User talk:Joe Kimmes/Archive July 2009

Character selection screens

Linsey's FAQ states that there are technical limitations that prevent you from using the Prophecies and Factions character selection screens. I can somewhat understand why the Prophecies one can not be used, but could you explain why the Factions one can not be used? Just curious. Mini Me 19:17, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I've been wondering this too, the Prophecies one makes sense (good luck fitting 26 characters around a camp fire). About the only thing I could come up with is that the whole character select screen (background, the character slots and the character data attached to them, the menu buttons, etc) are all programmed together, so like, the Factions one can't just be thrown up because Dervishes didn't exist back then. They have a server just for the character select screen IIRC, so that kinda makes sense, and it also makes sense when you factor in that whenever a new campaign has been getting ready to come out, the character select screen has changed. (Nightfall PvP weekend it changed iirc....). Not sure if that's correct but that's the only reasoning I could think of because there's very little different between the Factions and EotN one, just scrolling character slots, the background image, the music, and a shop button. (And of course, probably a few more efficient coding enhancements)

It'd be great to hear a technical response, for the past couple years all we've heard is that there is technical limitations, but there's not been much transparency on what the actual technical limitations are. Be awesome if we could finally get this issue laid to rest on the why. (Plus I'm personally interested!). DarkNecrid 19:31, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

From what I remember of the previous discussions about this, and I hope Joe will correct me if I'm wrong or provide more detail, but part of the reason is because the entire game has undergone a variety of graphics improvments with the release of each new campaign/expansion. In other words, when the game first went live in '05, the overall graphics of the game were actually quite different than they are now, and they have changed each time a campaign was released. Apparently, if I remember correctly, the old character selection screens did not partake in those graphics updates, since they were just replaced with each campaign anyway. So, I guess the "technical" reasons would be that someone would have to go and update all the graphics for each of the old selection screens, and at the time they were not willing to do that. (Satanael 03:10, 30 June 2009 (UTC))

As someone who has been there from day one, the graphics have changed dramatically from then and now. I have screen shots from beta testing to prove it. Heck, even the interface is different looking now. Katherinezoltin 08:45, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, the use of shaders is one example. You barely see them in anything in Prophecies, but in EotN, you turn off shaders and the fire in a fireplace stops being fire. So I don't think that's a reason. I can't seen updates and changes in most old models and textures. New things seem to be added mostly only to new stuff, and old stuff seems to be updated with new stuff only when it is used in new content (i.e: Charr and shinning blade appearance improvements, or the Losaru change). I'd go for how the login screens are constructed. Like the locations of its parts, the portraits, the GW shop, etc... probably even using the old appearances and modles would require to completely build the login screen again to set all the parts in the correct positions, and that would probably require help from too many people for something that will be seen just a few seconds before entering the game... unless you use the gw.exe as screen saver, XD. MithTalk 13:27, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Everyone is basically spot-on here - the graphics engine has undergone changes with each chapter, and the underlying UI code has changed as well. This doesn't make going back to old logins impossible, but it's a significant undertaking that involves more than just coding work, particularly considering that Prophecies would probably need a new login screen entirely. - Joe Kimmes 16:08, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Ah, thanks Joe :). Mini Me 16:56, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Will we get a new login screen with the official announcement of GW2 release date or beta or something, whenever that comes around? I'm really hoping so. XD I'm kind of sick of this one... :/ And yes I do often use it as a screensaver. Rose Of Kali 15:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Flame Traps/Darts(?)

Okay, I think this applies to flame darts... I can never remember which one is which, but it's the ones found around the Malfunctioning Shield Golem in Oola's Lab. In short, I have a question/bug: why is it that heroes/henchmen and minions seem to consider these viable targets for an attack? Furthermore, when I wanded (well, spear'ed) a golem next to one of these with splinter weapon on me, I definitely dealt damage to the flame trap/dart/thingymabob itself. Are they considered enemies because they target only us and not our enemies (unlike jets, which hit everything) and therefore are considered hostile by H/H+minions? Although, really, the damage-dealing part is what has me stumped... Aaanyway, hoping you can provide some insight, 'cause it was definitely annoying to have my minions and tank henchmen attacking these things instead of actually ranking some golems that were breathing down our necks. Thanks! -- Timeoffire45 16:24, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

If you have a bug report, please submit it to support or one of the bug sections of the wiki. QA pulls bugs from those sources to verify/get fixed; they don't check my talk page. Not all bugs are code bugs either; this for example is likely to be a spawning issue, so it's not something I can fix. - Joe Kimmes 16:43, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd say, feel free to add an AI bug.. speaking of it, I almost forgot to submit one in that dungeon myself. I'll open an Oola section.. --Golgarit Raven 00:43, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I put a bug onthe Miscellaneous page since there seems to be a number of parts involved... -- Timeoffire45 19:52, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Need to be able to bind a key to see your equip pack

→ moved from User talk:Linsey Murdock

There needs to be a bind put in the game so you can open your equip pack just as you can open your backpack, belt pouch, and bags. Problem. 19:31, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Last I heard, I think Joe said that we ran out of keys to bind to, but I could be wrong. You should ask him about this. - Linsey talk 20:24, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

The Equipment Packs are also noticeably conspicuous by their absence under F9, the default key bind for opening all packs. I'm guessing that the vertical height restriction of smaller monitors (768 pixels being a reasonable minimum) might be an obstacle to overcome there, but not an insurmountable one. Are we likely to see anything done in this area? -- WarBlade 07:52, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, there are quite some bindings that were added without a default key. The problem would be people not knowing such a binding exist... and then choosing the key. It would be easier if the F9 panel had collapsible parts, like the party panel. That way if the screen is not big enough, it could be forced to keep some of the sections collapsed. MithTalk 10:34, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

When you hit "i" for inventory, you can choose which bag to show, as it's only one at a time, so I have that permanently set on the equipment pack, and use F9 for the rest of the bags. Works quite well, actually. If the F9 display could be expended by width, like adding the equip pack to the side instead of bottom, and organizing the whole thing to be more square, that would be great, but I can see how this could be a problem with the varying size of the packs, so I'll stick to my F9-i duo for now. Rose Of Kali 15:39, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

As guessed, the reason the Equipment Bag isn't in the F9 key bag list is because it goes over the vertical limit on lower resolutions. The Equip Bag was a late addition to the April build because we experimented with a number of ways to improve character storage, so there wasn't enough time to make the F9 menu display bags in a more effective fashion or add a keybind for the equipment bag. I'm currently in the middle of a different task, but I'll remember that this needs revisiting - there should definitely at least be a keybind available to open the equipment bag, even if it isn't set by default. Until then I recommend Rose of Kali's workaround - since the Equip Bag wasn't in the F9 menu I did have time to make it not close the Inventory panel item display like the other bags do. - Joe Kimmes 16:18, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Personally a handy workaround is if you press F9, and then press I, this bring up two panes re-arrange them side by side. Now if the equipment pack isn't open, click on it, and it will open in the "I" window beside the F9 window, and GW's will remember this setting. Works well for me... F9 then I. 195.183.80.137 13:15, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Of course it's a bit easier when both keys are combined into one key by a macro. I made this script for those who want their i buttons to do both things:

~i:: ; This is the hotkey. The tilde sign means that both the hotkey and the keystroke generated by the script is sent to the active window (GW)

Send {F9} ; This is the generated keystroke

return ; End of script

Copy and paste the code into any Autohotkey script where i is not already a hotkey. --Boro 14:09, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Technically the above would be against GW's EULA, as Autohotkey is a 3rd party program that interacts with GW's.. 195.183.80.137 17:26, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

From what I know it is allowed as long as it is for convenience. And it should be noted that the f9 window will be toggled whenever you press i while chatting. --Boro 17:54, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Actual Question this time xD Not a bug, I promise!

So, i was killing time earlier today and killing the cows out in Sunqua Vale using PBAoE. Cruel, I know, but I just found out yesterday that you could do it xD Aaanyway, my question is this: when I was *ahem* killing them, I noticed that some PBAoE skills can hit them and other can't: specifically, Double Dragon, Lava Font, Tenai's Crystals, Bed of Coals, Viper's Defense, and Burning Speed all worked, but Inferno, Flame Burst, Showckwave, and Flame Djinn's Haste all failed to hit. I'm just curious if there's a reason for this (like, are there different TYPES of PBAoE? Different levels, like skill priority? I dunno...) and, judging from the list, the Pulsing ones CAN hit more than non-pulsing, but then there's tenai's crystals and double dragon which CAN hit... I'mma confused child :-P -- Timeoffire45 17:41, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

It's a difference in how the skills are coded; some skills hit every target around you that isn't an ally (hits cows), some skils hit every target around you that is an enemy (doesn't hit cows). - Joe Kimmes 17:59, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

So, does that affect how they interact with charmable animals? I mean, I know when a charmable animal gets hit with aoe, they become aggressive, but I never really thought to check if all aoe skills hit them or just some, as Time talks about above. (Satanael 18:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC))

I doubt it; the trick here appears to be that the cows are on a special team that isn't used by the standard non-combat NPCs or charmable animals. Factions is before my time at ArenaNet though, so I don't know much about the cows. ;) - Joe Kimmes 18:08, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

/moo - Satanael 18:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Joe, I was confused because I once accidentaly killed Carlotta with Inferno (Imagine my surpise when she curled up dead 0.o) and I thought that the same would work for the cows (lol on /moo, Satanael). However, the milk-tanks being on a special team makes sense since I'm guessing Carlotta is on a slightly modified "charmable animal" team (sans the actual ability to be charmed) -- Timeoffire45 18:38, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Heroes - adding/removing/area based?

Hello Joe. Just some questions in regards to heroes:

• Is it possible to add heroes that are only avaliable in one area/region of the game, so to be able to use them the player must be in say Factions, and when outside of Faction-related areas they are made unavaliable or removed from your list until you return to that specific location or campaign where they are re-added automatically when you've loaded in?

I would suspect something like this would probably be possible given that Koss's avaliability is quest-related but I'm not sure, given my lack of understanding of the mechanics of Guild Wars, if it works like an on/off switch on a larger scale or as flexible as I'm enquiring about.

In different games I would mod a quest that would governed is kind of thing but again I don't know enough about the engine of Guild Wars and it's limitations.

I hope that made sense. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 08:38, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

It's possible. - Joe Kimmes 16:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Laconic was Joe. 68.19.46.16 17:27, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Hm... and would it be possible to make some skills available for them just in some areas, for example, making the Celestial skills appear in their list of available skills in the Attributes and Skills panel when inside the Harvest Temple and the Inner Sanctum outposts? MithTalk 18:02, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Huh? I said that removing heroes from the party was possible, skills are a completely different topic. That said, allowing you to place the Celestial skills on their bar in a specific area would be possible, but extremely dangerous since if there were to be any bug with the code removing them, you would have access to those skills in other areas. - Joe Kimmes 18:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

[/does his Mr Burns impression] Excellent. Thanks, Joe. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 21:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

So... all of this means that it would be theoretically possible to limit the usage of heroes to one of each profession in certain PvP modes, and also lock or remove certain skills from their lists. Doesn't it? MithTalk 00:39, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes. All of this is visible in the game already - you can't use MOX in PvP, you can't use PvE skills on heroes, you can't use PvE skills in PvP. These restrictions can be mixed and matched as desired. - Joe Kimmes 18:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Happy 4th Joe

Stopping by to wish a happy 4th of July to ANet's single best public figure. Straight answers, follow through on promises, knowledgeable: congrats on being awesome. 68.19.46.16 20:50, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, I hope everyone enjoyed the Dragon Festival! - Joe Kimmes 17:40, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I know I did! The actors were pretty funny, asking for their lines and whatnot :-) Did you have any part in programming all of that, Joe? -- Timeoffire45 18:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Work on the first Dragon Festival happened right after I was hired, so a handful of the mini-missions in it were my work. The event hasn't changed much apart from text since then, though, so most of the work was done by other programmers. - Joe Kimmes 19:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Wow, so Joe is the one we should go to when the Grasps act up next year? Because they get stuck after the first few rounds and then it gets too easy to win. Sure I have no reason to complain, easy is fun, but when you get 600 to 0, it feels a little cheap. Katherinezoltin 15:25, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, you could only blame me for bugs in Tsumei Village, but fixing the Grasps on the final event is still my responsibility at this point. The poor Grasps have a rough time though, since obviously Shing Jea wasn't designed with their event in mind and the server is under a lot of strain during that event (150+ districts at once). - Joe Kimmes 16:03, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Their fingers/claws are too big to type /stuck. — Jon Lupen 16:04, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

poor itty bitty grasps, they probably will only get relief when GW2 comes out. Katherinezoltin 17:23, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

For some reason the name of the section reminds me of this: Happy Happy Joy Joy MithTalk 21:27, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Wow, just when I had almost forgotten how screwed up Ren & Stimpy was, you bring out this gem. Thank you Mith. :P (Satanael 21:59, 16 July 2009 (UTC))

Summoned Things As Allies

Heya Joe, had a quick question. Is it technically possible, easy/hard, to have summoned things from summoning stones, etc. be allies? Thanks! --Ravious 18:40, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

What actual use this would have? To monitor your allies health better? This would be good for that. But... think when you would have like 10 minions, few spirits and possibly a quest/mission/area npc with you. That list can't fit anywhere. - J.P.Talk 18:47, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

But if this was only about creatures summoned by summoning stone, why not? :D - J.P.Talk 18:56, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

umn, they are allies. You presumably mean something else. Backsword 18:59, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I think he means having them on the party list. - J.P.Talk 19:01, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

yeah, I think he does too, and the point would be so the monks would do a better job of healing them, not just eh human monks but the hero and hench monks as well. (Satanael 19:02, 17 July 2009 (UTC))

(ec x2) For them to appear in the Allies list in your party window. Minions and spirits can be recast easily. When you use a summoning stone and it dies, you're screwed for 60 minutes or until you zone, you can't make your heroes summon one for you... Would be nice to see their HP bars. Rose Of Kali 19:03, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I wonder why they didn't make it so that summon's are added to the list in the first place. - J.P.Talk 19:11, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh sorry, I meant in the party list. :) --Ravious 19:28, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Np, we saw that quite fast :D - J.P.Talk 19:33, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

They are allies, but 'neutral' allies. They will stack back if the party runs away, and won't be teleported where the rest of the party is if they resurrected after a wipe. I too find a bit annoying not being able to easily keep track of summoned or created creatures, and not only the ones from the stones, but also minions, spirits and even asura summons. MithTalk 15:09, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Right, but there is one big difference between the ones you mentioned and the summoning stones: it's called Summoning Sickness. I summon using a Mysterious Stone and get an Ooze or Wraith (OMFG AWESOME!) and boom, there's a cinematic that drops me over a ravine and my summon is standing there looking at me unable to cross over. (happened to me in Nolani mission.) Rose Of Kali 18:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

You make a good case for having the Summons be listed as Allies; I'll ask Linsey if she thinks it's alright, since I imagine it's a quick change code-side. - Joe Kimmes 01:59, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Since we're discussing the party box why weren't spirits and minions every given their own drop-down in the party box? ~~000.00.00.00~~ 02:44, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Back in the day, a necro could easily have 20 minions, and nobody cared about single-target enchantments like Jagged Bones. He was focused on pumping out more and more minions and using veratas sac occasionally, not with keeping a specific minion's HP up. I wouldn't have wasted time putting in HP bars for necros if that was how I designed them. With the 10 minion cap, though, they could have put something in... -Auron 10:42, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

(ri) Please, also look into teleporting the stone summons with the party during cinematics, so that it doesn't stay half the map behind and gets stuck forever. If that's not possible, then bummer, I guess. Rose Of Kali 15:28, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Dervish Forms and cinematics

If you enter a cinematic while under the effects of a Form, you will lose the form while the skill is still disabled after the cinematic is over. Baed, I say, especially if the cinematic throws you into a fight. Rose Of Kali 18:58, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

This is a design choice - the designers didn't want forms messing with cinematics. Would it be better if a cinematic playing recharged all skills (except res sigs and Celestial skills, of course)? - Joe Kimmes 02:03, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, especially when skipped. 68.223.25.132 03:29, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Could you de-form a player for the cinematic, then re-form them (with however much time was left on the form before the cinematic started) once it finishes? -Auron 03:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

/nitpick "the designers didn't want forms messing with cinematics"... though having the screen get filled up with minions (ohhhh there's a mess right there) or summonables is 100% acceptable... /coughs ~~000.00.00.00~~ 03:41, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I think he means stuff like the lips moving and such, the Forms probably don't have that. DarkNecrid 12:06, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, one form is a metal head, one a dead head and another looks fairly demonic. <__< I could imagine that it is because effects can end in a cut-scene and a god that turns back into a dervish mid-scene looks very awkward plus they are kind of huge. 128.176.178.19 12:10, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

DarkNecrid, what about characters who wear masks... and... 128, so are Minions... or summons.... or Items ...... or tonics like Yuletide... it's not weird at all seeing that... but I nitpick more. :P ~~000.00.00.00~~ 12:52, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

It would be quite fantastic if cinematics recharged all skills (except the morale ones ofc), especially since skipping a cinematic gives a disadvantage of not using the time to recharge some of your skills. They do, after all, resurrect everyone, which is more OP in my opinion. But if it only recharged the form skills, that would be acceptable, too. Rose Of Kali 15:24, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with 000, cutscenes should also immediately kill all minions, summons, and pets. (note: this is a joke). Honestly though, who goes into PvE with a dervish form without Eternal Aura? - Tanetris 16:26, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

So, cinematic ends, I wait for Aura to recharge, cast Aura, wait for it to end and recharge my form (don't usually bring self-removal), and about a minute later I can use my Form again... Fantastic. Rose Of Kali 18:43, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, there is no need to kill anything. Teleporting to somewhere else should do the trick. It's the oldest trick in the box. Make a cage, and throw there anything you don't want to interact with the rest. In Ultima VII, for example any character that died was thrown into such a cage to get rid of them, once you resurrect soeone, they come back from the hdded 'death room'. So during cinematics, you teleport the nuisances out of sigh, and once the cinematic ends, you teleport the nuisances back. As for forms, recharge is obviously the simplest solution, but I think automatically reapplying them with the remaining duration would be better. Managing duration of effects has been done already with various effects like conditions. MithTalk 18:47, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

That sounds great, too. I hate always having to remake my minion army when cinematics teleport you (but not the minions). I think minions, spirits, and summons are all in the same "category" of allies, and always get left behind. But can Anet teleport part of the group to the cinematic, and another part to elsewhere? Probably, as they often split off the group leader for special dialogues and stuff, but might be too much work than it's worth. I always liked the GW cinematics, but I remember complaints that it was one of the hardest things to code, with all the emotes and other staged events. They would have to code this "cage" for every single cinematic in the game. Too much... Food for thought for GW2, though. Rose Of Kali 18:55, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Flaming-oh

Oh, how I hate those pesky flamingos on the polders! >:0 But a very nice quest nonetheless, I appreciate your work ^__^ 128.176.178.19 10:55, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Quick!

We have a serious problem. A dwarf tunneled into my basement, and proceeded to ravage the household and wreak havoc. My kitchen steak knives are no match for his bonemold armor. What should I do? — Jon Lupen 16:03, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Give him all of the beer you can find. Once he passes out, quietly transport him to the nearest boxing gym and imply that he wants lessons. (Satanael 18:00, 20 July 2009 (UTC))

I can't find any alcohol, he must have drank it all already, or there was none to begin with. Either way, he is one PISSED dwarf. — Jon Lupen 18:03, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Then find your nearest short, bearded friend and tell him to act like a girl, maybe the dwarf will get horny and follow the friend away. (Satanael 18:07, 20 July 2009 (UTC))

I calmed him down enough to get him to talk to me. I'm told he was locked in a room with another very angry dwarf. — Jon Lupen 18:25, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Angry dwarves are annoying to deal with. Throw him into a sauna and he'll become friendly. MithTalk 18:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Throw him behind a doggy fence and stop feeding him. Rose Of Kali 18:57, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Are you sure it was a dwarf? No extra arms? strange skull/lizardlike long tongue? No scaly appearance? (did he had an urge to find a mate?) --Boro 19:18, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Alright folks, please take this somewhere else. - Joe Kimmes 19:20, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

It started as a joke playing off a story Joe told me at PAX last year, but I guess we got kind of out of hand. Sorry Joe. — Jon Lupen 20:21, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Phew! no tyranid activity then. --Boro 20:23, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

View distance and 2d imposters

If a map object (trees, rocks, buildings) is a certain distance away it will be rendered as a 2d billboard instead of as a 3d object. On high resolution displays (say 1920x1200) the resolution of these billboard textures is extremely low in relation to the screen, so it looks all blurry and out of place. On modern machines I doubt this imposter technique is even necessary to maintain performance.

Is it possible to turn off this mechanism (like is done when taking screenshots), or tune the distance and/or the resolution of the billboards with say a command line argument or an option in the settings panel? It would really help to spice up the graphics for those of us with newer graphics cards!

And speaking of view distance, there is always bit of popping of map objects that are far away, so an option to increase the view distance of all map objects (except characters and monsters) would be much appreciated too.

- Ccxvii 00:34, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately the graphics of the game are well outside of my area of expertise, but I'll try digging around in the imposter code sometime and see if there's a viable solution for this. - Joe Kimmes 00:55, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

This has always really bugged me in GW, I hope it becomes adjustable :> -- euphoracle | talk 14:59, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Same. Don't really notice it most of the time, but every once in a while you get this really big one that just looks bad and annoying. Rose Of Kali 20:48, 25 July 2009 (UTC)