I was thinking through a possible character and realized what I really wanted was an animation based off of COH's Shadow Maul. It would go something like this:
- Jab (ST): You would throw a punch but have a shadow fist just in front of yours.
- Upper Cut (ST): The shadow fist would follow after your upper cut
- Shadow Maul (Cone): see COH Shadow Maul
- Emerging Shadow (PAoE): There are a couple of ways to implement this one. The first one is a bit more complex from an animation perspective, and the second one would probably look just as good, but here they are:
- The character would strike the mob in front of him and then a shadow copy, possibly just from the waist up, would materialize in front of a mob in melee range and strike it with the opposite fist. Then a second shadow would strike the next target, and then a third, ect, until either there were no more targets or it reached the maximum targets the power could affect. These shadows would usually materials right on top, of the character, so it would give a similar effect as Shadow Maul.
- The second possibility is very similar to the first but instead of random targets it would just attack the 8 points on a compass. So if the character attached north with his right fist, the first shadow would attack south with his left, and then the second would attack NE with his right, then SW, NW, SE, E and finally W. This method would probably use less resources and be easier to create simply because you always know where the shadow is going to attack next.
Personally I think the first method would look the best, although the second one would probably look pretty cool, too. Also the shadow copies wouldn't have to have much detail to them. They could just be generic shadow silhouette that matched the characters gender. - Other types of animations would have to be developed or modified from COH's Dark Melee powerset to match other types of powers.
And all of this raises another question. Do we get to choose which hand our power uses, or is it random or does it alternate between attacks?
Based on everything I've read here I'm "fairly sure" we're supposed be able to choose exactly which hand powers will come from. Ideally we'll have options for [b]everything[/b] you've said here. For example with a punch-type attack I'd hope to be able to choose at least from among the following list of options:
[list]
[*]right hand
[*]left hand
[*]alternate right and left hand
[*]random hand
[/list]
Then maybe even some weird non-handed ones like "head butt" or "tail sweep".
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Uhm... wouldn't head butt and tail sweep be their own animations that are "exclusive" in their emanation point, or am I missing something?
I fully agree that if you choose a punch animation and/or hands as the emanation point then we should be able set if it comes from the left, right, alternate or choose randomly.
I was just saying that for each power it'd be cool to have as many emanation points as possible. Just because a "melee attack" that's traditionally called a "punch" is usually hand-oriented doesn't mean it must ALWAYS be hand-oriented. Remember all attacks are going to be implemented as generically as possible and NOT 100% dependent on any given emanation point traditional or otherwise.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
So would you expect to see attacks that don't emanate from the body at all? For example, energy blasts/lasers that spawn from the air around your character?
Name: Safehouse
Ranger: Gunner
Primary: Force Blast
Secondary: Atrophic Aura
Tertiary: Kinetic Melee
Travel Power: Parkour
Status: Traveling. Following rumors of a huge city in Massachusetts that is teeming with supers.
True true but on the flip side if I choose the aesthetic option of "punch" then I wouldn't expect to be able to move the emanation point to my head so that I "punch" with my head, I expect to have to choose the aesthetic option "head butt" instead. Maybe that is exactly what you are meaning?
If not then would also agree on being able to move the emanation point to the knees so on can "punch" with their knees or to the feet so one "punch" with their feet instead of choosing different aesthetic options that more appropriately named?
I would. Maybe not from "thin air" at launch but they will have support for "external" emanation points in the form free floating "should pets".
At okay, That helps give me a sense of limitations and capabilities of the system. With that in mind, shadow maul could theoretically be achieved through emanation points (or pets) in the air, or by summoning dark clones as said pets. The idea of the assault coming from all over is pretty cool to me
Name: Safehouse
Ranger: Gunner
Primary: Force Blast
Secondary: Atrophic Aura
Tertiary: Kinetic Melee
Travel Power: Parkour
Status: Traveling. Following rumors of a huge city in Massachusetts that is teeming with supers.
Right. Don't let yourself get too hung up on the word "punch" in this context. In CoT a "punch" is going to be known more generically as a "melee attack". The whole point of being able to have [b]any[/b] power customization options at all is to be able to choose from among as many emanation points as the Devs make possible for us to choose from.
I wouldn't assume that we're going to get dozens of choices for where we want our "punch" to come from at first. But hopefully over time the Devs will constantly add new (perhaps non-traditional) emanation points options as the game continues.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
I was just thinking you could also apply this type of animation to melee props, too. For example if you used a katana as your prop, then you would have shadow versions of it during your attacks. So shadow maul becomes a couple of sword slashes with bunch of shadow slashes add to it. Although certain types of props might make more sense to use a spinning animation for the PAoE than the more random one for smaller props. For example, if your prop is a scythe then maybe you spin around once, but it leaves behind shadow clones slashing with a scythe.
*sigh* Something is breaking down in the communication between us. Maybe I just have different way of thinking but when we are talking specifics like "punch" I immediately go for "aesthetic option" rather than the more mechanical side like "melee attack".
Simplest question I can possibly muster atm. Do you envision that we can completely change the characters body animation by just changing the emanation point for a specific power, of would we need to explicitly choose another animation that naturally supports that emanation point?
The first is how it sounded to me in your first reply and I just wanted to make sure if that really was your intention because that sounds like a bad way to handle it.
I fully understand that the devs wants to give us as many options as they can, and that extending the general aesthetics of Shadow Maul to other body parts and even props would be more or less considered a "natural evolution" (for a lack of a better term) considering MWM design philosophy in this regard.
Choice of animations is also part of this customization process. Obviously if you choose to have a melee attack that's foot based it's going to have to animate differently than if it's hand-based. Now I'm not entirely sure if choosing different emanation points automatically "reshuffles" the list of possible animations you can choose from but it would make sense if that's the way it worked.
As a full disclaimer here I don't pretend to currently understand everything about how this all works yet. I'm just going by being a regular reader/participant on this forum. Obviously the relevant Devs know at least 5 or 10% more about this than I do. ;)
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]