DOUBLE UPDATE! THMPR animations and Omniframe gameplay docs

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Terricon4

Base Commander
Base Commander
#41
Will you be adding screen shake if you are within the vicinity, and perhaps some sort of terrain disfiguration where it lands?
Screen shake is easy, just include a worldcamerashake actor on it and a trigger for that animation. Most likely they will.

For terrain disfiguration, most likely they'd make a decal that shows the impact area cracked or scorched a little that would stick around for awhile, but unlikely physical deformation. On an MMO, physical terrain deformation is not an easy thing to tackle.
If they really wanted to, they might have a set of local offset limits so terrain can only deform up to a certain limit of like a foot or two, and have it slowly larp back to it's original form over a minute. Still, might be odd with some pathing or create a bunch of extra expenses to process and update that all, so I doubt they'd bother.
 

EvilKitten

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#42
Screen shake is easy, just include a worldcamerashake actor on it and a trigger for that animation. Most likely they will.

For terrain disfiguration, most likely they'd make a decal that shows the impact area cracked or scorched a little that would stick around for awhile, but unlikely physical deformation. On an MMO, physical terrain deformation is not an easy thing to tackle.
If they really wanted to, they might have a set of local offset limits so terrain can only deform up to a certain limit of like a foot or two, and have it slowly larp back to it's original form over a minute. Still, might be odd with some pathing or create a bunch of extra expenses to process and update that all, so I doubt they'd bother.
If you have played Skyrim, my thought was the way the dragons would plow into the ground when you brought them down, leaving a massive furrow in the terrain. They did it by adding temporary solid objects onto the ground which faded out after a bit. For Ember they could do something similiar where a "crater" object would be created around the initial landing point which could slowly sink below the terrain level over the space of a couple minutes.
 
#43
welp, it could probably work with a model and then setting alpha on the terrain where it hit (can be made with an texture overriding decal that jsut lets you look through the ground), also remove the clip where the impact is and replace it with the clip provided by the model. (like opening a hole and then fixing it with the crater model xD)
 

EvilKitten

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#44
I"m interested in more feedback on the Omniframe design doc. Please post it here if you have it.


P.S. It's a good meme :)
I would like to suggest a dual power setting.

Nominal power would be the minimum baseline requirement to function, in other words it is the idle power draw when the part is not in active use. At no point can you build an omniframe with a nominal power requirement greater than the total power available.

Full Power would be the power draw needed to recharge the system back to ready status, or to power a system during active use. Because not every component of an omniframe may be used at the same time, the actual power draw on the frame will vary. Unlike Nominal power, full power *can* go over the maximum power output of the omniframe, *but* with potentially painful consequences.

Anytime the power requirement of all components shifts above the maximum output, your omniframe would operate at reduced efficiency in direct proportion to the missing power. For example, say your nominal power requirements is 8000 watts, and your reactor core is capable of outputting a maximum of 10,000 watts, but all at once you fire off all of your abilities while your shields are under fire and you are jump jetting away as fast as you can. Suddenly your power requirements jump to 15,000 watts. Your omniframe cannot supply 15,000 watts, only 10,000, which means that every item that is attempting to utilize full power will only recharge at 66% (10k/15k) efficiency. (Note that you could use any other method of determining penalty, this is merely the simplest)

For energy weapons that feed off your suit that would mean 2/3rd fire rate, your jumpjets would only provide 2/3rds as much thrust, shields would regen 1/3rd slower, and abilities would recharge slower, or do less damage, or both! Naturally you may not want your shields to recharge slower, even if you do go over the maximum power requirements. Thankfully there is a choice you can make to fix that. One option that each component has is to operate in protected mode. In protected mode the components nominal power is set to the maximum full power rate, which means it will never experience slowdown but will be taking up reserve power that might be used elsewhere.

It might seem like the best idea would be to set everything possible to protected mode. However, as you get closer and closer to the cap it becomes more likely that any one or two actions will trigger the power penalty. In the above example, firing off any ability, or using your jumpjets will not incur a penalty because you have 2,000 watts of reserve power to play with. However if you protected your jumpjets and shields, suddenly your nominal power might jump to say 9500 watts, and you only have 500 reserve power. Where before you might have gotten away with using 2 abilities while on the ground without a penalty, now using even one could cause a slowdown.

There is a second reason you may not want to use protected mode on everything, and that is because it would still be possible to include the power allotment function to supply the reserve power available in your suit to overcharging your modules. The more reserve power you have on hand the more of a boost you will receive.

This system would require each player to decide exactly how much risk they want to incur. You can create a build who's max power usage never goes above the reactor output and as such will never have any penalties, or you can go the opposite route and make a high risk build where your components have large max power requirements and do much greater damage, but because of penalties potentially leave you extremely vulnerable. Again, it would all come down to player choice and play style.
 
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#45
Yep, this is the idea. You got it. You can skim for long periods, but when you come out of skim mode, no matter the distance, you will be on zero power to all other systems. In skim-mode shields are low and abilities are on cool-down and will need to spin back up. You can't really shoot in Skim mode either. It's travel only. Like the bike in FF.
@Grummz

Will the length of time one will be on zero power to all other other systems depend on how long they've been skimming?

It would be unreasonable if we had to wait for the same set amount of time for everything to be ready, whether we went only a relatively short distance or a long way.

Will we or should we have the means to reduce the spin-up time on abilities and such through mods installed within the frame, perhaps to the reactor?

The shorter the distance skimmed, the faster ability-availability should be. With a minimum amount of time set, so it couldn't be made faster, even with mods.

The longer we skim, the longer it should take for system to be ready, then, with a maximum value set, so we wouldn't have to wait for an eternity if we come out of skimming, after a tour around the map.
 
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Grummz

$6k package
Community Manager
Ember Dev
Jul 25, 2016
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#49
Typos fixed. TY. Resource tracker will indeed happen. Barrel roll, maybe...I envision some movement upgrade crafting. Shortcuts, yep, we'll play with different effects based on power allocation.

Grammar:
Omniframe Gameplay Systems:
Skim mobility mode - "...and abilities much recharge after skimming...." (should be "must")
Melee damage "Targets in Em8er are categorized as small, medium large and monstrous...." (Add more commas, please)
Creating Your Frame - The Frametype "While you will be provided with a stock choice of Frametypes at the beginning of the game...." (is this supposed to be capitalized?)
Choose either "omniframes" or "Omniframes" (for consistency throughout)​


Comments:

  • Resource tracker = awesome concept. Please make this happen.
  • Gliding movement suggestion: Barrel roll as an evasive maneuver or hard banking to change direction at the cost of speed. In my mind, this includes a maximum turn speed and "locking" the cursor into a smaller screen space to simulate an inability to perform quick movements.
  • Keyboard shortcuts for power allocation: reminds me of the game X-Wing for Windows 98(?), 2000(?). I LOVE THIS.
    • In X-Wing, you had enough power to allocate evenly between shields, guns, and engines at 50% of maximum potential power consumption each. e.g.: optimize weapon use by setting weapons to charge rapidly (100% power), shields to charge slowly (50% power), and engines to minimum power (speed) (0% power). You could also choose to discharge your shields to maximize power.
    • In Em8er, this could be done by optimizing for skimming with high engine power, shields charging slowly or simply maintaining current level without recharging, and abilities completely unpowered.
 

Torgue_Joey

Kaiju Slayer
KAIJU 'SPLODER
Jul 27, 2016
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#51
so here's a question...if Skim mode is meant to replace bikes, does that eliminate the need for vehicles in-game? 'cause I'd still love to see either cavalry like the warthog or the scorpion tank from Halo or a group rallying vehicle like the sunderer from Planetside 2
There won't be other vehicles at first (because budget) but i do hope Grummz will add them when the budget allows. It's a "planetary war" after all. I expect war machines like tanks to raging hover apache.
 

Ronyn

Commander
Staff member
Community Manager
Director of Marketing and Community
Jul 26, 2016
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#52
so here's a question...if Skim mode is meant to replace bikes, does that eliminate the need for vehicles in-game? 'cause I'd still love to see either cavalry like the warthog or the scorpion tank from Halo or a group rallying vehicle like the sunderer from Planetside 2
In Em-8ER, any vehicles added in would serve a more varied and tactical purpose than just transportation.
So skim mode does not automatically mean there won't be other vehicles.
 
#53
I just remembered and realized that the T.H.M.P.R. looks sort of like some other hulking creature that has a drill equipped in video games and should have some appropriate easter egg that may or may not try to kill you. Possibly by exploding. I have the BL2 DLC: Pirate's Booty to thank for the memory jog.

Under the sea

Multiverses
 

zdoofop

Firstclaimer
Jul 26, 2016
531
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Noneofyourbeeswaxistan
#54
I just remembered and realized that the T.H.M.P.R. looks sort of like some other hulking creature that has a drill equipped in video games and should have some appropriate easter egg that may or may not try to kill you. Possibly by exploding. I have the BL2 DLC: Pirate's Booty to thank for the memory jog.

Under the sea

Multiverses
just include a picture
 

Ronyn

Commander
Staff member
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Director of Marketing and Community
Jul 26, 2016
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#57
@Rocketeer593 @zdoofop This is about the Big daddy's from the Bioshock series right?
I would say there is a vague resemblance, hulky with a drill arm.
 

EvilKitten

Well-Known Member
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Jul 26, 2016
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#59
so here's a question...if Skim mode is meant to replace bikes, does that eliminate the need for vehicles in-game? 'cause I'd still love to see either cavalry like the warthog or the scorpion tank from Halo or a group rallying vehicle like the sunderer from Planetside 2
Leviathan from Unreal Tournament...

 
Likes: Torgue_Joey

Dracomon

Base Commander
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Base Commander
Jul 26, 2016
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Martinique
#60
so here's a question...if Skim mode is meant to replace bikes, does that eliminate the need for vehicles in-game? 'cause I'd still love to see either cavalry like the warthog or the scorpion tank from Halo or a group rallying vehicle like the sunderer from Planetside 2
I just want a ridable turtle. I don't care if I reach the battle an hour late. It's just always been a dream of mine to ride a turtle into battle.
 
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