Showing posts with label whats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whats. Show all posts
Monday, August 14, 2017
SWTOR Armor Appearance Why unify color to chest piece is gone and whats next
SWTOR Armor Appearance Why unify color to chest piece is gone and whats next
source:swtor.com
Few of our systems seem to have generated as much passion as our Unify Color to Chest Piece system. So, Id like to shed a bit of light onto exactly what this system is, what happened to it and what is in store for it in the future. Pretty much from the start of the project, one of our goals was to solve the mismatched color issue that exists in many MMORPGs. This initiative has actually been driven directly by James Ohlen, our Game Director, as this is an issue close to his heart.Now, it is useful to understand that when artists create a new piece of armor, they always create it as part of a set. A certain pair of pants, for example, is thematically meant to go with a specific chest armor, gloves, boots, bracers and helmet. If the players always put on full sets, they would look very good indeed and the colors from the different pieces would complement each other. Of course, at any given level, players have access to many such sets and wear bits and pieces from multiple sources.
Now, in Star Wars�: The Old Republic�, we have created sets that, in many cases, are quite compatible with each other. Youll notice that, for example, Jedi Knight outfits use a lot of earthy colors that work quite well together regardless of which set they come from. Unfortunately, this is not always true � the Trooper is a good example of a class that does not look its best with mismatched pieces.
To solve this we created an option called Unify color to chest piece, which we also called Color Match. Once turned on, the option automatically matched the color of any equipped piece of armor to the color scheme of the chest piece. This option was very popular with our testers and did solve the color clash problem, but not without introducing some issues.
While we have a policy not to give details on a system in progress, I do want to talk a little about the worst design issue we encountered. As implemented, Color Match had a subtle but ultimately perverse effect: from the moment it was turned on, the player would perceive far less diversity in their loot. In some cases, to be honest, there are only so many differences we can create between two pairs of boots apart from their color scheme.
Take away their color differences - thanks to the Color Match system - and you are left with a game that feels a bit less rewarding; where, sometimes, putting on your exciting new gear barely changes the appearance of the character. Depending on your personal preferences and your play style, this may or may not seem like much... but an MMO is a complex system of challenges and rewards and, as designers, we must stay vigilant in that regard.
So, anyway, the good news is that we are not only committed to solving the color clashing problem, we want to actually improve on the Color Matching system players experienced during Game Testing. The bad news is... well, this wont be in for launch. The system we are currently working on isnt quite done yet and has many dependencies. After taking a hard look, we decided it would be preferable to keep Color Matching turned off for launch rather than try to do a potentially messy post-launch conversion. If anything, the live changes we made during testing to other systems (like the cover system or the item modification system) have shown us how confusing switching things under peoples noses can be.
This wasnt exactly an easy decision � we know how popular the feature is and how eager and vocal the community has been for its return. So, I humbly ask for your patience. The feature (or, to be exact, something I consider a better version of the feature) will return. The next time you find a particularly bad combination of armor pieces, take some screenshots - and hopefully in a few months (as always, no deadline is guaranteed), you�ll be able to tell new players "Back in my day, we had to wear those orange pants with purple boots! Uphill! Both ways! In the snow!"
As always, I�m very interested in hearing from you... I have (so far) managed to read every single post on the Item Modification system and will hopefully be able to post a follow up clarifying any concerns and questions that you have.
Emmanuel Lusinchi
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Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Whats Your Story Zvonimir
Introduction and Captions by Ilmari
Answers by Zvonimir
Kickstarters dedicated to adventure games show that the genre is still not dead, but alive and kicking well. One group of eager adventure gamer creators, Studio Spektar, sent us a shameless plug in guise of Whats Your Story -answers by one of their member, Zvonimir. Their home page promises a cartoonish adventure set in the former empire of Austro-Hungary. Because of our love of adventure games, we decided to let this shameless plug go through. So, Ill let Zvonimir speak next!
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| Zvonimir is the one on the right. Nice dressing style, guys! |
My age is… 34. It will be 35 in about a week
The first adventure game I played was… Indiana Jones 3. A friend from elementary school showed it to me on his Amiga while I still had my Commodore 64 and I was blown away. First I saw the train intro and then he loaded the part with the castle. We didnt know too much English and had no idea what "leather" means, but we still laughed at the "Hi, Im selling these fine leather jackets" joke and how it worked on a first guard, but not on the second one.
My favourite adventure game is… Im not sure if Star Control 2 counts as an adventure, but its my
favorite game of all time. Also, Loom.
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| I am pretty sure this is not an adventure game... |
When I’m not playing games I like to… Draw, animate, play tabletop RPGs, LARP, board games and lately work on Viktor :)
I like my games in (a box, digital format)… digital. CDs get old and I dont really use my CD-ROM anymore (I think it has been broken for a few years, I never bothered to check). But I like books and maps :)
The thing I miss about old games is… Actually useful physical supplements. I remember playing Sid Meyers Pirates! with a real map and its one of my fondest childhood memories.
The best thing about modern games is… Convenient and helpful interface. Its hard to be nostalgic when the old games are cluncky and hard to play. I tried playing Little Big Adventure a few days ago and almost cried with frustration.
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| I know how you feel, I cried out at the time when this was released! |
The one TV show I never miss is… You cant do that on television
If I could see any band live it would be… Katzenjammer!
My favourite movie is… 12 Monkeys
One interesting thing about me is… I am one of three people in Studio Spektar. We are making Viktor, a two dimensional point and click adventure set in a steampunk early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Empire with subtle political parodies, just enough to still make it kid-friendly. We just tried to go on a Kickstarter. Visit us and express your opinion :)
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| Will we be seeing Viktor in this blog in the distant future? |
Monday, April 6, 2015
Whats Your Story daubeur
Well I made it to the end of 1988! I have no intention of stopping either, and will be looking for a copy of Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess shortly. That being said, the massive business project Ive been working on for the last couple of months actually launches tomorrow, and then Im off to Hong Kong next week for a few days, so Im afraid Im not yet able to throw myself into gaming and blogging as much as Id like to. I plan to have a month off at the end of the year and man, do I look forward to it!
This weeks Whats Your Story post is for daubeur. While the French have not been extremely well represented by their games just yet, they have been by their citizens, of which daubeur is one.
My home country is... France (Paris), but I live in Hamburg (Germany).
My age is... 37
The first adventure game I played was... Transylvania I think, although "play" is a big word as I couldnt speak any English at that time (so I would just move around and get eaten by the werewolf). I think the first game I "really" played (and finished) was Zombi, on Amstrad CPC.
When I’m not playing games I like to... play music, learn a bunch of stuff (currently learning the Python programming language), watch movies and discuss about it
I like my games in (a box, digital format)… box, if properly done. Nothing beats Ultimas maps.
My favourite adventure game is... Guild of Thieves
The thing I miss about old games is… how close the developers teams seemed to be to the players. I remember actually calling Ubisoft after meeting a bunch of them at the Amstrad expo. And they answered.
The best thing about modern games is… the immersion made possible through 3D environment. Especially when visiting "real" places Ive been to (The Mall in Fallout 3 made quite an impression on me).
The one TV show I never miss is… I dont watch TV, but the best series ever are 6 Feet under, The (UK) Office and Monty Python Flying Circus
If I could see any band live it would be… Frank Zappa, or Jimi Hendrix
One interesting thing about me is… Id love to run a quantitative study finding out about the underlying moral conceptions that can be found in horror movies through the ages.
My favourite movie is… Three colours: Red (actually any Kieslowski film could be my favourite). I could have named Kurosawa or Kubrick but if its about exchanging with the rest of the guys, Id rather name the one thats a bit less famous :)
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This weeks Whats Your Story post is for daubeur. While the French have not been extremely well represented by their games just yet, they have been by their citizens, of which daubeur is one.
daubeur: I always thought that it was blood on the ground in your avatar, but now I see its roses. Slight difference!
My home country is... France (Paris), but I live in Hamburg (Germany).
My age is... 37
The first adventure game I played was... Transylvania I think, although "play" is a big word as I couldnt speak any English at that time (so I would just move around and get eaten by the werewolf). I think the first game I "really" played (and finished) was Zombi, on Amstrad CPC.
You mean THIS WEREWOLF!!!!
When I’m not playing games I like to... play music, learn a bunch of stuff (currently learning the Python programming language), watch movies and discuss about it
I like my games in (a box, digital format)… box, if properly done. Nothing beats Ultimas maps.
My favourite adventure game is... Guild of Thieves
daubeur seems to be a big fan of interactive fiction with graphics
The thing I miss about old games is… how close the developers teams seemed to be to the players. I remember actually calling Ubisoft after meeting a bunch of them at the Amstrad expo. And they answered.
The best thing about modern games is… the immersion made possible through 3D environment. Especially when visiting "real" places Ive been to (The Mall in Fallout 3 made quite an impression on me).
The one TV show I never miss is… I dont watch TV, but the best series ever are 6 Feet under, The (UK) Office and Monty Python Flying Circus
Six Feet Under: A most awesome show indeed!
If I could see any band live it would be… Frank Zappa, or Jimi Hendrix
One interesting thing about me is… Id love to run a quantitative study finding out about the underlying moral conceptions that can be found in horror movies through the ages.
My favourite movie is… Three colours: Red (actually any Kieslowski film could be my favourite). I could have named Kurosawa or Kubrick but if its about exchanging with the rest of the guys, Id rather name the one thats a bit less famous :)
Three Colours Red: I remember watching this movie and liking it, but cant remember much about it. Will have to revisit!
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