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Exclusive City of Heroes dev diary: Design insights from the Magisterium trial
Today the war ends in City of Heroes. Today players are taking up arms (and mutated plant spores) in the final battle of the Praetorian War, and it will be a glorious eruption of particle effects and superheroic feats. The Magesterium incarnate trial is arguably the centerpiece of Issue 23, and Associate Designer Jeff Hamilton flew in to give us the skinny on this chaotic fight. You can get all the details on the Magisterium as well as an exclusive sneak peek at images from the fight, all after the jump!
City of Heroes' newest Incarnate Trial learns from past mistakes
Incarnate Trials have proven to be some of the most challenging -- and interesting -- endgame content in City of Heroes to date, and players who have enjoyed them are undoubtedly anxious for the latest one, Dilemma Diabolique, which is coming with Issue 22. Senior Designer Chris Behrens wrote an informative dev diary in which he outlines five lessons the studio's learned from past Incarnate Trials and how these lessons will affect Dilemma Diabolique. These lessons include adding rest periods between fights, giving players clear information, keeping trash mobs from exhibiting super-powered (more so than usual) abilities, delivering attractive rewards, and tuning special mechanics so they don't overwhelm players. Dilemma Diabolique looks to be a quicker trial than its brethren, although Behrens sees this as a virtue: "We feel that the faster pace of the trial for maxed Incarnates is reward in itself, since it makes accumulating Empyrean Merits for our most dedicated Incarnates a faster endeavor."
City of Heroes pledges to pump out more frequent updates
As the Paragon Studios team puts a wrap on August, the latest City of Heroes producer's letter reiterates the studio's key philosophy: Content is king. Along those lines, the letter discusses several exciting developments in store for the game's future, including the upcoming Haunted Mansion for the Halloween season, new Incarnate Trials, and more content for the Winter Event. The team is also focusing on delivering "more regular updates" than has been seen previously, so expect to see CoH upping the frequency of in-game goodies from here on out. As part of the "content is king" philosophy, Paragon will be releasing a monthly Signature Story that will be free for VIP (subscribing) players. These will not only tell intriguing stories, but will reward superheroes with increased rewards. The team is also going to put new items into the in-game Paragon Market store on a weekly basis, including costume pieces and power sets. City of Heroes is preparing to launch Freedom, its free-to-play version of the game, at an unspecified point in the future. Subscribers will be able to get a head start when Freedom arrives, and they will enjoy spending the 400 points that their VIP status entitles them to each month.
Looking back on busy times for City of Heroes with the development staff
There's been so much going on with City of Heroes over the past few months -- we've seen a new spin on older content and the anniversary and the new endgame system engaging the game's players in new content. It's a lot to take in all at once, and it's easier to process when you have the chance to talk it over with some of the development staff. During a special NCsoft event, our own Bree Royce had just such a chance to get some questions answered directly by the development team about Issue 20, the Incarnate system, and the state of the game both at present and going forward. Matt Miller and Nate Birkholz shared reflections on what has worked and what has gone a bit awry in the development, something that should be of interest to every City of Heroes player. Sadly, the discussion does not include any zombie catgirls -- just the parts that worked and the parts that wound up being problems.
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.
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.
City of Heroes talks about the Animal Pack and endgame accessibility
Yesterday saw the announcement of the newest add-on pack for City of Heroes, but that's hardly the only news to come out for the game this week. A new developer diary has been released which details the creation of the Animal Pack -- what elements are in the pack, what elements were left out, and why some animals were picked over others. It sheds some light on both the genesis of this specific pack and the usual development process for the additions. But if you're more content-minded, you'll probably be even happier about the latest Producer's Letter by Nate Birkholz, detailing the upcoming Incarnate Trials of Issue 20 and the team's plans to address endgame accessibility. The Incarnate Trials are a step toward ensuring that any player with a level 50 character and the expansion can take part in the Incarnate system, with looser group requirements and a new queueing system to let players jump in without a pre-formed group. There's also more talk about allowing more liberal acquisition of Incarnate Shards, even if you're level-matched to a lower-level character. It's the sort of accessibility and general freedom that's always been center stage for City of Heroes, which the new letter takes pains to stress.
