair' and hats.

6. Gloves: A minor point, more a question really: All the costume parts get a victorian and a classic option, yet gloves only get 1 option (classic steampunk). Why that?

7. Clock belt: Can we have a version for this for the male and huge models?

8. Last but definitely not least: I WANT LONGCOATS FOR FEMALES!!!!11! Coats are NOT gender specific garments. They can be used for a whole range of concepts both within and far beyond the scope of steampunk, so they'd make a great addition. It bugged me that they weren't available for females in the magic pack. It bugs me a whole lot more this time. I don't care that it unbalances the male/female costume part ratio in the pack or whatever. I got several female toons who really would like a longcoat.

between the colorizing issues, the unabashed sexism, and the time limit on the travel power this is going to be the first costume pack I will not be buying.
Seriously guys, enough with the sexism. Despite the Victorian age style of this pack, we do not living in the Victorian age.

I suppose that's possible, but his wording made it seem like he somehow meant something else.