Zaphir

Mini-bump... for a possible bug.

I've gotten two reports so far that the last objective (defeat [REDACTED]) doesn't show up properly after destroying [REDACTED]; both of them are marked to spawn in the 'back', and there are definitely enough spawn points on the map. This is really perplexing... are the 'back' spawnpoints on the "Small cargo ship 3" map bugged? I can move the [REDACTED] that needs to be destroyed to the middle, but I'd still need to keep the end boss at the end. :/ blerg.

Any insight?

Edit: I switched to the "small cargo ship 1" map for now as a quick-fix



thanks in advance,

-- Z.

Arc Name: The Coldest of Wars
Arc ID: 299972
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Celestial Nemesis
Difficulty Level: Moderate. Mostly Crey and Freakshow; some customs, but they're not particularly powerful. Last mission has an EB, downgrades to a normal boss when running on no-bosses. Tested with a level 19-ish squishy villain group and various solo characters. **NOTE** Two of the four missions are timed, but the timer is not too strict and there are appropriate 'branches' of the story if a timed mission is failed so that the story still makes sense. The sense of urgency is an integral part of pulp 60's spy movies, so I couldn't resist.
Synopsis: The Federal Bureau of Super-Powered Affairs keeps a close eye on Crey, trying to find evidence about a suspected illicit superhero engineering program. You assist agent Janet Kellum following a lead about a potential breakthrough, only to find that this time, Crey have bitten off way more than they can chew; their meddling has awakened an ancient, all-but-forgotten enemy. Can you stop this old-new menace before it's too late?
Estimated Time to Play: 45 mins - 1.5 hours, depending on difficulty, team makeup, etc. Of the 4 maps, the first is Medium, the second is Small, the third one is a smallish outdoor map; the fourth one is also Small. The last two missions are timed, but my low-damage test team was able to finish with 1/2 of the clock remaining.


Arc Name: To Dream of Nothing
Arc ID: 374644
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Celestial Nemesis
Difficulty Level: Easy to moderate. Everything but the end boss is stock Council/Family/Nictus, but the level range is pretty low (5-10) to conform with the AE contest. The end boss is an EB, but it only has 'standard' powers and downgrades to a normal boss when running on no-bosses; you also have two LT-level allies with you to help. Tested with multiple low-level characters (bosses off) and high-level ones (bosses on).
Synopsis: A strange anomaly has nullified the powers of every powerful hero and villain in Paragon City; the only ones who can still use their powers are new heroes and petty villains. You are a new hero fresh after your first mission, and the FBSA sends you to Positron right away. He is desperately trying to find the cause of the anomaly, and asks you - as a hero who still has powers - to help him in his investigation.
Estimated Time to Play: ~1 hour. This arc also has 4 maps, and all of them are Small except for the third mission (which is Large, but still fairly small as far as abandoned warehouse maps go). Lots of text / clues, but most of it is optional and intended to add to the story instead of being mandatory to read.

(you can also catch me on 'Doom Metal'/'Luminous Knight'/'Dirge of the Cosmos'/'Professor Ohm' blueside if you got questions!)

'Eya,

I submitted my entry for Dr. A's second challenge to COHMR -- To Dream of Nothing

I'm about 98.72% sure I messed up the story at one point, so any criticism is welcome.


thanks,

-- Z.

The only time I'd use a giant monster in an outdoor map would be as an optional "kill-me-if-you-are-a-badass" objective that would normally have to be avoided. Of course this depends on spawn points, but from what I remember, most outdoor maps don't really have easy chokepoints, so non-stealthers could avoid them (maybe even without a travel power).

What really interests me is this:

Actually, you're right!

I just split the custom group into two groups (one with only the EB, one with only the normal mobs) and it worked just fine -- no more warning. I was worried this'd make the EB give less xp than normal [due to no henchman/lt/boss in its group], but apparently 'Boss' objectives aren't affected by that. Phew. :P


Thanks again!

-- Z.

Hello all,

I've been working on an arc for the 2nd AE challenge (level range 5-10 as per the rules), and encountered a really weird problem.

I created a 'mix-and-match' type custom group (mostly containing mobs from other groups, and one custom EB) to serve as the main enemy force in the last two missions, and while it actually works just fine when testing, it gives me the warning in the title; HOWEVER, it only seems to do that for certain kinds of objectives. From my testing, the following situations will result in the warning being added to the arc:
- adding a 'boss' (of the right level), and setting my group as 'Surrounding enemy group'. (note: it works fine if I do the same thing with the boss from my group and choose 'Same as boss')
- adding a 'destructible object' (of the right level) and setting my group as 'Surrounding enemy group'.
- adding a 'battle' with the group as one of the participants.
- adding an 'ambush' with the group as the attackers. (even if I choose 'Same as mission' instead of explicitly specifying the group)

What could possibly be causing this? I thought it might've been a kheldian thing, but my warshade didn't find anything out of place either... and if there was really a level discrepancy, why doesn't it cause a warning if I add the group as the enemy group for a mission?

Edit: the group contains
- two level 5-10 Council minions
- two level 5-19 Council lieutenants
- two level 1-54 Nictus bosses
- a custom 1-54 EB



Thanks in advance for any insight,

-- Z.

Yeah, I had that happen in my previous arc as well... wasn't the case here, though. I went through every single objective and it looks like it was a combination of things mostly related to the custom group:
- having a 'battle' between the custom group and council in mission 3
- having the custom group as the surrounding enemy group for bosses not within the custom group (edit: it was necessary for me to do this, since you can't make "boss" encounters out of non-custom mobs within a custom group)
- attaching the custom group to an ambush

Now here's the weird thing, the custom group only has the following mobs:
* two Council minions (5-10)
* two Council lieutenants (5-19)
* two Nictus bosses (1-54)
* one custom EB (1-54) set to "don't auto-spawn"
The custom group also works fine if I set them to surround the custom EB, and setting them to be the enemy group in a mission works too. Any idea what might be causing this? (and other than the warning, it seems to have no effect; I have yet to see overleveled mobs during my tests)
Edit: I finally managed to resolve the warning, thanks to GibsonMcCoy's post here. Apparently mixed groups cause the level range detector to get all wonky -- good to know!

Another oddity about the "proto-shadow cyst" destructible I haven't seen with anything else: the ambush I tied to it doesn't seem to work right. Instead of firing off at the appropriate HP%, it goes off ~10-15 sec AFTER the cyst is already destroyed.


Yay for bugs!


Edit2: Alea iacta est. I marked the arc Final and submitted it to the contest.


-- Z.

Kinda-sorta-update. I tinkered around with objective chaining, but I'm still not entirely happy with how the allies work in the 3rd and 4th mission. Any input on that is welcome (along with comments about the story itself... or anything else, really. I don't bite, honest!) I also playtested it on some more characters and it's curious how my SO/IO'd level 43 brute had a harder time than my zero-enhancement level 5 stalker. Hmmm.

Another note -- it looks like there are some bugs with objective text at the moment. If I have two different objectives linked via the same plural objective text ('containers to find' in mission 2) and one of the objectives is finished, it won't always show the right objective text for the remaining objective. I've genericized them for now, but is there a better solution?


-- Z.

Congratulations to the winners!

This was a good batch -- I enjoyed all of the arcs and will be recommending them to my SGmates to play through... whenever I can coax them back to the game that is. :P

(Also thanks for the vote(s) of confidence, everyone! <3)


-- Z.

Thanks for the feedback via PM!

I made a few changes to the arc, mostly fixing minor inconsistencies and making the "custom" group stand out a little bit more. I'm still iffy about some of the Nictus-related lore, but what can ya do.

(as a side note, even though I only have 3 custom characters in this arc, I am at 97% of the limit. I might have been a tiny bit too verbose. /cough)


-- Z.

I pulled an AE marathon this weekend and played through all of the arcs (except for the one that was under development by Calash). I think they were all really good; I found it hard to choose which one I liked best.

Best New Arc
@LaserJesus -- Drakule vs The Werewolf Bikers from Hell #340316 (1st choice)
@FredrikSvanberg -- Fear And Loathing On Striga #350522 (2nd choice)

Best Unknown Author
@Arctic Princess -- Simplicity #365497 (2nd choice)


-- Z.

"To Dream of Nothing"
Arc ID: 374644
Length: long-ish, 4 missions (small/medium maps, but lots of clues, and some linked objectives; no defeat-alls though)
Level range: 5-10
Enemy groups: Council, Family, custom group (stock Council / stock Nictus, with a custom boss)
Keywords: Solo Friendly, Canon Related, Mystery
Synopsis: A strange anomaly has nullified the powers of every powerful hero and villain in Paragon City; the only ones who can still use their powers are new heroes and petty villains. You are a new hero fresh after your first mission, and the FBSA sends you to Positron right away. He is desperately trying to find the cause of the anomaly, and asks you - as a hero who still has powers - to help him in his investigation.
Edit: There is an EB in the last mission, but you have two LT-level allies with you -- I soloed it with no trouble on a level 5 stalker at the lowest difficulty (no bosses makes it downgrade to a normal boss). My other test subjects were an exemped level 30 scrapper [with bosses on, so the EB was an EB; I also had to fight the EB and the ambush from the previous objective at the same time 'cos I screwed up, whoops!], an exemped level 43 brute and an exemped level 23 warshade. Lower-level characters should probably play with no bosses to be safe, but both powersets of the EB are standard/standard.

Notes: I have a hunch I got in over my head this time. I tried to make an epic-horror-mystery-action-drama with gameplay that works for new and old players, wall-of-text details that add to the story (but aren't necessary to enjoy the plot for players who don't want to spend a lot of time reading them all), lots of connections to 'serious business' COH lore (some of which I had to make up on the spot, other stuff extrapolated from The Origin of Power et al). Combine all this with the fact that I'm not a native speaker, and I'm almost 100% sure I messed up at some point. :P

I intend to enter this for the challenge, but I'll definitely have to refine it before that; feedback is very much appreciated!


-- Z.

This contest drew me back from across the ether! Ahem.

I really, really like the setting for this one. Sure, 'yet another kryptonite story' is the most obvious approach, but I think the wording is flexible enough to work for a lot of strange/epic arcs as well. And best of all, it's for 5-10... so these arcs could double as a sort of "hey guys, check out MA, it's fun!" introduction for new players too.


-- Z.

I've been away from the game for a bit; it was a bit of a shocker [in a good sense] to see my name here when I returned. I feel honored, I love you all. Srsly. <3 I'll do my best to get through these arcs by the deadline and vote!

Bubbawheat -- my arc had 40 plays when I left.. it's at 43 or so now. I'm not sure if using that number is realllly accurate though, since people can opt to play through arcs and leave them unrated; I also got at least two new feedback messages which is much more important (to me, anyway). It'd be nice to have a "# of unique accounts who accepted the first mission" counter on all arcs, but I think that's a MA feature request for another day.

Edit: Final tally at the end of the voting window is 42 plays; both of the new plays also gave me feedback, which was much appreciated!


-- Z.

I decided to go with the "all powerful heroes *and villains* lose their powers at the same time" angle, myself. I use Positron as a contact because I figured he'd be the most "scientist-y" hero to get to the bottom of this while not being overly distressed about suddenly becoming powerless (power armor > super-speed/reflexes/etc in that respect, at least imo). I'm not much of a comic-book person, so I'm sure something like this happened... somewhere.


-- Z.

Wow, thanks! I'm glad to hear you liked it. I'll go ahead and fix those typos / formatting errors you listed (I'm my own worst editor ). The Freaks are indeed kind of shoehorned (they made a bit more sense when I still used the Steel Canyon map), but I couldn't think of anything better at the time.

Just a minor note regarding "July": it isn't really significant per se, but it was chosen as the original date of the mission because more ice cream machines would be in use in the middle of the summer (plus any Independence Day festivities), maximizing the impact of the Delightfully Sweet Plan Of Evil Freezy Death™.


Thanks again,


-- Z.

Yet another update.

After some deliberation, I removed the kill-all objective from the last mission and eased up on timed missions; I also reduced the number of objects that need to be destroyed in mission 3.

I also got one more review*:

Review by PoliceWoman -- 5 stars


I think I gathered enough feedback to stop making major changes to the arc at this point; I'll still be fixing bugs / typos / errors, but other than that it'll probably remain as it is now. I should probably get to work on something new!

I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed the arc and/or left feedback, you made me want to keep going all this time. I'd also like to thank the Academy-- err, sorry, wrong speech. <3


-- Z.

* The arc was also featured in the 'AEntertainment Tonight' radio show, but I'm not exactly sure what rating I got overall; I know I got 4 stars from one of the reviewers, though

Thanks for the reviews!

Just a few minor notes:
- The arc level range was 40-50 when I submitted it, but with the coming of I16 super-sidekicking, I figured I could do 40-45 which means 45+ players get the same rewards and have access to the same powers, but don't have to fight the annoying all-tank 45+ crey spawns. I thought I could get away with a kill-all on mission4 since it's small, but I'll probably lift that after all the feedback I got on it (most people don't like kill-alls on any map).
- Timed missions were a bit of a conundrum for this one; originally only the 3rd/4th missions were timed, but I had a reviewer suggest to add a timer to the 2nd one as well. The timer on the 2nd one is almost 'unfailable' unless on purpose, the timer on the 3rd is pretty lax, but the timer on the 4th is supposed to go both ways. The sense of urgency is very integral to 60's spy thrillers imo, but I'll look into lifting the timer from mission2 (and possibly 3).
- I'm surprised and kinda miffed to hear about the bugged mission. Gah, what's with outdoor maps and destroy object spawns? Originally I used the outdoor Steel Canyon map for the mission, but that one's even bigger and much easier to 'lose' the targets in. Sadly you can't place normal glowies on those maps, only destroy-objects, and AP was the smallest map I could find where it still works. Look on the bright side -- at least you got to read the failure text! *hides*
- (most importantly) Hey, there was vodka! ... okay, only one bottle, but still.


Thanks again!

-- Z.

Good stuff... I actually had a few ideas for custom mobs in my arc that I had to scrap because of the limit.

Speaking of limits -- what about easing some of the text entry caps? Some of them (300-character in-mission clue, and yes, 1000-character briefing) have been a huge pain for me; I had to omit crucial details or move them to different parts of the arc (in-mission clue -> end-mission clue) instead, and formatting was a no-no.

(canned response to "you're too wordy, just learn to condense stuff better" -- this either results in ultra-terse dry text or leaving out crucial information, in my experience. Maybe I need to work on my style, but creating a good narrative flow as a foreigner is hard enough. )


-- Z.

Awesome, grats! I remember playing this arc -- it induced much giggling in SG-chat, along with an inexplicable burst of emoticons. And... it was fun! ~.^

Well deserved, imo.


-- Z.

Hey there!

I've played Teen Phalanx Forever earlier (with my SG) and we all really liked it, it was one of the best canon-related stories in AE that I've played imo. I just played through Talos Vice (figuring you could use the plays) and left some feedback ingame. Is it bad if I had the theme song to Magnum PI going through my head the entire time?

If you're still taking submissions, take a look at "The Coldest of Wars" (#299972, see sig). Like Talos Vice, it's also partially TV-inspired, though more 60's spy thriller than 80's cop series, and with quite a bit of camp / cheese. It's my first arc and I'm not a native English speaker -- I can always use more feedback!

edit: whoops, forgot the global, it's @Celestial Nemesis (though for some weird reason, globals don't show on published arcs anymore... grr)


Thanks in advance,

-- Z.

'Ey there!

My (first and only) arc, The Coldest of Wars (#299972 -- more details in sig) can always use more feedback, and I'm interested how it stacks up as a casual endeavor! It is a 60's spy movie styled arc, so get ready for some cheese.


Thanks in advance,

-- Z.

'Ey there,

I'd love to get some feedback on The Coldest of Wars (arc id #299972), if possible. It is tangentially related to the Revenant Hero Project storyline; not a direct prequel, but I tried to make the relevant bits fit with the original story as much as possible.


Thanks in advance,

-- Z.

Another minor-ish update.

I fiddled around with the level caps a bit. With the addition of super-sidekicking, I figured lowering the cap to 45 would still allow level 45+ characters to gain full xp and use all of their powers, AND they wouldn't have to slog through endless crey tank spawns. It's a win-win I think, unless I missed something!

There was also one more review:

Review by Tangler -- 4.5 stars

The arc is sitting at 30 or so plays, and was briefly on page 3 in the 5-star zone before being voted down into 4-star-limbo again. Ah well.


(an aside: is it acceptable to post ingame comments to an arc in an arc thread, and if so, should the @global names be anonymized?)


-- Z.