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City of Heroes interviews discuss content development and Incarnate raids
At the start of the month, City of Heroes released the massive and potentially game-changing Issue 20 update. Codenamed Incarnates, the update introduced a series of large raids designed to continue the story established in Going Rogue in a new way. In an interview with PC Gamer, lead producer Nate Birkholz discussed how the new group instances have been received. Issues touched on include difficulty scaling, the new Incarnate powers that can be earned and lessons learned from developing the new system. In a contrasting interview over at Gaming Angels, lead designer Melissa Bianco discussed content development and her career at Paragon Studios. The interview covers some important issues, asking why City of Heroes has enjoyed the ongoing success it has and what exactly goes into zone and instance design. Melissa also has some tips for anyone looking for a job in the games industry and provides a little insight into the development process.
Player help system added to City of Heroes
If you're looking for a game that's friendly to new players, you could do far worse than City of Heroes. After all, it's friendly to groups or solo players, has a plethora of powers and archetypes available for every playstyle, and offers a broad range of content for everyone. But it can also be intimidating, what with seven years of backlog. That's why among its many other features, Issue 20 included a brand-new player mentoring system to help new players find the help they need. Players who log on for the first time since the patch launch will see a dialog box with three options -- "Helper," "Help Me!" or "Neither." The last category is an opt out, but choosing to be a helper gives you the temporary Helper title as well as a golden name. The brand-new Help Channel has also been added to the global chat channels, allowing players to ask for help and guidance from the City of Heroes community as needed. So go forth, enjoy the update, and know that help is just a "Help Me!" away!
City of Heroes Issue 20 now live
Heroes and villains, the time has come to vie for the future of the Earth itself in City of Heroes. Issue 20: Incarnates is now live, and the battle between the praetorians and the superheroes of Primal Earth has escalated to a fever-pitch. Only the very strongest and bravest among you will have the chance to stand against Emperor Cole and save all mankind from utter destruction at this madman's hands. This newest update to City of Heroes continues the new storyline started in Going Rogue. As such, players will need the expansion to be able to take advantage of the majority of the newest content such as the Lambda Sector Incarnate trial and the Behavioral Adjustment Facility. It also introduces new powers for heroes and villains, along with a host of other great content. So while your client is patching, you can watch the launch trailer we've tucked behind the break or check out our exclusive I20 dev diary if you haven't already!
Exclusive Dev Diary: Designing the task forces for City of Heroes Issue 20
City of Heroes traditionally packs quite a lot into its large content patches, and Issue 20 looks to be no exception. Aside from the two new Incarnate Trials meant for endgame players, the update is going to see two new mid-level task forces added for players between levels 20-40. With one force for heroes and another for villains, everyone will have a chance to enjoy some new storytelling about the war against Praetoria outside of the earliest invasions. But of course, new task forces don't just materialize out of thin air. It takes some hard work and a solid set of design principles to make them rewarding, something that Paragon Studios has been steadily improving since launch. John Hegner, Lead Mission Designer for City of Heroes, took the time to share with us what went into the construction of these new task forces and what they should mean for the player, so click on past the break for our exclusive developer diary on the design of the new content.
City of Heroes offers an Issue 20 overview and development journal
PAX East is just around the corner, and it marks the second east coast appearance of the Paragon Studios team. Last year the developers had an upcoming expansion to preview, but this year nevertheless promises to still have plenty of revelations for the City of Heroes fans, starting with the new Issue 20 overview page available today. Aside from the two known Incarnate Trials, the page also previews two new task forces for characters in the 20-40 range as well as more respec trials available for heroes or villains who change alignment. If the overview alone isn't enough to get you fired up for the upcoming Issue 20, the latest installment of the Intrepid Informer previews one of the new areas designed for the patch: a fortress made of lashed-together ships. Gilbert Martinez, one of the game's art leads, explains the process that led to creating an evocative new piece of scenery. City of Heroes players have plenty to look forward to in the near future, not the least of which being an upcoming patch with some pretty interesting content.
Lambda Sector trial on deck for preview in City of Heroes
So you've got a newly animal-themed hero from last week's Animal Pack launch in City of Heroes and you're just not sure what to do with him. Well, there's good news -- the developers at Paragon Studios will be hosting another preview event for an Issue 20 trial on the test realm. The last preview event covered the previously announced Behavioral Adjustment Facility, but this test wll be centered around the heretofore unseen Lambda Sector trial. Taking place on the test server, the trial will be running on March 1st on the European test server and March 3rd for the U.S. servers. Both events will also include a random code giveaway for all players in attendance, including new Animal Pack codes and the rare Rikti Mentalist costume. City of Heroes players owe it to themselves to check the times and attend if at all possible, as it promises to be a fun ride for everyone involved.
Adjust your behavior in City of Heroes
The war between Primal Earth and Praetoria continues in City of Heroes, and the battlefields are expanding. Emperor Cole's Praetorians struck the first blow, but the residents of Primal Earth are fighting back, starting with the Behavioral Adjustment Facility in the Imperial City. That's the site of the new Incarnate Trial previewed today, a trial in which heroes and villains alike are racing to stop the plans of Siege and Nightstar, two searingly intelligent Clockwork overseeing the process known as "Mindwashing." Starting with players attempting to break into the facility, the trial sends players against several facility guards. Successfully cutting down the opposition will start a confrontation with Nightstar and her cadre of Victoria-class Clockwork defenders. Her defeat, unfortunately, signals the release of the Mindwashed prisoners, forcing players to engage in a battle against several control-immune enemies before moving on to fight Siege. But that alone doesn't spell the end of the trial -- there's one more fight in the wings, a battle that should prompt players to think outside the box if they want to emerge victorious. City of Heroes players should take a gander at the full preview and get ready to take the war to Praetoria when Issue 20 goes live.
