Techbot Alpha

No, no they do not work fine. What normal maps result in is a horrible, waxy and unrealistic look that clashes with all the other, non-waxy parts we have in the CC. With clothing it works fine at adding texture, mostly because it doesn't result in a horrible shiny look.

All normal mapping does for faces is slam it straight into uncanny valley territory.



We already have examples of great faces; the Praetorian Clockwork faces and the Bioluminescent and Organic Armour faces were incredibly highly detailed and looked great. They worked with the existing CoH style and were far better quality than all the old faces.
The new normal mapped faces, Steampunk and Monster packs along with the upcoming Chinese Dynasty face, all look terrible. Given the general negative feedback both in Betas and from what I've noticed in game, I know I'm not alone in that.

Not to mention tripping into the Uncanny Valley is a pretty amateur error that I'd expect from myself and people on my Uni course (digital animation, so I'm not just talking outta my butt-plate) not from people in Industry.

Oh gods, yes, this. The Bio and Organic faces, along with the Clockwork faces, are all what we SHOULD be getting. High res and detailed and GOOD.

The Normal map faces are not good. They are about as far from good and right as you can GET in this game. They are the antithesis of everything graphically good in this game! They are EEEEEEVVVVVILLLLLLL!!!

Hopefully that makes the point. Please, guys, STOP using the uncanny valley inducing Normal maps on faces. NMs work great on clothes. But all you've successfully proved is how BADLY they work on faces. Please, enough?

This is good to know.

However....this was mentioned in Beta. A lot. Why does it have to be until now till it's fixed?

Yeah. You seriously keep dreaming that, man.

I think this thread is pretty much done, now.

Best. Summation. EVER.

This only happens when people make stupid suggestions 'backed up' with comments like "It should be easy" or "I can't see why this would take much effort", with as much actual knowledge as someone who has no actual knowledge of anything to do with game making.

I'm no programmer. I took one look at the whole scripting thing in 3D software alone and nearly ran a mile. But I also realise that, hey, this stuff is really damn complicated. And, given the results some small errors in coding have had over the years, anyone claiming "It shouldn't be hard!" is practically proving themselves to be an utter nitwit.




Which is only reinforced when they then try and argue with Arcanaville. You know, the person who even the DEVS defer to from time to time and on an unofficial basis?
Which is the CoH equivalent of challenging Chuck smegging Norris.

Good for you.
The RP community, on the other hand, like having full customisation options and plenty of choice.

Agreed.

Just because there are multiple people in a shared world has nothing to do with teaming. NOWHERE does it state I am obligated to team with people.

And while, yes, I actually ENJOY playing with people I like and will choose to do so...that is it. My Choice.

Upping the challenge is fine....so long as it's via difficulty controls.
Having way harder than basic as a Praetorian standard? That's not cool. Saying 'I find it easy' a la Leo doesn't cut it when other people find it much harder.

If you find things too easy, you can always up the difficulty. If things are too hard? Well, then you are stuffed.
Besides, even from a purely mechanical PoV rather than opinion, Praetorian mobs are provably nastier than Primal mobs at that level. They have more attacks, more debuffs and more exotic damage types. Not to mention occasional total immunity to Mez that can render Domintors and Controllers totally impotent.
Some ATs and Players find it easy.
Others do not. That is part of the problem.