City of Heroes Homecoming’s last patch was particularly contentious because of its continuing balancing decisions, which as we pointed out was a shame since the real centerpiece of i28p2 should’ve been the massive narrative and gameplay revamp of Kallisti Wharf that effectively turned the zone into one to rival anything in the OG MMORPG. Punctuating that situation is a new dev blog from the Homecoming devs that explores how the zone’s narrative took shape, beginning with the formation of the new enemy group: Blackwing Industries.
Homecoming dev Cobalt Arachne explains that a lot of the Blackwing design was actually finished back in 2021 and has just been sitting around waiting for the zone to be fully ready, but he took over the unfinished project, fleshing out the existing contributor’s faction with new ranks, models, visuals, powers, AI prioritization, boss moves, and counters for players’ incarnate powers.
“Nearly all the Blackwing critters retain some original design elements from their prototypes,” Cobalt says. “The big domed helmet on the Breachers, the shotgun-using piston boot-kicking Vanguards, the flying grenade-launching Ballistiers. Additionally the male/female variety (for minions 8 each, 16 models total) showed that the original creator placed value on diversity within the group, so I ensured that my costume variety met their own, and most of the lesser-armored Blackwing critters looks came from their prototypes. As I designed the critters, I tried to ensure that the various and many ranks were distinct, as the author had included quite a variety of Blackwing critters. Of the full roster, the only types added by me were the P.E.A.C.E Coordinator bosses, Neutralizer elite bosses, and the Keeper giant monster. All the rest were there from the original prototype concept!”
We don’t often get this level of detail from narrative and NPC designers, so it’s worth a read, not just for insight on gamedev but for insight on how even licensed emulators are taking design seriously.
