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My feeling is that you shouldn't worry about it. If the curtain really closes for good, I'd love to know as much as possible about what could have been. Something about it just feels good.
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Well to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm doing y'all any favors by telling you about things that may never see the light of day. It could be a bit more taunting than even I'm comfortable with.
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Blue
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Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
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I agree with this. The more we know, the more we'll be able to take away from the game when it's all said and done.|
Originally Posted by UberGuy
My feeling is that you shouldn't worry about it. If the curtain really closes for good, I'd love to know as much as possible about what could have been. Something about it just feels good.
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I'll even promise to forgive all of you if you get picked up by a different studio then don't do any of it, doing something else instead (but it better be cooler!)
"I play characters. I have to have a very strong visual appearance, backstory, name, etc. to get involved with a character, otherwise I simply won't play it very long. I'm not an RPer by any stretch of the imagination, but character concept is very important for me."- Back Alley Brawler
I couldn't agree more.
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff.
That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room.
The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal.
-Hosun "Black Pebble" Lee
Help me beat Dr. Aeon! Follow me on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/hosunl
Quote:
This is a thing I've wanted since.. since forever.|
Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff. That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room. The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal. |
P.S. Put it in Kinetic Control.
P.S.S. make Kinetic Control
P.S.S.S. lie and tell me you where making Kinetic Control.
Anyone Who wants to argue about my usual foolishness can find me here.
https://twitter.com/Premmytwit
I'll miss you all.
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Way past the aggro cap, by the sounds of it.
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff. That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room. The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal. |
Aaaand that vortex thingy sounds like it'd be HELLA-FUN. 
Remind me to buy a lottery ticket after work tomorrow...
Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
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Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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That would have been nice to have in various Gravity Control powers.
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff. That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room. The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal. |
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
If that's the mechanic I think it is, it didn't just work on mobs. It could basically move an entity to a target (or fixed offset from a target, which was another new feature in I24). Since it worked on the player as well as enemies, it could be used to make something like Shield Charge was originally intended to be.
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Would it work for pseudopets and such, I wonder, allowing one to activate placeable powers on a targeted character/enemy? Because that would have been a huge QoL improvement for me.
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Originally Posted by Codewalker
If that's the mechanic I think it is, it didn't just work on mobs. It could basically move an entity to a target (or fixed offset from a target, which was another new feature in I24). Since it worked on the player as well as enemies, it could be used to make something like Shield Charge was originally intended to be.
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Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
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Spawning a pseudopet on the target could always technically be done -- that's how the NPC versions of those powers work. Since the AI can't pick locations, all of their versions just spawn on a target. However the limit there is that it's a different target type, so it's not something you can just switch on and off without making an entirely different power.|
Originally Posted by Tenzhi
Would it work for pseudopets and such, I wonder, allowing one to activate placeable powers on a targeted character/enemy? Because that would have been a huge QoL improvement for me.
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Something like that might have been possible using power redirection, but there's still the issue of not having a UI to enable it.
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So we would have had Champions-Online style "movement" powers?|
Originally Posted by Codewalker
If that's the mechanic I think it is, it didn't just work on mobs. It could basically move an entity to a target (or fixed offset from a target, which was another new feature in I24). Since it worked on the player as well as enemies, it could be used to make something like Shield Charge was originally intended to be.
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Anyone Who wants to argue about my usual foolishness can find me here.
https://twitter.com/Premmytwit
I'll miss you all.
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Yeah, I was thinking about it wrong. I knew somewhere in my head that they were different issues, but my brain correlated changing one placeable power into a targeted power to changing them all to targeted powers without regard for the actual underlying problems. Some nights there just isn't enough coffee.
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Originally Posted by Codewalker
Spawning a pseudopet on the target could always technically be done -- that's how the NPC versions of those powers work. Since the AI can't pick locations, all of their versions just spawn on a target. However the limit there is that it's a different target type, so it's not something you can just switch on and off without making an entirely different power.
Something like that might have been possible using power redirection, but there's still the issue of not having a UI to enable it. |
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound
... Water armor?
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Either Arbiter Hawk or Black Scorpion did figure out how to "fix" shield charge (at least in theory) but I don't think they actually implemented it.
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Originally Posted by Codewalker
Spawning a pseudopet on the target could always technically be done -- that's how the NPC versions of those powers work. Since the AI can't pick locations, all of their versions just spawn on a target. However the limit there is that it's a different target type, so it's not something you can just switch on and off without making an entirely different power.
Something like that might have been possible using power redirection, but there's still the issue of not having a UI to enable it. |
-Hosun "Black Pebble" Lee
Help me beat Dr. Aeon! Follow me on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/hosunl
Quote:
I think Arbiter Hawk mentioned something about looking it, but I don't remember off hand now.|
Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Either Arbiter Hawk or Black Scorpion did figure out how to "fix" shield charge (at least in theory) but I don't think they actually implemented it.
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On the general subject of dropping hints, you all would be amazed at how often the devs loved dropping hints at me and making me figure out what the heck they were talking about, rather than just telling me straight up. I figured out Martial Combat was coming when Arbiter Hawk told me I was "44% right" about something. A half hour later I realized that could only mean one thing, and about two weeks earlier was when I posted my "how I would do martial arts for blasters" post.
I think they enjoyed seeing how long it would take. Sometimes it took weeks for me to figure out what they meant.
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Quote:
I was really hoping to see a Shield Defense ability that would use some of the newer tech, like chaining, so you could bounce a shield off of multiple targets. But apparently we weren't quite there yet, as there were still a fair # of messy things that could make this not work well.|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I think Arbiter Hawk mentioned something about looking it, but I don't remember off hand now.
On the general subject of dropping hints, you all would be amazed at how often the devs loved dropping hints at me and making me figure out what the heck they were talking about, rather than just telling me straight up. I figured out Martial Combat was coming when Arbiter Hawk told me I was "44% right" about something. A half hour later I realized that could only mean one thing, and about two weeks earlier was when I posted my "how I would do martial arts for blasters" post. I think they enjoyed seeing how long it would take. Sometimes it took weeks for me to figure out what they meant. |
I was never a big fan of getting dropped hints, though.
-Hosun "Black Pebble" Lee
Help me beat Dr. Aeon! Follow me on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/hosunl
I do remember proposing, long long ago, Electric Control to BaBs, and it had a sort of "polarize" power that used a Repel, but with negative value, that should have done the trick (ie clumping instead of dispersing). I wonder whether that's what they did with this water vortex power.
It was on the 15 July, 2008.
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I have a lifetime sub there too.|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I'm glad to hear some of them found soft landings there. I always thought STO had a lot of promise: it was just too thin to hold my attention when it launched. And the crafting system was bonkers. But there was no one thing I could point to exactly and say "I hate that." It just seemed incomplete. I will eventually revisit it: I have a lifetime sub to that game also.
I don't think STO is ever likely going to be the game I spend thousands of hours in. But it could easily be the game I pop into occasionally. I just haven't, up to now. |
I need to get my voice activation profiles up to date for that game and dust it off again.
There I was between a rock and a hard place. Then I thought, "What am I doing on this side of the rock?"
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Oy.... Synapse would have been getting hell from me... I been wanting tanker Taunt powers to be replaced by set-thematic attacks that did just that! Was it speed-adjustable? Was it possible to make a power that slowly pulled while another did a sudden knock-forward like pull?
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff. That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room. The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal. |
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I think that version of Shield Charge could have been achieved with the same tech as Vorpal.
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Originally Posted by Codewalker
If that's the mechanic I think it is, it didn't just work on mobs. It could basically move an entity to a target (or fixed offset from a target, which was another new feature in I24). Since it worked on the player as well as enemies, it could be used to make something like Shield Charge was originally intended to be.
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Vorpal's just a fancy animation that makes it look like you're moving, when in reality you're not, and end up back where you started. I believe that animation only works because of the unique nature of Vorpal's targeting -- directly in front of you -- and wouldn't be convincing if you could pick your own location.|
Originally Posted by Starsman
I think that version of Shield Charge could have been achieved with the same tech as Vorpal.
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Similarly Shield Charge and Spring Attack are both just teleports with some FX.
The new ForceMove mechanic would actually move an entity, whether it's a mob or the player, covering all points in between the source and the destination. In addition to the mentioned water ability, Utility Belt had an experimental flying kick style power that used it. Not sure if it would have made it into the final cut or not, but it's clear that someone was thinking about how "Shield Charge should have been".
There's also two test powers that use it, Temporary_Powers.Test_Charge, and Temporary_Powers.Test_Death_Grip.
That's not the only new thing lately, between that and Lua hooks, and several other new mechanics that had been added recently, it's clear that the programming team was in the process of making substantial changes to the engine.
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Originally Posted by Black Pebble
Awright, so Andy implemented a new powers feature in I24. It basically allowed a power to pull targets towards you.
So one implementation was going to be for Water Armor, where you could create a vortex around you and suck mobs into you doing damage to them and other fun stuff. That's the new mechanic I was being coy about. I was really looking forward to it too. You could use it to pull off cool tricks like snatching mobs from across the room. The things Andy can pull with a 8+ year old engine is phenomenal. |
...and then it was going to be ported into grav control. Awesome!
As a coder, I find engine and code stretching, at least from the gaming angle very cool. I program on an LP-Mud, and we are still figuring out new workarounds for things all the time. True, I think it's less limiting (but I wouldn't know) than a graphics-tied game engine. But still.
Also. DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
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I know, but it also was a target-free cone. |
Originally Posted by Codewalker
Vorpal's just a fancy animation that makes it look like you're moving, when in reality you're not, and end up back where you started. I believe that animation only works because of the unique nature of Vorpal's targeting -- directly in front of you -- and wouldn't be convincing if you could pick your own location.
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Shield Charge would have been possible as a target free cone that requires a teleport-like target as we have it now.
You point where you want to teleport, the game forces you to look that way and starts a cone attack in that direction, with a .2 second delay for the actual teleport effect.
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| The new ForceMove mechanic would actually move an entity, whether it's a mob or the player, covering all points in between the source and the destination. |
What i would like to know, though, is why they never made a Teleport To Targeted Eneity Location power. Every teleport in the game was set to target a location, not an entity. I can see issues with you ending up inside the target, but should the attack also apply a knockback this would not be an issue.
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Without question. I was so excited for the future of this game, especially after hearing about the Lua implementations.|
Originally Posted by Codewalker
...it's clear that the programming team was in the process of making substantial changes to the engine.
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People constantly talk about the shortcomings of older engines and coding, but the greatness is also in the enormous amounts of depth and additions to the systems as we go, especially when talented people are given the freedom to use their skills on it and if they obtain great familiarity with the old code.
I'm really sick of the old always getting tossed aside. I crave games that give me more and more awesome features on top of awesome features on top of awesome features and continued improvement. I don't want new and (relatively) shallow.
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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