issue 27 Focused Feedback: Sheathed Weapon System

[The Curator]

NOTICE: There are a couple database-related changes in Page 4, which means characters transferred to Brainstorm from Homecoming may have some oddities, specifically in regards to the weapon changes. Please verify any weapon-related issues occur on a new character created on Brainstorm before reporting them.

 

These will be fixed retroactively on existing Homecoming characters by a database fix that will be applied to all characters when Page 4 is launched on the live servers.

Sheathed Weapon System

Sheathed Costume Weapons

• All characters with powers using custom melee weapons now have access to an option to display their character's weapon models on their costume. This is controlled via a toggle button next to the weapon:

Very kind of Jack In Irons to share his club with everyone!

• Which then puts the weapon on the character's costume when not drawn:

Like so!

• Sheathed weapons are dynamically drawn by the player's character when combat is initiated (if using a 'No Redraw' power customization option, this is skipped).

Weapons that utilize particle FX enter an 'off' state when sheathed,

but activate when drawn for combat!

• Weapons that are incorporeal/conjured in nature, such as elemental weapons, do not have sheathed options.
• This update only applies to melee weapons. Holstered Costume Weapons for ranged weapon sets will come later in a future content update.
• Known Issue: Some Titan Weapon options don't have off sheathed modes yet and remain activated while on the costume.

[Spaghetti Betty]

Thank you. A million times thank you. This has been my most requested addition since Live. Easily my favorite part of this update.

 

Just one thing of note. Some of the sheathed katana models seem placed really far away from the character model. At least on female. Specifically the Vanguard options were the ones I noticed.

 

Is there a possibility of adding "sheathed" Shields in the future?

Edited July 12, 2022 by Spaghetti Betty
Syntax

[aethereal]

At least in the character creator itself, in Titan Weapons (Scrapper, if that makes a difference, female body) the VK-99 Event Horizon and the PX-17N Supernova have their particle effects still turned ON while sheathed.  So does the Plasma Sword.  So does the Concrete Mallet.  

[Dombloo]

25 minutes ago, aethereal said:

At least in the character creator itself, in Titan Weapons (Scrapper, if that makes a difference, female body) the VK-99 Event Horizon and the PX-17N Supernova have their particle effects still turned ON while sheathed.  So does the Plasma Sword.  So does the Concrete Mallet.  

 

Known issue, stated in purple at the bottom of the OP. 🙂

[aethereal]

Just now, Dombloo said:

 

Known issue, stated in purple at the bottom of the OP. 🙂

Ooops, sorry.

[Cobalt Arachne]

55 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

Thank you. A million times thank you. This has been my most requested addition since Live. Easily my favorite part of this update.

 

Just one thing of note. Some of the sheathed katana models seem placed really far away from the character model. At least on female. Specifically the Vanguard options were the ones I noticed.

 

Is there a possibility of adding "sheathed" Shields in the future?

The reason for the gap is that, currently, back items do not have the ability to scale, so they had to be placed on the character with a little space to account for character's who max out all the size sliders with big torso options like jackets to ensure the weapon didn't end up half-way inside their back. If we ever enhance the models to support back item scaling, I'll implement it into all the sheathed weapons.

Shields is on my radar, but is more complex than every other weapon set because it puts the player on a totally different sequencer and alt animation sets, I'm planning to take a crack at it, but it'll be after all the other weapon sets get sheathed support.

👍

[Mezmera]

38 minutes ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

Shields is on my radar, but is more complex than every other weapon set because it puts the player on a totally different sequencer and alt animation sets, I'm planning to take a crack at it, but it'll be after all the other weapon sets get sheathed support.

 

As someone with a fondness for a Shield tank don't worry too much about getting shields to rest on our backs.  Any true warrir would feel ashamed that their arm is so puny that they feel they must rest the very essence of their survival anywhere but at the ready.  

 

Kidding aside I can see all kinds of complications arising from trying to incorporate Shields into the backpack option especially in conjunction with the regular weapons.  Neat feature though for the weapons themselves, please don't go breaking my tank.  

[ZorkNemesis]

I'm still at work and haven't gotten a chance to check this out yet, but has anyone seen how back-mounted weapons look with wings?  As it turns out my high end weapon users are also part bird and part fairy and I have concerns that the holstered weapons are just going to clip right through them.  Same thought with capes though I don't have any caped weaponlords, yet.

[0th Power]

Love the sheathed weapons.  Have to ask, is a "sheathed" assault rifle in the future?

[aethereal]

1 hour ago, ZorkNemesis said:

I'm still at work and haven't gotten a chance to check this out yet, but has anyone seen how back-mounted weapons look with wings?  As it turns out my high end weapon users are also part bird and part fairy and I have concerns that the holstered weapons are just going to clip right through them.  Same thought with capes though I don't have any caped weaponlords, yet.

 

They clip right through.

 

Note that katanas sheath at the hip, not the back, and at least on a lot of wings won't clip.  Everything else sheaths on the back, though, I think.

Edited July 13, 2022 by aethereal

[ZorkNemesis]

22 minutes ago, aethereal said:

 

They clip right through.

 

Note that katanas sheath at the hip, not the back, and at least on a lot of wings won't clip.  Everything else sheaths on the back, though, I think.

 

I'm not surprised.  Hopefully it won't look that bad on my winged types.

[Katzen]

36 minutes ago, aethereal said:

 

They clip right through.

 

Note that katanas sheath at the hip, not the back, and at least on a lot of wings won't clip.  Everything else sheaths on the back, though, I think.

katana on scrappers sheathes at the hip, ninja blade on stalker applies on the back, actually. i havent looked at brute/tank vers or the sentinel ninja tool mastery -- but i assume they also sit in the same place like on scrappers

[aethereal]

Just now, Katzen said:

katana on scrappers sheathes at the hip, ninja blade on stalker applies on the back, actually. i havent looked at brute/tank vers or the sentinel ninja tool mastery -- but i assume they also sit in the same place like on scrappers

 

Yep.  Katana sheathes at the hip.  Ninja Blade, despite being very similar to Katana, is not Katana.  Per the patch notes, Sentinel ninja tool sheathes at the back, like Ninja Blade.

Edited July 13, 2022 by aethereal

[Ironblade]

hmm....  Not bad.  Nice to have this as an option and some weapons look better than others.

 

I don't think I'll be using this on my Ninja Blade stalker for two reasons:

1)  The sword hovers pretty far off his back.

2)  A sword should literally be SHEATHED (okay, maybe not a claymore or the crazy Rularuu blade, etc).  So, really, there should be a sheath on his back that stays there at all times.

 

So, a little disappointed this doesn't satisfy my specific use case but, overall, unconditional thumbs up.  Maybe a future update will better address 'standard' swords.

[UltraAlt]

Now if I could get that mace customization ....

 

[ScarySai]

Wonder if there's any guitar models ingame that could be utilized.

 

Otherwise the main issue is just creating the asset.

[UltraAlt]

48 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

Wonder if there's any guitar models ingame that could be utilized.

 

Otherwise the main issue is just creating the asset.

 

There aren't any that I know of.

It was a joke at any rate.

 

But I kinda would like a guitar that I could wear on my back.

[Number Six]

Besides, everyone knows that the electric guitar asset is an axe customization, not a mace...

[Britannic]

Ah, the eternal struggle of being a cape bearer... 😛

 

Joking aside, love this feature so far!

[Cinnder]

Very cool!

[Vanden]

Sheathed weapons clipping through back details is basically inevitable. Even a certain triple-A game that released this year featuring dozens of weapons and capes has this issue.

[High_Beam]

On 7/13/2022 at 12:43 AM, Britannic said:

Ah, the eternal struggle of being a cape bearer... 😛

 

Joking aside, love this feature so far!

Cue Edna.  No Capes! 🙂

Edited July 26, 2022 by High_Beam

[Marshal_General]

15 hours ago, Mezmera said:

 

As someone with a fondness for a Shield tank don't worry too much about getting shields to rest on our backs.  Any true warrir would feel ashamed that their arm is so puny that they feel they must rest the very essence of their survival anywhere but at the ready.  

 

Kidding aside I can see all kinds of complications arising from trying to incorporate Shields into the backpack option especially in conjunction with the regular weapons.  Neat feature though for the weapons themselves, please don't go breaking my tank.  

I would like to see the magical and tech energy shields power down when not in combat

[Cobalt Arachne]

14 hours ago, Ironblade said:

1)  The sword hovers pretty far off his back.

2)  A sword should literally be SHEATHED (okay, maybe not a claymore or the crazy Rularuu blade, etc).  So, really, there should be a sheath on his back that stays there at all times.

1. Back items don't scale with body size sliders, so the space has to be there to account for characters who turn the body scale up to max and pick torsos with layers like Jackets, otherwise the weapons would sheath into their spine. If the models were to get upgraded to support scaling back attachment points, I'd adjust the sheathed weapons to take advantage of it.
2. Needing to create countless extra models for actual weapon-fitting sheaths would have condemned this feature to not happening. Other MMOs don't do this either (World of Warcraft being the one that comes to mind) so it was given a pass.

There were system limitations, but despite them, we still felt a large amount of the playerbase would appreciate this option.

[Stormwalker]

15 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

Now if I could get that mace customization ....

 

 

Ok, I have to heartily endorse any appearance of El Kabong.  +1 for guitar customization for War Mace.

 

There are lots of weapon customizations I want, but my biggest wants are a bokken (wooden practice sword) and shinai (bamboo practice sword) for Katana.  These got shot down on Live because it wouldn't match the damage type, but now we have lots of spears in staff that don't match the damage type, so maybe we can revisit this?  I mean, my Katana/Willpower is shamelessly derived from Ryouko Mitsurugi of Real Bout High School, who caused all of her carnage with a wooden sword!