Thanks. this is fun and I wish others would get in on it.

Your ideas are great. I like the bleeding eyes. It never even occurred to me to consider the victims of vampires for ideas. The bite marks on the neck are so obviously brilliant. Also, I never saw or read twilight so it didn't even occur to me to consider sparkly vampires. Thank you for pre-empting that suggestion.

I was hesitant to include the liquid transfer power effect because of the its potential to depict blood. While I wanted to show the transfer of life force by including it in this package, I can't deny that blood transfer was a reasonably expected implementation as well. According to the ESRB ratings, "minimal blood" is permitted for T rating. I think your suggestions of blood dripping from the lips or from holes in the neck are easily within that "minimal" boundary.

But I also believe that every MMO is equipped with the warning that online interactions are not rated. I think it would be an impossible task for the game designers to prevent players from using whatever powers and effects are at their disposal to simulate blood. Heck, I had a character named "Bloody Mandragora" (sonic-sonic corruptor) in CoV and all her powers looked like blood effects, so I don't think I should be too worried about the liquid transfer power effect being made by a player to look like blood. I think it would be different if the HIT EFFECTS showed splattering liquid, and wounded characters left pools of liquid on the ground. I htink that would exceed "minimal blood," even if the game allowed players to make them any color.

Lothic wrote:

Here are a few pics of power effects that might be applicable to CoT life draining debuff powers:

I really like the energy coming out of the eyes and open mouth of the victim in that picture. If the devs can implement that somehow, it would be tremendous. Since those locations may designated as separate emanation points on the default character model, keying the power effect to those emanation points might be a workable solution for it, if possible. There are so many power effects that would be extra impressive if they could be assigned to particular emanation points of the victims instead of just center of mass like every other game has done.

P.S. Your Gwen Tennyson vs. Charmcaster gif apparently didn't show, but that was particularly appropriate to the discussion.

I was just brainstorming on another theme to put a package around, and ancient Greece or Rome came to mind. I must have had Cimerora on the brain. But then I realized that there aren't really anything other than costume items or props that would be thematic here. Maybe we could come up with a chariot for a fast travel power, with horses or not. But I couldn't think of any animations or power effects that are unique to the era. Can you? We've already got a shields package and similarly swords package or a spear package would be better on their own than trying to group all swords or spears related design elements into a roman package (where would samauri or Zulu warriors fit, for instance).

In the end I realized that a roman or ancient greek theme doesn't fit the package concept except as a category for props and costume items. Don't get me wrong, I think there's quite a bit of fertile ground for them, but they would belong on the props and costume items threads; not the package thread.

So does anyone have a theme idea for a package? I suppose I could do a swords package or a spear package, but I was hoping for something a little more entertaining and thought-provoking. Maybe I should do that Undead package I mentioned earlier... Thriller comes to mind

Airhead wrote:

It’s the Little Things Package
(... It’s a theme.)

This is a boy/girl scout package but I don’t want to suggest such behavior is limited to only certain groups. Imagine any random acts of kindness or politeness that impressed you lately and imagine how they might flavor a hero with an "It’s the Little Things" Package. If it's something every hero would try to do then it could be a generic ability but if it means making an extra effort to help in a way that is not your hero's mission, especially if it isn't asked for, then it's a Little Thing.

I really like this idea. It would inject so much immersion into the game world.

I love the idea of picking up rubbish, giving to beggars, etc. These are things no game designer would spend time and effort upon as part of a vanilla game. But if we were to put them together in something like this that can potentially earn real world income as a cash shop item, then all of a sudden there's real value to it to the devs, and not just as a nice-to-have for the players.

I know I've said that these package themes weren't MEANT to be cash shop items, but I can't deny the usefulness of using the cash shop potential of something like this to justify its creation.

So far you've only listed positive things. I think it would not only be hilarious but also in keeping with the character of City of Titans to also include evil little things as well. The flip side of the nice little things you've included.

Imagine someone who litters on purpose. Someone who takes from beggars and squashes butterflies. Someone who shoots spitballs at passersby and who performs pixelated obscene gestures instead of waving. All the little things that an evil sunofabatch would do to show us he or she or it is evil.

The Strongman Package

Props

• Kettleball
  
• Barbell
  
  
• Classic strongman style barbell
  
  
• Olympic Hammer
  
  
• Sledge Hammer
  
  
• Giant Warhammer
  
  
• Cartoon standard 1 ton weight
  
  

Costume Items

• Classic Strongman Costume Items
  
  
  
  • Handlebar mustache
  • Wide weightlifter’s belt
  • Underwear worn on the outside (superman style)
  • Old-timey bathing suit
  • Alternate one-shouldered bodysuit
• Carnival-era men’s hair
  
  
  and
• Biblical Samson Hair
  
  Turns out biblical scholars and historians claim he braided his hair, which has been misconstrued by others to be dreadlocks; but is most likely 7 cornrows instead. So If the devs want to get totally authentic here, they would make 7 really really long cornrow braids.
• Weight attachments like wrist and ankle bands
• Torn version of existing costume items associated with hulk-like transformation (both male and female)

Out of Combat Animations

• ”em/flex” Cycle through muscle flexing poses like a bodybuilder
• ”em/curl” perform bicep curls with a dumbbell and a smiling grimace and perhaps a wink at whomever you’ve targeted
• do pushups
• ”em/crush” crush a rock between thumb and forefinger then grind the dust away, all with other fingers extended, can also be directed at a target, perhaps by first pointing the other hand at the target?
• Hulk up animation for use when entering combat or for costume change:
  
  
  
  Note that animation is about the motions of the bones in the model, not the size difference between the beginning and ending models, so leave it up to the players whether such an animation fits with their design concept or not.
• ”em/letmehearyou” classic hulk hogan routine:
  
  

Combat Animations

• Lift a portion of the floor/ground and throw it
• punch the ground
• put whole body into a super duper swing at target
  
  • version for empty hands held together
  • version for one-handed punch
  • version for one-handed prop
  • version for 2-handed prop
  • version for staff-like prop
• swing prop like olympic hammer throw
  
  
  can be used for ranged or melee animations
• Grab and smash like Hulk with Loki
  
  
  
  Note that this takes over the target’s character model for the duration of the animation. As a result it may only be appropriate for attacks which have a stun effect or otherwise would restrict the target’s actions for a duration.
• Stomp the ground
• two handed smash the ground
• one-handed smash the ground

Sound Packages

• Male weighlifter sounds for vocallizations
• Female weightlifter sounds for vocalizations

Power Effects

• Cracking Floor associated with heavy impacts, for use with AoE abilities, also used when landing from big jumps
• Free-weights for use as elements in powers and auras that use elements
• anvils for use as elements in powers that use them
• Falling 10 ton weight block, can also be used as a summoned object

One of the things I noticed off the bat was the absence of any female-specific ideas in this theme. I suppose that’s the nature of the source material, though. Besides she-hulk inspired shirt-tearing, If anyone can think of any costume ideas or props associated with female super strength, feel free to add them.

Next, I'd like to do a package devoted to the zodiac. I can imagine various summons, summonable objects, power effects and even some costume ideas. Let's make the zodiac set a collaborative effort. Put your ideas here and let's see what we can come up with

I've heard of Saint Seiya, but never read it or seen any of the anime. What about it would you like to incorporate?

Plants Package

We’ve seen a lot of ideas in this thread and the other idea threads about technology and technological props, but we really haven’t seen much about nature-related concepts. So here’s a package all about the props, animations and costumes centered on the theme of Plants (and fungus).

Costume items

• Body replacements. Use existing bones, but replace existing 3D body mesh with:
  
  • Twisting Vines
  • Tree Trunk with limbs for arms and roots for legs
  • Cactus (saguaro-style or prickly pear style)
  • Leaves for hair
  • Grass for hair
  • Moss for hair
  • Twigs for hair
  • Flowers for hair
  • wisteria-like flowers for longer hair
  • Mushrooms and other fungus for hair
• Twisted vines skin material selection
• Skin looks like lush moss
• Create a bark material for costume items
• Add protruding leaves and flowers as a costume item (or aura?). They could even be animated to pop out periodically like WoW did with the Staff of the Verdant Circle:
  
• Add patches of lichen to skin
• Add protruding fungus as a costume item (optional animation to eject spores)
• Add protruding thorns as a costume item (optional animation to drip poison?)
• Witch doctor mask would fit better into a VooDoo set TBD
• Use drooping willow branches as a cape
• Falling vines as a cape
• Woven flowers for a cape
• Plant style loin-cloth
• Everything from these images:
  
  if you can't see the images, just right click and view them in another tab

Props

• Twig/branch versions of existing props, with flowers, thorns, etc. as appropriate
• A cut flower like a rose, daisy or tulip, held like presenting it or like a scepter
• Flowerhead for use as a floating prop or (spinning?)projectile
• Ball cactus for throwing
• something mushroom related to spread spores
• a fist full of writhing vines (can also be used for worms, snakes, tentacles and energy tendrils)
• blowpipe

combat animations would be a whole bunch of poses and pose-like motions:

• Rising hand like trying to summon something from the ground
• Two rising hands like trying to gather /coax something from the ground
• Slow but powerful backhand can be used for high-power attacks
• Thrust hand into ground
• Thrust both hands into ground
• all-over body shake (designed for use with spores, pollen or expelling thorns, but can be used with any power effects per players’ aesthetic choices)
• Head-only shake
• thrust hand forward, palm up and spreading fingers as if releasing something (palm becomes power emanation point)
• Hold closed hands together close to breast, then extend hands and open them (joined open hands become emanation point)

Out of combat animations

• When idling, a butterfly lands on your finger, your nose, your hair and other locations, randomly chosen each time
• ”em/pushingdaisies” - the player lies down and sinks into the ground while flowers grow and bloom. Used in lieu of sleep or rest.
• ”em/iamgroot” - the player grows roots and turns into a tree
• ”em/lovenotwar” - the player hands a flower to target NPC or PC
• If the player is idle when the sun comes up, they turn their face to it and bask. This also happens if the sun is up when the players emerge from an instance and stand outside the mission door.

Sound Packages

• Rustling leaves for movements and even footsteps, the sound of branches and twigs snapping for various vocalizations.

Power effects

• Sprites:
  
  • Spores
  • Flower petals
  • flowerheads
  • thorns/needles
  • green leaves
  • fallen deciduous leaves
  • Grass extends filament-like from emanation point to target
  • Vines extend tentacle-like from emanation point to target
  • plants grow on target
  • mushrooms and fungus grow on target
  • flowers grow on target
  • Vines sprout from and entangle target
  • Vines grow up from ground and wrap around target
  • Large waterlily-like flower blooms from ground (for ground-targeted obstacles and AoE abilities)
  • Sapling grows from ground (flowering like a cherry tree?)
  • cactus grows from ground
  • Substitute rose thorns as an option for anyplace vines are mentioned

  Auras
  

  • Vines always reaching, waving and snapping from body (extra points if you get them to stretch towards other nearby characters)
  • Pulsating flowers spurting pollen into the air around character
  • Pulsating fungus spurting spores into the air around the character
  • Leaves fall from hair
  • Flowers, moss and grass grow from footprints as player walks or runs

Did I miss anything? What ideas do you think would fit into this package?

The Steampunk Package

Steampunk is a nebulous enough concept that almost anything can exist in it. So what I'm considering eligible for inclusion in this package is fashion and accessories from the 19th century and any technolgy of this time up to but not including the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, steampunk enhances these ideas by mixing the fashion, art and technology of this period in such a way as to render them almost indistinguishable from each other. I hope this definition proves satisfactory to the customer-base.
(Note #1: in order to prevent rust, much of steampunk technology relies on non-ferrous metals. Bronze is just about the only non-ferrous metal available in the 19th century. But since this is City of Titans, the characters could be expected to use stailess steel, aluminum and titanium and other modern alloys. Consider all entries on this list to be bronze by default as you picture them with your mind's eye.)
(Note #2: The 19th century (and steampunk by extension) possessed two distinct design philosophies. One is the raw invention, unadorned and exposed: utilitarian. The other is a nearly wasteful display of artful decoration with filigree and whimsy: decorative. For the purposes of this package, please consider all ideas to have both a utilitarian and decoratice appearance, so I don't have to list two of everything)

Costume items.

• Various weird facial hair options that were prevalent in the 19th century.
• Steam Powered Cyborg - With limb, torso and head replacements for all your full or partial cyborg conversions. I'm picturing starting with something like C3PO as the base and tweaking it to the more utilitarian steampunk and more decorative steampunk extremes
• Steam Powered Armor - https://www.deviantart.com/tooth-w/art/hunter-2-339264796
• Steam powerpack (worn on back)
• Tophat with goggles
• Bug-eye goggles
• Pith Helmet/British campaign helmet
• Leather gas-mask
  
  • With valve and pressure gauge
  • With breathing tube leading to air cylinder
  • With two filters.

• Circle-rim spectacles with a little magnifier on a hinge
• Monacle without chain, with interesting features to keep it in place, etc.
• Leather work apron
• Ribbed bustier, with buckles and leather straps or with velvet paisley and clasps
• Victorian skirt bustled up for combat maneuvers
  
  

• Lace skirt, layered
• Tailcoat(note male and female styles should differ) Note single and double-breasted variations.
  
  

• Vertical striped trousers
• Double-breasted anything (such as the Rocketeer's jacket) would lend itself to this aesthetic
• Monster lower jaw:
  
  
  Don't that face and goggles combo look like it could be made with a creative use of clipping?

Props.

• Steampunkify many existing props
• Blunderbuss long gun with fold-out optics and/or other doohickeys that unfold when entering combat stance
• Blunderbuss pistol with doohickeys that unfold and animate when entering combat stance
• Perfume bottle (with spritzer)
• Clockwork raven (shoulderpet?)
• Steam powered clockwork minions for the commander class
• Steam powered airship for those floating or orbiting prop selections

Auras.

• Smoke and Steam expelled from various locations. Make a few different auras such that there would be one be suited to specific costume items, like the powerpack, the cyborg and the armor and certain props, as applicable.

Out of combat animations

• A jarring rattle followed by a gear bouncing away (added to idle stance events)
• Self maintenance on an arm. Can be mirrored to be applicable to either arm, or both arms.
• Drooping due to loss of steam pressure with steam billowing, leaking down to ground
• Black oil leaking and dripping
• emote [em/ steammad] Steaming Mad!: steam coming out your ears with the sound of a kettle.
• Any of the motions made by Steam Powered Giraffe such as those in this video:
  
  

  
  filmed right by my house

• Provide alternate walk, run and idle motions with the kind of motion-stops a mime would use if the mime were trying to portray a robot.

combat animations:

• help me out here

Sound Packages

• Steam hiss substitute for entire suite of default character sounds, with metal taps (tapdancing taps, for those who don't know, where common in the age of leather soled shoes) for footsteps and steam whistles for some vocalizations.

Power effects

• A ray of superheated steam for ranged attack animations
• An expulsion of steam in the vicinity of the hand when conducting attack animations
• An expulsion of steam from back shoulders when conducting combat animations
• Cloud of steam around character for self-buffing or accuracy debuffs
• Forced jets of steam all around for PBAoE powers
• A van de graaf generator with a jacob's ladder on top. (for installations and summons for ground-targeted AoE)

What did I forget?

Last and definitely not least, I would like to thank Darth Fez for the steampunk package idea and Niel Gaiman, James Vance and Ted Slampyak for Mr. Hero: The Newmatic Man

Darth Fez wrote:

As additional out of combat animations:

* Maniacal laugh (with and w/o lightning)
* "It's alive" (probably mimed, with one and/or both arms extended, with and w/o lightning)

While I like those, I think they would be more appropriate for a "Mad Science" package, which sounds like its going to be a fun one.

The Robots Package

This package contains animations and aesthetics associated with robots, cyborgs and robotic armors.

Costume items.Robot costume items should consist of two layers, at least. The first should be actual body-replacement parts for a bare structural look. Other costume layers can add to that for a more fleshed out appearance, culminating in a final external armored layer. Hopefully this will allow mixing and matching with other skins, layers and costume items for the maximum combination flexibility.

• Junk Yard Robot. Parts that look like they've been scrounged from automobiles, household appliances and machine tools.
• Military Rugged Robot. All utilitarian with access panels and armor plates
• Corporate Civilian Prototype. Think of something with sleek styling and commercial appeal
• Mecha. Something resembling a Japanese style mecha robot from manga and anime
• Servitor. Something that looks like it could pass for a human being, but isn't. With exposed joints and flesh-like skin, this design should exaggerate the uncanny valley
• Biological Robot. With pulsing and luminous fibers and chitonous armor, this robot should look like it was grown and not manufactured.
• Futuristic Advanced Robot. Like a combination of all the above, it should look impressive and sleek in its innermost layers but big and dominating with its outermost layers.
• Wings and/or jump packs to match the various styles
• Powerpacks
• Ammunition pack for belt-fed or cable-powered weapons (these should be integrated with props, as appropriate)
• Note 1: All of the above designs should be available as limb replacement options for a more cyborg look.
• Note 2: The more external of the layers could/should be capable of looking like an exo-suit or armor if worn over a non-robotic body.
• Cyborg body replacements: (robotic body replacements that retain some skin)
  
  • Flesh hands with cyborg fingers
  • Flesh hands with claw-like fingers
    
    
    Note: Yes the image is of worn 'jewelry' but imagine if it were cybernetic

  • Ear replacement
  • Jaw replacement
  • Half-face replacement
  • Flesh face only
  • Include a number of eye replacement options in addition to existing options

Props. Ensure different designs exist to match robotic costume styles, as appropriate.

• Add some weapon props that are fed by ammunition bels or power cables from a backpack, to be integrated with certain back-mounted costume items.
• Hand-replacement weapons
  
  • Lance
  • Hammer
  • Sword
  • Exotic Katar
  • Gaping Cannon
  • Gatling Gun
  • Railgun
  • Energy beam weapon with no obvious orifice
  • Shield
• Hovering Drones
• Back-mounted Weapons that:
  
  • Have a holstered/stored position when not in combat
  • Rotate to be fired over the shoulder when in combat
  • Unlimber to be held in one hand during combat
  • Unlimber to be held in two hands during combat
    
    • Melee weapons held in a two-handed grip
    • Rifle-style weapons
    • Heavy weapons held in a slung style at the waist
• Chest-mounted weapons
  
  • Overtly weapon-like
  • Hidden behind panels
    
    • animate to open, exposing the weapons when entering combat stance
    • animate to open, exposing the weapons when activing a power
    • Missile racks
    • Gun Systems

Combat Animations:

• Make mechanical versions of some existing animations such that they exhibit have less grace and have more isolated movements with a some stop-locks at the point of impact
• Add some animations that make it look like the character is firing from chest-mounted weapons
• Add animations to make it look like the character is firing ballistically from a back-mounted weapon like a mortar or rocket. (Note:Will need a new Emanation Point for this animation and a new suite of power Fx with ballistic trajectories to go with it)

Out of combat animations

• The robot dance, obviously.
• Make an entire suite of mechanical character animations to replace the default character animations. For instance:
  
  • Make a run animation that looks very mechanical like it is using just arms and legs and not a natural whole-body run
  • Make a walk animation that looks very mechanical like it is using just arms and legs and not a natural whole-body walk
  • Head-turning should be single speed with a hard stop
  • Object manipulating should be mechanically with stop-locks
• Idle animation to conduct maintenance/ check on various systems
• Add idle animations to various robotic costume items and props that only activate when that costume item or prop are equipped.
• Add an idle animation of oil squirts
• add an idle animation of sparks popping off (possible aura?)
• Costume changes:
  
  • Pieces of technology fly in, unfolding and encasing the character until we see the new costume
  • The opposite of the above, the costume appears to become folding pieces of technology that then fall off and fly away
  • The character's facade turns into a mosaic of swapping pieces like the Teselecta from Doctor Who
  • The character falls into pile of mechanical body parts, only to reconstruct as the new costume
• Emote : Power Down
  
  

• Emote: Power Up
  
  
  Edit: Yes. I did just discover paragonwiki has gifs of all the emotes from CoX. Sue me.

Sound Packages

• Classic Robot: Whirring and clicking movements with kathunks for footsteps and beeps and boops for vocalizations
• Futuristic robot: synth waves for movement, watash watash for footsteps and harmonic waves for vocalizations
• Military robot: The whining of servos for movements, Solid bashing for footsteps and digital reports for vocalizations
• Commercial Servitor robot: Near-silent whisper movements. normal footsteps but with the slightest mechanical ting to them, and synthesized voice vocalizations

Power effects

• Multi-missiles to go with missile pack props for that famous Itano Circus appeal.
  
  
  Note: I've deliberately chosen a non-robotic character for this illustration to highlight the effects of aesthetic decoupling

• Single missile/rocket with a vapor/exhaust trail

Travel Powers

• Construct a portal in-place for teleport and team teleport abilities
• Shoot hand out for zipline/grappling travel
• Transformers!!! (Bonus points if the transformation requires a certain back costume item to be equipped)
  
  • Transform into a motorcycle (speedster)
  • Transform the armor into a motorcylce that the character's body gets to ride. (Extra bonus points if you can add a number after the transform command to select which costume slot for the character to wear while riding the motorcycle.)
    
    

  • Transform into a Spider-bot (acrobat and zipline)
    
    

  • Transform into a robotic canine (speed, acrobat)
    
    

  • Transform into a robotic cat (speed, acrobat)
    
    

  • Transform into a Helicopter (flying)
    
    

I'm sure I missed some obvious things, so let me know what they are.

I was just watching this review by MMOByte of the game Tower of Fantasy and the big shield power effects seen here caught my attention:

Notice how the view of the world changes depending on whether the camera is inside or outside the bubble.

Now imagine a bubble effect by a nature-aspected healer type, or the bubble effect of a darkness-based Lich character and how being inside those bubbles could change how the world looks. I think this could really help CoT look even more awesome.