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Great visual!
But seems way more interesting to have ANOTHER ship instead of replacing a current asset!
Just like Wraith/Revenant, or EC88/89. KEEP BOTH, this can be Vulture2, or Abutre, or Condor, whatever! With so few ship models, a new ship is much better than replacing a ship model!
And this also can mark the start of diferentiation, like Serco loses Vultures but gets this one ship instead, same stats, new look! (Itani gets next improved ship)
But seems way more interesting to have ANOTHER ship instead of replacing a current asset!
Just like Wraith/Revenant, or EC88/89. KEEP BOTH, this can be Vulture2, or Abutre, or Condor, whatever! With so few ship models, a new ship is much better than replacing a ship model!
And this also can mark the start of diferentiation, like Serco loses Vultures but gets this one ship instead, same stats, new look! (Itani gets next improved ship)
Eh, if the different variants each came with distinct textures it'd be more interesting and they wouldn't need a lot of different models.
We're working on engine changes to allow us more variants without as much download/memory overhead.
Also, part of the point of this is to generally update game assets to a better overall fidelity. So while the old vulture isn't awful or anything, this new ship is graphically an improvement.
Also, part of the point of this is to generally update game assets to a better overall fidelity. So while the old vulture isn't awful or anything, this new ship is graphically an improvement.
Cool!
Any news on the possible debut event? Thanks to my Aussie time zone, I'll need to plan ahead to participate (based on usual player-made event times), and could use as much for-warning as possible...
Faille.
Faille.
Yeah the current vulture isn't awful. It's come a long way from it's origins on Sol II:
TUSK!
TUSK!
Space Orks?
Ha, now that is a Serco light fighter!
"Distribution is strictly prohibited"
Copywhat???
Copywhat???
sweet look to the new vult!!! definitely keep the old ones tho. hopefully some "original" ship designs in the near future but this will do for now.... cant wait to take a test drive!! ;)
That isn't a bad looking raptor.
Any news on the possible debut event? Thanks to my Aussie time zone, I'll need to plan ahead to participate (based on usual player-made event times), and could use as much for-warning as possible...
I'll see what I can do about announcing it tomorrow. We're still working on finalizing the ship and getting the assets all packed up. It'll probably debut as an "alternative" ship, and then get swapped in to replace the original vulture a little later when we get the procedural-texture stuff rolling for the Anniversary Edition, etc.
I'll see what I can do about announcing it tomorrow. We're still working on finalizing the ship and getting the assets all packed up. It'll probably debut as an "alternative" ship, and then get swapped in to replace the original vulture a little later when we get the procedural-texture stuff rolling for the Anniversary Edition, etc.
Awesome, thanks Inc.
Inc. are you saying the Anniversary Editions will change to the new "vulture" model once skins similar to the ones now on the Anniversary Editions can be made for them? I don't think that's in keeping with the letter or the spirit of what was promised when they were added (inducing a lot of people to buy 3 month subs that they may not have otherwise bought, I add).
From back on Nov 03, 2009:
The new vultures are: 1) A clone of the base Vulture Mk1, available in all Capitols. 2) A clone of the Corvus Vulturius, available in Corvus space only. Both use a new texture and new normal map, but have stats identical to their Mk1/Vulturius counterparts.
No one currently has access to these new ships.
Access will be granted to the following groups:
1) Newbies who come in on a special upcoming promo, with keys that grant access to the new item. We will not be moving the ship-access accomplishments from these key-accounts onto other paid accounts, or moving existing characters to promo trials, this is a newbie-only thing. Let the newbies have their keys.
2) Existing players with unbroken subscriptions of at least 3 months. So, if monthly, unbroken for the last 3. If anything longer than 3 months, then that will be included too. People who are currently not subscribed, or have had subs shorter than 3 months, can purchase a 3-month sub during November to be granted access (the inclusion period might also be extended through Christmas, but November for sure).
We will walk the database sometime soon (next week, probably) to find all the existing people who match the criteria of #2, and give them the necessary Accomplishment. We'll re-walk the database again later in the month to pick up any new people who have added new 3-month subs.
Once the inclusion period is over, and the newbie keys are gone, no one new will gain access to this ship. It's a limited-edition thing. It'll always be in the game, but the ships will only be purchasable by those who were here for the 5-year Anniversary.
This is our first time doing this sort of promo, so forgive me if it's a little kludgy, we're still working out a lot of the mechanics of this sort of thing. Still, I wanted to do something cool and "unique/special" for the 5-year, and I think this is a good start.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/22216#274961
Nobody's going to try to hold you to this as a contract, but it doesn't speak well of GS's ability to promise exclusive, always-available content in exchange for X in the future to say 'gee, it's got the same paint job and we're calling it the same name, so even if we changed what the thing looks like and how it handles, it's still what we promised would "always be in the game!"
From back on Nov 03, 2009:
The new vultures are: 1) A clone of the base Vulture Mk1, available in all Capitols. 2) A clone of the Corvus Vulturius, available in Corvus space only. Both use a new texture and new normal map, but have stats identical to their Mk1/Vulturius counterparts.
No one currently has access to these new ships.
Access will be granted to the following groups:
1) Newbies who come in on a special upcoming promo, with keys that grant access to the new item. We will not be moving the ship-access accomplishments from these key-accounts onto other paid accounts, or moving existing characters to promo trials, this is a newbie-only thing. Let the newbies have their keys.
2) Existing players with unbroken subscriptions of at least 3 months. So, if monthly, unbroken for the last 3. If anything longer than 3 months, then that will be included too. People who are currently not subscribed, or have had subs shorter than 3 months, can purchase a 3-month sub during November to be granted access (the inclusion period might also be extended through Christmas, but November for sure).
We will walk the database sometime soon (next week, probably) to find all the existing people who match the criteria of #2, and give them the necessary Accomplishment. We'll re-walk the database again later in the month to pick up any new people who have added new 3-month subs.
Once the inclusion period is over, and the newbie keys are gone, no one new will gain access to this ship. It's a limited-edition thing. It'll always be in the game, but the ships will only be purchasable by those who were here for the 5-year Anniversary.
This is our first time doing this sort of promo, so forgive me if it's a little kludgy, we're still working out a lot of the mechanics of this sort of thing. Still, I wanted to do something cool and "unique/special" for the 5-year, and I think this is a good start.
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/22216#274961
Nobody's going to try to hold you to this as a contract, but it doesn't speak well of GS's ability to promise exclusive, always-available content in exchange for X in the future to say 'gee, it's got the same paint job and we're calling it the same name, so even if we changed what the thing looks like and how it handles, it's still what we promised would "always be in the game!"
The anni-vult isn't its own vult; It's a texture for whatever the normal vult happens to be.
If it's a separate vult that leaves open questions of fairness for other players that can't get the vult. So if it does end up keeping its old model it's gotta be available to people who weren't there as well.
Could easily be adapted to the new model and then a variant of a legacy model be created for ani vult holders. Assuming that incarnate plans on keeping the old model in the game at all.
If it's a separate vult that leaves open questions of fairness for other players that can't get the vult. So if it does end up keeping its old model it's gotta be available to people who weren't there as well.
Could easily be adapted to the new model and then a variant of a legacy model be created for ani vult holders. Assuming that incarnate plans on keeping the old model in the game at all.
Uh no. It was quite clearly billed as an Anniversary ship, not an Anniversary skin. That it leaves open a route to an old model others cannot get is irrelevant. If we were talking about an Anniversary SCP staying in while phasing out the original SCP, your fairness argument would have some weight, but given the ship model involved it does not.
One assumes the new "vulture' will either be functionally identical to the old one, or slightly better in some ways and slightly worse in others, none of which makes the Anniversary Vults remaining accessible, as promised, to a certain set of players unfair. And it seems unlikely the new "vulture" will be per se worse than the actual vulture.
On an unrelated note, the 10 year anniversary approaches...wonder what we'll see for that.
One assumes the new "vulture' will either be functionally identical to the old one, or slightly better in some ways and slightly worse in others, none of which makes the Anniversary Vults remaining accessible, as promised, to a certain set of players unfair. And it seems unlikely the new "vulture" will be per se worse than the actual vulture.
On an unrelated note, the 10 year anniversary approaches...wonder what we'll see for that.
What if they made an Anniversary Vult version of the replacement, thus fulfilling both the promise and the need for updated models?
Inc. are you saying the Anniversary Editions will change to the new "vulture" model once skins similar to the ones now on the Anniversary Editions can be made for them? I don't think that's in keeping with the letter or the spirit of what was promised when they were added (inducing a lot of people to buy 3 month subs that they may not have otherwise bought, I add).
The point of the Anniversary Edition vulture was to give those people exclusive content that symbolized, celebrated or rewarded their support and participation in the game. I certainly wouldn't violate that.
But it doesn't mean that I am going to keep all older art assets around in the game forever. If someone wins a special badge represented by a 64x64 texture, I still feel ok with changing it to a 256x256 texture later for the sake of the game looking less dated.
Similarly, if we upgrade an asset that results in some minor changes that are similarly changed to every other variant.. I don't have a problem with upgrading the "exclusive" item as well.
I understand the interpretation that the ship itself might be slightly "different" from the update process, but I don't really think that violates the spirit of what I promised. It actually would be more accurate to describe the Anniversary Edition as a "skin", but I would never have used that term to describe it in an announcement, as it would be confusing to some players, like my announcing a "special exclusive texture!". Within the context of the game, it makes more sense to refer to it as a "ship", even though it has no model/collision properties that are any different from any other vulture.
We're in the midst of a bunch of specialized engineering to create a "new" Anniversary Edition using a dynamic procedural method that was not available to me when I made the original one. This both reduces the amount of textures that have to be in the download, optimizes use of memory, and makes the game assets more flexible for the future.
So.. there'll still be an anniversary edition, it'll still be exclusive to the same people, and it'll still be just as cool and unique as it was before, even if it's a different model and texture. All of which will also make the greater game look better and be better optimized in terms of memory and speed, and opens the door for more "unique" ships in the future.
The point of the Anniversary Edition vulture was to give those people exclusive content that symbolized, celebrated or rewarded their support and participation in the game. I certainly wouldn't violate that.
But it doesn't mean that I am going to keep all older art assets around in the game forever. If someone wins a special badge represented by a 64x64 texture, I still feel ok with changing it to a 256x256 texture later for the sake of the game looking less dated.
Similarly, if we upgrade an asset that results in some minor changes that are similarly changed to every other variant.. I don't have a problem with upgrading the "exclusive" item as well.
I understand the interpretation that the ship itself might be slightly "different" from the update process, but I don't really think that violates the spirit of what I promised. It actually would be more accurate to describe the Anniversary Edition as a "skin", but I would never have used that term to describe it in an announcement, as it would be confusing to some players, like my announcing a "special exclusive texture!". Within the context of the game, it makes more sense to refer to it as a "ship", even though it has no model/collision properties that are any different from any other vulture.
We're in the midst of a bunch of specialized engineering to create a "new" Anniversary Edition using a dynamic procedural method that was not available to me when I made the original one. This both reduces the amount of textures that have to be in the download, optimizes use of memory, and makes the game assets more flexible for the future.
So.. there'll still be an anniversary edition, it'll still be exclusive to the same people, and it'll still be just as cool and unique as it was before, even if it's a different model and texture. All of which will also make the greater game look better and be better optimized in terms of memory and speed, and opens the door for more "unique" ships in the future.
Yay thanks for the clarification :)
Won't client-side procedural texture generation result in longer loading times on slower devices like phones and tablets?