Everything About Skins Episode I: The Phantom Seam

Palatura · Oct 20, 2018

A long time ago in a game client far, far away...

Chapter I: The Settings

Allow us to select all skins the same way as before - from the settings menu - not just the featured ones. I have a couple of points for why the redesigned skin selection version is worse:

-It takes more clicks to equip a skin

With the old system: 3. With the new system: 3 at best (if you click on your agent profile icon and the menu is already on skins, but that might not always be the case), 4 on average (if you have to select the skin menu too), 5 at worst (if you go through "Featured skins -> Click here for more"). And then 1 more click to exit the menu to see the full effect of the skin on the workplace/UI (While you'd also need to exit the menu with the old system, I excluded that click because, as I said, you can see how the skin looks without it). So in total (let's assume the average scenario, also excluding the exit) it takes 4 clicks to equip a skin.

When comparing the two numbers, it might not seem like a big deal, but imagine if someone wanted to look at all the skins to find their favourite one. Currently there are 14 publicly available skins (excluding exceptions, and with more to come, obviously). In order to view all of them, including their effects, a person would have to click 16 times with the old system (because when you select a skin through the settings menu, the menu isn't closed automatically, leaving you with only one more click to equip another skin) and 56 times with the new system (because you have to re-open the skin selection menu each time; I also excluded the featured skins from the settings menu for simplicity). On top of that, when surfing skins and thinking which one I should equip, I find myself switching between same few skins even more times. The ability to change skins relatively fast to one another is also a good thing that's gone now because you could compare the skins in your mind more easily, you didn't have to somewhat memorize how a skin looks - the change happened in front of your eyes. If you really want to showcase some skins, list them in a different colour or at the very top.

-It's more difficult to find a skin

In the new skin selection menu you get to see barely 8 skins at once without having to scroll (1920x1080 resolution full screen). With the old system you could, in theory, fit roughly 17 skins (if they went from the bottom all the way to the top of the screen) or, at least, 12 (as evident by the shortcut keys list). Even with those limits, with more skins coming every now and then, a scrolling feature in that menu would be beneficial, and, I hope, not too hard to code in.

The three coloured squares at the bottom make little sense and are inconsistent:

What are those squares supposed to mean at the end of the icons? I’m sure they show the colour palette and I tried to see which square resembles what, but I found a few inconsistencies. We’ll be looking at the world map contour in the background and the mission theater glow. The sections "Left", "Middle", "Right", and "Unsure/None" refer to which square, I believe, resembles that colour. If more than one section within a category has a picture of a skin, that’s an indicator of inconsistencies. Obviously, there might be other points of reference, but I feel two of them should be enough to get the idea across - the squares don't tell much information.

(A better quality screenshot (like the others) would be appreciated because I don't have the skin)

(A screenshot would be appreciated because I don't have the skin)

Swiggity Swoogity*

Why are the skins from the Secret World Legends collaboration the only ones not to have “SKIN” at the end of their names?

*Swiggity Swoogity - SWL, AKA Secret World Legends

Swiggity Swoogity 2: Electric Boogalooty

Why is the Dragon skin so far away from the other Secret World Legends skins? Shouldn’t they be together? In fact, why do skin locations get mixed up considerably whenever the game seems to be updated? The three following screenshots were taken in different versions of the game: before and after The Black Watchmen and Ahnayro skins were added (0.11.1 and 0.11.2 A) and third one (0.11.2 B) after a few patches. Take a look at the location of some skins (Swiggity Swoogity skins have been circled).

Chapter II: The Main Quest

The "Sewed Earth" Conspiracy

There’s a noticeable line on all skins that goes from the North Pole to the South Pole when Y circle is three quarters full (the line doesn’t appear on the other side of the globe (Y - one quarter full)). Interestingly, there’s also the "epicenter" where the line begins and ends (center of both poles).

(Look really closely at the Fiji islands)

(Look really closely at the Fiji islands)

(A screenshot would be appreciated because I don't have the skin)

Chapter III: The Side Quest

The Globe:

-Templar and NATO skin Mission Theater glow is near unnoticeable

-Completed chapters are almost impossible to notice on the NATO skin

Try to find them in the NATO skin picture before looking at NITE Team 4 skin reference picture. Hint: There are three of those chapter icons.

-XYZ on the Globe

Can someone explain the logic behind them? Y works reasonably – when rotating the globe horizontally, the Y circle fills up/depletes fairly (it still doesn’t make sense that the Y circle isn’t full/empty on the prime meridian (Greenwich) – the most widely accepted one). But what’s the deal with X and Z? It’s better if you experiment by spinning the globe itself or watch my video to see how the circles behave because I lack the words to describe it all.

Credits

GoSecure skin images from Iggyjeckel’s Skin guide on Steam.
"Early Access 0.11.2 Exhibit A" screenshot from LeikRad#9902 on Discord.
Line on the Globe discovery from Whemever#9858 on Discord.
"Swiggity Swoogity" from our Community Manager Codex:

Log in

Everything About Skins Episode I: The Phantom Seam

Palatura Active Agent

Share This Page

Log in

Everything About Skins Episode I: The Phantom Seam

Palatura Active Agent

Share This Page

Useful Searches