Statues

Re: Designing outdoor objects:

Imagine when you edit an SG base, except that the "box" you design in is 100 times the size, with tens of thousands of objects ranging from huge buildings to tiny bushes. And if you want to place a new object, first you have to wait for someone in the 3D objects department to fire up a 3D design app, and merge polygons, and then get a texture from the art department and texture it (if you're not lucky enough for it to have been created already).

And that person with the 3D app has to consult with the engineering team to make sure the game engine can handle the object, and then make adjustments. Finally the object gets back to the environment team, which has to precisely be placed in this gigantic box (which, if you edited an SG base before, no doubt is likely a very slow and painful process even on a powerful computer), hoping you don't miss it by a few pixels, or that the object was spec'd correctly and isn't too big or small, or that the environment editor, which hasn't been updated in years because the devs have been busy, doesn't CRASH.

That's just about outdoor environment work in a nutshell.


Re: Old Game Engine

The game engine was designed in around 2004. I think the only older one is from WoW, and you know how that game looks. CoH, and also WoW, can't upgrade the game engines so easily because there are so many things tied to it that also need to be upgraded. The 3D objects can just be ported over to a newer game engine, but they'll look like crap - we've seen the result of that when you go from a revamped zone like Atlas to an old one like King's Row.

I would love to see new character models, but there are dozens of emotes plus hundreds of movement animations that would have to be changed. And thousands of costume pieces that would no longer fit the new models or the new movement mechanics. I believe it would be a worthwhile change, but I do understand it would be a lot of work - so much that it may have to be pretty much the showcase of an entire new issue ("look, new character models/costumes! but no new content"). And I also understand it's a risk because it would bring a flood of complaints from people who liked the old models, or lost some costume piece from 2004.

Statues of Statesman and Sister Psyche would be cool.

While just tossing a new statue into the game environment isn't trivial, it would be nice if, during already planned zone revamps, some thought was given to statues and other monuments. It's a little strange that I can read some placards by statues and learn more about them, but not others.

Common sense also says that sooner or later we're going to see a statue of Statesman and/or Psyche somewhere in Paragon City. Not sure if real world dev politics will allow, but it seems logical within the lore.

I do not know the answer to your question. But many times in Atlas Park I find myself staring up at the central statue in awe at that man and his one enormous ball.

I think I remember seeing somewhere that the giant statue standing on Crimson's island in Peregrine Island is indeed the heroine Peregrine, but I'm drawing a blank on where I saw it in-game, and it was a looong time ago. I'm thinking it might have been a history plaque. I'll try to dig through some of my old, old screenshots and see if I can find confirmation. The smaller scale statue with the same figure and pose inside Atlas City Hall is credited with being the heroine Cassiopeia, however.

One of the statues behind City Hall, the one with the SG portal beneath it, is of Corsair. His giant statue stands in RWZ. Two of the others around City Hall are Galaxy Girl and Wavelength. I'm thinking Dauntless was the fourth, but I honestly am not sure.

I also support the idea of honoring Statesman with a giant statue somewhere. Sister Psyche I'm not as sure about. I also strongly believe that at some point either Galaxy City should be rebuilt or a new giant statue of Galaxy Girl needs to be built; she's possibly the greatest example of heroism in game lore, and her monument needs to return to inspire new heroes.

This thread. Makes me hate you all

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

I think this thread passed its statue of limitation.