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Forums > Home› Feedback› The Art of Star Trek Online

[Request] Beam weapon & Cannon graphic improvement

cmdrskyfallercmdrskyfaller Member Posts: 0 Arc User
edited July 2013 in The Art of Star Trek Online
Devs,


Could the beam and cannon animations be improved a bit to give them a more trek-look?


For example, beams have too short a duration to be truly appreciated. If a beam firing cycle has it shooting... say... 6 beams ... why not shorten the animation look to be 3 longer duration beams? It would be a tremendous graphic improvement, very immersive and reduce graphic load on the lower end systems.


Cannons could also use a bit of graphic work. Currently they look like giant puffballs (dual heavies and turrets) or squirt guns (dual/single cannons). Can the cannon rounds be changed to be more bolt-like (a straight line...its not so hard to do)?
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Post edited by cmdrskyfaller on

Comments

  • syberghostsyberghost Member Posts: 1,711 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    If you look closely at cannon shots in the TV series (there's a lot in DS9, for instance), they pretty much look like puffballs sometimes, or elongated kites others; they never look like straight lines.
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  • travelingmastertravelingmaster Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    syberghost wrote: »
    If you look closely at cannon shots in the TV series (there's a lot in DS9, for instance), they pretty much look like puffballs sometimes, or elongated kites others; they never look like straight lines.

    Pretty much this. The cannons are on the mark. The beams are debatable. . .but the change in question would require changing the coding for combat itself, I think, since that's a pretty basic, fundamental feature. It would be like raising the max weapon slots allowed on ships. The impression I get from STO is that the game has a lot of spaghetti code due to regular change-ups in staffing and whatnot. Some changes just aren't easy to implement.
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  • dontdrunkimshootdontdrunkimshoot Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    the beam duration is something they got right, the beam duration usually only last long enough to hit the target and then stop, so it deliver the maximum energy in the shortest amount of time. that shot has more Joules or watts or something behind it then a long duration shot. cannon shots should be sped up 50% to 100%, then they would be right.
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  • aethon3050aethon3050 Member Posts: 599 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    The beams *do* need an improvement, if anything needs to be changed. It's really not a big deal to me, but if they could change the single beam arrays to produce the same thin beam that the dual beam banks do, that'd be awesome.

    Not particularly worried about it, though.
  • centersolacecentersolace Member Posts: 11,178 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    dontdrunkimshoot wrote: »
    the beam duration is something they got right, the beam duration usually only last long enough to hit the target and then stop, so it deliver the maximum energy in the shortest amount of time. that shot has more Joules or watts or something behind it then a long duration shot. cannon shots should be sped up 50% to 100%, then they would be right.

    The duration is okay, I just wish that beams did that "charge along the bank thing then fire". (Seen on a Excelsior here) But they don't. :(

    Cannons just need to move faster, and look more bullet like.
  • iggmann88iggmann88 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    My biggest gripe is the thickness of beams, on smaller ships they just look down right wrong IMO. If anything they need to change so the starting point of the beam is thin where it fires from and make them thicker towards the target end. Its this reason I dread using beams on my Intrepid..
  • farmallmfarmallm Member Posts: 4,630 Arc User
    edited August 2012
    I was on the Vault mission the other day. The beams and torpedoes coming out of the shuttle was a mess. The beam was larger than my shuttle! To me that is the biggest thing to need to be worked on.

    The ship beams look good for the most part. Granted it would be difficult to make them firing from where they need to be. But I can get by with it.
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  • captainperkinscaptainperkins Member Posts: 379 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    I agree, canon and turret bolts should be sped up, and perhaps they should give off a higher bloom effect to compensate for the fact that they'd be seen less, as they zip through space to their targets.

    The phaser beams duration of fire are perfect, I especially like the fire at will option where the beams are very short bursts, which to me feel accurate to DS9.

    Beams on shuttles definitely need to be smaller. The effect used for tetryon beams where theres a white centre with jagged edges and a blue glow around it, are closer to the mechanics of phaser beams.

    All in all I'd say the beams are okay, but I think they should make it so that the higher your beam MARK is, the more intense the bloom effect, to really increase drama.

    Lower mark beams could also be slightly different in color for example: Mark 1 phasers could be reddish orange, and increase in bloom intensity. Mark V + could be orange and increase in bloom intensity.
    Mark X could be more nemesis style, yellowish phaser beams and intensify in bloom as wel.

    Disruptors could start off grainy red like on ds9, and move in to greens.

    Plasma beams could start off blue, go green and then turquois.

    Polaron could start off bright blue, like the jem hadar ships and go purple in higher marks.

    these kinds of diversities in beam appearance, and glow effect adds interest and diversity.

    I think the same could apply to hand weapons too. I got my amazing elite ground weapons from my fleet starbase, but am kind of saddened by the fact that the beams are indistinguishable from mark 1 phasers. Give me more glow, and maybe add a sparks or mini explosion effect when a phaser beam hits the enemy for the kill or knock back shot.

    For a game with so much shooting we need dynamic dramatic things to happen with our weapons!
  • futurepastnowfuturepastnow Member Posts: 3,660 Arc User
    edited July 2013
    Quantum torpedoes could use a graphical improvement imo. In the movies, they look almost like little blue energy blasts. Very fast, straight into the target.
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