Is Riot actively testing for Ao Shin?

Skelenth·12/13/2015, 5:42:27 PM·2 votes·1,038 views

Instead of writing a whole bunch of ballony I just list the things that lead me to this assumption:

As far is I know, the main problem with Ao Shin was the model. They had problems making the snake-like body. -> Similar bodies are found with Vel'Koz and Illaoi's tentacles. --> Illaoi's totem (idol/ball/whatever) has small tentacles attached to it. You can see them while moving. Now the interesting thing is, unlike Vel'Koz tentacles, which are tightly bound to model and animation, Illaoi's idols tentacles turn. They have that little off-set in motion when you change your paths direction. I know that this is mere theorycrafting and could be complete bs, I just wanted to share this thought

9 Comments

Sharjo12/13/2015, 6:05:45 PM4 votes

Right now they're having problems having the in-game infastructure to support his animations. You might be thinking "But Illaoi! But Vel'Koz!" But in reality those champions use such animation tech completely differently to the way Ao Shin would use them. Right now they can make animations like that, but the game itself can't support it, so he's on hold until they have the framework that allows for such animations. After that they'll likely revisit him.

Never underestimate the difficulties of animating and game design; Vel'Koz's tentacles actually spazzed out a considerable amount when he was initially brought out for testing and Illaoi's tentacles are stationary objects rooted to the ground, meaning they have no bottom to them. Ao Shin is a different beast entirely.

DwarvenGiant12/13/2015, 5:49:11 PM2 votes

I think that Riot Scruffy mentioned that Ao Shin is still on hold and the Champions Team has a bunch of things on their plate already. :P

GreenLore12/13/2015, 7:13:13 PM1 votes

I think one of the problems was also ao shins size. For ao shin to look right,he has to be big,but also very long,I guess that something like Vel'kozs size would actually make ao shin look too small,it simply would look odd. Then there is the fact of considering the hitboxes of his body.

I think in the case of Vel'koz,his tentacles actually don't matter for his hitbox(correct me if I'm wrong on this one),which is understandable,since they are in different positions depending on his animations. But for ao shin?His main body is really long,so that would prove difficult.

Vesarixx12/13/2015, 7:20:54 PM1 votes

Lets just hope AO Shin doesn't turn out like Duke Nukem Forever

Malleolus112/14/2015, 5:11:23 AM1 votes

I don't believe hitboxes is an issue, but as stated the animation of the body itself and how the game mechanics work.

Ao Shin, as said, to look right has to be LONG. I think they can do this already, ala vel and kindred's wolf spirit. The problem is working the actual physical interactions in the world. All the champions have animations, including vel'koz (my main) that are quick, to keep the hitboxes minimized. They don't have hitboxes that trail. To use a serpentine body, the hitbox will have to go across the entire body, so either the animations will have to make the body do weird stuff (like the whole body moves as a unit, very unserpentine-y) or movements are going to make the champion extraordinarily easy to hit (like you try to run away but your tail is still in the enemy's face and easy to hit). His actual visual animation they have already done several times, again vel'koz when you get his movement speed up past a certain point he moves extraordinarily serpentine, kindred's wolf spirit, etc.

Personally, I've been waiting (somewhat impatiently) for Ao Shin since his announcement. The latter I feel shouldn't hinder his implementation. This should be his primary weakness, making him a very difficult champion to master. This will necessitate micro-controlling his movement, being very careful to properly position. You could also mitigate it by making his passive give him the ability to move across low terrain obstacles every x seconds.