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City of Heroes: Issue 17: Dark Mirror Enters Open Beta!
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
City of Heroes Issue 17: Dark Mirror has now entered open beta! Issue 17 is the last major update to be released before the launch of Going Rogue this July. The update features the new Ultra Mode enhanced graphics options, new story arcs, animated tails, Dopplegangers, new costume options, early access to the new Demon Summoning powerset, and more!
Demon Summoning is available in the beta test, but will not be available on live servers until Issue 17 actually goes live. Click below for the full Issue 17: Dark Mirror patch notes.
Welcome to the Issue 17: Dark Mirror Open Beta
Here is a rundown of the features in Issue 17:
Ultra ModeNew Power Set: Demon Summoning
Ultra Mode is a superior graphics rendering process that gives City of Heroes a heightened level of detail in lighting, reflections, shadows, and water effects.
Ultra Mode is intended for players who have higher-end graphic cards. Each feature can be enabled or disabled in the graphics menu options and will be scalable. Ultra Mode works on both Macs and PCs. In specific, it offers dynamic shadows, screen-space ambient occlusion, and dynamic environment reflections (including planar reflections and environment mapping of reflective surfaces).
Known issue - Catalyst 10.2 drivers have a conflict with Ultra Mode features. After toggling between graphics quality levels and pushing "Apply" in the UI the game framerate may drop dramatically until you quit the game and restart. This is currently being addressed, in the meantime, all affected players should roll their drivers back to Catalyst 10.1.
Menu Options for Ultra Mode:
"Graphics Quality" slider
Previously there were 4 notches in this slider, we have expanded it to include a 5th notch, "Ultra". The notches currently behave as follows:
Minimum, Performance, Recommended - these 3 settings remain unchanged from Issue 16. No new graphics features are enabled.
Quality - enables all of the new ultra mode features (shadows, building/character reflections, water reflections and ambient occlusion), each in a "fast" configuration.
Shadows set to "ShadowMaps" at Low Quality
Environment Reflections set to Low Quality
Water Effects set to High Quality
Ambient Occlusions set to High Performance.
Ultra - enables all of the ultra mode features in a high quality configuration.
Shadows set to "ShadowMaps" at High Quality
Environment Reflections set to High Quality
Water Effects set to Ultra Quality (Refractions and lots of reflections
"Advanced" settings
"Water Effects"
The "Water Effects" Option was changed from:
None
Low Quality: refractions without depth
High Quality: refractions with depth
To:
None
Low Quality (same as before)
Medium Quality (old High Quality)
High Quality: Medium Quality plus some reflections
Ultra Quality: Medium Quality plus lots of reflections
Full Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) - We have moved this setting out of the advanced graphics options and placed it on the main graphics options pane.Mission Architect Changes
Issue 17 introduces the Demon Summoning power set. This power set will be available for a limited time on the Training Room during the Beta period. Like Dual Pistols, this set is tied to the Going Rogue expansion, but will be unlocked in Issue 17 for players who prepurchase the Going Rogue Expansion.
Demon Summoning is a primary power choice for the Mastermind archetype and is also the power set used by the Going Rogue signature character Desdemona.
This power set allows the player to summon elemental demons that can manipulate flame, cold and hellfire. However, what truly sets this power set apart from other Mastermind primary power sets are the summoner's hellfire whip attacks that deal both fire and toxic damage and reduce the target's damage resistance.
The Demon Summoning Power Set is comprised of the following powers:
Corruption
Summon Demonlings
Lash
Enchant Demon
Crack Whip
Summon Demons
Hell of Earth
Summon Demon Prince
Abyssal EmpowermentKheldians/Soldiers of Arachnos/Widows
There have been some upgrades to the Mission Architect system:
Known Issue: If you create a Mission Architect mission in this Beta and attempt to use it on the Live servers, it is likely your game will crash.
MA Experience Rewards
Previously, if the player made any changes to make the enemies they face in Mission Architect easier, they would receive zero experience for those enemies. We are making adjustments to allow players to handpick the powers for custom enemies and still receive experience for them, but not be able to exploit weaker enemies for unfair experience gain. Now, every power for custom critters has been weighted individually.
New MA Maps
Approximately 20 new unique maps have been added to the Mission Architect system.
Giant Monsters Added
Players can now add giant monsters to outdoor maps in Mission Architect:
Arachnos Flyer
Deathsurge
Caleb
Babbage
Clockwork Paladin
Stropharia
Thorn
Eochai
Kraken
Kronos Titan
Jack in Irons
Ghost of Scrapyard
Exit Mission on Complete
Mission Architect Authors can now specify that players have to leave the mission manually on completion.
Escort Improvements
"Lead to Place" technology allows Authors more control over escort objectivesMission Updates
These archetypes are now unlocked as soon as one of your characters reaches level 20, instead of level 50.New Story Arcs
Contacts in starting zones (Atlas Park, Galaxy City, Mercy Isle) should, in general, no longer send players into dangerous neighborhoods to reach low-level (1-5) missions. Travel times will often be shorter to reach these mission doors, as well.
Players can now have 7 active missions, instead of just 3.
Show Last Objective: This allows players to be able to find their last objective on a mission map, making it easier to find something they missed.Task Forces and Strike Forces
For Heroes:
Field Agent Keith Nance has arrived in Talos Island to investigate charges of treason. He realizes he has the wrong suspect so he needs your help to solve the case.
Once you've cleared things up with the government and Keith Nance, he directs you to Special Agent Jenni Adair who has just come into some new information.
For Villains
Dean MacArthur in Sharkhead Isle has some information on the troublesome hero, Ajax, who has been spotted in the Rogue Isles recently.
After you are finished with Dean MacArthur, you can look up Leonard Silmon, who is interested in a new group called "Mane Corp".Badges
For Heroes:
The Positron Task Force has been updated. Please check out this dramatic upgrade of a classic Task Force.
For Villains:
The Silver Mantis Strike Force is now accessed via Silver Mantis, located in Sharkhead Isle. (This Strike Force was previously accessed only via mission computer in a supergroup base.) Players will also be able to run this task force from their Supergroup computer. This adjustment makes the Silver Mantis Strike Force accessible to players who are not part of a Supergroup and ensures that the Strike Force is available both in a zone and in a supergroup base.
Task Force Difficulty:
Notoriety Settings will now affect Task Forces and Strike Forces as follows:
Setting level to -1 will set level to +0 (not -1)
Setting teamsize will affect spawn sizes accordingly
"Allow Bosses" will always be enabled
"Allow AVs" will always be enabled.Invention
There are now a total of 8 exploration badges in every city zone. Happy hunting.
There is now an Accolade for finding all of the exploration badges in each zone (i.e. Atlas Park Explorer, Mercy Isle Explorer, etc.)
There is now a badge for finding 500 badges. And one for 750.Tailor Updates
Crafted Temporary Powers – added several new recipes for Temp Powers, and shifted these recipes in the crafting UI to make them easier to find.Auction House UI Improvements
Updated Costumes - certain costume sets have been specially updated to take advantage of Ultra Mode features:
Cyborg
Enforcer
Tech Sleek
Valkyrie
Vanguard
New Costume Part: Animated Tails - most types of tails in the game now have a version that moves.
o The original tails remain available. Both versions can be found in a brand new costume part, separate from belts.Email Improvements
Hot New UI
Sorting Options for Results
Inventory Separated By Tabs
Auto-Complete Text Entry Box
One Click to find all Salvage used in Recipe
Warning if Selling salvage that is used in a recipe that is owned.
One click to find all recipes that use salvage
One click to find salvage missing for a recipe (or all recipes)
Level dial arrows in level entry box
Add "All" tab to the Auction Window. This tab also shows total inventory slots available.Vigilance for Defenders Upgraded
The email system can now send to global names.
Global emails can have influence or items attached
The UI for writing emails has been slightly improved
Due to concerns that Defenders inherent power Vigilance was "too weak" or "non-obvious" or "provided little benefit to the defender himself" we have endeavored to make improvements that are useful in as general a case for Defenders as possible, without adding to their already strong effect when combined with multiple Defenders. To that end, we have added a damage buff which only applies fully when solo, and which degrades as more team members are added.
There are also a number of changes/fixes for Live issues:
COMBINED
Powers
General
Player Buff fix. Some buff powers had been recently changed to affect a max of 16 player allies, which had implications in some groups and in large outdoor fights. These are now fixed to affect up to 255 targets. The powers affected are:
Group Fly
Leadership Maneuvers, Tactics, Assault, Vengeance
Whirlwind
Team Teleport
Cold Domination Arctic Fog
Dark Miasma Shadow Fall
Empathy Healing Aura, Recovery Aura and Regeneration Aura
Force Field Dispersion Bubble
Kinetics Inertial Reduction
Radiation Emission Radiant Aura, Accelerate Metabolism
Sonic Resonance Sonic Dispersion
Storm Summoning Steamy Mist
Thermal Radiation Warmth
Transfusion Heal effect
Transference +Endurance effect
Fulcrum Shift +Damage effect
Siphon Power +Damage effect
Twilight Grasp Heal effect
Howling Twilight Rez effect
Police-bot +Perception effect
Veteran Combat Pet Empowering Aura effects
Heat Loss +Recovery effect
Force Field Generator Dispersion Bubble
Luminous Aura Group Energy Flight
Teamwork/Training and Gadgets Tactical Training: Maneuvers
Teamwork/Training and Gadgets Tactical Training: Assault
Teamwork Tactical Training: Tactics
Widow/Fortunata Teamwork Mind Link
Widow/Fortunata Teamwork Tactical Training: Vengeance
Training and Gadgets Tactical Training: Leadership
Pain Domination Nullify Pain, Soothing Aura, World of Pain
Protectorbot Dispersion Bubble
Thug Lt Maneuvers, Tactics, Assault
Ember Demon Ember Shield
Spirit Tree +Regeneration effect
Triage Beacon +Regeneration effect
Fortunata Seer pet Mind Link
Dual PistolsDual Wield (All): This power now accepts Knockback IO sets.
PVP
Dual Pistols (All)/Empty Clips: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's secondary damage effect to be slightly higher than normal in PvP.
Dual Pistols (All)/Bullet Rain: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's secondary damage effect to be slightly higher than normal in PvP.
Dual Pistols(All)/Swap Ammo: Fixed a bug that would cause the ammo powers granted to the player by Swap Ammo to not apply if the player was in an environment where temporary powers are disabled.
Arenas
Added a button that displays the score of an Arena match while the match is still being played.
CITY OF HEROES
Powers
Defenders
Dual Pistols/Piercing Rounds: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's PvP damage to be lower than it should be.
CITY OF VILLAINS
Powers
Corruptors
Dual Pistols/Piercing Rounds: Fixed a bug that would cause this power to do slightly more damage in PvP.
For those of you who have been in the Beta for a while, here are the changes/fixes since the last build.
COMBINED
Mission Architect
Added Dual Pistol exclusion to most custom critter power sets which involve weapon draw or shields.
Added Demon Summoning exclusion to Shield Defense set.
Missing Giant Monsters added back in.
'Single' option removed from Giant Monster difficulty.
Fixed unexplained mission errors when testing a mission that includes a Giant Monster.
Auction House
Swapped For Sale and Bidding display.
Fixed bug where dragging an object to sell would switch tabs while you were using the ‘All’ tab.
Ultra Mode/Graphics
Fixed transparent AE buildings on Mac OS X (also some ultra capable Intel graphics chipsets).
Fixed objects/capes/particles not showing up properly in Mission Architect, info windows, costume change selection, and many other places.
User Interface
Fixed bug that caused the cursor to disappear in Windows Vista
CITY OF HEROES
Tasks
Positron's Task Force - Part 1: Final Mission: The final encounters in the mission will no longer attack the Circle of Thorns.
CITY OF VILLAINS
None
View the original announcement here.
Also, be sure to check out Xondar123's absolutely amazing Ultra Mode screenshot gallery here.
Comments
If anyone is interested I've uploaded a bunch of Ultra Mode screenshots to my screenshot gallery. http://www.mmorpg.com/galleries/Xondar123/2526_Ultra-Mode They look really good!
new shiny on the same old bad models
in calmest breeze,
in tornadoes blast,
no evil shall escape my gas
let those who are an evil fink
fear the wind of Fartman's stink.
I think they look good for a 6 year old game.
Except for the water and reflections, it does not look much different. Can't say it gets me excited to play.
If I weren't currently subbed I don't know if it would bring me back, but I'm actually very surprised at just how much depth the shadows and ambient occlusion add to the zones.
It's really a fairly subtle effect, but it really does make a noticeable difference in the look of the zones for me.
Yeah the enhanced graphics don't thrill me at all.
The new powersets they've announced and actual end-game content - those might be worth resubbing to look at.
AWESOME screenshots. Added the link to the main story, thanks! Good work and a good eye! I just started messing with the demon summoning stuff tonight *cracks whip*. Lot of fun! Demons/Pain here.
How is it that those screens make CoH look way better than CO?
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
Agreed. But better graphics helps keep the game alive.
Because as much as CO has 'better graphics' they don't actually end up looking all that good?
Or at least that's my opinion of them.
I won't argue with artistic taste, I just want to point out for anyone who may care that the comic book outlines in CO can be turned off, which is what I do. The game is not really cell shaded, the black lines are a lot like that 2xSai stuff in the ZSNES emulator.
As a 3 year vet of CoX, I feel that CO without the black outlines looks a lot like I would have expected from CoX2, but that's just my opinion. I don't see a large difference in art style once the outlines are turned off.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
I agree. However, I still think that this ultramode looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, I pretty much doubt that my computer can handle it. If I wasn't happily playing on CO I will give the new CoX issue a try. Nice work.
Oh no. That's not my issue with CO. I actually kind of like cell shading in a lot of games. My issue is that the graphics always look too big and plasticy for me. Things look maybe a little too cartoony. CoH tends to have things that end up looking somewhat more realistic to my eye. When/if they end up doing CoH2 (I imagine more when than if) I really rather hope they don't go the cartoony route.
I'm certainly not going to try and tell anyone that CO has bad graphics, I just really dislike the art direction.
Actually, it's very likely they already started working on CoH2: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/274854
Hence why I imagine it'd be more when than if.
I'll belive there's a sequel when it's actually released. Between now and then any number of things could happen to knock it out of existance. Otherwise it's like saying there's going to be a Duke Nukem Forever because it was announced.
Every element of Champions graphics hands down is vastly superior to COH's. The only reason I could think of a person would say that COH's graphics would look better would be if their machine couldn't run Champions to any degree that would do it justice. Particle graphics alone cant even touch...I can't even go into it there is such a vast difference.
Either way IMO all these changes are coming 3 years too late, player feed back for this stuff was submitted 3-4 years ago. There are too many Quality of Life issues in this game that either get flat out ignored, or begin to get addressed, then realized that making it work is more trouble than it is worth. NCSoft is too focused on giving players what they want and not what they need.
I am sick of the homogenization of games to the point where everything has to be "Fair". This game "Jumped the Shark" the minute the creative team decided that pvp should be a supressed suckfest. The more you try to make players equal the more you remove the skill in playing a game. What an incentive to compete would a person have if you took away anything that required a "counter". The beauty of pvp in that game originally was you needed to be ready for whatever your opponent had in their bag of tricks. Now all PVP is is 8 guys afk running macros farming PVP recipes.
The community at large in COH is just looking for the fastest way to endgame without having to bother with the content, they don't really want any new content. They are just bored of farming / macroing the stuff the have ground out over the past 6 years.
Ultra Graphics mode and Going Rogue is the biggest compliment that COH ever paid Champions, and this article actually made me reactivate my Champions account.
in calmest breeze,
in tornadoes blast,
no evil shall escape my gas
let those who are an evil fink
fear the wind of Fartman's stink.
Duke Nukem Forever came out in 2009, but it was so awesome it caused a space-time implosion that negated its own existence. The fabric of the universe simply can't contain something so amazingly awesome.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/748-Duke-Nukem-Forever
Soooo ... basically you're still upset over the PvP changes is what you're saying. I mean, other than that I'm not really sure we're talking about the same game/community.
Ah, there we go. Another dissatisfied PvPer who thinks that if the PvP isn't that great then the whole game is utter crap.
One of the reasons I stated was about PVP but mostly it is the lack of difficulty in the game, as well as the complete lack of competitivenes. Champions PVP is not good either, but mainly I was not speaking of PVP alone but the complete change of direction this game took at that point. There were a few other things that took place there as well, one of which was the deliberate attempt to kill socialization in the game. AE single handedly revolutionized ignoring content and ignoring other players.
For a moment there I forgot I was on a forum, and I just remembered the rules of conversation of forums.
1. When in a disagreement, faced with anyone having a legitimate point, shout them down, call them a retard, or tell them they are a crybaby.
2. stop the process of logical thinking after rule 1.
3. Repeat until someone gets banned or mods step in and delete everything.
get over it, it's my opinion.
in calmest breeze,
in tornadoes blast,
no evil shall escape my gas
let those who are an evil fink
fear the wind of Fartman's stink.
I want to see screenshots of the Battle Maiden farm. That's where people will degenerate to most of the time for xp farming. You'll spend lots and lots and lots of time in that or another farm trying to get drops that will allow you to not die in 4 seconds on the pvp maps. 8 ) I love COH and it has a certain amount of charm but it's truly a pitiful site. The exception to this is during halloween when it turns into the most fun ever.
"I'm not cheap I'm incredibly subconsciously financially optimized"
"The worst part of censorship is ------------------"
It still looks like you're talking about a completely different game. AE was bad at the beginning, but the devs have been working on preventing exploitative farming so you don't really see AE farms anymore. I'm also not sure what other gripes you have, the game has only been inproving over time.
So far your complaints are: PvP (have fun with CO's monster play by the way,) and AE (long since fixed by the devs.) Anything else?
Just so it's clear to everyone, I played during the holidays and it was a lot of fun but the AE was certainly not fixed (several xp exploits running strong) and the gameplay was still stale as ever as most people were farming day in day out business as usual. If they'd do more awesome stuff like zombie attacks outside the portals it would be a much better game.
"I'm not cheap I'm incredibly subconsciously financially optimized"
"The worst part of censorship is ------------------"
Just so we're clear here. I do agree that CoH's PvP is kind of pathetic. It's honestly always been that way and has only gotten worse over time as they've tried to fix it. I hold out hope that some day they'll take another go at it and manage to get it in some workable condition, but I'm certainly not holding my breath over it and wouldn't be surprised if it never really happens.
I just don't understand your other complaints. Large chunks of the last year have been dedicated to Quality of Life changes, with more to come in I17. Granted, not every quality of life issue has been addressed, and some really are not worth the cost to fix, but I couldn't in all honesty say that they don't do QoL passes.
Then saying that the majority of the CoH community is only focused on grinding to 'endgame' (something CoH doesn't actually have as of yet) and not only ignore content but flat out don't want new content strikes me as unusual. While there are certainly folks out there who seem focused on grinding and finding the best AE farms out there (which do still exist, though not in the numbers they used to since the various exploits seem to get locked down as quickly as possible), most folks I know and see on the forums seem fairly vocal about CoH being a game that's mostly about the content on the way to 50 and not just getting to 50 ASAP.
Granted, the forums and 'people I know' aren't exactly the textbook definition of 'the majority of players' they're what I know and what I see of the game so it's very much at odds with your complaints. CoH certainly isn't a perfect game, but it has one of the better online communities I've run across and manages to be an interesting and evolving game still.
Now if only they could come up with more tilesets and some sort of map randomizer for the instanced missions ..... stupid office and warehouse maps.
The graphical improvements are subtle rather than life changing but they are certainly welcome. Its personal preference of course but I already prefer CoH's graphics and style to CO's in that the former is an attempt to artisticaly represent a comic in motion whereas the latter is an attempt to imitate the static printed page. CoH's approach is analogous to what a comic artists is actually required to do, whereas CO's is a caricature of what a comic is (imo one delivered with zero conviction or understanding of mood or theme). But ultimately Graphics are purely superficial they can only enhance something else they have no real value on their own.....beauty is only skin deep as they say and its never more true than in the world of video and computer games.
As regards the other changes its amazing what Paragon are able to do with this 6 year old game engine, dark mirror takes the one real advantage CO had (something that CO could have made very special, but ended up doing the quickest and most simplistic implementation imaginable) and actually goes one better because in CoH you can play it both ways; hero and villian. Going Rogue will further expand this element the fact that your 'side' or faction is actually relevent to the game and changes the experience....until CO offers villian play it has no valid means to actually put chosen playstyle, character definition or meaningful rp into the game (its crazy it wasnt included from day one).
PvP is always a dodgy issue (I think only DCUO has any chance of satisfying the hardcore pvper who wants to weild super powers) but at least there is a valid thematic connection to make it relevent in CoH, and at least PvP in CoH is actually PvP and not just another way of dressing up PvE.
What CoH is doing is what a lot of players never anticipated it could (Cryptic included who had abadoned several of these ideas while still in NCSofts employ) Its delivering what player really hoped to see in CO or else CoH2 in that they are offering alternate ways of enjoying the game...in this case they are taking the story experience and making it relevent which prrovides a refreshing change to the age old 'what now.....errrr....oh just make another alt' appeal the game has overused (and as it turns out is all CO even attempted to do). Couple this with the MA and you have a real set of tools for creative as well as mechanical entertainment which is really something I didnt expect to see till SWToR is released.