Expanded Armor Types?

[Kieve]

Hello, comrades,
Since I'm a relatively new face around here, I should probably explain a little about myself first. I joined the Art dept. as a prospect not too long ago (see new Enki skins for example work), but my specialty is armor (see website in sig below for more).

Now, recently an idea struck me in this thread, and I thought, why not post it at large? We have Leather, Chainmail, and Plate armors so far, most of which are available for all races. But it seems, Klyros have a lighter structure that makes them unable to wear plate? And I'm sure most players would prefer to have a number of options available to them (myself included) when it comes to garb and protective wear.

It's my understanding that we'll be getting a wide variety of armors in the final version, but for the moment I just want to get a feel for the designs the community at large would be in favor of. For my part, "Void Assassin" armor has been the most successful suit to date (again, see site below), but I don't want to turn this into a free-for-all "I wants [THIS] armor! *link*"

Let the suggestions commence!

[Zan]

Alright armour types to be added ...

Your common armor types

Light:
- Studded leather (example
- Brigandine/studded cloth (example)
- Bone armor (cloth or leather armor with pieces of bone attached all over)
 
Medium:
- Hardened leather (technique)
- Plated leather (same as studded but with small plates)
- Scalemail
- Splintmail (think samurai armor, made out of hardwood plates, kept together with laces and ropes)

Heavy:
- Half plate (a combination between chain and plate where mainly the cuirass is platemail)

Planeshift unique armors

Creature based armors:

I'm not going into details here but I think it would be interesting if several creatures from planeshift could be transformed into light armors. We could have clacker armor with some distinct clacker shields, Tefusang armor with tefusang leather and several bony parts, Ulbernaut armor with heavy ulbernaut leather lined with it's fur, etc.

These armors would all be light and relatively easy to craft. (and the textures one'd need are already in-game for the most part)

Metal armors:

These are armor types made out of unique planeshift metals/crafting techniques. How they should look I'll leave up to the settings team.

- Silverweave armor
- Darkweave armor
- Oricalch armor
- Platinum armor

Magic armors:

Your basic armor, this could be of any of the above types but with a nice magic bonus. If they can craft magic weapons, why not magic armor?

- Frost armor
- Fire armor
- Dark armor

[Mhyrage]

Very nice topic, and nice post Zan...just a suggestion, make skins of different colored armor versions, for example, the Kylros chainmail armor right now, it's okay, but I find it a bit ugly. If I could change to a different color every now and then it would be a bit more refreshing. It's not all that hard to change the hues of a skin if you know how...I don't see why this couldn't be done with the all the existing armors in two hours.

[Kaityra]

Hello!

Well, I really appreciate your enthusiasm Kieve but please allow me a little remark. Armour is (to a large extent) related to fighting. Does PS really need more fighting? I would really love to see more roleplay in PS instead of the usual fighting/mining/crafting. I think clothes would contribute more to roleplay than armour. How about making some unique clothes instead of armour. Shouldn't be much different from the technical side...
But if you want more armour I would suggest armour that is unique to each race, e.g. armour made of leather, bones and teeth for the Enkidukai or an armour made of crystals or rock for the Kran.

With kind regards
Kaityra

[Zan]

I don't think that more armor types will increase the fighting that occurs on Planeshift. Instead it will add to the diversity and roleplay options, just like clothes would. Both would make desired additions in my opinion. This thread was about armor types though so that's what I responded to.

And actually I kind of dislike how every race has it's own unique look. I'd much rather have armor of the same type look the same on all races, despite minor differences in size and shape. Then guilds or units could actually all have the same uniform if they wanted to. Besides it's not logical that you buy the same item in a store but depending on who wears it, it looks quite different.

[Karyuu]

Races create armors from different materials, and they use their own colors for them. If someone wants a uniform, they'll commission a uniform. But every race has its own culture, and thus their clothing (which armor falls under) is going to differ. Ultimately what I'd like is for the armor to be race-specific in inventory as well, so if a Dwarf buys leather pants, wears them for a while, then gives them to his female Enkidukai buddy, she's never going to be able to put them on.

Thanks for your armor suggestions, Zan. I'd definitely like to hear more along those lines.

It's not all that hard to change the hues of a skin if you know how...I don't see why this couldn't be done with the all the existing armors in two hours.

Because it's far from efficient to have 5 300kb files of the same platemail torso, just of different colors. The client size and client memory is going to skyrocket immensely if we do this, so what we have planned is to let the engine change colors of the armor, like it does for hair color. This feature has yet to be developed. So the armor-color request is not as easy of a feature as you may think.

[Zan]

Karyuu, I'm not trying to be annoying here but such a strong racial culture .. isn't that exactly against the settings? I thought Yliakum was a place where all races got along and mingled together without any form of racism? Then it doesn't make any sense for me that they stick so strongly to their own styles. Instead I'd say it's a lot more common to see, for example a Klyros armorsmith, produce their unique armor style for all other races as well. Else an armorsmith or even a clothier would only be selling to their own race since it'd also be a hell of a job for one crafter to get to know all the different armor styles for all the races and make armor for all. Something like that is coming pretty close to promoting racism in merchanting, if you ask me.

I'm perfectly fine with all the races having an original culture and styles flowing forth from that culture but why can't those styles be applicable to other races as well? If a dermorian lady happens to have a soft spot for Enkidukai clothing? Why couldn't she go to an Enki tailor and custom order her some?
 

[Draklar]

No racial aggression has much more to do with fear of being punished rather than actually all Yliakum races not maintaining racial differences.
At least I think so.

[Kieve]

...Armour is (to a large extent) related to fighting. Does PS really need more fighting? I would really love to see more roleplay in PS instead of the usual fighting/mining/crafting. I think clothes would contribute more to roleplay than armour. How about making some unique clothes instead of armour. Shouldn't be much different from the technical side...

No, not very different - and I've done a fair amount of clothing as well. And from what I understand, there will be clothing options in the future as well. But the function of armor and whether it encourages conflict in-game is not the point of this thread. I'm just looking to get a feel for what people would like to see - different designs in a specific category, or which type(s) of protection they would most likely prefer to wear. And that [is] conductive to an RP environment - it allows every player the ability to customize their appearance, and the more options available, the more unique they can become. As Zan stated above.

...And actually I kind of dislike how every race has it's own unique look. I'd much rather have armor of the same type look the same on all races, despite minor differences in size and shape. Then guilds or units could actually all have the same uniform if they wanted to. Besides it's not logical that you buy the same item in a store but depending on who wears it, it looks quite different...

A similar color scheme [would] go a long way, I imagine - it seems odd that Enki plate is steel and green, while the same plate worn by a Ylian is that gold color. But for the most part, I imagine the different styles are necessary - there are a lot of diverse races here and the different body types (would) require different styles, even for the same armor type. As Mhyrage said, different colors would be a nice touch, but I think Karyuu pretty much summed it up - loads of extra textures with only minor changes. Horribly inefficient.

The racial differences aren't really what I'm trying to focus on though. As I said above, I'm with the Art team, so what I'm hoping to get out of this is a fair idea of the general styles preferred by players at large. Ornate, or simple, decorative or functional? Chain & heavy plate, light leather and canvas layers? Do you usually go mining in your plate armor, or would you prefer to have something a bit more flexible (some kind of miner's equipment, protection against rockslides or whatever). Zan's list is a good start in that direction.

[Karyuu]

If a dermorian lady happens to have a soft spot for Enkidukai clothing? Why couldn't she go to an Enki tailor and custom order her some?

Yes, that would make sense. But we're far away from the ability to give each character model exactly the same armor texture. Every model has variations in shape, and right now we are concentrating on establishing the different styles between the player races. It's a beginning. Besides, if a Dermorian lady wants Enkidukai clothing, it's still Enkidukai clothing :) It's not going to be a generic "Light Armor" that will look the same on everyone else. In the future, I too would like for one race to explore another's styles. It's just that this is not going to be done for a very long time, until more armor categories and styles are established for every race. So this thread is part of step one.

[Otcho]

Will klyros ever get something to cover their wings and the naked back between them?

[Karyuu]

So as to limit their gliding ability? Not likely. If they will, it will be purely ceremonial.

[Kieve]

I dunno - I can see where a light chainmail or leather might be able to armor the leading edge of the wings (if not the membrane itself). See Maephis - the gold plating along the edge of his wings. Not sure what good it would do exactly, but as a concept it's there.

[Anonymous_Coward]

A type of armour I would like to see is a more plain style in addition to the armour style we have now. Take the ylian race for example, I really like the fancy chain and plate styles, but if you wanted to roleplay a ordinary grunt type of soldier, the gold plate we have now looks like 'elite guard' material (which is fine). But I see in a some games these days, all the types of armour are decorated with knobs and buttons and engraved patterns, without any of the sort of armour a smith would knock up as fast as possible to equip a raw recruit in time of war (I don't mean the leather or cloth types, the metal ones).

So, in addition to the decorative types we have now, maybe add a very plain style, but still in the heavy armour/plate/mail categories, with a gray/brown/black unfinished steel look, and big, simple, strong parts. A hint of wear and tear might also fit in. I would use it for roleplaying the people who must use armour that does not cost a lot to make, but still works nearly as good. It would make the heavy armour we have now look even better, as you would have the grunt n' cheapie armour to contrast with the officer or hero style.

I hope this is not too obvious and falls under the category of "we are already doing that", I have thought of this when role playing some of my characters, as they are mostly poorer average types, without the money or time to get a good looking suit.

[Zan]

Sorry for interrupting the thread with my little racial difference rant It stops here, sounded like we were all thinking the same anyway.

Instead ...

Something I find to be adding to roleplay is when every armor class could have a minimum of three different models:

- Decorative, fancy looking armor (like for example the Ylian gold plate the guards wear)

- Realistic armor (as Anonymous already suggested above)

- 'Shock-effect' armor (the dark, spiky, menacing kind that largely works psychological in combat)

I think this will be a fine basic addition, now that all types are implemented, and allow characters to personalize their looks already a lot more.