Strongholds: Z-Axis -- The Fix For Many Decorations

[Xina_LA]

So we have this amazing new Concert Stage decoration. IMHO, the best deco ever.

Unfortunately, every time you visit a stronghold, it's completely random which items and personnel are on top, and which ones are stuck knee-deep inside the stage.

And this is not the only decoration with a collision problem.

 

So... how about this -- don't worry about it. Make everything stand on the stronghold floor by default.

Then give us a Z-axis slider to handle height ourselves.

 

That would fix the stage, floor tiles, couches, and a bunch of other decos with the same problem.

It would also give us so many new and interesting ways to decorate our existing strongholds.

 

If you would be so kind, while you're tinkering with the decorating code --

Please increase the maximum X/Y movement distance above the current limit of +/- 20.

Even a modest increase to +/- 25 would have a big difference (but honestly +/- 40 would be so much better!)

 

Yes, I know this isn't the first (or twentieth) thread asking for this feature, but hey, you went and released a super-awesome decoration with serious vertical collision issues, so it's back on our minds.

 

Thanks!

Edited June 25, 2019 by Xina_LA

[Mubrak]

I'm always for Z axis and a larger movement range, so signed, but I don't think this would help with the issue at hand.

 

To clarify, it's an issue with mounts, pets, personnel and companions, the special decorations that follow physics when loaded. Let's call them all NPCs here.

 

Apparently, NPCs are placed and removed when you enter/leave a certain area around them, while static objects are either loaded permanently or have a much larger drawing distance. This is most likely done for performance reasons, and can also sometimes be seen in game. Within a split second, NPCs first fly to their X/Y position and then drop to the ground and come to a halt on whatever object is in the way.

 

When you enter the stronghold within an NPC's drawing area, it's more or less random whether the NPC stands on an object (drops on an object that was loaded before the NPC) or "sinks" into it (drops to floor before the object is loaded)

 

In a large SH like Yavin, Tatooine or Rishi you have a 100% chance to have NPCs dancing on tables when they are far away from your entry point (e.g. on Yavin, NPCs on the bridge and beyond are safe when you log in at the temple entrance) . When you log in closer to the NPCs, chances are good that they will sink into the objects, when you then run away far enough and return, they stand on the object as they're supposed to.

 

In a small, compact stronghold like Nar Shaddaa it's impossible to get out of the NPC's drawing distance, so there is no way to be sure that they stand on static objects.

 

 

Assuming I'm right about how loading NPCs works, I would suggest adding an additional stage to the loadscreen-phase, where all NPC-type objects respawn after all decorations are already in place.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Mubrak

[Xina_LA]

Assuming I'm right about how loading NPCs works, I would suggest adding an additional stage to the loadscreen-phase, where all NPC-type objects respawn after all decorations are already in place.

The point is to simplify things. All personnel (NPCs) would just load at the floor level just like decorations, and then adjust themselves according to whatever Z-axis value they're assigned.

 

That way, if you want to hide pets in your furniture to get to 100% completion without clutter, you can do that. If you want a lizard-monkey bouncing on top of a table, you can do that, too. You could also place personnel inside kolto tanks, that sort of thing.

[Mubrak]

The point is to simplify things. All personnel (NPCs) would just load at the floor level just like decorations, and then adjust themselves according to whatever Z-axis value they're assigned.

 

That way, if you want to hide pets in your furniture to get to 100% completion without clutter, you can do that. If you want a lizard-monkey bouncing on top of a table, you can do that, too. You could also place personnel inside kolto tanks, that sort of thing.

 

That would only simplify things for us, though. Right now, Bioware uses an object class that already exists in game. In order to make the NPCs stay on a given Z-position, BW would need to change all existing personell decorations to a new type of object that uses NPC animations but ignores physics. That might not even be possible without extensive engine modifications.

 

Alternatively BW could turn personell into "static" objects that have their animations built in, but aside from being a lot of work to modify every single decoration, randomized animations would no longer be possible, the "static" NPCs would always follow a fixed routine. The less obvious, the more effort (i.e. cost) for BW to create.

 

So better just fix the loading sequence so NPCs are always loaded after static objects are in place.

 

 

Getting to 100% completion is a completely different matter. BW could simply give us placeholder decos that are only visible in edit mode. On the other hand there shouldn't even be a need for hidden decos just to get on top of the stronghold listings. This could be done with a simple switch: Flip it to tell everyone that you consider the stronghold to be fully decorated. Or even better replace the broken prestige system with a vote system.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Mubrak