I'd like to suggest that MWM consider client-side scripting for City of Titans. This is a major boon to players in World of Warcraft, and in a recent thread, [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/80032#comment-80032]I suggested client-side scripting[/url] as a solution to another suggested feature.
This would allow players to implement features that are uncommon, character-specific, or not a priority for the City of Titans development team. As I put it in the other thread, if we had client-side scripting, useful features would naturally follow, created by the players, for the players, and based on the players' wants and needs. It would also foster a player community devoted to creating and sharing add-ons for the game.
The City of Titans development team would benefit in the long run since players could rely on one another to implement some features. The devs could expose the necessary event hooks and API's then let players build what they need with those tools. This would allow players to respond to their own needs instead of placing the onus on the devs for every little thing.
World of Warcraft implements scripting via Lua---which I have little experience with---but I think JavaScript would also be a good fit for this since it's a very flexible language, is very widely used, and has features that are ideal for dealing with event-based programming. Embedding [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8_%28JavaScript_engine%29]V8[/url] might work well here.
I know it's a [b]BIG[/b] wish, but I'm convinced that it's one of the most useful things to ask for.
There's something to be said for what are essentially mods in a game; that they greatly extend the life of it. the sheer number of people still playing skyrim, three years after release, is a fair testament to that. An example tat Plexius pointed out is the various UI texture and utility changes that are allowed in woW. None of it affects ingame numbers, textures, or meshes, but it's all creative applications and utilities added onto a base game system.
League of Legends, another popular MMO (of the MOBA style) actually allows modding of textures and meshes, through the utilization of custom skins for various champions. I'll be honest - I don't know how much more difficult the inclusion of this would be over just UI changes, but it'd theoretically allow players to adjust things as they see fit. The difference would be that it only shows up for them, and looks normal for other players.
Regardless, modding communities spring up regardless of the sort of modding you have available to a game, and no matter what, another community to add to a game is good, as it brings in more... well, come on. We all know that you need actual players to have a game.
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".
The use of the Unreal Engine leaves some level of modding in by default you realize.
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
I did not realize this. I'd love to learn about it and especially learn what aspects of it will be available to players in City of Titans.
I like addons. Ones that augment player experience, but not beyond what the developers allow.
But I always start off with the basic UI and see what I can do with it. Sometimes just being able to move parts around help a lot, othertimes I need the information showed in a slightly different format for me.
For me, I don't like bars on top of each other, I prefer them next to each other with fixed width. I like keeping track of how much currency I have earnt in a play session. These are things that are not necessarily given by the developers. I like always having my frame rate/ping shown in a small unobtrusive corner of the window, not hiding other parts of the UI (unlike the CoX version, which by default covered up a nice large chunk of the bottom action bar... and was non movable).
As an example, in Wildstar I use [url=http://www.curse.com/ws-addons/wildstar/224408-kiruchallenge]Kiru Challenge[/url]. It is a basic addon that just lists the various challenges within X radius of me. I have it set up so that it auto hides in combat (API function), sorts by distance (API function), and puts the ones on cooldown at the bottom of the list (API function). I also have it setup to automatically start a few (player selected) challenges when I enter their area/start point.
Another one I use is [url=http://www.curse.com/ws-addons/wildstar/225512-vince-builds]Vince Builds[/url] which lets me set up several LAS setups (with up to as many AMP setups you have unlocked), and link them to gear, and link that gear to a certain costume appearance. This would be similar to City of Heroes changing your costume set with a build change. It also lets me have more "saved builds" than the base game lets me have (although changing your LAS is free, the game only lets you save one LAS/AMP setup per "build slot"). Sure, I could do this all manually, with bits of paper keeping track of what my various LAS's are, and what appearance I want them to look like.. this just automates it.
All of these are what the Carbine API allow me to do.
And that is something that MWM would have to do if they want to allow addons. Set up strict rules on what is/is not allowed by addons. Carbines is "if the API allows it, it is fair game". This does mean that if the API allows something "game breaking" to happen (for example, showing all nameplates, regardless of their occlusion setting) then so be it. It just means that hiding behind a wall in PvP might not always be viable[1]. Of course, Carbine could change the API so that player nameplates ALWAYS follow occlusion settings to prevent this.
The other upside is that developers can roll into their own game various other upgrades that the player base have developed. Depending on the language/addon structure, this can be really easy, or it cna be really hard. WoW/Wildstar use LUA, The Secret World uses flash (IIRC). Blizzard have actually done this, taken ideas that the player base have developed and integrated them (one small one I remember is "scrolling combat text" being added after a few years).
Hell, an addon could also allow you to keep track of what stuff you have on other characters, so you don't need to relog to go "Yep, my alt needs that".
[1] It also means that the player can more easily keep track of where NPC's are.
I remember on WoW I had an Addon for quick notes. Used it for my Roleplaying, it was a roleplay tool mod. I made Runes on a inventory/bag popup and when I hovered the mouse over it I saw the notes I made.
Was very helpful doing the RP fortune teller, where I used 24 runes for the fortunetelling bit. Doing the same RP elsewhere would mean I had to go to the Runes website scroll down the list for the runes that came up. It's time consuming (though still fun).
So having a means of making 24 quick notes I can draw up and go through in game with ease would be a big help.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
The only thing I hate about player made add-ons, is the sheer volume of them that get put out. It's sometimes hard to dig through hundreds of add-ons to figure out which ones are the ones that you like best, or work the best. That is one of the things I hated about WoW. Yes I liked being able to customize the screen to how I liked it, but trying to figure out which ones to use was a nightmare. Then, heaven forbid, something happens and I lose everything and have to go back and get them all again.
I liked the way CoH had their set-up. I know not everybody did, and I'm sure there are plenty of people that wished they could have changed things up on it, but it was nice and easy for me. Personally I would just like to have something designed from the very beginning that works for as many people as we can. Perhaps the Devs could put up a few different screen shots of the interface and run a poll on which ones we like the best? Maybe design it so that we can choose from the top 3 choices?
I got chills! They're multiplyin'. And I'm losin' control. Cuz the power, I'm supplyin'. Why it's ELECTRIFYIN'!!
Even that might not be enough to be honest. A lot of the time the interface that is shown is one that has been developed with player feedback, whilst also keeping the feel of what the developers wanted. Or at least that is what the feel is.
In terms of the "numbers of addons" that get released, a lot of the time they are of varying quality. Some "highly recommended" ones might not actually be suitable for you.
For example, the most popular "Unit Frames" add on for Wildstar is called PotatoUI. I used it in the past, but now I am using a lesser known one called Kurona Frames. It is a different look, has its own quirks but is better for me.
But even that is not guaranteed to stay the same. The upcoming patch for Wildstar, the developers themselves have also integrated some more changes/recommendations from the player base, and improved their own UI. I might actually go back to stock there.
Still wont give up my CandyBars/SkillSwitch combination though (different skills bars set + quick skill setup without needing to open the build window) right now.
The advantage of the addons is that if the developers decide to not integrate a feature (for whatever reason) the player base is able to pick up the slack and supply that feature.
But one thing I will say above everything else... the game MUST be playable without them in any way shape or form.
Hell, I would go so far to say that the game would be playable[1] for ALL AT's with just stock keybinds.
[1] So for me that would put Masterminds and WS/PB's out of contention for me... I heard that they were only truly playable with dedicated keybind setups due to how they were....
Actually, I would go so far as to limit "addons" to just purely cosmetic changes... but this time make them "officially" supported and documented by the developers.
Bahhh.. You should try making your new UI in the Unity3D plugin im working on now (still in development).
[img]http://i.imgur.com/70RiFCK.png[/img]
See prototyping [url=http://youtu.be/LnlxcZoeBAg]video here[/url]. The video example shows how to make a Message Box in a few very easy steps. ;D
Your post pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about scripting and add-ons, Gangrel. I want to reiterate a few points in particular.
This is one of the most important aspects of it. The players' needs will likely grow much more rapidly than the devs can respond. There may also be features that the devs will deliberately choose not to implement. Giving players the ability to develop add-ons will allow them to fill in the gaps.
This is also important. Add-ons should never be mandatory. If a particular add-on becomes a de facto standard for being able to play the game on a basic level, it would be a clear signal to the devs that something in their design is flawed or missing.
This is similar to the notion that add-ons should only allow players to do what they could normally do via UI options or keybinds, but without allowing them to automatically activate powers or automate things that would enable botting. In other words, it should allow UI manipulation, emotes, costume changes, chatting...you know, stuff like that.
I don't want to stretch this point too far, but it would also be helpful to have [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_%28computing%29]events[/url] that allow players to watch for changes, such as when their HP/endurance/momentum changes, or when they enter/exit combat, etc. The key is to ensure that players can't script their response to events, e.g., automatically trigger a self-heal when their health is low.
Let players implement [i]signals[/i] but not [i]actions[/i].
For me there were two games I modded. One was World of Warcraft. User interface, bag management system, and Roleplaying tools.
The one I HEAVILY mod often is Skyrim. I went Mod Mad for that over 200 mods everything from enemy AI to new armor. That mostly because I beat the game before and wanted more and different experience.
For an MMO balance even if it's Perfect Imbalance. Any mod that affects character abilities or skills will throw these balances out of alignment. That includes mods that auto trigger effects. For a Single player game this isn't much of an issue most NPCs you fight would have some kind of auto trigger themselves there no human brain losing track of the fight in order to remember to hit a heal. Or get distracted.
As for how I would fix the problem of to many mods to choose from. Well oddly enough I think CoH did have an idea that could work. Developer approval, when you do the AE some were marked as being a Dev choice, others guest writers, others had the player stars. A similar system for the CoT Mods might help filter the junk trash or joke mods, from the useful and creative mods.
The Dev team did say they would want to include player made art, costumes, and ideas eventually. The Custom textures and costumes that many Mods are would have an submission system (eventually) for the costume, animation, graphics, and weapon creators out there. Mission Creator tool would take over the Mods that add missions and content.
So what mods would be made? Can't tell way to many brains do Mods for a base line. We can conculde that SEX and Sexural mods be made. (I confess that a few of my Mods for Skyrim are from that class of Mods). User Interface and tools. Maps, pop up info, things along those lines I can see a lot of mods being made for.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
[url=http://rule34.paheal.net/]Rule 34[/url]: If it exists there IS porn of it.
After realizing that, it's just a matter of Supply & Demand. That's just the way Humans are.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]