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Prop question for the devs

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Huckleberry
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Prop question for the devs

How many props will a character be able to use? There are two parts to the is question:

First, how many props can be visible/held at any time? For instance can a character dual wield two props while also carrying a shoulder pet (would a shoulder pet even be considered a prop)?

Second, can a player swap props from ability activation to ability activation? For instance, can a magic-themed character use a wand for one ability, open a book for a second ability and thrust forth a skull for a third ability?

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Lothic
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IIRC, Tannim recently

IIRC, Tannim recently mentioned (on Discord) that characters will have two props. Sounded like that was the current "max" number we could have. Obviously it'd be nice if a Dev could confirm that here.

I don't know if we can have both active at the same time and I don't know if that counts shoulder pets. The question of shoulder pets is interesting because we could theoretically have different kinds of shoulder pets in CoT. We could have both "shoulder pets as costume items" (like they worked back in TOG) and/or "shoulder pets as props".

I would think if you linked a prop to a power that it would appear every time you used the power. So I'd assume if you had two powers with two different props that the props would alternate back-n-forth as you used the two different powers.

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StellarAgent
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Yeah, it has been said many

Yeah, it has been said many times now that at the beginning of the game we will be limited to TWO props.
Whether or not we can have more than two will be decided much later in the game and it may not even happen, cause you know, stuff happens.

Tannim222
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StellarAgent wrote:
StellarAgent wrote:

Yeah, it has been said many times now that at the beginning of the game we will be limited to TWO props.
Whether or not we can have more than two will be decided much later in the game and it may not even happen, cause you know, stuff happens.

This.

Huckleberry wrote:

How many props will a character be able to use? There are two parts to the is question:

First, how many props can be visible/held at any time? For instance can a character dual wield two props while also carrying a shoulder pet (would a shoulder pet even be considered a prop)?

Second, can a player swap props from ability activation to ability activation? For instance, can a magic-themed character use a wand for one ability, open a book for a second ability and thrust forth a skull for a third ability?

We aren't starting out with dual wielding animations for launch. We have some, but the amount of work load for just getting are regular animation suites is rather large. A shoulder pet is considered a Prop. Yes, you can switch props between powers based on which prop you assign to the power.

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Lothic
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Tannim222 wrote:
Tannim222 wrote:

A shoulder pet is considered a Prop.

It's obvious that a shoulder pet CAN be considered a prop. But does this mean you will not be providing any "shoulder pets as costume items" like TOG did? It would seem that CoT could support both types of shoulder pet, especially considering the "shoulder pet as a costume item" is likely far, far easier to implement than the prop version.

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notears
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seems like a shoulder pet

seems like a shoulder pet would be a emmenision point, unless your talking about picking up the thing and hitting people with it

not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM

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Lothic
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notears wrote:
notears wrote:

seems like a shoulder pet would be a emmenision point

Why should a shoulder pet ONLY be a emanation point? TOG itself provided several shoulder pets that were basically static costume items that sat on your shoulder.

I see no good reason why CoT couldn't provide BOTH types of shoulder pet. A given shoulder pet could either a prop/emanation point for powers OR simply be a motionless costume item.

notears wrote:

unless your talking about picking up the thing and hitting people with it

No, I'm not.

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Huckleberry
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So I suppose the answer to

So I suppose the answer to the OP question is two props but only one prop per type can be visible at a time?

If so, may I conclude that means one handheld prop and one shoulder pet can be visible at any time regardless of how many we have equipped. Are there other types of props? For instance, would there be pet-type props that are not shoulder pets? See [url=https://cityoftitans.com/comment/176950#comment-176950]this post[/url] for reference to what might be considered a pet prop. Would there be satellite props that orbit around the character? Would there be limb replacement props that turn an arm into a cannon, for instance, when equipped/used?

[hr]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.

Lothic
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Huckleberry wrote:
Huckleberry wrote:

So I suppose the answer to the OP question is two props but only one prop per type can be visible at a time?

If so, may I conclude that means one handheld prop and one shoulder pet can be visible at any time regardless of how many we have equipped.

It sounds like only [b]one prop[/b] can be visible at a time. We simply do not know if there are [b][i]multiple types[/i][/b] of props yet. If you've got a shoulder pet that happens to be a prop then I do -not- think it can appear while you have a handheld prop visible at the same time.

This is why I believe it's vitally important to determine whether we can have shoulder pets that are simply TOG-style costume items AS WELL AS having shoulder pets that could be props. If we can have "shoulder pets as costume items" (like TOG) then those pets can permanently appear on our shoulders REGARDLESS if we're using any other props or not.

Huckleberry wrote:

Are there other types of props? For instance, would there be pet-type props that are not shoulder pets? See [url=https://cityoftitans.com/comment/176950#comment-176950]this post[/url] for reference to what might be considered a pet prop. Would there be satellite props that orbit around the character? Would there be limb replacement props that turn an arm into a cannon, for instance, when equipped/used?

So the key question here is "What can be a prop". Are props limited to static emanation points (i.e. wands, static shoulder pets, etc.) or can a prop be an "animated thing" (i.e. like a cat that follows you around, an animated shoulder pet or satellite props that orbit around the character). I strongly suspect that we will be limited to only having props that are effectively static emanation points but it would be nice to get Dev confirmation on that point.

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Tannim222
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Shoulder pets can be a

Shoulder pets can be a costume item or a prop. If you select it as a prop then it takes one of your prop slots and it acts as a costume piece.

If you select is a costume item but not a prop then it’s just a costume piece.

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Lothic
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Tannim222 wrote:
Tannim222 wrote:

Shoulder pets can be a costume item or a prop. If you select it as a prop then it takes one of your prop slots and it acts as a costume piece.

If you select is a costume item but not a prop then it’s just a costume piece.

Thanks for the clarification but of course I have a quick followup question: Will shoulder pets be the only thing that can be either a "costume item" or a "prop" or could potentially any normal costume item be selected to be a prop as well? For example could a helmet be assigned to be a prop, or a belt or a pair of boots?

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Tannim222
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Boots for power emissions

Boots for power emissions will follow the unarmed melee animation selection for the foot emitter.

Belts would technically be the chest (there is one emitter socket for torso) but I doubt one will be made for that low.

If the helmet calls for a unique emission point that functionally calls from the head emitter -
It can be a prop. If it isn’t selected as a prop. And chosen just as a costume piece then it’s not a prop.

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Huckleberry
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It sounds like the definition

It sounds like the definition of a prop is anything that adds an emission point to the already established default emission points available to an un-propped character?

[hr]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.

Lothic
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Huckleberry wrote:
Huckleberry wrote:

It sounds like the definition of a prop is anything that adds an emission point to the already established default emission points available to an un-propped character?

Yeah that might be the simplest definition.

I guess once we effectively have a working list of all the non-prop, body-based emanation points we'll have a better idea of which types of costume items can serve double-duty as props. For example it sort of sounds like if you wanted to have a helmet serve as an emanation point what you're really doing is retasking the body-based "head/eyes" emanation point to make the helmet act as a prop even though you're really just using a basic body emanation point.

In many cases it seems like whether a costume item would be defined as a prop or not will be up to the roleplay concept of the player. For instance I might decide that my character's "power gloves" are the items that allow him to shoot blasts from his hands but game mechanically speaking I'm just making use of the hand-based emanation points and "pretending" the blasts are coming from the gloves.

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Huckleberry
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I think it's also safe to say

I think it's also safe to say that when props are used for ability emanation, that there will be an animation associated with it/dedicated to it that is not available without the prop. I also expect that in some cases the prop itself will have an animation of its own. Hopefully we'll get to pick from a selection, such as:[list=a]
[*]Prop Specific Animation #1
[*]Prop Specific Animation #2
[*]Default Animation #1
[*]Default Animation #2
[*]Default Animation #3
[*]Default Animation #[i]n[/i] where [i]n[/i]=all the number of default animations that may be applicable to the chosen emanation point
[/list]

With that list on one side and the power effects customization interface on the other side and the character model in the middle going through a looped animation of the one selected. In the character model are little target reticules showing all the possible emanation points that we can select with our mouse. At the bottom would be a toggle button to toggle the animation once or loop it. (this way you can get the character model to stand still to select a different emanation point)

[hr]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.

Lothic
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Yeah I would guess the main

Yeah I would guess the main "advantage" of wanting to turn any standard costume item into a prop is to get access to prop-specific emanation animations.

This would imply that of all the costume items in the game there will probably be some percentage that are "propable" while the rest are "non-propable". I make that assumption based on what Tannim said where some items probably "don't make sense" to be emanation points or have animations (of any kind) related to them.

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slagger
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ok. i now want to make a

ok. i now want to make a cursed pirate with a parrot that has a don rickles like personality that shoots lasers from its' eyes whenever it wants to and constantly insults me

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slagger wrote:
slagger wrote:

ok. i now want to make a cursed pirate with a parrot that has a don rickles like personality that shoots lasers from its' eyes whenever it wants to and constantly insults me

So ... you want a ... twitter feed ...

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Redlynne wrote:
Redlynne wrote:

So ... you want a ... twitter feed ...

On the other hand, swinging your pet Rock around on its Leash, seems like a valid weapon.

Be Well!
Fireheart