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Bruce Harlick on City of Heroes story design: Cimerora
Creating missions and particularly story arcs for City of Heroes/City of Villains is a much more involved process than you might imagine. Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Alec Meer talks to NCsoft's Bruce Harlick, Senior Game Designer about this involuted, and sometimes arcane process. Harlick waxes at length about the Cimerora story arcs (for both heroes and villains). Lead Mission Writer, John Morrissey, provided the seed ideas and set Harlick to flesh it all out as a part of learning the tools and process to produce the missions with "the mandate of no new assets or code". Harlick's account of the process gives a revealing look into the way it all works, the frustrations and obstacles, how he clothed his ideas in the MMO's digital flesh, and how he went about breaking Morrissey's mandate in the end. All in all, it is a fascinating look behind the scenes of this popular super-powered MMOG, and we recommend it for those who would like to be enlightened about the process that brings us some of our favorite story moments in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.
A sightseeing tour of the Imperious Task Force in CoX
When City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour came out, it brought with it a new co-operative Task Force that many players thought was the best yet. Its popularity hasn't waned at all; there are still groups running it at all hours of the day. We were pretty impressed, too. So we've visited Cimerora, signed up for the Task Force, and documented the result. A word of warning first, though. This gallery is heavy on the spoilers. Most Task Forces don't contain twists or surprises: this one does. The Imperious TF contains one jaw-dropping reveal in particular, and we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for anyone planning to run the Task Force themselves. If you're not planning to do so any time soon, or you aren't a CoX player, or you don't care about spoilers, then by all means continue! Get thee unto Cimerora >> %Gallery-30665%
Samuraiko reveals CoX Issue 12 video
Acclaimed City of Heroes fan video maker Michelle, otherwise known as Samuraiko, has released her second Issue 12: Midnight Hour video, timed to coincide with the issue's launch to the live servers yesterday. Unlike the first (completely speculative) piece, this one contains plenty of footage from the actual issue, including material from Cimerora, the Midnighter Club and the Imperious Task Force.Warning: there are some very brief potential spoilers in this video. Blink and you'll miss them, but don't say you weren' t warned!Samuraiko's highly regarded in the CoX community as one of the best fan video makers out there, with standards comparable to those set by the official CoX videos. She's produced her own trailers and promotional films for CoX since Issue 11, including a documentary of Manticore and Sister Psyche's chaotic wedding. In her latest offering she also does a little voice acting, giving the reaction that most of us give when we step on to Cimerora' s shores for the first time.'Midnight's Secrets' is available in high quality format on the Samuraiko Productions web site. The YouTube version follows after the break.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with Age of Conan
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled Age of Conan launch news to bring you a little something about City of Heroes. As you may already know, CoH Issue 12 has gone live today, bringing with it the introduction of time travel to ancient Roman and Greek-inspired lands. This time-traveling Task Force content brings us the beautiful persistent area of Cimerora, which is described as a unique place of its own, using its very own mission and zone content which will all be interconnected.So in a recent developer's diary at Ten Ton Hammer, Senior Art Lead Ken Morse walks us through some of the conceptual phases behind Cimerora from beginning to finalized product. It's certainly an interesting read if you're curious about the entire conceptualizing process, or just love looking at the pretty pictures!
City of Heroes to venture underwater?
Sometimes the tiny unannounced changes are the most fun. City of Heroes Issue 12: The Midnight Hour, currently in Open Beta, has sneaked a little extra feature in under the radar.Ordinarily, characters in CoX who fall into the water simply splash about on the surface. You can swim around there, but diving has been impossible, with the tantalizing exception of one narrow shaft in Grandville. This had been the only place where characters could submerge completely, although there was no underwater swimming, just a very surprised Coralax on a coffee break.
CoX Issue 12: Journey to Cimerora
City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour has finally reached Open Beta, and in the first of our articles covering the new issue content, we're delighted to bring you a scenic tour of the Cimerora zone.The Midnight Squad, researchers into the arcane, have acquired a time-travel crystal. Those who have gained access to the Midnighters Club, their secret stronghold connected to both Paragon and the Rogue Isles, can reach it; but access to Cimerora is limited to characters of levels 35-50.A co-operative zone where Heroes and Villains work together (each for their own ends) Cimerora is small but beautiful, containing one introductory arc, a contact who gives out repeating missions, and one extraordinary Task Force that testers have called the best in the game so far. %Gallery-22221% Face down the forces of evil! Give good a quick jab to the jaw! Massively has all the CoX Issue 12 news you can handle. Make sure to check it out!
