From: jcheraz For: Gameplay Will the new game engine allow for, and will you use, more active combat roles (like dodging, blocking, etc.)?
Warcabbit, Project Lead: The new game engine will allow for more active combat roles. However, we've seen that blocking has come off poorly in certain competing games, so before we implement anything like that, we'll have to be darn sure it's fun and functional.
Right now, we're not aiming to use it - we're starting off with some fairly traditional gameplay, though we're encouraging a bit more mobility in combat, and we've got some really good ideas on how to make pushing buttons to trigger powers a bit more fun and interactive.
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/discuss-real-tech-update
The real update.
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/dev-digest-april-week-1
Who posted what and where on the Dev team.
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/feeling-truly-heroic-its-little-things
A good discussion from Empyrean, but what is it that makes you feel heroic in a game?
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/any-interest-party AmbiDreamer would like to throw a party in game and it's never too early to plan!
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/what-mmos-are-you-playing-while-you-wait Consultant would like to know what MMO's you're playing while you wait. Ask-A-Dev From: Nucleon For: Gameplay Do you plan to make a nemesis system with customizable minions, lieutenants and the main supervillian?
Warcabbit, Project Lead: As for the nemesis system, we wouldn't mind doing that, but we also have another idea that ties into the idea of playing with your friends. I don't want to spoil it because it might not work, and it might not be fun, but if it is, it'll be the best thing ever. A _real_ nemesis to play with.
If it doesn't work, though, the customized nemesis is something we can do, but we want to do it a little better than other iterations.
From: Tskales For: Tech With regards to the unreal 4 engine you're now gonna use, will it be possible to have capes and long hair without major clipping issues? DeathSheepFromHell, Assistant Art Director: The UE4 engine supports physics-based collision modeling of clothing through a suite of code known as APEX (made by NVIDIA, but runs on any graphics card.)
Which means that once everything is properly set up with the pipeline and the client, a cape will drape over the character wearing it. Or get blown about by wind. Or be blocked if you spin around and it runs into a wall, shift around if an animated tail bumps into it, or pull you into a jet engine if you fly too close. Okay, maybe not the last one, but not because we *couldn't*.
Long hair is a somewhat more complex question, mostly because the "state of the art" in dealing with it is a rapidly moving target. Do we intend to have long hair? Absolutely. Will it clip? No, for the same basic reason that clothing won't -- physics modeling. *When* will we have it? That one is much more up in the air, because the timeline is determined in part by what technique / approach we go with, and for some of the options, in part by when Epic is able to integrate all the new shiny into the stable engine builds (as opposed to a bleeding-edge tech demo).
Probably not until after it shows up for clothing, for two reasons: first, clothing that handles what we aim to do is already in the stable engine (and has been for a while). Second, it presents a lot of the same *types* of problems that hair does, but they are almost universally simpler with clothing. So it makes a better place to start tackling them.
From Around the Web
Vader-Pooh? The voice of Winnie the Pooh reads some of the Darth Vader's lines from Star Wars. Please make sure to have a towel underneath you before watching. You might leak with laughter.
From: Dinma For: Business & Marketing Would you deploy an additional stand-alone adventure/danger room builder; a pen and paper (tabletop) CoT game; personalized avatar action cards, T-shirts, mugs etc. to raise funds or have Comic book stories--with player characters to reward loyalty?
Terwyn, Marketing: We're certainly exploring the various options, but it is too early to make any promises right now. Developing a pen and paper game, for example, would draw time and effort away from our other priorities for development. Creating personalized avatar materials would also require a degree of effort that we cannot quite invest just yet, as well. All of these things have been noted as things that we would eventually like to do, if possible, but first we have to get to the point where they *are* possible.
As for loyalty rewards, I think you'll love some of the things we've come up with already.
From Around the Web
I need this. You need this. We need Goat Simulator
If you haven't heard the news you then you're living under a rock - but City of Titans will be built on the Unreal Engine 4. If you read that and you're all like "What the what?" then check out this video:
From: jcheraz For: Tech Other superhero MMO's have not always had a great first-person view. Will you be a) allowing that and b) making it more viable?
Doctor Tyche, Company President & Technical Director: Too early to know. I don't want to promise something which we just do not know yet.
From: JayBezz For: Tech You've announced an independent character creator released for mobile devices and the like.. Any plans for Ability to Bank/Trade, Chat a Event Notifiers, when the SG lair is under attack, or other incentives to log in within the hour et cetera?"
Doctor Tyche, Company President & Technical Director: Not initially, but over time the mobile app will gain expanded features.
This week's update was from our Art Director, Petalstorm, and showcased some awesome artwork by some of our newest artists. You can view that update at:
Also, as some of you may have noticed - our blog url has changed! We've switched from the old 'tppdevblog' moniker to 'city-of-titans' - and I totally forgot to announce that change. My bad. Won't happen again. I promise. Forum Posts http://cityoftitans.com/forum/famous-ray%E2%80%99s-original-pie-shop-open-business
How have I not linked to this RP thread before? Shame on me! Thread by GhostHack http://cityoftitans.com/forum/superhero-parenting
Thread by HellsBouncer, but address the topic of being a superhero and parenting.
From: jcheraz For :Gameplay "Newer games are going with fewer toolbars and power clickables. Levels provide updates and expansions to existing powers, rather than new powers. Will you follow suit?"
Felix, Systems Analyst: We plan to provide a fairly dynamic experience. In some cases you will be able to choose "meta powers" that affect your other powers rather than just add a new clickable. However, in keeping with our overall design intent, many of the later powers will be situational, rather than just obviously better. It is our intent that your early powers will remain useful throughout the game.
From: Dimma For: Gameplay "Would you consider power rating score for characters? It could assist with PVE balancing and be used by players in PVP to determine an opponents relative power."
Felix, Systems Analyst: We will not provide a power rating score for characters. We feel that the inclusion of such a feature would be toxic to the overall cooperative nature of the game. However, we acknowledge that there will be "gating" down the road in endgame content, where a certain amount of endgame progress is required to participate in certain content.
