DevTracker

[Grummz]

Hello, I'm noting all feedback. I'll ask for it again when we revisit the site. For right now, our small team is pivoting to animating the THMPR and getting it into Unreal Engine. We won't be working on the site or logo for some time except to post updates.

But please keep those notes handy for when we do get back to the site and the logo!

 

[Grummz]

The logo really reminds me of Chrono Trigger's clock C logo.
Tell me you are a fan of Chrono Trigger too?

Yes, its my favorite game of all time.

 

[Grummz]

Sorry if it's just me being thick but I thought the original concept of the 'omniframe' was that our one frame was fully customisable into whatever role we wanted for it.

Now I see we have 3 variants, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of calling it the omniframe??? Light is pretty much recon and engi/biotech, Standard is like the assault and Heavy pretty much equals dread. I know the game is the spiritual successor to FF but is the current desgin not drifting a bit too close?

The site is pretty good though, wish there was a download link!!!

We managed to keep the cost down by having on frame type and 7 replaceable armor plates or sections, making it modular. (In Firefall, each frame was a custom one-off with its own from-scratch model and even animations. very costly) The frames are not really 3 fixed frames. One frame can be customized into many different roles, because its the player who decides what abilities to slot in that frametype and what weapons to use. There is a lot of flexibility here withing a frametype and the heavy is not limited to being "dread" for example.

Many wanted more frame variants. It was a frequent request in the beginning when people asked "why can't we have more than one frame?". We're happy that through the additional funding they provided, we were able accommodate that request that still keeps the budget low while increasing player flexibility. I know of few games that allow you to essentially create your own role like we do with these frametypes.

 

[Ronyn]

Hey thanks for the explanation @Ronyn , I surely will enjoy PvE as I did in FireFall, which was great and I am looking forward to the same experience here. That said, the thing that really worries me about adding PvP to the game later, is that it would be harder to implement with many other systems already in place, but we will cross that bridge when we get there, I am sure you guys will figure it out.

I understand the concern there. If we do PVP, it will be it's own beast in many ways. The abilities, weapons, loadouts, etc... are likely to be re-designed and re-balanced for a pvp specific modes. The goal would be to keep the needs of pvp and pve separate so each one gets the attention it deserves.

I actually agree with him on the naming of the tag "Contributor", as "Volunteer" sounds like a unofficial moderator.
Also I am not sure if you have a active form developer, or it was one time purchase, but it would probably help if when you clicked on the tag it would take you to a page that shows you all the tags (and maybe titles?) with explanations for each? Just an idea, not sure if this had been suggested before.

Hmmm. That is an interesting idea.

 

[Ronyn]

Sorry if it's just me being thick but I thought the original concept of the 'omniframe' was that our one frame was fully customisable into whatever role we wanted for it.

Now I see we have 3 variants, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of calling it the omniframe??? Light is pretty much recon and engi/biotech, Standard is like the assault and Heavy pretty much equals dread. I know the game is the spiritual successor to FF but is the current desgin not drifting a bit too close?

I can offer a bit of clarification on this. The original indiegogo campaign for the website had two statements about the Omniframe.

• Build and customize your own "omniframe" suit and weapons system. Customize them to your unique needs and the role you want to fulfill.

• Omniframe: To keep initial costs down, we will use one frame that can be advanced into several class variants. We still have classes, this is just to save on art resources in the first few milestones.

As you can see, the only reason for having just one frame body-type was to keep initial costs down, the only change here is that we went ahead and made some basic art assets for the other frame body-types sooner rather than later. Which, I am happy to say, was only possible because this amazing community has exceeded our funding goals at every turn. The earliest prototypes versions of Em-8er will still only have one body-type to play with, but the plan is to eventually have the three.

I understand that the word "Omni" in Omniframe suggests multi-use and/or multi-purpose at the very least. There is still quite a bit of variety of build within each frame-type, and the frames will be quite effective in many types of combat and traversal situations, but we never meant to imply that there would only ever be one frame that can do all things.

To the question of does this bring Em-8er closer to firefall's class breakdown, and more importantly, whether or not that would be a good thing? Well I would say that is a matter of perspective. Different people would want to see different parts of firefall reborn in Em-8er. Also, different games have broken classes down in different ways, some even with a light, medium and heavy set up. Either way, I hope you stick with us to see how the options for the Omniframe take shape. There are some rather cool ideas being considered behind the scenes. With your continued support, we hope we can keep on exceeding the goals we set out in front of us.