Phased Maps

[Felderburg]

Were there any maps that differed via phasing in anything other than NPCs? I.e., were there maps that actually changed physically? Like Atlas, being overrun with Arachnos & Hellions - was that just NPCs?

If there were actual physical changes, are those differing maps available?

[Codewalker]

Nope, phasing only works with NPCs, it doesn't affect geometry at all.

The closest you can get is dynamic hiding of groups, like the ski chalet in pocket D or the various sectors in RV. The latter was handled by special hardcoded procedures and doesn't work at all like the NPC phasing seen in Going Rouge or the AP/Mercy revamps. Showing and hiding geometry groups is just sleight of hand, as it makes them invisible but you can still collide with them as if they were there.

[Felderburg]

Thanks for the reply!

[PSI-on]

Ok, correct me if I'm wrong, but you mean if any section in RV had a building who's shape changed depending on who controlled it would still have the basic shape of both buildings with one set just invisible? So basically is a building was smaller in one groups hands, the other larger version was there at the same time and if you say, flew too close to that smaller version you wouldn't be able to get closer to the building than the size of the larger one? *also thinking of the basic size and shape difference in the Atlas/Recluse statue.*

Nope, phasing only works with NPCs, it doesn't affect geometry at all.

The closest you can get is dynamic hiding of groups, like the ski chalet in pocket D or the various sectors in RV. The latter was handled by special hardcoded procedures and doesn't work at all like the NPC phasing seen in Going Rouge or the AP/Mercy revamps. Showing and hiding geometry groups is just sleight of hand, as it makes them invisible but you can still collide with them as if they were there.

[Codewalker]

Yeah, the actual collision is static and can't change. In RV the collision meshes for the all 3 states of the buildings seemed to be compromises that didn't exactly match any of them visually and tried to prevent players from clipping through geometry without being too obvious about it. Most geometry in RV was designed to be very similar no matter which version is visible; it's mostly just banners and decorations that change.

It's not just a straight up combination of all the geometry, either. IIRC you could fly right through Recluse's cloak in the statue, but could stand on top of invisible spider arms when heroes controlled the area.

Also, if you visited RV after Ultra Mode went in, a sharp eye would spot shadows of spider arms and the arachnos logo on city hall that showed up even if the corresponding geometry was invisible. I think I /bug reported it once, but given how the engine works I don't think it would have been easy to fix.

Loading up the map in Icon results in all of the geometry being visible at once, but you can fly around and see that the collision doesn't always match what you see.

[PSI-on]

Yeah, the actual collision is static and can't change. In RV the collision meshes for the all 3 states of the buildings seemed to be compromises that didn't exactly match any of them visually and tried to prevent players from clipping through geometry without being too obvious about it. Most geometry in RV was designed to be very similar no matter which version is visible; it's mostly just banners and decorations that change.

It's not just a straight up combination of all the geometry, either. IIRC you could fly right through Recluse's cloak in the statue, but could stand on top of invisible spider arms when heroes controlled the area.

Also, if you visited RV after Ultra Mode went in, a sharp eye would spot shadows of spider arms and the arachnos logo on city hall that showed up even if the corresponding geometry was invisible. I think I /bug reported it once, but given how the engine works I don't think it would have been easy to fix.

Loading up the map in Icon results in all of the geometry being visible at once, but you can fly around and see that the collision doesn't always match what you see.

funny, I don't remember seeing that in icon, I'll have to visit it again. Boy I wish I was smart enough to understand this stuff like you and some others do, so I could follow better and actually make use of it, but it's fascinates me so much none the less.