I've been dealing with the need for heroics mostly by doing other things. I've been getting the kickstarter emails, but have to confess I haven't been paying them much attention. Recently the titan network people revived CoH with Paragon chat and the itch has been restored. I'd love to see some industrious hackers restore the game to playable condition for nostalgia's sake, but I'm also looking forward to the CoT and seeing what it can do!
That said, having run around in the old game reminded me of some of the things I most loved and a few things I think could have been done better. Since I've been out of the picture for so long, I'm aware some of this may have already been said, but before I go searching, I want to dump it out while it's fresh in my mind:
Done well
Costumes of course - The variety of costumes was always one of the biggest draws of the game. I could make just about any kind of character I could think of; especially with all the costume pieces that were added after I quit CoH that I never saw (or were pay-to-get) that the Titan team unlocked for us to play with.
Needs improvement
Costume GUI - Scrolling through all the costume options was a pain especially when they had such a huge selection. To improve this, I suggest having a thumbnail feature for browsing the various pieces in each costume part category. Using a text filter to quickly find the one I want (or see if there's something that matches the word I'm looking for) would also help.
Done well
Alternate power animation - The ability to change how I launch my powers was a HUGE benefit that I wish I had more time to play with, but they only added this shortly before shutdown
Done well AND needs improvement - Weather. It was only in Going Rogue when they really go the weather working well. It was great to see cloudy skies now and then! To improve, this needed to be in the whole city and expanded. Rain, fog, snow even. Actual falling weather, but if not that, then at least some variety in the sky.
Needs improvement - In CoH, they expanded content by making more zones. It was incredible how many zones were on the Hero side, some of which were always empty because there were just too many places to be. Rather than make a new zone, I wanted them to improve the zones we already had. For example, Atlas went through some serious upgrades to the look of the buildings before shutdown and they could have done the same with others as well. Not just visuals, but why not have story lines that take place entirely within the zone? What if my character grew up in the alleys of Kings Row and spent the early part of their hero career working to bring down the crime bosses in that area? Make each zone an epic adventure rather than increase sprawl. On that note, why did CoH alleys never seem much like real alleys? Let's make it feel like you really are in the dangerous underbelly of the city when you head off the main streets.
Done well - Badges. I loved finding exploration badges and didn't mind the "kill x enemies" badges either. It was cool being able to pick titles based on those so each of your characters could have an interesting title that they'd have to collect for.
Done well - Support for "filthy casuals". I am a working father of four. I can play, but sometimes there are months that I have to focus on other things and be gone. The idea that I didn't lose my superbase, my recipies or anything else was one of the biggest draws of CoH. If it had punished me for leaving by destroying the things I had built, I would have quit in the first year I played back in 2004.
Needs improvement - TFs were fun, but took so much time to complete. I need to be able to run a TF solo, even if it takes much longer. Or I need to be able to stop in the middle and pick up where I left off days or weeks later when I play with my family/friends. I understand some challenges should be hard and take a lot of heroes to complete, but even if I can spare the time for one now and then, making it NECESSARY to grind TFs like street mobs to get materials for incarnate powers? This was the single reason I quit CoH before they shut down. I had a bunch of beautifully and lovingly crafted level 50 characters and then they moved the goalposts and the price of entry was TF grinding....
Needs improvement - Map design. Having elevators at the opposite ends of the buildings that only went up one floor? The ridiculous layout of warehouses? No windows? Let's put more care into that for this game. The outdoor missions were cool, but could use some help too.
So my bottomline hopes for CoT - Let me build - I want to make amazing characters with great costumes, super powers, finely crafted enhancements and extras (invention system yay!) and a reasonable endpoint (level 50... incarnate was a good idea, but don't put the goalposts behind TFs).
That's about all I can think of now. I'm going to wander around, do some reading, play with what I can and get up to date on what CoT has been doing for all this time. I'm looking forward to what we come up with!
//////************************************************************************\\\\\\
This summarizes my hopes and dreams for CoT. Check it out if you'd like.
Welcome/welcome back!
You might want to check out this thread where a lot of folks have already discussed much of what they liked about our old game:
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/what-was-it-made-cox-special-you
There are also some really long threads about solo-able TFs and level design, but I can't find them at the moment. I think someone from MWM noted that realistic office layouts are actually quite boring when it comes to play.
In general, I agree with most of your points (though I really liked having new zones). While I didn't mind the Incarnate stuff, I do tend to agree with you that a definite max level that doesn't keep creeping up is desirable, especially given that MWM has stated that alting is one of their endgame philosophies. But you'll find a number of people here disagree with that, and I'm not sure we have a definite answer from MWM on that point.
Spurn all ye kindle.
Thanks! I'll check those out. Even if realistic offices are bad, let's at least try to get more realism. For example, windows. And for warehouses, you can have the office area, the loading area, the storage area, the outside grounds. That would give enough variety I'd think.
//////************************************************************************\\\\\\
This summarizes my hopes and dreams for CoT. Check it out if you'd like.
There's also a thread in the Kickstarter Exclusives section about filters for the costume pieces to make them easier to deal with.
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
Besides, not all are authorized to see it in the first place.
It seems that if you aren't logged in, access is denied. Presumably if you're logged in on a non-KS ID, access will be similarly denied. So, I don't think there's any problem with showing the link.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Yeh. No green K, access denied :(.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Please do not link KS exclusive material on the general forum.
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.
[color=#ff0000]Business Director[/color]
Seems I was mistaken, about the link not being a problem. ^_^`
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
I'm sorry.
I thought the link wouldn't work for anyone who wasn't allowed access and didn't realize it would be an issue.
Please don't shoot me in the face with a bazooka.
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
Don't worry about it. I don't even have a bazooka. :)
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.
[color=#ff0000]Business Director[/color]
Unless that's the dragon's name...
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Ohh, the link didn't "work" since some people were barred, me among them.
I think the bigger issue is to not bring such "private" discussions/info into "public" space since others can then not fully participate due not being able to access all of what is said or all of the info presented.
notears and blacke4dawn, please remove the links from the quote blocks in your replies above, too...
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
done
not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM
[CENTER][URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm][IMG]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/24.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER]
done
Even without KS access, they can see the list of threads, they just can't open them. So, the *existence* of backer only threads, and their *subjects*, are not a secret. The KS room makes for a controlled feedback environment, which is valuable to us, but anyone who scans that list of threads will know we're toying with a tag filter design. Just don't bring over the details and we're fine (the details are what we want under control until it's ready for prime time).
Unfortunately, thumbnails aren't as easy or effective as you think. If you can't get it to automatically generate, we're talking a lot of manual labor. And then it wouldn't even work very well, because to be big enough to scan nicely, they'd have to be, well, kind of big. All together fifty plus thumbnails is just as hard to parse in their own way. Filters so you can get relevant results (I wanna be sci-fi, old fashioned, bulky...*blinks*. Bulky....)
[center]--------------------------[/center]
[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
Could the Costume Piece be Rendered to Texture (and save the PNG to local disk), if a costume item is viewed, so subsequent viewings can be pulled from a PNG?
That, or tick the option to generate Thumbnails for All (or just a category set) costume items? When they quit the game, player is prompted to generate Thumbnails for select categories, and auto-Quit when complete. As well as the option to Halt/Pause Thumbnail generation, 'till next time. ;)
While we're at it, Mission Thumbnails can be generated like that too! ;)
Well, since not all players will like the notion of using a Torrent client, just fetching already generated Thumbnails, each and every user will need to regenerate the same exact Thumbnail every single time, forever....... ..... ..... .... .... .... :echo: ... ... .. ... . . . . . . . . . :echo:
I'd rather just Asynchronously load the 3D assets, if the player hits Preview (EYE) button next to a Mission, so only the visible room.. or part of a level where the AV, or Boss, or NPC Contact is, and let the player see what it looks like, before actually accepting a mission. I know, i'm a sucker for trying to appeal to players desires. It's a curse! :<
I like that line of thinking.
Having a lot of zones was cool too though so I'm torn. Made the world seem big. I also sorta enjoyed going to empty zones like The Shadow Shard as a kind of Fortress of Solitude. Now that place had a sense of size! I do wonder if the Devs were a little sad that more people didn't go there...seemed like it took a lot of work to create it.
The Shadow Shard was one of my favorite zones, so much so that I used it in the background story of my namesake's progression of characters. And while I enjoyed the novelty idea of the gravity geysers, it could get frustrating for a new explorer in the zone to get the hang of them and resetting your progress across the zone if you fell, which could turn someone off from truly enjoying the breadth of the place. That, along with some real travel intensive TFs that involved probably too many clear-alls on extensive maps, likely dissuaded all but the most dedicated (or desperate) to doing them. We used to have an event on Champion run by @Witty Librarian called Shardtober in October that he would run one of the SSTFs per weekend of the month for people. It was probably the only time that I really saw people turn out for them, and the vast majority of those people were achievement hunters while the rest of us that showed up were to fill up the team size requirement.
To be clear, I wasn't as much against lots of zones as I was lack of detail in the zones. I found that I carelessly flew or ran past most of the city most of the time. There really just wasn't much to see or do in the city itself. If alleyways had a lot of detail, especially if they didn't all look the same, it would be fun to wander down an alley now and then.
//////************************************************************************\\\\\\
This summarizes my hopes and dreams for CoT. Check it out if you'd like.
I liked having lots of zones as well (the Storm Palace was a truly beautiful place). The problem wasn't that there was a lot of zones - it was that many were nearly devoid of reasons to go there. You will notice that the post-launch Hazard/Trial zones like Striga, Croatoa, Cimerora and the Hollows (not to mention the re-vamped Faultline and Rikti War Zone) had numerous story arc chains in addition to a TF/Trial/Event. You could go to those zones and over the course of several levels be immersed in the story and history of the place. Boomtown, Perez, Crey's Folly, Terra Volta, Eden, the Shadow Shards and hell, even the oft-overlooked Sewers, just needed a little something extra to draw people to it aside from giant monsters, badges or task force/trial (in the case of the Shadow Shard, [I]very tedious[/I] TFs).
Croatoa had it's own monsters, a cool environment, interesting enemies, it's own lore, the first missions that deviated from the boring and simple office/warehouse/cave and it's own accolade power (one of the best in the game). I was hard pressed to not run my characters through there instead of any of the other zones in the same level range.
//////************************************************************************\\\\\\
This summarizes my hopes and dreams for CoT. Check it out if you'd like.
Dark Astoria was very intriguing because the dim lighting seemed to force you to lean in and look around really intently because you were liable to stumble into a group of enemies if you didn't pay attention. Definitely effective in promoting the creepy vibe, even though it turned some people off who couldn't see as well.
(insert pithy comment here)
Man, the revamped Dark Astoria with the Incarnate content was exactly the right way to breath un-life into a rarely-used zone, and they did it so smoothly too. I was super (no pun intended) stoked when finishing the respective story-arc that it literally dropped you into the new DA. Especially when the content you did changed (with the phasing tech) the zone appropriately, such as raising the magically-warded energy walls around Mot.
That's not to say that the revamped Faultline or the updated Hollows/Rikti Warzone weren't good too, but DA just had that creepy, sinister feel to it.
Dark Astoria + super-leap = splat! Never was I so satisfied to learn the layout of a zone well enough to avoid having skyscrapers suddenly emerge out of the fog and hit me...
All of those alleys and back-fences were significant, pre-Travel-Powers, as we learned 'City of Parkour' and avoided the big nasty spawns. Post Travel Powers, though, they were just the meaningless blur that you traveled past.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Yeah, those TFs could have been less of a beating for sure. It was almost a test of endurance more than a fun time.
Gravity geysers were fun too, but I get your point. I was a teleporter so I didn't use them that much.
Gotcha.
One of my favorites was Founders Falls. I loved the way it was designed. I would have had an apartment there if it were in the game.
lol...yep. But DA still fascinated me from the very first time I went there. Sooo spooky.
I absolutely loved the new Faultline. I don't know why, but it just had a kind of magic for it.
//////************************************************************************\\\\\\
This summarizes my hopes and dreams for CoT. Check it out if you'd like.
I remember running them on my first character to make it to 50, especially doing Dr. Quaterfield for what seemed like 123 hours, logging off in the wee hours of the night/morning, and then logging back on with everyone at a pre-arranged time to finish it. No joke, test of endurance for sure.
I spent a lot of game time just wandering. Exploring. Making up stories in my head for my character that play off of the world. I definitely like lots of zones to wander.
MAN I spent a lot of time in the less typical zones. Shadow Shard on my character who's origin was set there. And in Eden/Hive on my Devouring Earth origin hero.
But then my street-level guy was always patrolling the streets and alleys of the city zones.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
*chuckles eldrichly*
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
Tease.
(insert pithy comment here)
I was trying to figure out what that meant too. :D
It means [b][REDACTED][/b], obviously. Like [b][REDACTED][/b] in [b][REDACTED][/b].
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]