SilverAgeFan

Some suggestions--all code based as opposed to new artwork or animations:

• The two Female Bolero tops should be available in the Jackets without Sleeves
• The Female laced neck choker should be available in Masks With Hair and Full Masks
• The Sleeves from the Female Boleros would make a fine addition to the Shirts section
• The Steam Jump back detail should also be available under Backpacks as a persistent tintable costume item that animates similarly to rocket boots when Fly is turned on

As is, the pack is great. Very pleased with the costume change emotes and the range of use I'm able to get out of the clunker path aura and the drips. But all of the above suggestions--which I imagine are more a matter of database switches--would make it that much more versatile. Really hoping that the rocket pack can be made persistent.

Went through all three models on an AR character. Only thing I haven't looked at or tested I think are the dual pistols.

For the most part, quite impressed with this pack.

Really like how adaptable the path aura is in terms of the colors it can take. I was able to do blood, slime, toxic ooze, oil/ink and even water(!) with the right dirty shade of cyan.

A couple requests though:

• Would it be possible to get the female steampunk sleeves put in shirts as well?
  
• That Steam Jump rocket pack: is there ANY way this could be made available as a persistent costume item that turns on, like the craftable rocket boots, with flight? It's too damn nice to not be able to use it like that.

Other than that, great work art team. This is top notch stuff, up there with some of my favorite boosters. And I say this with doubts that I'll use much of it as thematically intended!

EDIT: Additional request/suggestion upon playing with the pack more:

• Female jackets do NOT show up in sleeveless jackets. These both would work nicely in there IMO as costume framing details. Please consider unlocking these two parts for the sleeveless jacket option.

Was that a jet pack? It looks like a flypose. I know we're getting steam jump as a power. And I know that there is the back pack. BUT... that first item? Is that really a persistent jet pack... Finally? After all these years? Does my rocketeer finally get a rocket pack for reals? I've been wanting that item for so many years now that I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. Something feels wrong with the universe.

Now for the as of yet-non-existent-but-FX-work-heavy-powersets. Being very much about visceral aesthetics myself, I won't go into detail outlining power suggestions of tier 1 through 9. But I will describe in brief how the powersets could work overall to set them apart mechanically and I will list a range of customization options, each requiring an entirely new set of VFX per customization--similar to how spines sets work now. Obviously, mixing and matching of VFX options would be permitted similar to other sets already.

Whips/Chains/Lines: Despite the innuendo and giggles this suggestion always evokes from certain members of the forum peanut gallery, Demon Summoning shows that a whip set could be an aesthetically compelling option for CoX. I alter in my own opinions as to whether this set should be a control set, a dominator assault set or a melee set. Perhaps there is room to find a viable set with these weapons for each. Mechanically, the set should be heavy with stuns, knockups, and new tech reverse-knockback to grab and pull baddies past the whip wielder. It would have a shorter range than most control and assault sets but a longer range than most melee sets. Would suggest linking a suite of 3 or 4 sounds to different VFX as a chain would sound different than a bullwhip and that different from an energy whip.

VFX Aesthetic options for a whips set:

• Bull Whip
• Heavy Cable
• Chain
• Fire Whip as seen in Demon Summoning
• Cat-o-ninetails
• Energy Whip
• High Tech Whip
• Organic Tendril
• Leafy Vine

Thrown Weapons: Blasting primary, good for blasters, defenders and corruptors. A variety of signature objects from hats to hand fans to flaming chattering skulls are lobbed, flung and tumbled through space at foes. I envision this being the ranged equivalent to dual blades, revisiting the mechanic of attack combos--though the exact mechanics involved may need to be modified considering these AT's have two powersets loaded with attacks that could interrupt combo chains. In this case though, the combos would result in a various elemental damage types being added to attacks. The animations for the attacks should be evocative of a dancing dervish. Where dual pistols is energetic and acrobatic, this would be energetic and graceful--somewhere between modern dance and very athletic balet.

VFX Aesthetic Options for Thrown Weapons (including tumble and spin descriptions):

• Throwing Knives (tumble end over end or spiral)
• Tomahawks (tumble)
• Tech Hatchet (tumble)
• Carnie Discs (spin along horizontal plane)
• Traditional Boomerangs (spin)
• Heavy Metal Boomerangs (spin)
• Tech or Energy Boomerangs (spin)
• Playing/Tarot Cards (spin along horizontal plane)
• Dice (mix of spin, tumble and spiral)
• Crystal Skulls (spiral or static)
• Chattering Skulls (spiral or static)
• Flaming Skulls (spiral or static)
• Pumpkins (spiral or static)
• Flaming Pumpkins (spiral or static)
• Juggling Pins (tumble or spin)
• All three different types of balls from the /e juggle emotes
• Bowler Hats (spin)
• Shuriken (spin and tumble)
• Metallic Spheres (static--couldn't see the rotations anyways!)
• Grenades (tumble or spiral or static)
• Glowing and Translucent Runes (tumble, spiral, spin or static)
• Apples (tumble, spiral, spin or static)
• Goo Gob (spiral or static)
• Gears (spin)
• Springs (spiral)
• Hand Fans (tumble or spiral)

Signature Weapons: This set would be the blaster secondary with room to easily be stretched into a dominator assault set as well. Similarly, the concept might also be able to be stretched to a defender primary/corruptor secondary. Again the same dancing dervish feel to animations. Any melee attacks would make use of a weapon customization slot opened up for the characters with this set. All ranged powers would make use of the list above. Mechanically, if this set utilized combos, I'd imagine status effects and debuffs being the result of those combos. Of course not all VFX elements from above are suitable for a striking weapon, so similar themes would need to be touched upon and made available:

Corresponding Weapons Examples:

• Knife Similar to Throwing Knife Model
• Tomahawks
• Tech Hatchet
• Carnie Disc Held in Hand
• Boomerangs Held in Hand
• Wands (two to five options from simple black stage wand to something more Potterish)
• Chicken Foot
• Dragons Claw
• Zombie Forearm
• Tsai
• Wooden Quarter Staff
• Tech Quarter Staff
• Metallic Quarter Staff
• Energy Quarter Staff
• Shillelagh (with and without leaf sprout)
• Bone
• Walking Cane
• Folded up Umbrella
• Juggling Pin Held in Hand
• Wrench
• Scepters with a variety of symbols from various mythologies
• Billy Club

*****

So from the extent of that list, you can see I show no mercy to Tunnel Rat. But personally would love love love a few sets that are THIS customizable in terms of VFX and character concept and flavor.

Have a couple posts about powers coming up. I realize that power design itself falls outside the direct rubric of Tunnel Rat, but based on my own experience with creative workflows, I'm sure there is a little bit of bidirectional flow of information. I'll try and keep my suggestions to powers not yet existing that would involve a heavy commitment from the VFX department (is it just a department of 1? I hope not!).

First up is a repost of some suggestions for new incarnate judgement powers from an older thread. Something like Nanite Army would be pretty cool IMO and it is based upon some existing tech but covers an aesthetic not often used currently within CoX:

• Orbital Canon - AoE power with targeting recticle. Uses an animation similar to either surveillance or one of the merc animations of talking into a military radio. One side of the tree is damage based as per other judgement trees. Not sure what the secondary effects should be.
  
• Critical Mass - (no not bike commuters :P) PBAoE energy based judgement. Character drops into the energy morph cce pose. Same circle of white light at the core followed by a shockwave of judgement. Energy damage. Secondary effects perhaps mimic some of what is seen in radiation as this power could double for both energy and rad themed characters?
  
• Divine Incantation - AoE with targeting recticle. Character's head tips back in an animation similar to the oracle in the ITF. A large runic pattern appears on the ground where targeted (or perhaps the ground pattern from the banners on the banner event?). Runic particles swirl about about the area and each affected victim. An even split of cold, fire, psi and dark damage. Someone wanna help me on what the ideal secondary effects could be or would be?
  
• Utter Chaos - The psionic meets cosmic prankster judgement power. Not sure on the animation for this one, but feels like it should be PBAoE. Left side is all psionic damage. The secondary side is special as it features a wildcard system (new tech I guess)--at top tier there is a chance that any affected victim will have any of the following 2 effects applied to them: -recharge, confuse, fear, sleep, hold (petrified with fear) or stun.
  
• Nanite Army - Targeted AoE. Uses a simple powder toss animation, like seeds of confusion. Then particles, similar to the bots set repair nanites squirm away from the caster towards the targets. Does a split of energy and cold damage. Potential secondary effects: -def, -dmg, -res, -recharge, slow.
  
• Ideas for a might based judgement:
  • 2 Ton Hammer - PBAoE. Requires the character be grounded like footstomp. Character drops to the ground punching left right over and over WHAM!WHAM!WHAM!WHAM! triggering a massive brief earthquake. Smashing damage with chance to override resistance on the left side of the tree. (Concerned about how common high smashing and lethal resists are in late game for the next several powres). Smashing damage with the following secondaries on the right side of the tree: chances for -res, knockup, & stun.
    
  • Hail Mary Hurl - Targeted AoE or AoE with targeting recticle. Character pulls a random vehicle model out of their dimensional pocket (where all our rifles and battle axes are kept!) and hurls it. The bus/truck/tank explodes on impact into physics appropriate physics particles doing an even split of fire and smashing damage. Secondary effects include knockback and stun.
• Ideas for non-tech weapons based characters:
  • Storm of Steel: Targeted cone based. Character does a dervish dance, launching a cone of shurikens, throwing knives and perhaps one or two other models just for ridiculousness sake. Left side of the tree is lethal damage, again with a chance to circumvent resists. Right side has following secondary effects: -def, chance for +toxic dmg dot, slow.
    
  • Whirlwind of Death: Think of this as Whirlwind++. You need to steer this one. Character draws their melee weapon (adds weapon customization if you have no blade) and then proceeds to become literally a whirlwind of death. Different pose, slightly more transparent tornado particle effects than normal whirlwind. Does massive DoT when touching baddies. Slight chance of knockup. Advancing up the tree increases how long the power lasts. Secondary effects: -def, increased chance of knockup, fear.

VFX? You tell me:

Fog. Map fog that is.

On some of the custom maps, visibility is ramped way down and the fog is given a basic ambient tonality. As this seems like it might be referencing two data points within current tech--one for draw distance and one for color--is there anyway we could get the option to throw a custom setting for both these values on our base maps and mission architect maps as well?

Is what I'm asking for here clear?

Costume Parts:

(Not sure if this is new tech or not, considering that things like Nemesis Warhulks already appear to have texture animations...)

• Fluid tanks--either strapped to the arm or hip or ideally as a backpack. Animated and tintable textures on the clear parts that have rising bubbles, similar to those in the Warhulk tanks.
• Costume bits with looped texture animations--
  • electronic parts with glowtech lights that blink on and off slowly
  • something similar to the old Malaise skin but this one actually swirls about like oil on water
  • a texture that flows mostly downward as if a thin sheet of water were flowing over it
  • a white noise and static skin
  • see earlier post up thread about energy beings inspired skins and auras
• more smoke puffs, flames, etc for all sorts of back pack items--all FX should be color tintable
  • jetpacks with flames
  • jetpack like devices with "anti-gravity" rings puffing out of them
  • parts like the steampunk backpack that occasionally belch smoke
  • organic stalks or vents on the back that also belch smoke or gas
  • a cage on the back containing hot coals that occasionally blasts out a burst of fire
  • costume parts with fx animated propellers--go go gadget booster!
• texture animated holographic auras, similar to the ACCU HUD combat aura, but with some full body options

Wings as others have requested:

• energy and elemental wings--both persistent and appearing in flight
• Vanguard wings complete with a "projector" that the wings get sucked back into that is similar to how the current Vanguard shield works with its persistent and separately colorable projector piece

General auras:

• Dripping wet--should be able to be multi purposed IMO as swamp slime, blood or just plain water for the rare aquatic character
• Dust devils--narrow funnels that dance around the caster, separate then recombine. They can be small and spindly BUT like the full body wisps aura should be taller than the character. This should be accompanied by the occasional localized gust as was conveyed via FX in the first mission of the alpha slot arc.
• Prismatic--we need rainbows. Not necessarily crisply defined, but more like how a few of the self buffing powers create a prismatic halo for just a moment. Obviously, tinting on this would be limited if not impossible. Perhaps the tinting just provides the opacity based on color lum?
• Butterflies--no really. It could work.
• Hearts--again, really.
• Confusion or befuddlement or riddles--question marks and other punctuation that pop and throb and then whip around then slow back down. Something for the cosmic riddlers out there.
• Reflective auras?--again I wonder can ultra mode reflections be applied to auras? what would these look like? Thinking about some sort of wormhole wierdness aura. The non-ultra mode version would need to be reverse engineered into an aesthetic approximation I'm sure.
• EDIT:Inspired by a couple posts below, what about a swirling vertigo aura based on those very same mind control FX. Oh the eye aura would be a HOOT!

Very excited to see how the new path auras work out. Assuming that the tech has options to create floating fx sprites or 3d sprites and not just decals (as the oil drips appear to be) and that glow tech could also be applied to either decals or sprites, would love to see path auras for the following themes:

• Verdant growth of brightly colored flowers in our wake, complete with butterflies (two versions--one with stems and flowers tintable and another with a wide range of brightly colored flowers and only tintable stems)
• Thorny bramble
• Murshroom growth--recycle the mushrooms from Croatoa for this path aura
• Vermin--swarms of roaches, flies and fleas
• Trash (newspapers seen blowing about kings row, trash bags, etc.)
• Radioactive Ooze--tintable glowing puddles in the wake of the character (maybe with corresponding drips from the body?)
• Molten Blobs
• Burning footprints
• A line of fire instead of single footprints
• Wet trail--can any of these fx apply ultramode reflections to them? does that tech exist?
• Prismatic trailers--see the competitions corny take on this one
• Ice chunks and a few lingering snowflakes
• Shadow trails--IF the tech from [shadowy presence] that de-lums the character can be turned into a path aura, please please do so! It would be highly awesome.
• Desaturation trails--same big IF as above--but would be equally awesome to turn everything in your wake monochrome for a second
• EDIT: Sand--how could I forget sand. Seriously, if this could be done I'll bake you a cake and mail it to you TR.
• EDIT: Fissures--echoing a post above, a path aura that opened up fissures (both with and without lava) would be great!

I'll likely get more ideas after playing with the new path auras in the new booster.

Glad to see this up! From some posts I made in the general All Things Art:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...19809&page=109

The posted images continue through page 110

These are concepts for glow-tech skins and corresponding auras for highly energetic and unstable body types.

Ideas for skins cover these themes

• Molten Core
• Core Breach
• Solar Body
• Cosmic Radiance
• Aurora Borealis

With corresponding aura ideas for these themes

• Pyroclastic
• Warp Core Radiance
• Sunspots
• Coronal Ejecta

Following the link above will take you to the page of the original post. Below that post and on the following pages are many reference images. The images make it pretty self explanatory.

Though this does not involve existing tech (I think!), I would suggest the development of animated skins to allow the glow tech of these skins to cycle and at the very least appear to flow and throb. Think how the lava textures looked all the way back in Quake I (or was it Quake II?).

Here's my take on the concept:



She's just a low-bee, so you can't see her willpower toggles in action yet. But I recolored them in a mix of bright yellows, dun, amber and deep ruddy browns, alternating between both bright and dark WP. (Counterintuitively, I set darker tones on bright WP and lighter tones on dark WP.) In the character testing this gave her a nice shimmering honey colored glaze that wasn't too obtrusive. Give it a shot if you like.

I actually enjoy her look so much that I *may* need to steal this concept for myself!

Nice vet reward. Still a few months off from this but it looks fun!

Break the server? Sounds fun. I'll see what I can do. It's gonna be a lowbie though. Just the same, I'll come with wings, auras, capes... maybe as an MM just to see what I can do.

And it is freedom. I hear they give out PL's like Pinnacle gives out shots!

Edit:

Relevant to my much earlier post in this thread regarding voxels and physics in a superhero game this article regarding some research done with a certain voxel game engine:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...s-is-smashing/

The video speaks for itself.

Here's a question related to data mining and getting those numbers out to us:

Does anyone actually use the information kiosks blueside?

If not, can we get them to display just static CoH data like reported this anniversary, maybe updated once every 6 months or so? Including the number of characters made, etc etc.

I think I'd be more interested in glancing at that than their original intent.

Heck, do those things even work still?

Got a few more wild ideas in a rambling morning post:

Dynamic Contact encounters: You get a mission arc started by a tip. Somewhere around the third mission you have the option to call a prior contact, possibly affecting which part of a story tree that arc will go. But instead of meeting them at the same statue where they are always standing, your contact may ask to meet you in one of five random locations, all fitting the character and mood of the story. i.e.--back in the stacks of books at the local graduate library, in a lab, a biker bar, a coffee shop or diner, down a dark alleyway, at the local police precinct, on a remote seaside cliff overlooking the waves, etc. These locations can double for a variety of in game purposes, including RP social settings. When you go to meet your contact too, perhaps they may not actually be waiting for you but rather make you wait a few moments for them--the door opens and they then approach you starting the dialogue.

Why? This adds much needed sense of life and story to the geography of the game world. Also, it adds a touch of tension with unfamiliar storylines as meeting a contact could turn into a trap or you actually witness your contact being ambushed by shadowy figures in an alleyway and pulled into the manhole below, etc.

Mob Spawns: These should be much more dynamic and storied as well. The grind of defeating baddies has been considerably reduced since the MMO paradigm at launch seven years ago. Most spawns should feel like mini zone events that actually move through the zone, initiating and resolving themselves fully without intervention from players.

i.e. Purse snatchings have an observable beginning, at which time the perpetrator becomes targetable. The actually robbery may go back and forth a bit, but not indefinitely as the eternal tug-o-wars do in CoH. Eventually the robber will either be beaten back and chased off by a foot cop or will get the purse and run down the street at which time the victim will be shouting "Stop thief!" In this case, the robber will run till they get to a back alley where they'll go through the purse, take a moment to emote counting their pickings and then proceed to find a back alley doorway. Until they leave the world map though, they can be targeted and apprehended by a hero, giving us the opportunity to watch this entire multi-block narrative. If XP is less about just winning battles and as much about righting wrongs, I also think we should be able to either call cops in after defeating a baddie, pick them up and drop them off at a holding cell at the local precinct or simply take the purse and return it to the victim now several blocks away for as much of a reward as we get for defeating the baddie in the first place.

Obviously, these sort of spawns would need to scale up from cats caught in trees and small robberies. Another example would be kidnappings where a hostage gets shoved into a van by force. The van speeds off erratically--targetable at this time. Stop the van as one option to completion. Follow it to a destination as another. Either way, multiple moments for intervention with different consequences.

Add to this bank robberies with police in hot pursuit. Escaped convicts getting noticed by cops. Car thieves. Etc. And in some rare cases, random appearances and criminal activity by supporting canon characters including minor battles between canon heroes and villains that you can choose to help turn the tide in.

White collar crime and subtle plots should still be reserved for story arcs though IMO.

Different Paths to Victory: A Fear and Morale Mechanic: I think that in addition to knocking out and "arresting" minor enemies like this, I'd love for there to be a way of scaring the criminal straight. And lets face it, many comic tales are as much about threatening shows of force and psychology as they are about all out block busting battles. (Note when I mention fear in this I'm not talking about the current mez mechanic at all. In fact this mechanic would completely rewrite how some powers would work!)

What I have in mind something I think that could be more satisfying than the current beat them till turn into a blue talk-to contact. Perhaps in addition to health and stamina bars, each baddie has a magenta "fear" bar that fills based upon a complex of how badly they are injured, how low their stamina is and (assuming that environmental damage is possible) how much damage you are doing around them. Specific powers could even directly do fear damage to enemies. Fill your enemy's fear/intimidation bar and its as good as knocking them out. Different enemies will scare more easily than others. Different powers could be used to reduce fear as well. And different enemy types will succumb to fear in different ways--some dropping their weapons and running, some raising their hands, some quivering once they break. And not ALL battles need to be resolved homogeneously: if the system works well in general encounters, say against 8 mobsters, 5 may get knocked out and 3 surrender by the end.

This mechanic too could be used to create both narrative and challenge. If a story says you need information from someone, that means you need to somehow pull your punches and defeat them via fear instead. Getting tips for missions or new arcs? Maybe you actually need to talk to a baddie you just defeated via fear instead of having it automagically drop.

Again, as discussed in the previous section, you could scoop up and drop off those 5 defeated mobsters in at the local precinct. But what if the tip you get becomes a time sensitive item instead? Like a 15 minute mission? Not worth the bonus.

This starts adding, in my mind, some diversity to the purpose and resolution of some of the street conflicts.

No idea if player characters themselves would ever be affected by fear? Or perhaps the fear effects would require their own mechanic for any PvP?

Enemy Levels, Conning, Lessons Learned from Incarnate Play and SSK: I wouldn't make the game totally levelless as level gating is still far too understood as a metric by gamers far and wide. But I'd consider something like this to keep spawns and encounters meaningful in a game with the above features:

• Levels are still explicitly displayed on characters and foes
• A level difference of 10 levels shifts the conning (accuracy, damage effects, mez resistance, etc) one color. So a level 3 character stats wise in combat fights a level 9 baddie the same as a level 12 character. But the level is an indication of what sort of powers and abilities the foes and characters have at their disposal.
• Conning difference has as much if not more effect upon the above described fear mechanic than upon damage.
• XP and drops would need to be affected by conning as well to prevent certain types of farming but not too wildly that it discourages teaming between characters. The xp bonus should top out at say +2 conning with decreasing returns after that. If you want to face harder foes, do it because it is fun and you enjoy the challenge. The xp drop-off for grey conning would need to be steeper than the bonus for + cons.
• If the game still had say 50 levels (I like 50, it's a good round number IMO), this means that 5 conning shifts are about the maximum difference one might encounter. I'd like to see the steep gating that prevents people from scratching +8's for example modified. This may ultimately remove the need for SSK

Thats about all I've got this morning. Not very edited. Fairly stream of conscious. And not fully thought through. But definitely some things I'd consider for a next next generation superhero MMO.