AngryRedHerring

In one of my arcs, I have an ambush group of bosses taken from several standard groups. The rest of the enemies/groups in the arc are properly balanced, and xp is not a problem. This ambush group has its own name and is an official enemy group.

In addition, some of the bosses from this all-boss ambush group are also bosses in the main mission group. The custom bosses in the main mission group are specific characters that are set to not auto spawn, and I don't have room to add another custom boss specific to this group, so I used bosses from the ambush group to take up the slack.

The problem I'm having is that this group is not showing up on certain drop-down lists. For example, the group does not appear in the main selection for boss detail; I can't pick a boss from this group at all for a boss instance (though I can make one of them appear as a boss detail by picking one of their dopplegangers from the main mission group). However, the group does show up in the drop-down list for "surrounding enemy group".

These are the only two instances I can remember off the top of my head; across the rest of the drop-downs, they appear in some, but not in others. I can say that I have another all-boss ambush group I'm using in another arc I'm working on, and it appears and disappears on all the same lists.

I had this problem before, long ago (at least, as far as having a group not showing up in some menus, I can't remember if it was all bosses) and I fixed it. But it was so long ago, I have no recollection what I did to get the group showing up again. My arcs can get pretty cluttered, and I've had issues where I thought I deleted something but there was a small reference elsewhere that brought the whole kit'n kaboodle back. But I've saved my published arcs to local files, examined them, and have found no such incongruities (yet).

Anybody have any ideas why my group doesn't show up? Is it possible that the AE is actively blocking it because it's "all-boss", and with "surrounding group" set to "same as boss" it would be an all-boss spawn? ...Even then, I'm still able to select this group for "surrounding group", since it shows up in that list... So I'm just hornswoggled on this one.

1. Beds - that don't look like someone was tortured on them. I'm trying to make guest rooms, and I hate asking folks to sleep on that wicker cot.

2. Pinball machines - they're in Pocket D! We can afford them! (Dream scenario-- attached minigame. Would be happy with-- click it, and it goes "bing bang bong".)

3. Wandering NPCs - receptionists, lab assistants, robot pals, etc.

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I've seen that issue, or something similar, several times. When I get down to those fine tweaks in a published arc, I do a lot of republishes in a row, and it's usually text changes-- or the lack of them, really-- that tip me off to the fact that my last changes didn't take.

Usually what happens is I see my last changes didn't take, then I go back and look at them to be sure, then re-publish again to be even more sure. After that second republish of the same changes, they usually show up.

What I hadn't figured out yet is if it's really the second republish that finally cements the changes, or just the time elapsed from the first publish. But you say you came back to it after a day or so, so it would seem to be the second publish that fixes it. No idea why the first one doesn't take.

As I promised in my B.A.D. Inc. Lair thread, here's the new layout for the Justice R'Us Treehouse of the Mighty!

From the portal and waiting room, to the left is the main visitor hall...



...and to the right, the residential hall.



Taking a right down the residential hall, we enter the commons. Upstairs are resident and guest quarters.







Returning to the residential hall, we head toward the day room. Praetor Dark Star's private office (the door on the left) has been closed for some time, undergoing some sort of complex revovation. Base steward Lightmaster knows better than to press for details not proffered.



The skylight in the day room, and the beginnings of a small art gallery (more paintings for bases! More paintings for bases!).



Fiction and classics.



Through the northeast door of the day room, we come upon high-resistance blast doors, designed to seal off the visitor-accessible areas from the more security-sensitive sections.



For now, let's return to the main visitor hall. To the right is the primary laboratory, but we'll get back to that.



Taking a left, however, takes us to the assembly hall.



Continuing through the assembly hall returns us to the commons.



This time we'll head upstairs to the residential quarters.



Most of these rooms still sit empty, awaiting decoration, residents and guests.



Of the 6 upstairs bedrooms, so far only Lightmaster's is lived in.



Returing to the residential hall.



This time we'll take the main visitor hall past assembly.



Past the security doors, we come to a crossroads linking transportation and control.



To the left, city zone teleporters, and to the right, hazard zones.



The control room with medical to the left...



...and power distribution to the right.



A maintenance access hall behind the generator runs the eastern perimeter of the base...



...past the rear access to the hazard zone teleport room and secondary workshop...



...and through the security doors, returning us to the day room.



What's this? A slightly skewed stack of shelves?



...Lightmasters' always leaving his secret door open. A hydraulic platform lifts staff to the maintenance hatch of the quantum torsion capacitor.



At bottom, a stasis field generator converts power from an Oranbegan crystal to power the invention crafting facilities. In the upper right, the Hazardous Radiation Containment Lab.





Up the ramp to the HRCL. Decontaminant wave station in operation.



Inner shields allow close, safe monitoring. Only fully sealed rad-shield suits allowed in element analysis chamber.



Below the HRCL, the technical library, and through that, the door to the secondary laboratory.



The portal to the UNDERVERSE® and its exploration craft. Magnetic extension lifts reposition the craft from a horizontal position at the boarding ramps to a vertical launch position.





The UNDERVERSE® is an unexplored alternate universe only accessible at the central point of the high gravity wells created by large solid bodies. Through the use of Oberation Oscillthruster technology, Lightmaster has discovered a way to safely travel through solid matter and create an UNDERVERSE® gate at the heart of the Earth's gravity well. He thinks.



Inward and downward!

I had a big problem in one of my AE missions with NPC allies and flight-- allied patrols would fly, but follow allies would not. The jerky motions associated with this started to make me think that it might be associated with the teleport animation bug. Whether it was or not (though I am curious), sure enough, it got fixed at the same time the teleport animation got fixed, and saved my arc.

...They also fixed a poorly placed exit point that made it a royal pain to complete an escort on a particular map in that same arc, so I get to remove the immersion-breaking warning text I was forced to add. I was really surprised at this fix, as I couldn't imagine it affecting that many people, but it meant the world to me. This one was actually documented, which only bolstered my appreciation for this minor tweak.

And then, of course, in power customization I got the one feature that I had wanted more than anything else since the day I started playing, and one that I had (mostly) given up on due to the mammoth task of implementation.

...This was the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER.

And now I'm BACK from a work trip to New Orleans (though there are worse places for work trips ) that took me out of town the day after I-16 went live (GAH!).

Time to get busy. I've got to catch up with all you guys.

...I leave for ONE EVENING and everybody's throwing the Legos.

Like so.

...I fear change!

Oh, that's VERY clever. Nice job. I've been trying to think of ways to make windows with 'depth' outside. The closest I came was a 'frosted skylight'. But this is much more complex, and a nice illusion.

Fixed on Test! Hoorah! Bring on I-16!