I believe Options is the way to go

[plainguy]

Personally I believe we have some decent amount of powers sets per Archtype.

What I would like to see is OPTIONS for current Power sets.
It doesn't have to be a million options, one or two at a time for testing would be nice. 

As an example
Dual Pistols have the options for Dual laser pistols with sounds to with them. 
Maybe some different animations for Dual Pistols. 

Again just using Dual pistols as an example. 

Everyone talks about different Mastermind pets.. 
Maybe try different Robot options for Robot Mastermind set. 
I understand the fear of creating specific human customization for pets.. So just do Robots for now.. See how it sits..

Add in a Staff animation for Fire Blast or Energy Blast.. 
Again make it all or nothing for now.. So either it is all Staff or all Classic. 
Later on you can work out the mechanics for mixing Staff and classic animations. 

I just believe that new animations would give some life to some power sets. Again it's just a new fresh look on a power set. 

As another example I believe certain power sets such as Plant Control would look great as different animations all together. 
For example from Plant Control, I could see more of an Earth type affect with them. 
Carrion Creeper would be thin stalks of earth. 
Spore burst would be stone spikes shooting out. 
So instead of the blocky earth holds we have now it would be more thin and vine type. 
Then it would be nice to have the options that earth has. Like Crystal, or Lava.. ETC.. 

Nature Affinity Entangling Aura have an option for something that is less flowery 

Again making this clear I am not saying do 100.. 
I am saying pick one.. Pick an easy win.. 
Test it out. See what players think.. 

Dual uzi for full auto attack in AR
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxV4thWO_Ifkefy5QJjxY47_MjLYpw4hON

I think as you do enough of these, that this will be the catalyst for newer power sets down the line.
Where you will be pulling one animation from here with a power set and then another and call it elementalist for example where you will have earth, water, air and fire combined into one set.

Right now what we have is just many cookie cutter builds animation wise.. Meaning 3 Robot Masterminds in the same room have EXACTLY the same Robots.. How could that be? 3 Blasters having Fire Blast or even 3 Blasters and 3 Corruptors having Fire Blast all have the same attacks appearance wise? 

Super Heroes/Villain's usually manifest the same powers but in different ways in the movies.. We both have laser beam eyes but yours is more of a laser where someone else might be more of a fire type of attack.  But we are doing the same damage game mechanic wise.. 

Maybe down the line Plant Control becomes something called Element Control where you have so many options that simulate what plant control does but in a different format or appearance and Plant is just one of those animation options within this power set choice. 

Assault Rifle might become Assault Weapon one day due to the many different animation options available. 
Dual Pistol becomes Dual ranged weapons. 

At the end this probably more for the person who is into roleplaying or big into costume and thematic builds. 
Between costumes and build changes there is only so many Fire Fire Blasters you can build. 

 

[MTeague]

In principle, I agree completely. 

I do think we'll all need a great deal of patience, however.  My understanding is animations are the most difficult part of adding things.

[biostem]

17 hours ago, plainguy said:

What I would like to see is OPTIONS for current Power sets.

The issue isn't the suggestion, per se - it's that animations are some of the most complex, time-consuming aspects of the game.  My first reflex is to say "just use existing animations from other powers", but then you run into timing issues and other such side effects of trying to repurpose other animations.  As a general concept - yes, more options would be great!

[golstat2003]

And a recent thread the HC team said they have ONE animator.

[Ruin Mage]

6 hours ago, golstat2003 said:

And a recent thread the HC team said they have ONE animator.

Bingo.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Shadeknight

[Arc-Mage]

On 12/14/2022 at 2:23 PM, biostem said:

The issue isn't the suggestion, per se - it's that animations are some of the most complex, time-consuming aspects of the game.  My first reflex is to say "just use existing animations from other powers", but then you run into timing issues and other such side effects of trying to repurpose other animations.  As a general concept - yes, more options would be great!

They repurpose animations on another server and it doesn’t work on multiple levels. 

[InvaderStych]

On thing that might be interesting to see come of this (and doesn't involve creating new animations) would be incorporating Custom Sounds as an option in the CC alongside visual customization. There are existing assets for sound replacements out in the wild - but getting their creators to agree to give the HC team legal access to the IP is the biggest hurdle.  There are a lot of reasons that adopting player created content is a massive can of worms.

 

That said - while new animations are highly unlikely, there might be potential for adding audio f/x customization to the character design tools.

 

Caveat - Since players can mod their local sound files anyway, there might not be much gain in spending Dev resources on the option.

[Herotu]

On 12/14/2022 at 5:29 PM, MTeague said:

In principle, I agree completely. 

I do think we'll all need a great deal of patience, however.  My understanding is animations are the most difficult part of adding things.

I find this quite curious on a number of counts. The number is Two. The best number. Of counts.

COUNT ONE : I've played a lot of games and although, as you state, new animations are quite rare, City of Heroes has more than most if not all of them. 

COUNT TWO : Motion capture is relatively cheap these days, you don't even need a fancypants suit with ping pong balls on it.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Herotu

[MTeague]

4 hours ago, Herotu said:

I find this quite curious on a number of counts. The number is Two. The best number. Of counts.

Well if we consult the Book of Armaments....

 

"Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three.

 Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three."

But I suppose given your login name, I grok a preference for two.

Edited December 17, 2022 by MTeague

[plainguy]

 

Quote

And a recent thread the HC team said they have ONE animator.

 

So we need animators that are looking to volunteer and do free work.

• Would students looking to do an internship under the one Lead Animator help?
• Could Homecoming team accept a service/donation from someone at no cost to them?
  • Meaning someone hires an animator to create a few sets. Again at no cost to Homecoming? Again under the supervision of the Lead Animator
  • What would this cost? Ball Park number?

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by plainguy