Announcements

Join the ongoing conversation on Discord: https://discord.gg/w6Tpkp2

Please read the current update for instructions on downloading the latest update. Players with Mac versions of the game will not be affected, but you will have a slightly longer wait for your version of the new maps. Please make a copy of your character folder before running the new update, just to make sure you don't lose any of your custom work.

It looks like we can give everyone a list of minimum specs for running City of Titans. Please keep in mind that this is 'for now' until we are able to add more graphics and other system refinements. Currently you will need :
Windows 10 or later required; no Intel integrated graphics like UHD, must have AMD or NVIDIA card or discrete chipset with 4Gb or more of VRAM
At least 16GB of main DRAM.
These stats may change as we continue to test.

To purchase your copy of the City of Titans Launcher, visit our store at https://store.missingworldsmedia.com/ A purchase of $50 or more will give you a link to download the Launcher for Windows or Mac based machines.

Discuss: Making the Content: Episodes, tips and More

106 posts / 0 new
Last post
Shadow Elusive
Shadow Elusive's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 8 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 01/10/2013 - 09:38
Discuss: Making the Content: Episodes, tips and More

--------------------------

Interior Map Lead and UI Designer
cat4hurricane
Offline
Last seen: 6 months 3 weeks ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 11/23/2013 - 01:32
I clicked on the link just to

I clicked on the link just to check it and it said the composition recruiting page couldn’t be found. The update was awesome to read and it was nice to see what exactly goes on with the questing system of the game, I was particularly surprised that the Tip had to pass through so many departments just to get added into the game, but I had never really given it much thought before either.

Myri
Myri's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: 04/10/2014 - 01:18
Good stuff. Not only is

Good stuff. Not only is there content for multiple play styles, it looks as though we could potentially get "lost" in Titan City just chasing down something as simple as tip missions.

Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die.

Protect the pack kid, no matter how much it hurts. If everyone else in the pack is safe, you can carry on or die knowing you've done your duty. - Fanfiction

SisterSilicon
SisterSilicon's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 months 3 weeks ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 07/17/2014 - 20:14
I'm really looking forward to

I'm really looking forward to District Stories. Cryptic probably didn't have enough time after the Marvel-to-Champions lore switch to make Millennium City feel as lived-in as Paragon City did, but they never really followed through after launch, either.* It will be nice to be in a city that actually resembles a city again.

* No, dropping four Vibora Bay building assets in no particular arrangement on the fringe of RenCen and calling it the Downtown Campus of Ravenswood Academy does not count.

Twitter: @SisterSilicon

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
The Doctor wrote:
The Doctor wrote:

I clicked on the link just to check it and it said the composition recruiting page couldn’t be found. The update was awesome to read and it was nice to see what exactly goes on with the questing system of the game, I was particularly surprised that the Tip had to pass through so many departments just to get added into the game, but I had never really given it much thought before either.

Fixed

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

Cyclops
Cyclops's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 7 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 04/10/2015 - 17:24
"mock an enemy in front of

"mock an enemy in front of his cohorts"
Oh that is so going to be my MO. I will ALWAYS chose the smart mouth reply. Villains will remember a good mocking...YES!

Thanks, Composition Team. You have made my day, I so love hitching my wagon to COT!

BiotopeZ
BiotopeZ's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 8 months ago
Joined: 03/04/2016 - 10:29
Every time I hear something

Every time I hear something new about this game, it's like you're reading my mind. Extreme customization. No lockboxes. Now, sagas.

The sagas sound kind of like telltale games, except with real branching possibly. They'll remember what you said, react to you differently, etc. I will definitely be doing these. These are a very much really very good thing!

Timothius
Timothius's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 4 months ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 11/04/2013 - 23:07
Related to the post, but will

Related to the post, but will it be possible to join in-game factions such as the police, or local gang? And will that influence the dialogue of your quest and/or whether certain quests become available? For example, if I combine the above, I could be an undercover cop who manages to get a tip normally only available to a member of a specific gang that I'm infiltrating.

I always get a huge sense of satisfaction from things like "Well you're a sight for soar eyes! You helped out with that thing last year! Boy, am I glad you're here to help." or "All those civilian heroes wouldn't understand." and a sense of developing an actual relationship with NPC contacts in game.

I'm sure you do have something like that going on, but I guess I just wanna get confirmation. :)

Culach
Culach's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 10 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 11/11/2013 - 18:12
My question is thus:

My question is thus:

It is stated that the villain will remember your mocking them later, does that include other story arcs as well, or just that story arc? Will they "remember" if you are in a tip mission, Saga, or District Story?

If they remember across all of those...wow...I am both excited and impressed.

If not, I'm still impressed that they can remember within the arc...it will make messing with them a bit more fun.

Fireheart
Fireheart's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 6 days ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/05/2013 - 13:45
The image of the villain

The image of the villain screaming your name all the way to the Hoosegow is compelling! But what about the heroes? Will Anthem know my name and remember the fun times?

Be Well!
Fireheart

angelo.pampalone
angelo.pampalone's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 months 3 weeks ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/12/2014 - 02:31
Depict me drooling ...

Depict me drooling ...

Questions:
Would be possible for users to create their missions? Aka there will be a tips/epides/sagae editor?
Will users use that same tech?

CoH Union Server
Main: Grattolomeo (in pic), Hekathonkire

blacke4dawn
blacke4dawn's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 5 days ago
Joined: 03/28/2015 - 03:02
Nice update. Good to see that

Nice update. Good to see that you still keep the same level of detail and quality for single one-off missions as you do for large arcs and even sagas.

Though one thing came across, most likely due to me remembering wrong. I seem to remember that tip missions would have been gotten from combining several clues/leads into something "doable", is that system still on the table but under a different name?

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
This is even better than I

This is even better than I expected! You seem to be catering to all play-styles, and letting us choose what suits our mood or time-constraints at any point. You guys are the best!

I really like the new terms Episodes, Series, and Sagas. They set CoT apart from the run-of-the-mill MMOs without copying terms from the old game. Kudos for that.

In addition to the hinted future updates on Paths and District Stories, I'd like to know more about how the Clue system will fit with these various elements.

Question: what are folks talking about regarding mocking an enemy and the enemy remembering this? I've searched the KS update page for 'mock' and 'remember' and the only match is on Warcabbit's note on remembering the shutdown anniversary. Has there been an edit since the update was posted?

Spurn all ye kindle.

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
BTW, thanks for that note at

BTW, thanks for that note at the end, Warcabbit. Many of us are counting on you folks at MWM.

Spurn all ye kindle.

blacke4dawn
blacke4dawn's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 5 days ago
Joined: 03/28/2015 - 03:02
Cinnder wrote:
Cinnder wrote:

Question: what are folks talking about regarding mocking an enemy and the enemy remembering this? I've searched the KS update page for 'mock' and 'remember' and the only match is on Warcabbit's note on remembering the shutdown anniversary. Has there been an edit since the update was posted?

I'm almost completely certain it would be part of the dialog options when talking/interacting with them since it has to be part of the quest system to be "registered". Just doing /e mock wouldn't do it.

Also, I'm sure it's part of the general consequences system, in that certain actions/choices will have consequences later in an arc or saga.

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
Thanks. So it was just folks

Thanks. So it was just folks surmising what things might end up being like, and not a reference to a direct quoted example from MWM?

Spurn all ye kindle.

blacke4dawn
blacke4dawn's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 5 days ago
Joined: 03/28/2015 - 03:02
The mocking is taken directly

The mocking is taken directly from the update, end of fourth paragraph:

Quote:

For example, if you choose to mock an enemy in front of his cohorts, he’ll remember that mockery later on in a related story and be all the more disposed to revenge.

But the mechanics or system that enables that is most likely the dialog and general consequence system.

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
blacke4dawn wrote:

I was thinking something very strange was going on with my eyes, but I had an idea and looked at the CoT home page instead of the update page on the KS site (where I usually go). I see the text differs between the two sites.

The KS page doesn't have the reference to mocking but the CoT page does.

Thanks for helping me figure this out.

EDIT: Looks like the KS page is missing the entire 4th paragraph, while the CoT page is missing the note from Warcabbit at the end, so neither version is complete.

Spurn all ye kindle.

blacke4dawn
blacke4dawn's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 5 days ago
Joined: 03/28/2015 - 03:02
*dons beret and walrus

*dons beret and walrus mustache* Well, there's your problem. :D

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
As long as all the missions

As long as all the missions don't have terrible pun names (looking at you Champions), nor any mission being "Take this note to the guy across the table to me" (also Champions) I should be fine with all of this.

Some pun names are acceptable. And some FedEx quests are perfectly acceptable (like the episode of young justice where Kid Flash needed to deliver a heart for transplant to a dying foreign dignitary! That'd be awesome to do. Time limit, getting jumped by evilbadguy thugs or even a boss enemy)

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

Darth Fez
Darth Fez's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 5 days ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/20/2013 - 07:53
Very nice and informative

Very nice and informative update to read, thanks guys.

Especially the bit about series and sagas, and choices being "remembered", makes me hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga, and I won't recall which choices I'd made (or what precisely they entailed). More so if I'm also playing an alt or two, which will likely be the case.

- - - - -
Hail Beard!

Support trap clowns for CoT!

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
Oh definitely, some sort of

Oh definitely, some sort of review function would be most welcome!

Spurn all ye kindle.

Huckleberry
Huckleberry's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 days 11 hours ago
Joined: 01/03/2016 - 08:39
Darth Fez wrote:
Darth Fez wrote:

Very nice and informative update to read, thanks guys.
Especially the bit about series and sagas, and choices being "remembered", makes me hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga, and I won't recall which choices I'd made (or what precisely they entailed). More so if I'm also playing an alt or two, which will likely be the case.

This is a very good point. And not knowing could actually be a barrier to play such that "it requires too much effort to find out where I was and what I was doing and I don't want to ruin what I was trying to do, so I'll just play another character."


I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
RottenLuck
RottenLuck's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 1 week ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 20:32
Darth Fez wrote:
Darth Fez wrote:

Very nice and informative update to read, thanks guys.
Especially the bit about series and sagas, and choices being "remembered", makes me hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga, and I won't recall which choices I'd made (or what precisely they entailed). More so if I'm also playing an alt or two, which will likely be the case.

I also vote for a review system. Heck could be a reason for a Base Computer! Looking up past cases/ Episodes were done and what happened during said episodes.

-------------------------------------------
Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
That's an awesome use for a

That's an awesome use for a base computer!

+1!

Edit: maybe a base computer could also generate leads based on previous missions. Also could point you towards contacts that deal with similar missions. So you've been fighting a bunch of magic guys? Here's a contact that deals with mystic threats. Been fighting a lot of a certain villain group? Here's a contact that also deals with them. Excreta.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
Timothius wrote:
Timothius wrote:

will it be possible to join in-game factions such as the police, or local gang? And will that influence the dialogue of your quest and/or whether certain quests become available? For example, if I combine the above, I could be an undercover cop who manages to get a tip normally only available to a member of a specific gang that I'm infiltrating.

Being aligned and/or associated with a faction is in the plan, though likely not going to make it for launch. At least as far as I am aware. Tech can chime in on that a bit more.
As far as getting episodes available only under certain conditions, that does exist, and it is happening, though maybe not with tips specifically.

Culach wrote:

My question is thus:
It is stated that the villain will remember your mocking them later, does that include other story arcs as well, or just that story arc? Will they "remember" if you are in a tip mission, Saga, or District Story?

That depends entirely on the person writing it, the interconnectedness of the overall episodes, etc. We currently have 212 episodes written and approved by our Continuity department. There are many MANY more episodes to write yet.

Fireheart wrote:

But what about the heroes? Will Anthem know my name and remember the fun times?

The code is the same for heroes and villains.

angelo.pampalone wrote:

Would be possible for users to create their missions? Aka there will be a tips/epides/sagae editor?
Will users use that same tech?

The plan is that we will have a method for production of user-generated content, and it is intended that you can use the same tech that we do (though likely with a much more user-friendly interface).

blacke4dawn wrote:

I seem to remember that tip missions would have been gotten from combining several clues/leads into something "doable", is that system still on the table but under a different name?

You are thinking of our "Leads" system. This may or may not be available at launch. I'm leaning more towards "not" in this case.

Darth Fez wrote:

hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga

There is a plan for that, though I don't know that it will make it in for launch. I truly hope it makes it in, even though that means more work for us...
Please note: as tips are repeatable, they won't have this functionality, even when we do get this system up and running.

I think I got all the Composition-related questions so far....

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

Empyrean
Empyrean's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/16/2014 - 07:51
Awesome update. Amazing

Awesome update. Amazing system. Also appreciated Warcabbit's note.

This system looks robust enough to allow for a Nemesis-type system down the road.

FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)

Marko Todorovic
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 3 months ago
Joined: 02/14/2014 - 16:44
Will this game have full

Will this game have full voice for npcs in main story quests?

Darth Fez
Darth Fez's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 5 days ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/20/2013 - 07:53
ConundrumofFurballs wrote:
ConundrumofFurballs wrote:

There is a plan for that, though I don't know that it will make it in for launch. I truly hope it makes it in, even though that means more work for us...
Please note: as tips are repeatable, they won't have this functionality, even when we do get this system up and running.

Thanks, CoF! It is the other content I was asking about, since it's more likely that'll see interruptions. The basic mission text should suffice for tips.

Also +1 for the base computer idea. Steal all the ideas from Batman!

- - - - -
Hail Beard!

Support trap clowns for CoT!

Cinnder
Cinnder's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 2 weeks ago
Gunterkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/26/2013 - 16:24
Marko Todorovic wrote:
Marko Todorovic wrote:

Will this game have full voice for npcs in main story quests?

MWM has said there will be little to no voice acting in CoT, at least not for quite some time after launch. I think that's a good decision for a number of reasons and hope it doesn't change even after launch.

Also, CoT won't really have 'main story' quests like other MMOs. A character's main story will be whatever missions you choose. You could run a character that never does anything except Tips, and that would be his/her main story.

Spurn all ye kindle.

Brand X
Brand X's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 4 months ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 11/01/2013 - 00:26
So, does this mean the rule

So, does this mean the rule is, no killing in fun and exciting ways for the evil anti heroes and villains?

Halae
Halae's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 8 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/17/2014 - 09:37
Marko Todorovic wrote:
Marko Todorovic wrote:

Will this game have full voice for npcs in main story quests?

They've stated before that the plan is to not have voice acting, because if it doesn't, they can add more storylines, as text doesn't cost nearly as much to design, develop, and implement as voice acted dialogue. It's a bit of a tradeoff, but I'll take text and expanded stories over limited but voiced storytelling any day.

An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".

Marko Todorovic
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 3 months ago
Joined: 02/14/2014 - 16:44
Thank both of you for answer

Thank both of you for answer :)

Tannim222
Tannim222's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 01/16/2013 - 12:47
ConundrumofFurballs wrote:
ConundrumofFurballs wrote:

Timothius wrote:
will it be possible to join in-game factions such as the police, or local gang? And will that influence the dialogue of your quest and/or whether certain quests become available? For example, if I combine the above, I could be an undercover cop who manages to get a tip normally only available to a member of a specific gang that I'm infiltrating.
Being aligned and/or associated with a faction is in the plan, though likely not going to make it for launch. At least as far as I am aware. Tech can chime in on that a bit more.

It is possible to set up a system where, if you have sufficient Faction Rep we can have a player be considered part of a Faction. Mostly though, this may be more of a role-play element for the player than something we need to specifically code. After all, when you have a high faction rep with a faction, you get access to things specific to that faction you are "in" with them by that point. Contextually, there isn't a difference between a high faction rep and actually being "part" of that faction. Remember, stuff like costume pieces and such for npcs will also be made available for pcs. It is entirely possible to earn TCPD costume pieces through the process of playing content that improves your faction rep with TCPD, there very well could be Faction-rep gated content with certain factions.

ConundrumofFurballs wrote:

blacke4dawn wrote:
I seem to remember that tip missions would have been gotten from combining several clues/leads into something "doable", is that system still on the table but under a different name?
You are thinking of our "Leads" system. This may or may not be available at launch. I'm leaning more towards "not" in this case.

I call it Schemes and Investigations (sounds nicer for general public naming than "leads" though they are the same thing). Bad guys hatch schemes, good guys investigate them. It is a planned system, but CoF is right, it may not make it by launch. There is some tech we need to code up to work with the quest system to pull it off, creating those mad-lib style templates that allow for mix-and-matching of Lead drops to piece together in a unique puzzle that in essence, generates the content. Have have some of the pieces, and will have more when we make the user-generated-content creator, but Composition will also need to write up the Leads, and we will have to look into a few other possibilities with the system when we get to it.

ConundrumofFurballs wrote:

Darth Fez wrote:
hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga
There is a plan for that, though I don't know that it will make it in for launch. I truly hope it makes it in, even though that means more work for us...
Please note: as tips are repeatable, they won't have this functionality, even when we do get this system up and running.
I think I got all the Composition-related questions so far....

Early on, one of our Comp leads placed a request for a Character Journal which tracks dialogue your character has encountered in missions (er, episodes, et al) to allow players to go back and catch up on stuff they missed and track things they've done. Not impossible to set up, its on a list of Quality of Life features I have that we'll need to evaluate for prioritization and see which, if any, we include for launch.


I don't use a nerf bat, I have a magic crowbar!
- Combat Mechanic -
Tech Team.
Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
angelo.pampalone wrote:
angelo.pampalone wrote:

Depict me drooling ...
Questions:
Would be possible for users to create their missions? Aka there will be a tips/epides/sagae editor?
Will users use that same tech?

Eventually, not for launch.

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

Cyclops
Cyclops's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 7 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 04/10/2015 - 17:24
Fireheart wrote:
Fireheart wrote:

The image of the villain screaming your name all the way to the Hoosegow is compelling! But what about the heroes? Will Anthem know my name and remember the fun times?
Be Well!
Fireheart

Thus far Anthem denies all knowledge of me.

Fireheart
Fireheart's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 6 days ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/05/2013 - 13:45
Cyclops wrote:
Cyclops wrote:
Fireheart wrote:

The image of the villain screaming your name all the way to the Hoosegow is compelling! But what about the heroes? Will Anthem know my name and remember the fun times?

Thus far Anthem denies all knowledge of me.

She can't remember your face or name, but Black Falcon's vast cleavage is hard to forget.

Be Well!
Fireheart

Lothic
Lothic's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 2 weeks ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/02/2013 - 00:27
Fireheart wrote:
Fireheart wrote:
Cyclops wrote:

Thus far Anthem denies all knowledge of me.

She can't remember your face or name, but Black Falcon's vast cleavage is hard to forget.

CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
I guess Diana should know.

I guess Diana should know.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

CallmeBlue
CallmeBlue's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: 06/14/2014 - 01:37
Three cheers for the Bullpen!

Three cheers for the Bullpen!

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

Deathwatch101
Deathwatch101's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 4 months ago
Joined: 03/30/2016 - 15:26
What if we are playing both

What if we are playing both sides as both a villain and hero (in the more of a independent sense as a mercenary) will actions of working with different sides that are somewhat opposed to each other but not in direct contention at that time bring up notice with other factions during missions/episodes involving them ?

Gladatoria
Gladatoria's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 month 3 weeks ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/08/2013 - 14:20
I love getting updates like

I love getting updates like this, and now we have words for different kinds of missions and clarifications~

Thanks Guys!

DesViper
DesViper's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 3 months ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/10/2014 - 00:55
Will there be episodes with a

Will there be episodes with a larger scale?

I assume many villains -- I know I will -- will be heads of organizations, countries, races ;) So "go beat up low rate hero" and "go crash the symphony hall" seem a bit beneath say, Lex Luthor or Dr. Doom


PR, Forum Moderator
My Non-Canon Backstories
Avatar by MikeNovember
Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
I have to wonder what large

I have to wonder what large scale villain ones would be. Cause a villain can't win a take over/destroy the world thing, it just wouldn't work.

The thing about villains is that they always get thwarted by the heroes... I wonder then if they can almost take over the world. Almost unleash the tidal wave generator on titan city. Almost take over America with their weather dominator... They can't win but they can come so close, gosh darn it.

Little things they can win. Steal the priceless Jewel of Agamemnon. Rob a bank
Rob a big bank. Become the leader of X gang. Maybe take over a small (non-existent in the real world) eastern European country? But villains can't really win big.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

DesViper
DesViper's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 3 months ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/10/2014 - 00:55
My first thought is "obtain

My first thought is "obtain an object of use" from a larger organization: TCPD, PIT, Aether Pirates.

One nice thing about villains is that they compete with each other ;) Many "hero" large scale things work fine for villains too.


PR, Forum Moderator
My Non-Canon Backstories
Avatar by MikeNovember
Halae
Halae's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 8 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/17/2014 - 09:37
I'm expecting a few "heist"

I'm expecting a few "heist" style storylines from some of the longer redside stories. The reason I say that is; in a world with superheroes, where do you store valuables? In vaults even supers will have issues getting into. So imagine a storyline in which you recruit a few other operatives, and you get this whole Ocean's Eleven thing going on. That'd be absolutely kickass.

An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".

Cyclops
Cyclops's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 7 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 04/10/2015 - 17:24
Just a reminder for players

Just a reminder for players like me who love to mock villains...
all those bosses you mocked just may gather together in a surprise mission just to get you!

"This sure is a lot of experience points just to deliver a newspaper to this elderly gent...WHOA! The Sinister Six?!!!"

Nadira
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 11 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 01/01/2014 - 13:25
For (us) aspiring writers,

For (us) aspiring writers,
maybe in another update you can provide an example of an rejected and an accept(able) shortpitch, a long pitch and at least a significant part of what goes into a full write up that the technical team needs?

And to think this process is just to get the actual mission building /started/ for /simplest/ type of mission. It is daunting to think how much work must go into just the writing for something as elaborate as a path.

Finally, I know it is too much for the initial release, but is it at least possible to consider the next logical escalation from Saga to Coda? The later being series of tasks and tips, paths and sagas that over the course of months and work by the entire server/game comes to a spectacularly epic conclusion where players must engage in many simultaneous raids but also simply streetsweeping protection missions (ala the rikti invasion perhaps?) Something that might change the game in some permanent way and that years later players can talk about to new players as 'something you had to be there for'.

Nadira
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 11 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 01/01/2014 - 13:25
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

As long as all the missions don't have terrible pun names (looking at you Champions), nor any mission being "Take this note to the guy across the table to me" (also Champions) I should be fine with all of this.
Some pun names are acceptable. And some FedEx quests are perfectly acceptable (like the episode of young justice where Kid Flash needed to deliver a heart for transplant to a dying foreign dignitary! That'd be awesome to do. Time limit, getting jumped by evilbadguy thugs or even a boss enemy)

Fedex quests are typically used in MMO with a single linear narrative to drag players from one hub to the next in a way that doesn't jar too badly with the game lore.

I am still holding out hope that city of titans does away with the mission hub idea entirely. A few other games have (or at least have largely done away with them) and generally are the better for it. A much better (certainly more immersive) system is, once past the tutorial stage, to have mostly environmental triggers and have one or more of them at the location where the victory condition for a task or mission is created.
I.e. you find an object on the ground and decide to pick it up. This triggers a task to investigate (or steal) something. Along the way local dangers or opponents try to stop you but eventually you find the things you are looking for. Mission complete, reward received. Then if you look around you can find other things you can pick up or look at for missions or you see a more traditional quest giver standing nearby, and off you go on another task.
If you oversaturate the zone with these tasks you can both control to an extent where a player goes (those start and endpoints create a spiderweb of possible paths through the zone) and you can ensure that players returning to a zone with an alt can find other paths to play through the same content, just by picking different initial and follow up tasks.
Most of those tasks are fairly simple and relatively light on the lore (the zone and the interaction with it does most of the storytelling) so creating larger numbers of them should be less of a challenge. But mixed in there would be the more elaborate multi stage story heavy missions and the parts of the sagas that players can start or work on in each zone.
And to ensure that the system does not fall into the 'efficiency trap' where players load up on all available missions and then race through the zone in the most efficient pattern possible to defeat all enemies and collect all lootdrops, put tight limits on how many missions of each type a player can have active at any given time. One saga, one (district) story per zone and two or three tips. Any more than that and you have to suspend a mission (which means nothing you do will advance that task but no progress will be lost either unless you abandon it entirely). Group missions, raids and (seasonal) events of course are excempt from these limitations (actually, the game should treat the group as a player in this regard with its own set of missions and tasks that is being tracked for it, so groups can't take on dozens of missions at the same time either).
The point here is to gently encourage players to pay some attention to the lore without overly inconveniencing them, while at the same time ever so slightly discourage players from 'racing to the endgame'. The later of course is somewhat relevant in a game where there isn't really an 'endgame' in the traditional sense (or raid or PvP centric games like WoW or SW:TOR)

Fireheart
Fireheart's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 6 days ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/05/2013 - 13:45
"Here, take this basket of

"Here, take this basket of goodies to grandma's house. Good luck, hero,"

Be Well!
Fireheart

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
Fireheart wrote:
Fireheart wrote:

"Here, take this basket of goodies to grandma's house. Good luck, hero,"
Be Well!
Fireheart

Get jumped by the Big Bad Wolves gang, then later get help from the hero "Woodsman"

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

StellarAgent
Offline
Last seen: 1 week 3 days ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/25/2013 - 13:48
My son and I were discussing

My son and I were discussing Faction Rep and its myriad possibilities.

One of them is to be passing through a very low level zone and hearing something like: "If we don't move, maybe he won't see us".

BiotopeZ
BiotopeZ's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 8 months ago
Joined: 03/04/2016 - 10:29
StellarAgent wrote:
StellarAgent wrote:

My son and I were discussing Faction Rep and its myriad possibilities.
One of them is to be passing through a very low level zone and hearing something like: "If we don't move, maybe he won't see us".

That's a good point. In many games, it gets a little silly when a band of highwaymen wearing tunics and wielding makeshift clubs they don't even know how to hold right jump a party of adventurers wearing neigh-invulnerable armor, extremely deadly blood-stained ultra-sharp weapons, and carrying the heads of ten bounties. In what world is jumping them a good idea for the highwaymen? But they sure do it!

Animals in games are even dumber. I'm an animal. I care about food and survival. I'm going to go attack these people wearing armor that I can't bight and torches that will burn me and fight to the death because it's so important to delay them for five minutes because.... reasons? Unless there's a really bad rabies epidemic, this makes no sense.

Hopefully the baddies in CoT will behave as if they aren't actively attempting suicide-by-pc.

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
I get that a lot in Skyrim.

I get that a lot in Skyrim. "A heavily armed and armored warrior approaches! Why his gear is glowing it must be magical and worth a fortune! I'm sure I, in my rags, with my crappy axe, and miniscule combat training and proficiency can take this guy!"

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

Little Red Ragnarok
Little Red Ragnarok's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 4 months ago
kickstarter
Joined: 08/11/2015 - 14:56
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

Fireheart wrote:
"Here, take this basket of goodies to grandma's house. Good luck, hero,"
Be Well!
Fireheart
Get jumped by the Big Bad Wolves gang, then later get help from the hero "Woodsman"

The Big Bad Wolves gang has nothing on me.

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

I get that a lot in Skyrim. "A heavily armed and armored warrior approaches! Why his gear is glowing it must be magical and worth a fortune! I'm sure I, in my rags, with my crappy axe, and miniscule combat training and proficiency can take this guy!"

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

Darth Fez
Darth Fez's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 5 days ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/20/2013 - 07:53
That has been debated here

That has been debated here and I do hope that it'll be similar to CoH. There a sufficiently high level character could stand in the middle of a group of enemies and they'd do nothing.

That mentioned, I hope the NPCs will react appropriately to their nature. A rabid animal or person (e.g. drug addict) would probably attack without consideration of the consequences.

- - - - -
Hail Beard!

Support trap clowns for CoT!

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
My design goal:

My design goal:

*big PC stands in middle of low-end mob*
"Act casual, act casual.... we're not breaking any law...."
"SHIT! RUN FOR IT!"

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

Empyrean
Empyrean's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/16/2014 - 07:51
Doctor Tyche wrote:
Doctor Tyche wrote:

My design goal:
*big PC stands in middle of low-end mob*
"Act casual, act casual.... we're not breaking any law...."
"SHIT! RUN FOR IT!"

Outstanding.

Maybe the first diogue if we don't attack, the second if we do? As in: ignore with dialogue if not attacked, feared with dialogue if attacked.

FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
Precisely.

Precisely.

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

Huckleberry
Huckleberry's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 days 11 hours ago
Joined: 01/03/2016 - 08:39
Yeah, you'd have to make the

Yeah, you'd have to make the flee script be dependent upon something other than just the proximity of the PC, otherwise higher level players could seriously grief the lower level players by chasing all the mobs away.

I think it would be nice, however, to witness some behavior changes nonetheless based upon the proximity of the character, with the type of behavior dependent upon the relative faction rep. Either friendly, hostile or scared.

If several PCs are approaching some NPC, there would have to be an algorithm to determine which reaction the NPC exhibits. I guess it would make sense to weight several factors, such as reputation, proximity, and power difference, crunch the numbers and see what comes up.

As an example. Two players approach some Rooks. They are both the same level but one has a positive reputation and the other a negative reputation. Running through the possible permutations of character relative level, and how that level affects the proximity before the NPCs start reacting, and the reputation magnitude determining the reaction towards that driving player. We could have a lot of fun with this.
Just a reminder, this is only the dialogue and maybe some in-place animations. Like I said earlier, we wouldn't want the NPCs to run away.

But then we get into the situation where a high level character who is greatly feared by the Rooks is standing next to a couple low level Rooks NPCs. Those NPCs are intimidated by the character and are all but subdued. What happens if a low level hero walks up? Would we expect the Rooks to just ignore the high level PC and attack the low level player? That wouldn't be very realistic. It would make more sense that the NPCs continue to be pacified by the high level PC, even if they don't run away. And nothing is preventing them from defending themselves if the low level PC attacks them. So I guess this could still work without it being considered griefing.


I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
CallmeBlue
CallmeBlue's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: 06/14/2014 - 01:37
While poor reasoning skills

While poor reasoning skills are certainly a prominent reason for people attacking opponents much beyond their ability, inadequate information in general, and misidentification in particular, play equally large roles in the real world. Presumably the same applies to plausible fictional ones as well. Most NPCs probably don't carry copies of _Jane's Fighting Supers_, after all.

"Look, who's that?"

"Er...I think it's Dr. Paedophile and the Bastards of the Universe."

"I have a little girl; let's get them!"

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
CallmeBlue wrote:
CallmeBlue wrote:

While poor reasoning skills are certainly a prominent reason for people attacking opponents much beyond their ability, inadequate information in general, and misidentification in particular, play equally large roles in the real world. Presumably the same applies to plausible fictional ones as well. Most NPCs probably don't carry copies of _Jane's Fighting Supers_, after all.
"Look, who's that?"
"Er...I think it's GenericHero118474 and the Bastards of the Universe."
"I have a little girl; let's get them!"

*HammerDrop*

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

Radiac
Radiac's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 months 4 weeks ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/19/2013 - 15:12
Yay missions!

Yay missions!

R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising

Interdictor
Interdictor's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 4 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/22/2013 - 05:26
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

I get that a lot in Skyrim. "A heavily armed and armored warrior approaches! Why his gear is glowing it must be magical and worth a fortune! I'm sure I, in my rags, with my crappy axe, and miniscule combat training and proficiency can take this guy!"

RottenLuck
RottenLuck's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 1 week ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 20:32
Doctor Tyche wrote:
Doctor Tyche wrote:

My design goal:
*big PC stands in middle of low-end mob*
"Act casual, act casual.... we're not breaking any law...."
"SHIT! RUN FOR IT!"

Only thing I want to ask is how you plan to stop High-Level Trolls from going and scarring all the low-level mobs away from low-level players? You know they're bound to be at least one jerk who would go around scaring street mobs just to mess with others.

-------------------------------------------
Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP

Cass
Offline
Last seen: 6 months 2 weeks ago
kickstarter
Joined: 10/25/2013 - 20:15
Darth Fez wrote:
Darth Fez wrote:

That has been debated here and I do hope that it'll be similar to CoH. There a sufficiently high level character could stand in the middle of a group of enemies and they'd do nothing.
That mentioned, I hope the NPCs will react appropriately to their nature. A rabid animal or person (e.g. drug addict) would probably attack without consideration of the consequences.

That is... not how drug addiction works.

Empyrean
Empyrean's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/16/2014 - 07:51
Kassandros wrote:
Kassandros wrote:

That is... not how drug addiction works.

It was with Superadine, Rage, Exelsior, Outbreak, etc. We are just discussing a fantasy Superhero game, after all :).

FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)

Doctor Tyche
Doctor Tyche's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 months 2 weeks ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/04/2012 - 11:29
*cough*Dust*cough*

*cough*Dust*cough*

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

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
Wonder if we're going to have

Wonder if we're going to have something similar to MGH in Titans lore.

For those not in the know MGH is Mutant Growth Hormone which gives normal people super powers for a while. It's an illegal narcotic in the Marvel universe.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

Fireheart
Fireheart's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 6 days ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/05/2013 - 13:45
Titans Lore has 'Chaser',

Titans Lore has 'Chaser', which makes people burst into flame?

Be Well!
Fireheart

Cobalt Azurean
Cobalt Azurean's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 months 3 weeks ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/03/2013 - 16:39
CallmeBlue wrote:
CallmeBlue wrote:

While poor reasoning skills are certainly a prominent reason for people attacking opponents much beyond their ability, inadequate information in general, and misidentification in particular, play equally large roles in the real world. Presumably the same applies to plausible fictional ones as well. Most NPCs probably don't carry copies of _Jane's Fighting Supers_, after all.
"Look, who's that?"
https://cityoftitans.com/forum/glad-they-canceled-cox#comment-134786"Er...I think it's Dr. Paedophile and the Bastards of the Universe."
"I have a little girl; let's get them!"

Oh hey, a Jane's reference! Nice!

Halae
Halae's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 8 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 09/17/2014 - 09:37
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

Wonder if we're going to have something similar to MGH in Titans lore.
For those not in the know MGH is Mutant Growth Hormone which gives normal people super powers for a while. It's an illegal narcotic in the Marvel universe.

I'd be shocked if they didn't have something like that. At the core of it, there's always going to be a supersoldier thing, right? Well, what happens when said supersoldier serum works improperly, such as being temporary or having mental side-effects? If it's inexpensive enough for production, you can form a drug empire around it.

Another interesting idea would be an ancient vampire that feeds his mortal inner circle little bits of his blood to amp them up before a fight.

An infinite number of tries doesn't mean that any one of those tries will succeed. I could flip an infinite number of pennies an infinite number of times and, barring genuine randomness, they will never come up "Waffles".

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
Alternately having a vampire

Alternately having a vampire that gains temporary super powers by drinking the blood of metas is neat, and sounds like a dangerous idea for a villain.

Also all this talk of super drugs makes me think of Cloak and Dagger

I wish I could find the panel where they proclaimed "We are not role models!"

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

Wonder if we're going to have something similar to MGH in Titans lore.
For those not in the know MGH is Mutant Growth Hormone which gives normal people super powers for a while. It's an illegal narcotic in the Marvel universe.

Oh, the plans we have...

Chaser, Dust....and the fun things we can do with them.

Halae wrote:

I'd be shocked if they didn't have something like that. At the core of it, there's always going to be a supersoldier thing, right?

Yeah, we've got that, too.

We have more plans for things than you can imagine. There are, at present, 781 pages on our internal wiki. And that's not nearly the number of things written, much less what isn't written...

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

DesViper
DesViper's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 3 months ago
Developer11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 03/10/2014 - 00:55
Okay but how many pages are

Okay but how many pages are "needs expanding" ;)


PR, Forum Moderator
My Non-Canon Backstories
Avatar by MikeNovember
Grimfox
Grimfox's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 3 months ago
kickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 08/05/2014 - 10:17
We've discussed in the past

We've discussed in the past how to "train" appropriate responses into mobs vs players of different groups. My suggestion was a hidden AOE buff that would roughly simulate fear/fortitude. It's a stacking buff and every npc would give it off. If a group of 20 level 7 mobs are together they would have 20 stacks of level 7 fortitude, 140points. A player group of 3 level 20s would have a fear factor AOE of 60 points. The npcs would not be intimidated, but wouldn't fight unless they had a fortitude of say triple,...until the player characters attack. This would increase the players fear factor to 120. After a few of the level 7s fall their group buff would fall below 120 and they would then run. Obviously the numbers are just samples and would have to be tuned, but that is about how it would work, roughly. There are some interesting ways you could play with such a system to get some more interesting behaviors out of the npcs.

That said it sounds like they are using an AI to train the NPCs so that should make things quite interesting. I think DT said they were "too smart" and had to be dialed back.

On topic. I'm surprised that there is always a demand for more lore writers. I guess it makes sense since there are only volunteers working. throughput must not be very high. I get it. I can hardly find the time to write on the forums much less do iterative creative writing.

ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
desviper wrote:
desviper wrote:

Okay but how many pages are "needs expanding" ;)

None. We do all the writing and approvals before it goes on our internal wiki.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

Huckleberry
Huckleberry's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 days 11 hours ago
Joined: 01/03/2016 - 08:39
Back to the OP. I was just

Back to the OP.
I was just playing Wakfu, which is far better than I thought it would be, by the way. And they've taken an interesting tack on resource farming.

First, let me explain that it is a gear-based game. And all the gear is made from materials collected from monsters or from mining/farming/etc. But here's the interesting thing: you don't need to kill the monsters to get stuff from them. You can get fur and stuff from live monsters without having to fight them. Of course, you will still need to kill them to get meat and skin and bones.

But what does this have to do with City of Titans? Imagine that you don't have to defeat opponents to get some manner of victory from them. Maybe if you just go hassle them for a bit, they will give you bits of information instead. This information can be used to form clues and/or open up different mission options. This could help discriminate a character's placement along the violent/non-violent alignment axis. Some missions or resources will require direct physical confrontation, but maybe not all missions and resources. Maybe sometimes getting enough information from enough opponents will accomplish the mission too, and maybe certain augment ingredients can be obtained merely by talking to the opponents instead of beating them up. What would make this even more interesting is for the mobs who act aggressively towards characters, maybe we can give the characters some sort of "I come in Peace" emote that lets them approach to talk without automatically starting a physical conflict. This should be a basic ability granted at first level but which can be mastered and/or augmented as well.

To go even further:
in Wakfu, each zone has an environmentalist kind of caretaker/governor who will send out zone-wide messages that there are too many monsters, or not enough monsters, or too many trees or not enough trees, etc. The governor will reward you extra for killing monsters when he wants you to, or penalize your reputation if you kill them when he doesn't want you to. So whether you cut the trees down, prune the trees, or plant new trees will depend on the prevailing volume of actions performed by the playerbase in that zone. Interestingly, this also has a direct leveling effect on the resource markets. Well done, Ankama.

Would there be some way of doing the same kind of thing in CoT? It would be interesting if each zone's police station (or safehouse or mob den or other form of control center appropriate to that neighborhood) informs player characters that the number of Rooks in the neighborhood has really been in decline lately due to all the other players swarming the area. The jail cells and detention facilities are full. Instead of bringing them all in, why don't you just find out if they're up to something. Then when the natural respawn rate of the Rooks mobs rebounds and floods the area because (most) players stopped defeating them in combat, the combat restriction is lifted and reputation rewards are back to normal.

I realize that this kind of mechanic really needs a resource-based economy to make itworthwhile and reach its true potential. So, that begets the question:
will CoT have a resource-based economy such that farming the mobs will become a necessity not for the experience, but for the loot drops?


I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
jtpaull
jtpaull's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 4 months ago
Joined: 01/27/2015 - 15:00
Will there be the ability to

Will there be the ability to change the difficulty of any given tip/episodes/series?

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
jtpaull wrote:
jtpaull wrote:

Will there be the ability to change the difficulty of any given tip/episodes/series?

All episodes will have a set difficulty level. However, I believe you're asking about a game mechanic whereby the level at which the PC plays can be varied. That is a mechanic that is planned for, though I don't know anything regarding the feasibility of it being in at launch. That's a gameplay thing, not a comp thing, and not a thing that affects comp's work (therefore not on the extremely long list of ones that I need to pay attention to).

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

TitansCity
TitansCity's picture
Offline
Last seen: 11 months 1 week ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/28/2013 - 02:09
Do you have an influence on

Do you have an influence on how the NPC is staying ? the behaviour he/she/it must have during the dialogue ? Or even, the circumstances in where we meet them ?
Indeed (or in fact, i never remember ^^) : what is your area of influence for each NPC in the game ?


Suivez l'avancement du jeu City of Titans en Français sur https://titanscity.com
http://forum.titanscity.com | www.facebook.com/titanscity | http://twitter.com/TitansCity
PR - Europe
ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
TitansCity wrote:
TitansCity wrote:

Do you have an influence on how the NPC is staying ? the behaviour he/she/it must have during the dialogue ? Or even, the circumstances in where we meet them ?
Indeed (or in fact, i never remember ^^) : what is your area of influence for each NPC in the game ?

I'm not entirely certain what your question is here, but I will attempt an answer anyway.

As part of the dialogue we write, we can make certain statements available or unavailable depending on certain conditions, primarily (at least for now) what the PC has or has not done in the past. Part of those statements are the behavior and animations that go with those statements, and we aim to make those reasonable for the statements and the overall intent of the dialogue.

I don't know if this is even close to what was being asked, but there you go.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

OathboundOne
Offline
Last seen: 8 months 18 min ago
Joined: 03/06/2016 - 16:15
Hey, CoF, can I make a

Hey, CoF, can I make a request?

Please don't let the dialogue tell me what my character is feeling/how my character is supposed to feel.

ESO does this a lot "I know you are angry." or "Oh don't look so surprised." or forcing me to click a dialogue option that says "It's hard to believe..." in order to advance the storyline.

No, I am not angry (or at least I wasn't until you railroaded me into being angry by insisting that I WAS angry), no I was not surprised (seriously I saw this "tweest!" ending coming 10 levels ago), and no, it really isn't hard to believe, I already suspected as much.

It's frankly infuriating.

TitansCity
TitansCity's picture
Offline
Last seen: 11 months 1 week ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 10/28/2013 - 02:09
OathboundOne wrote:
OathboundOne wrote:

Hey, CoF, can I make a request?
Please don't let the dialogue tell me what my character is feeling/how my character is supposed to feel.
ESO does this a lot "I know you are angry." or "Oh don't look so surprised." or forcing me to click a dialogue option that says "It's hard to believe..." in order to advance the storyline.
No, I am not angry (or at least I wasn't until you railroaded me into being angry by insisting that I WAS angry), no I was not surprised (seriously I saw this "tweest!" ending coming 10 levels ago), and no, it really isn't hard to believe, I already suspected as much.
It's frankly infuriating.

+1
That and the summary answers like "Looking good" which have a dialogue like "Thank you for telling me this tips. I will arrest those villains and the city will be safiest"... You know, this kind of short answer which doesn't really tell you at all what will be your real answer. I so much dislike that kind of dialogue like in Mass effect or Dragon age...

By the way, sorry if my question was not really clear :/ You answered some part ^^
By example, do you have an influence on the way the NPC gives us the mission ? Like "M. Tea shout out to the PC which just passed in front of him and runs to it. When arrived in front of the PC, M. Tea is out-of-breath, his hat is on the side of his head like it's about falling and he hold his long black english style umbrella. M. Tea get his breath back by putting his hands on his knees and his head toward the floor and says "You…really…[run/fly/jump]…too fast…for…me. Just…let me…take…my breath…back. - After 1 or 2 secondes) Woouuuhhh, well, thank you for stopping. I'm sorry but i need your help blablablablablalba"
My question was, do you influence the game in giving precisions like those one ? or do you just give the text and the story events without other precision on the game ? (An english style, an umbrella, the fact he shout out the PC, the fact he runs after the PC, the way is taking his breath back, etc etc)


Suivez l'avancement du jeu City of Titans en Français sur https://titanscity.com
http://forum.titanscity.com | www.facebook.com/titanscity | http://twitter.com/TitansCity
PR - Europe
Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
This stuff reminds me of when

This stuff reminds me of when I played Dragon Age origins recently. I had been asked to help out a mage, I told them I didn't want to get involved, had a quest marker on another mage talked to them, then without being able to say no I was now working for that mage against the first. Then later I tell the first mage that I spoke to the second and the dialogue made it look like it was all my idea. Huff.

I hate dialogue options that get people stuck. I played fallout 3 once and met a person. They asked if I was sent by a character I don't know, so I said I didn't know them, then I ask about them and why they're there, then I get there options. Tell them I'm going to tell the person I don't know about them, tell them I'm not going to tell the person I don't know about them, or try to extort this person into giving me stuff so I won't tell the person I don't know. No way to just get out of the conversation. So I end up telling them I won't tell on them. I later find the person they were talking about, no way to talk about the other person and no way to tell this person I now know about the other. Huff.

TL;DR: please don't make conversations that lock your character into a specific course of action when it makes no sense.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

jtpaull
jtpaull's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 4 months ago
Joined: 01/27/2015 - 15:00
Project_Hero wrote:
Project_Hero wrote:

This stuff reminds me of when I played Dragon Age origins recently. I had been asked to help out a mage, I told them I didn't want to get involved, had a quest marker on another mage talked to them, then without being able to say no I was now working for that mage against the first. Then later I tell the first mage that I spoke to the second and the dialogue made it look like it was all my idea. Huff.
I hate dialogue options that get people stuck. I played fallout 3 once and met a person. They asked if I was sent by a character I don't know, so I said I didn't know them, then I ask about them and why they're there, then I get there options. Tell them I'm going to tell the person I don't know about them, tell them I'm not going to tell the person I don't know about them, or try to extort this person into giving me stuff so I won't tell the person I don't know. No way to just get out of the conversation. So I end up telling them I won't tell on them. I later find the person they were talking about, no way to talk about the other person and no way to tell this person I now know about the other. Huff.
TL;DR: please don't make conversations that lock your character into a specific course of action when it makes no sense.

I imagine this is difficult since they can't have a write-in option. They have to put in dialogue for you to choose from and there are only so many options you can choose from.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
Yeah, but the problem really

Yeah, but the problem really comes (in the dragon age example) from only having a "I betrayed you" option instead of a "The guy already knew everything and I was forced to go along with it" option.

In the fallout example not being able to break your word you gave to a person you've met only once and had limited interaction with while only knowing one side of the story is just poor writing. Seeing as if you haven't met the other character involved and they have specific dialogue options involving that to then have that first part not shape the conversation or for then when you know the other side of the thing not being able to change your mind about a decision you made is just... I dunno. It made me throw up my hands and just be like "Oh, ok. I guess this is happening."

Dialogue trees and stuff are probably pretty hard to do and do well, I'm sure. Luckily we're probably not going to run into an LA Noire situation where the dialogue option is "Doubt" and what happens is the character flies out of their seat starts pointing and yelling that the other person is a liar. That would probably be a more "Fly off the handle" option.

Thinking about it a police interrogation game where you play two cops and have to good cop bad cop a suspect into a confession would be pretty neat. Suspects would respond better or worse to either one, and you as a player would have to gauge what amount of which to use... But I'm off track now.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

Cyclops
Cyclops's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 7 months ago
11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 04/10/2015 - 17:24
Why not go in the opposite

Why not go in the opposite direction and have an NPC force a player into all kinds of situations
NPC: I want you to stop dating my daughter!
Player (who? what?)
only player options:
A) she is a great girl! I will never stop!
B) she is a great girl! I will never stop!
C) She is a great girl! I will never stop!

NPC: Then be an honorable man and Marry her!

(out comes Wanda, the world's ugliest girl from In LIving Color)
Wanda: I'm gonna rock your world!
Player (throws up in mouth) (hits abort mission)

Devs laugh as their April Fools mission is a success

Project_Hero
Project_Hero's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 years 6 months ago
Joined: 10/09/2014 - 11:21
Statistically someone will be

Statistically someone will be into that.

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

ConundrumofFurballs
ConundrumofFurballs's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 7 months ago
Developerkickstarter11th Anniversary Badge
Joined: 12/05/2012 - 16:03
OathboundOne wrote:
OathboundOne wrote:

Hey, CoF, can I make a request?
Please don't let the dialogue tell me what my character is feeling/how my character is supposed to feel.

This is one of the mandates we put on all missions from the beginning. Player autonomy is key for us. We acknowledge that some players are "button mashers" (just want to punch things and don't care about the text), some people want to see all the text and know all the lore, but from a detached point of view, and some will be role playing their way through the game. We are intentionally accommodating any and all variations with our dialogue options.
We will not tell you how your PC feels. Sometimes it is something that the NPC will imply based on their perception of what you are theoretically saying, such as "I am sure that this is difficult" or "You're probably angry" but we will never tell you how your PC feels.

Another thing we are not doing is telling you what your PC actually says. We provide you with the general concept of what you're saying so that the NPC can respond appropriately, but we won't explicitly say the words. You can make up whatever you want to say to actually get the point across.

Example:

[Tip Contact Briefing dialogue: ...] Amy, one of my regular running buddies, called me earlier today and said she won’t run in the Wood until whatever it is gets resolved; if the reports are true, I don’t blame her one bit. Could you please have a look through the Wood, and make sure that everything is copacetic? If it’s not, I would greatly appreciate it if you could make it that way. Please?”

Options1
A - Tell her you'll get right on it
B - Ask her if she has any details on what might be going on
C - Ask her if Amy is taken, and if not then could you have her number
D - Ask about the Park Rangers
E - Tell her you can’t right now

Results1
A - Thank you so much. It may be nothing, but it never hurts to check.
B - I only heard bits and pieces. One guy said something about someone disappearing behind a bush, another said a tree tried to grab her, and an older couple said the path they were on just disappeared. There really isn’t anything specific to go on, which is why the Rangers haven’t started any sort of investigation. [Return to Options1]
C - Amy? Yeah, ummm...I can’t give you her number. That just wouldn’t be right. I can give her yours though, if you’d like? [Go to Options2]
D - [general information about the park rangers, then Return to Options1]
E - It’s all right. I understand. Everyone and everything, all vying for your attention at the same time. You have to prioritize, just like the Rangers do. Let me know when you’re ready to take on the Wood some more. There’s always something going on…

Options2
A - Tell her that’d be great
B - Tell her you’d rather she didn’t
C - Give her a dejected shrug

Results2
A - All right, I’ll text it to her shortly. [Return to Options1]
B - You don’t want to give her your number, and yet you wanted me to give you hers? Double-standard much? [Return to Options1]
C - I’ll take that as a no. [Return to Options1]

I've obviously redacted this a bit. I don't want to give away any information about the content, just the structure.
You will notice that the tone of the NPC's reply, though hard to tell from text alone, varies depending on what the PC says; you will also notice that we let you as the player pick the exact words that the PC says, we just imply the overall type of response.
You can also see that there are some options that are pure flavor instead of being tied directly to the mission, such as option 1C. Obviously the button mashers won't care about such a response being available, but role players likely will. We aim to make the game interesting for all play styles whenever possible.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Conundrum of Furballs

Composition Team, Staff Writer

Pages