Custom Graphics

[CriticalHit425]

Hi,

I have read through some of your newsletters, and I have not seen anything on the subject of creating custom graphics in game. For example, if I wanted my character to have a strange (not preset) emblem on his chest, would that be possible? I am thinking of like a say... Forza Horizon situation, where you can spray various symbols on your character's costume, but able to make the decals yourself. Is this possible?

Thanks,

CH425

[Golden Ace]

Hi,

I have read through some of your newsletters, and I have not seen anything on the subject of creating custom graphics in game. For example, if I wanted my character to have a strange (not preset) emblem on his chest, would that be possible? I am thinking of like a say... Forza Horizon situation, where you can spray various symbols on your character's costume, but able to make the decals yourself. Is this possible?

Thanks,

CH425

I think that’s actually not a bad idea I would love to be able to create my own emblem.

However you might have to sign a disclaimer claiming that you are responsible for any copyright issues. Just in case you create the golden arches of McDonald’s wants to sue you.

That being said I still love the idea

[Consultant]

The questions would be many and varied. Are you creating the image in Maya, and sending us a specially designed texture file? You know you can't just toss in a symbol from a scan or a PowerPoint into the game right? It has to be a special file that the Unreal engine can process.

Is the symbol colored? Is the color adjustable? Are you sending us a compatible color mask for the texture file?

Is the symbol adjustable in size? Similar issues apply..

[Consultant]

The article seems off-topic, but in general a symbol for the chest needs to be a texture or soemthing similar in UE4, so unless you know how to create that, you cannot simply apply something in-game.

But if you have an idea for something, we might at it to the game. Exactly how is a good question.

[JestersGhost]

Allowing just any graphic to be displayed on your chest is also opening up a minefield of moderating issues over and above the copyright side of things - I can absolutely guarantee someone is going to see how long they can get away with porn as a logo sooner or later.

It is an awesome idea (I'd love my own logo to be available, for example), but sadly I don't think it's ever feasible directly. Having an option to submit logo ideas to the devs...eventually that might be workable however.

[Peetbink]

Allowing just any graphic to be displayed on your chest is also opening up a minefield of moderating issues over and above the copyright side of things - I can absolutely guarantee someone is going to see how long they can get away with porn as a logo sooner or later.

It is an awesome idea (I'd love my own logo to be available, for example), but sadly I don't think it's ever feasible directly. Having an option to submit logo ideas to the devs...eventually that might be workable however.

Its feasible, There are games who do it incl being able to let others see the custom artwork, (APB, PotC) would take a lot of dev time to create the network and tool code to make tho.

It would indeed also create a fair amount of "moderation" work to check all complains about artwork that is inappropriate for some reason. In a hero game it would almost certainly lead to folks making copyright material that mimics well known IP's

So in general it would not be a good idea, Better to spent the dev time on new costume parts and the main game systems that you can control longterm.

[Golden Ace]

Perhaps something on the forums for suggested symbols.

[GladDog]

I forget what game it was that I played, but they allowed custom logos on your armor/ costume/ whatever the game featured. You had to submit the logo to a dev who approved or disapproved the logo, and that is how anything like this will have to be handled. However, the SoH dev team is small and will probably stay small until the game is generating income. I would not expect a small team to be able to pay someone to review these logos until the game is released and has had a chance to grow.

So yes, I like the idea, but I don't see it getting into the game until after release, unless Consultant could find someone willing to do it for free for a good while.

I think that a simple system would be to have a forum thread where someone submits a logo, locking the credit to that person,and allowing a certain amount of time for forum users to express their opinion on the logo (say 48 hours) and say why they think the way they do. What may be really cool to one person may be very offensive to another, so it would not be a bad idea to have input. This will help the dev assigned to this task to make a better educated decision on whether to approve or disapprove.

[olepi]

PotBS did this with sails, you can submit designs for symbols on sails and they approve it and put them into the game.

A similar question is: can we change the colors and look of the powers? The old CoH allows this.

[Odee]

Hi,

I have read through some of your newsletters, and I have not seen anything on the subject of creating custom graphics in game. For example, if I wanted my character to have a strange (not preset) emblem on his chest, would that be possible? I am thinking of like a say... Forza Horizon situation, where you can spray various symbols on your character's costume, but able to make the decals yourself. Is this possible?

Thanks,

CH425

We had this as a feature for Squadrons in Warbirds, and Aces High, where Squadrons, and Players could submit for approval their own nose artwork/decal for the planes they flew in game. As I recall, it was a small Jpeg Placeholder located forward of the cockpits where nose-art usually was in WW2

The problem, if at all, is that it ties up some resources from the devs, who have to check the bonafides and Copyrights/Trademarks are not infringed.

[JestersGhost]

A similar question is: can we change the colors and look of the powers? The old CoH allows this.

Yes, there will be power customisation - probably limited at release, with more options as time goes on.

[SweetSugar]

I was in Second Life for years, and there arose a problem with people uploading trademarked logos (i.e. Nike logo shirts or Apple logo computers and gear) The community went through a series of purges where stuff players created had to be wiped from the servers and people who bought that stuff in the marketplace either ended up losing it altogether, or all the textures were replaced with solid magenta.

Also realize this. *everyone's* logos would have to be uploaded to the SOH asset servers and *everyone* would have to download all the logos whenever they either loaded the game, or when the logo needs to be drawn (i.e. the first time a player with that logo comes in to view at a sufficient LOD)

That said: I would LOVE to be able to add my own textures to stock outfits, skins, eyes, nail polish, homes/guild halls/lairs and sell them for game coins on the in-game market. It might be a good way to let the fan base help get the darned game done faster too. Of course the devs would need to make a content creation kit and make sure people don't upload 60,000x60,000 hdr images, porn t-shirts, or "naked" outfits etc.

[indigowulf]

Could do something like the game "town of salem" does, where there's a jury of your peers that help decide things. 3+ people vote yay or nay. You have to apply to be on the jury, and if you habitually vote against the majority you may lose your jury status (weed out trolls, etc). Voting on the jury enough could earn you a badge or title. That way, implement the system and then walk away, let us do the work

Also, give jurors a way to flag something for "higher review" when, for example, it's something not everyone would understand. Perhaps a symbol that contains hidden kanji that means something dirty, most would say it's ok cuz they don't know what they are looking at.

[Golden Ace]

I like the idea