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 Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:56 pm
The game needs a bit of a graphical kick up the arse. At the moment, it's like you're playing the game, but the game's not all that interested in being played.
Take, for example, Force Eruption from Champions online. The game makes it overwhelmingly clear that you're not only powering up a brutal attack, you've released a serious can of whoopass. The screen shakes, the enemies go soaring and the ground underneath you cracks open.
Obviously, zOMG! can't do that. However, there's a lot of subtle visual clues which could drastically improve the interaction players feel with the game. I mean, even old RPGs like Baldurs Gate made critical hits feel special. To this day I remember the satisfaction of Minsc making enemies explode into gore with this two-handed sword.
Already, we've had some steps in the right direction. The pets performing emotes for certain events. The change of the combat numbers to reflect who is doing what, when reflections are happening and the existence of Critical Hits.
Other possibilities for visual enhancements follow:
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:57 pm
Shake the screen on a critical hit
Show a charging animation when you're building a raged move.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:45 pm
You made a thread on this a while back, but I never got the time to stop in and comment on it.
I have to say, I like the idea of a charging animation for Rage - partially just because, by charging your Rage to full, then switching to a Passive ring, you can hold your Rage charged indefinitely (sure, you can't use keyboard shortcuts while you're at it, but as long as you click to move, you're fine). Spending entire dev meets wreathed in flames (or Rage swirls, or energy motes - whatever they might come up with) sounds awfully fun, to me. Oh, yeah; and shaking the screen is always cool - that alone would probably inspire more people to build high-accuracy ringsets. xp
Personally, I'd like to see more flashy ring animations. Since rings aren't really limited in what they can be - while I know it's good to have the swords, and guns, and bows covered - I'd like to see more outlandish concepts. Shark Attack, for example, is a very appealing ring, conceptually - indicated particularly well by its sheer popularity, despite its underwhelming performance. I think that, by pushing toward less mundane weaponry in the future (like the aforementioned swords and guns), ring animations have the ability to be pretty awesome all on their own...
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:55 pm
Yes, Shark Attack has a very good animation. Shame it's balance is so poor >.>;;
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:22 pm
Valheita Yes, Shark Attack has a very good animation. Shame it's balance is so poor >.>;;
Honestly, as nice as the animation is, it's more that the concept is just awesome. Which, I think, is your whole premise - the game needs more awesome.
Which reminds me that I need to pull my intuitive rings thread in here, at some point. Awesome looking rings need to be awesome - otherwise, it kinda defeats the point.
Another point to make: Buff animations need to be bigger. If you're only going to be using something every 15 minutes, it better be damn impressive, I'd think. The animations they've got are nice, now, but they just don't have enough visual impact to justify not using them for the vast majority of the time they're equipped...
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:26 pm
That's something that might help. If there were animations to remind us we are buffed.
Like, Improb Sphere occasionally flashes to remind us it's there.
Or a rain of feathers in Divinity. A halo of light while our HP is regenerating.
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:39 pm
Valheita That's something that might help. If there were animations to remind us we are buffed. Like, Improb Sphere occasionally flashes to remind us it's there. Or a rain of feathers in Divinity. A halo of light while our HP is regenerating.
That would help a lot, actually, I think. I know that's supposed to be Sweetheart's 'thing', but it does still get to be the original - and it would give the devs a much bigger reason to throw in that on/off switch for recurring animations, too.
Additionally, I think that would solve a lot of the issues with new players not using buffs - I think a pretty good portion of that comes from the fact that they're boring. Conversely, a ring that you use once and it continues to animate for 15 minutes (or however long the buff lasts), would seem like a really efficient source of awesome - a perfect representation of how buffs actually work...
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:41 pm
Yeah. It's hard to tell sometimes that the buff is actually there / doing something in zOMG!.
Where as in say Champions Online, I see my body glowing green as I regenerate, and I see my Force Shield buff as a glow.
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:54 pm
I want to couple those animations with the ability to shut them off. Right now, there's nothing we can do, apparently, about Sweethearts glow. And the devs didn't come up Friday o3o, I remembered it. So yeah, with all buffs on top of each other, this would first be a thrilling, later bit bothersome, and finally outright annoying. And worse, they lag the game, badly. I tried it during a dev meet, using ring on any people, and see the effect. When I did the stupid decision of leaving the screen and entering again, making all those 80+ sweet effects coordinate, the screen froze, and would lag again with each time the effect cycled. I did it again later on a better computer and it would still happen. (yes, I'm responsible for causing massive lag on two dev meets for selfish purposes, so?)Also, this would be a very good way to make passive rings more likable. mrgreen Must cover all bases.
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:30 pm
Optional is definitely essential.
It'd be different to sweetheart's glow though. These would only apply during their triggers. Healing Halo only while regenerating, Divinity while regenerating, Improb while reflecting. Etc.
Of course, this makes Rock a bit tricky...
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Atrash the Squidmonger Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 9:17 am
Valheita That's something that might help. If there were animations to remind us we are buffed. Like, Improb Sphere occasionally flashes to remind us it's there. Or a rain of feathers in Divinity. A halo of light while our HP is regenerating. For Improb Sphere and such - it could flash when we get a reflection (same for any deflection or reflection buff) - that's simple. Persistent armor and armor pool - maybe persistent armor would get a buff-ending-animation or something, and armor pool would show up a couple times in when its pool had been diminished to a certain level? I'm not so sure about regenerations. Another possibility is having pet and animated emotes be affected by buffs and such. An rr4 of anything in battle will create some worried looks by enemies, and awed looks by pets. Iron Will might make animated emote more scared emotes and fewer confident emotes,etc. Critical hits, health dropping below certain points, high health levels, low CL's, etc. would also influence emotes (the low CL one might provide another way to try to gauge level - if the animated gloat and snicker and "pwnd" when you come around, maybe you should level up a little). Powering up, having rings that look like multiple attacks have multiple damage point things, and critical hit indicators are also cool. Having options for all of them is definitely important. I think the main thing is just quirky coolness, less than epicness (because cool lasts a lot longer, while epic gets mundane fast). Less "a bigger better sword to bash people with" and "hammering things really hard and the animated fly away and they all crit hit and die" kinds of rings, as some suggest, and more things like throwing water balloons, having sharks attack enemies, blowing dandelions, etc.
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 9:23 am
Huh, aye, feedback for buffs is really poor. I suggest having meaningful numbers appear on use:
Ex. Using Keen Aye makes a blue +10% Accuracy appear above your head.
Note that the numbers likely are hidden on purpose: they don't want us to worry about them much and such, but I believe the ability to make educated decisions far outweighs this. Really, currently we've got to believe that something has happened, that it is of use, and that it's balanced/of value similar to other rings'. Come. On. Dx Hmmm... don't want to derail this place too much. I'll make a thread elsewhere later.
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:45 pm
gataka Huh, aye, feedback for buffs is really poor. I suggest having meaningful numbers appear on use:
Ex. Using Keen Aye makes a blue +10% Accuracy appear above your head.
Note that the numbers likely are hidden on purpose: they don't want us to worry about them much and such, but I believe the ability to make educated decisions far outweighs this. Really, currently we've got to believe that something has happened, that it is of use, and that it's balanced/of value similar to other rings'. Come. On. Dx Hmmm... don't want to derail this place too much. I'll make a thread elsewhere later. Hmm, doesn't even need the 10%. A simple "Accuracy+" provides feedback that the thing is working.
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:59 pm
Valheita Hmm, doesn't even need the 10%. A simple "Accuracy+" provides feedback that the thing is working. Aye, similar to Pokémon Stadium, but me want it long time and it would make the differences between RRs/rings more visible and comprehensible. Education! Dx
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:08 pm
gataka Valheita Hmm, doesn't even need the 10%. A simple "Accuracy+" provides feedback that the thing is working. Aye, similar to Pokémon Stadium, but me want it long time and it would make the differences between RRs/rings more visible and comprehensible. Education! Dx So I guess... If you can't make a decent tutorial... make the game idiot proof?
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