Cobalt Arachne

If it already exists in-game, let me know where and I can add it to players; If it doesn't exist, then I obviously can't add it. At that point we'd need a 3D artist to create new model assets from scratch and I'm not a 3D artist. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen... Page 2's costume additions were all about giving players things already created or already existing from NPCs. I'm not fulfilling brand-new player-exclusive requests; That's not within the scope of my work at this time.

Good catch; Just updated all the patch notes to 22.

I'm looking through Shotguns temporary powers... Temporary_Powers.Temporary_Powers.Confiscated_Beanbag - WEAPONS\Assault_Rifle2.fx - This model is using GEO_WepR_Machine_Gun_3; This appears to be a model players do not have yet. Will look into proliferating. Just kidding, loaded it in-game and GEO_WepR_Machine_Gun_3 is just this: Which players definitely already have. Temporary_Powers.Temporary_Powers.Alt_Holy_Shotgun_Shells - WEAPONS\HolyShotgun.fx - This model is using GEO_WepR_CelestialRifle, which I believe players already have. Temporary_Powers.Temporary_Powers.Shotgun - WEAPONS\Shotgun_3.fx - Uses GEO_WepR_Shotgun_1 which we just proliferated. GEO_WepR_Shotgun_2 is the Advanced Shotgun. Shotgun_3.fx is the same model as Shotgun_1.fx, the only difference is a draw sound. So as far as I'm seeing, players already have the Shotgun models available. If I missed something, do let me know!

Correct. For example, I know Linea's difficulty benchmarking AE arc series use those maps extensively for the high density. I'll look into it, have to decide how to label the new map versions, maybe the older ones become Kallisti Wharf Office (Legacy).

Out of curiosity; What graphics settings?

This specific reason caused us to have to make an ENTIRELY new category of KW offices specific to the actual zone content. Because, yes, those AE maps are designed incorrectly, where every single room tray included spawns, when a proper map usually goes 'spawns -> no spawns -> spawns, etc' The issue here becomes the fact that people have existing arcs built using those 'too-dense Kallisti Wharf office maps', and if we reduced the spawn density it would change everyone's existing arcs, which is not something we want to do. Changing existing AE arcs without the writer's intent would be a bad move. As a result, the AE versions of the KW maps are intensely populated but we can't change it without changing every existing AE arc using them without consent, so we simply didn't. The versions of the maps found in the actual Kallisti Wharf zone have properly balanced spawn density, but the maps in AE don't currently. There is always the option that we add these newer, less-dense office maps to AE later, we'll see, would have to decide how to label them. Internally, AE uses M_Office and Kallisti Wharf uses KW_Office.

There's a LOT more Kallisti Wharf content to come, this is just Phase 1. We're a small team of volunteers, if we tried to deliver everything we wanted at the same time, this Page would take years to release. 😛 So we released the first wave of content that was ready, then we'll continue delivering content in future Pages. Stay tuned, there's a lot more content on the way!

That might be hard to fix, will try though.

This was essentially the vibe I was going for. They're a highly trained group of professionals outfitted in some extremely cutting-edge gear, stuff that was prototyped using stolen Praetorian tech. All of them trained specifically to take down super power threats, but in a non-lethal capacity. I'll be doing a full Dev Diary for Blackwing closer to release, that will explain the group's origins, how they ended up in my hands to finish them, why I chose XYZ design elements for each critter, and what parts were written before they came to me and I had to design around. The minion's Cold/Toxic guns are directly inspired by a CIA weapons prototype that operated by shooting frozen poison darts. Google 'CIA heart attack gun' and you'll get results for it. Coordinators, Neutralizers, and the Keeper Giant Monster were the only Blackwing critters that I personally added to the group. More trivia to come in the proper Dev Diary! They were originally weak to Cold, but after reviewing weaknesses, it was found that Toxic was the least represented type amongst high-level enemy groups and Cold was actually the most represented, so we changed it. Thematically, it's because the Excelsion emitter wiring interiors are very sensitive to corrosion. I could probably add a blurb about that to their critter descriptions, actually.

Seeing people create their own Blackwing Industries characters/critter types was one of the big reasons I felt motivated to give all their parts to players! 😄 Very cool! Unfortunately for the actual critter group, I think they're already quite complex and deliver a robust challenge, so adding even more critter types to the main NPC group would make it that much harder to balance them. Always love seeing people's original takes though! It was something I explicitly wanted to encourage by giving players all the tools to build their own Blackwing baddies. It should be very doable to create custom AE groups with Blackwing's critters + added original variants to create perfect custom groups. 🙂

Wonder how possible the Scorpion tail from Crey might port to players... I'll look, no promises though.

Not sure what you're doing; I just logged into Brainstorm as of 2 minutes ago, picked Force Field, and set it to Excelsion and it looks fine.

Somebody did confirm it was dropping, it is just a rare drop so at the mercy of RNG.

There's nothing to enable, those masks only exist on female body types, unfortunately. I just checked to be sure. To port them to male/huge would require new 3D model work that we're currently unable to facilitate with our current team's tools/expertise.

I did try this, using the conventions in other categories that allows condensing sub-masks into the sub-menu, but it doesn't seem to work with the Chest torso category, if the primary texture isn't the same, it won't condense. Since the Awakened bodies use different primary textures for each option, they don't condense.

Fixed an issue with Repulsion Bomb's Excelsion FX missing, will be fixed next build.

The player version looks a little different, it doesn't have the solid band that makes it very visible, rather the hexagons are used as negative space instead. See the original post, it has a picture of what the player Excelsion fields look like.

I'll check... But I want to say the hair on them are something weird, like a chest detail; Will verify though!

No, but I don't want to change that part because it's a unifying visual element I like; If they all are very distinctly different colors they stop feeling like a uniformed unit of the same force. I liked the suggestion somebody made for arm band coloration, so that's what I went with.

So! I'm thinking the following visuals for the most dangerous/high priority members of the Blackwing crew? The Phantoms have had their purple-ness bulked up and given green eyes to make them stand out. Then Medics, Phantoms, Ballistiers, Commanders, Coordinators, and Neutralizers will have distinct shoulder pad coloration to differentiate them more easily. Take a look below, let me know if we're feeling like this is enough to make them feel more distinct for Build 3. 🙂

All Focused Feedback threads have been updated with Build 2's changes. Thanks everyone for all your testing!

This Page? Unfortunately, I've only mapped out as far that it's worth looking into (Freakshow arms exist on all three body types, there's arm-less torsos for players already, etc) Next Page! I've already added looking into it to my to-do list... I need to investigate the existing NPC arms, confirm there's no compatibility issues with how the Freakshow arms might attach to player models when brought over to their sequencers, playerize them to take tinting color, and add them to the costume menu. Be aware, the player Freakshow arms would likely appear under the Robotic Arms options, and would work similarly to the new Awakened Torso. In that when you have Freakshow arms selected, you can not use any shoulder pads at all on them. It might also require a new category of double Robotic Arms that locks you into a glove choice, similar to the other option available. For the single-armed Freakshow option, you'd only be able to use Asymmetrical Shoulder Pads on the arm that is not a Freakshow arm. This all being, 'It seems doable in my head and I see no obvious issues for implementing it.', but since this is City of Heroes, something could be unexpected spaghetti and throw my idea out. TLDR; I'm aware of the demand for Freakshow arms, and will be looking into them for next Page, but that's not a promise until I've guaranteed they work. 🙂

Yes they were added, just missed on the notes; I've added a line about them in Build 2.

Are there existing female PPD officer models? If there are, I can certainly look into adding them for next Page's Aether goodies.

Hmm... It's not hard to tweak them. Which specific Blackwing enemies do you feel currently warrant immediate identification due to their threat level but currently don't have an outfit that makes it easy to do so? The PEACE Phantom LT is the only one that immediately comes to mind... The bosses and medic should be easier to tell apart. Otherwise, the single PEACE Engineer per spawn who looks like all the other minions was specifically designed to require ID'ing them before you pull, so their drone summon can be interrupted (works the exact same way as Sky Raider Engineers).