Saturday 6 December 2003

Pic of the day: Screenshot from a City of Heroes character generator simulator.

Theoretical heroism

As you may guess from the color of this entry, I have once again returned to City of Heroes. Which is kinda impressive, given that this massive multiplayer game is not yet released. But now at least beta-testing has begun: The first 100 invitations were sent out on the fifth of December. I was not invited in the first batch, and this is probably a good thing. Not that I wouldn't enjoy playing the game already, or that I wouldn't provide useful feedback. But it would do horrible things to my novel writing, for instance. Quite possibly it would impact my journal too. Beta-testing is the kind of responsibility I would take very seriously... especially testing a game I have been waiting for for a couple of years already.

Over the last couple of months we have got more information about the game as it enters its final preparations. New screenshots with the landscape and body types actually used in the game. And especially the creation walk-through for four of the five archetypes in the game. The fifth and final walk-through is expected in the middle of December, and beta-testing to commence on the new year. All this has led to a burst of new activity on the message boards, including yours truly.

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Today's picture links to a site which has cloned the first part of character creation, based on screenshots and reports from the few who have seen the game in alpha at E3. It should give an idea of the options available for new heroes. Some generic powers, like flight or superspeed, are not available until level three.

As you can see, there are several different origins. These seem to have little influence on the game, but could possibly decide some costume options. They also give different "inspirations", which are temporary boosts you can use in battle. The inspirations have timers, so you can only use them once during a short fight but repeatedly during a longer battle. A defensive inspiration could help you avoid a single attack, for instance.

Archetypes are the real defining categories in City of Heroes. There roughly correspond to the concept of class in other role-playing games. But these are not the classes of AD&D and its descendents. There is obviously no thief or rogue class. On the other hand, you have the controller archetype who can cloud men's minds. This may sound like a wizard thing, but if you want to throw a fireball you should instead choose the blaster archetype. But this would put you in the same group as Cyclops or even Sharpshooter, basically people who do damage at a distance. There are no clerics either; blessings and curses (or their scientific equivalents) belong to the defender archetype, the other distance class. And even the typical fighter class is divided into two archetypes: Tankers take damage, scrappers do damage. Well, actually the point of tankers is to not take damage; armored types go here, along with your classic invulnerable hero.

The different archetypes can select among different power sets. You select one primary power set and one secondary. If my character is to be a tanker (as I currently think), then my primary power set has to be defensive and my secondary power set has to be melee (close range combat). It doesn't much matter which within these I choose, at least at first. But I have to choose within those categories; I cannot for instance choose energy beams, which is ranged attack. Over time the chosen powers will open up and reveal more and more individual powers for you to choose from. In addition, the powers you choose first will become gradually stronger with each level. (Security levels they are called here. Paragon city has city zones that are closed to the general populace because of the dangers that lurk within. Depending on the dangers, you need different clearance levels. And the only way to get those is to prove you worth as a hero in the less dangerous zones.)

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Now that the game is going into beta, I can finally allow myself to look forward to it. Of course, it is still not certain that the game will actually be released, or that I will be alive at the time. But then again, nothing is certain and you still have to live while you do it. In this case, I intend to live vicariously. I do have some experience with that, and this looks even better.

Actually, I look most forward to being a newbie. I always had trouble identifying with the real super superheroes, like the Silver age Superman. They were too godlike and removed from everyday experience. I prefer small heroes, just slightly larger than life. I look forward to beating up thugs who are armed with baseball bats and knives, and graduate to shrugging off the occasional bullet. I am not saying that even this is realistic, but it is close enough that I can suspend my disbelief while the game lasts. I suppose eventually I would have to face super villains and giant robots and such, but I don't really look forward to that. But beating up ordinary bullies... that's something I have looked forward to for a long long time!

With the options available now, I would almost certainly make a tanker first. Stone armor seems like a good choice, and perhaps stone mallet to go with it. This would go nicely with some kind of gray armor, and I could take the name "Gray Anvil" or "Stone Anvil" or some variation thereof. After all, I hail from a country that consists mostly of mountains. I don't want to draw too much attention or look too flashy. I am sure there will be enough of those. All I want is to look and act just slightly heroic. In a game. Because in real life being a hero is a thankless task. More about that another time, perhaps.