super-speed
Latest
Behind the Mask: High speed, low drag
It's not like Champions Online is the first MMORPG with travel powers. Back in the ancient days of Ultima Online, we had things like boats and teleporting spells. Getting a mobility boost to get from point A to point B is nothing unique or special. CO has something a little different, though. Travel powers are as much a thing of individual expression as they are a transportation method. Sure, there's something to be said for riding a semi-transparent sparkling blue horse, but when you can wrap yourself in a shroud of blue fire and streak through the skies, it says a little more about your character. There's a reason I think people who still go AFK to ride griffons from zone to zone are chumps. Hopping over buildings to get to your next quest objective or sprinting at ludicrous speed into a group of foes and using the momentum to start up your attacks is the epitome of personal expression. It's all about what you drive, and my ride is Teleportation.
Kinetik speeds into the profiled halls of Champions Online
It's becoming apparent that somebody is a Flash fan, because the most recently profiled Champions Online character, Kinetik, is very much inspired by the iconic character. Not that we think it's a bad thing, especially considering that there are differences between the the characters.Of course there are a lot of Flashes in the DC Universe. We're speaking specifically about Barry Allen and the lab accident that turned him into the scarlet speedster. Kinetic -- aka Brendan Grant -- may have had a lab accident, but the events leading to his clash with superheroism are drastically different from Barry Allen's. Also, much of the two character's purposes in life are different as well. Barry has his love Iris, while Brendan has his younger brethren in need of his help. Read the profile if you're keen for the specifics.What really has us curious is the fact that all the Champions profiles so far feature characters whose powers are represented within the game somehow. Kinetic seems to be the exception with his superspeed being his bread and butter power. The game has superspeed as a travel power, but nothing beyond that. With the recently announced delay, will we see the addition of these powers? Or, are players merely expected to substitute other powers in order to feel super speedsters themselves?
Massively Hands-on: The first five levels of Champions Online Part 2
Yep, that's right, you get your travel power at the end of Champions Online's tutorial. Jet Boots is very cool, and will please many an Iron Man fan -- myself included -- right down to the hands and feet pointing forward to stop animation. For Jet Boots, you'll hold 'T' to charge up your bar.
Robot mania continues with Champions Online's latest screenshots
This time last year we'd consider selling a non-vital organ to get as many screenshots for Champions Online as we are nowadays, but that's just a testament to our impatience. Now we realize the folly of our kidney selling ways and can simply enjoy all these menacing robots.So that guy up there, he's very likely using a superspeed travel power. Either that, or he's practicing to audition for the upcoming remake of Flashdance -- but we're gonna go with the former.Both this shot and many of the other more recent screenshots appear to have been taken without the cel-shading effect seen in earlier images. We had heard rumblings of the option to turn the cel-shading off in the graphical options, but can now safely say that it looks to be true. Options are a good thing, and this way people who like and dislike the cel-shading approach should be happy with how their heroes look come launch day.%Gallery-17946%
New movement powers revealed in DC Universe Online
There hasn't been too much said about travel powers beyond flight and super-speed in DC Universe Online. We already knew that speedsters were going to be able to run up and down walls, but that was it. Chris Cao has taken care of our limited information with a DC Universe Online official blog post that reveals a new travel power and some more details.The new power in question is acrobatics, which features things like double-jumping and air dashes. Chis also mentions that players would be able to "stick to an underpass" which should give Spider-man fans reason to be excited. Not that anyone should expect web slinging in DCUO, but it sounds like they'll be the next best thing.But acrobatics and super-speed aren't the only powers getting cool moves. Players with flight will be able to swoop down in a hawk-like maneuver to catch a speedster as he passes by below or hit a quick boost to supersonic speeds to escape enemies in pursuit. There's even going to be powers usable only while in flight. Certainly, it seems like every travel power will have a couple cool tricks up its sleeve.
Verbing a noun: introducing new powers
When thinking about game powers, developers have to consider four primary questions: what do the players want, do those desires fit reasonably within the framework of the game, how can the powers be balanced for the game, and how can they be coded? For example, when NCsoft's City of Heroes introduced Flight, it was competing with Super Speed, Teleportation and Leaping. How could they build it out to where it was neither overpowered nor useless? Through a series of trial-and-error efforts -- and thankfully providing an additional 10% bump in hover speed in Issue 8 -- they loaded a power set into the game that gave heroes a new way of seeing the city without unbalancing other transportation powers currently in place.As to verbs that may be more common throughout MMOs, we've all had the opportunity to "run" -- either into battle or away from almost certain peril -- and I doubt there's many here who haven't wished for the ability to "turn invisible" in order to stealth through a difficult mission, but what about some of the more exotic verbs out there? Oh, sure, in most games the alts can backslap one another, gesture angrily, and dance, but these are powerless emotes: they don't actually impact the game play. Take your favorite MMO, though, and think about what game-impacting verb or verbs you'd like to see added. Perhaps it might help to take a look at the thought process currently pushing World of Warcraft's new Death Knight and ask yourself this: if you were a developer, what would you add to the build, and how would you balance it?[Via Elder Game]
