Discussion Twitch Visual Update!

[WeirdSituation]

Champion Insights

 

We’ve had our sights set on a Twitch update for years now. While some older champions in our game had (and in some cases, still have) the famous pizza feet, old Twitch barely had feet at all. In fact, because he was mostly hidden beneath his huge cloak, his animation rig (the skeleton we add joints to so we can create animations and emotes) was extremely limiting, making it hard to create new or different skins for the champion. So instead of fudging our way through and doing our best with old Twitch, we figured it’d be best to start from scratch and create a completely new Plague Rat.

 

Now, champion updates are always going to be a sensitive topic: there are 118 champions in League of Legends right now, and every one is near and dear to someone’s heart. So, in order to satisfy existing Twitch players while potentially opening up the champ to new players, we needed to identify what made him lovable in the eyes of the players that love him. After surveys (both internal and external), here are the key pillars we set out for Twitch’s update:

 

Comically crazed and sinister

 

We loved Twitch’s character, and took active steps not just to preserve it in the rework, but give it avenues to really shine. Now, his models, animations and voice over reinforce the same slightly manic and silly-but-he’s-still-killing-me-ow-my-face persona. Check the video above to hear a couple of his lines.

2014-quality models

 

Twitch was initially released way back in 2009, so we had five years’ worth of tech and vision improvements to implement in his update. We’re adding some ground-breaking features in here by rigging the lower half of his body (imagine that!), and showcasing his character through flavorful animations that flow through his entire body, including his tail. Of course, we’ve also included a bunch of small touches we now deem standard, such as different run animations depending on movement speed, extra VO lines and a suitably odious new splash (coming soon!).

 

Quality of life improvements

 

Not all of Twitch’s changes need to blow your minds. While we were working on the new models, we added in a few nice QoL tweaks that should help out both Twitch and his enemies:

• We added a sound effect and puff of poison particles to better indicate the moment when Ambush’s invisibility kicks in. This should better indicate to Twitch players when they’ve turned invisible, particularly when they’re being attacked.
• We gave Expunge a range indicator, and added a particle linking Twitch with his Expunged victims. This should help players on the opposite team understand why their health just took a nosedive.
• We added extra particles to Spray and Pray that show who else is being hit by Twitch’s ult. This should help both Twitch and his enemies see where his damage is going.

 

rito pls, http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/champion-update-new-breed-plague-rat

Edited April 2, 2014 by WeirdSituation