Champions Online Article Round-up, System Specs

There a few more articles and tidbits of information to share about Cryptic Studios’ upcoming superhero MMORPG.

First up, we have a new developer diary on IGN, penned by effects artist Chris Menard:

One of the first things I revamped was the Force power set. Before, it resembled a bunch of lightly colored soap bubbles. Raw energy emanating from your heroic character is soapy, apparently. I took that concept of “Force” and turned everything up to eleven. One of the last sets I went through was Power Armor, and I did a bit of an overhaul there. I made the beams and weapons look a little more interesting by adding energetic plasma beams. I animated the Gatling cannon and the rocket launchers so they actually move and look like mechanical objects. Those are the situations where I have less freedom in design, though. The powers and tech are already built. I’m just giving them a face lift, as opposed to working with the designers to make crazy things from scratch.

Sometimes I’m charged with creating an effect that specifically references a real-world example. “This has to look like the Ghostbusters gun.” These are the cases where I need to do more research. I went and watched the movie and then tried to emulate that proton beam look. I took what we had in-game, and made a little wiggly beam with some electricity around it. The end result is pretty close, given what we can do technologically.

Followed by an interview with Bill Roper on Ten Ton Hammer:

Ten Ton Hammer: You talked about focuses recently. What are these (focuses?) Is it like switching stances between the martial arts?

Roper: Sort of. It’s a slowly generating power that you use to gain some bonuses. Think of it as focusing your (chi) in a particular area. That focus then gives you benefits to all the powers in a particular power set once it gets powered up, but it also gives you some basic bonuses as well that you can use in any of the martial arts power sets.

If I was to make an unarmed and single blade character, I may want to take both focus powers and kinda (stance dance) between those two. Or, as a player, you could look at it and think that unarmed martial arts focus is more defensive in nature, so you might just want to always keep that one on.

So maybe I’m coming in with the unarmed attacks, and then I’m doing a couple sweeping strikes with my blade, but I’m constantly working on the unarmed focus because I want those better defenses.

And then we have the game’s system requirements, courtesy of the official website:

Minimum System Requirements

• OS:Windows XP/Vista
• CPU:2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
• Memory:1GB RAM
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Configuration

• OS:Windows XP/Vista
• CPU:2GHz Dual Core or Better
• Memory:2GB RAM or Better
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Better / ATI Radeon HD3850 or Better
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem or Better
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

To check if your computer meets the minimum system specifications:

1. Click Start, then Run.
2. In the Open box, enter dxdiag.

   1. Vista users will have to click through any approval dialogs which appear due to User Account Control settings
3. Click OK to launch the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
4. Click Yes.
5. Review your system specifications by clicking on the related tabs:
   • System: Operating system, processor, and RAM. Note that Intel Dual-Core processors are named “Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU”
   • Display: Graphics card manufacturer and chip type
   • Input: Keyboard and mouse