Discussion: Issue 14: Mission Architect - FAQ
By
8_Ball,
Posted on: 2009-02-26 13:02 in Developers' Corner
I'm just waiting for all the players who think they're oh so creative to have thewir dreams crushed.. and judging by what passes for creativity in places like Pocket D and Under Atlas.. there will be many a wet pillow as they cry themselves to sleep..
While I'm a little disappointed that MA missions won't count towards Defeat badges(Thus removing the need to farm the same mission over and over for some of them).. I'll probably give it a try once I see everything we have at our disposal..
Astro, I PuG regularly. If there were badges for jokes that bombed, I'd have all three of them on all my toons. I can't wait to try this anyway, knowing I'll have done well if more people finish my arcs than drop.
My ratings figure to go something like this:
1 star -- Start over. This one isn't going to make it
2 star -- The good stuff in here is worth editing to make it more playable
3 star -- Playable storyline, enjoyable
4 star -- Good story, good pace, challenging, very enjoyable
5 star -- I'm looking for people who haven't played this arc yet so I can drag them along on my next run
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Yet, first impressions are the most important. MA arcs are not like regular game content. We have more of a choice about whether we do them. Game content we have to do, if we want what follows. I can't count how many times I've rescued Fusionette in the Faultline arc, because that arc is a good way to get the Ouroboros badge before you're high enough to just go to Ouroboros. If we could START with the actual time travel mission, I'm sure a lot of people would.
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I agree with this to a certain degree but I feel that you can only get a 'cosmetic' first impression with CoX missions. You walk in the door and the only judgment you can really make is based on what you initially perceive e.g. map and mobs.
You need to play the mission for a few minutes before you can really rate it. 30 minutes maybe too long as some missions can be completed by this time perhaps 15 minutes.
As for the comments this would be a nice to have option but it maybe open to more abuse enabling players to type whatever they like. I think it most likely you will just have an opportunity to mark it out of 5 for example. Its quick, easy and will minimize abuse.
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Lets see, a mission that would be easy to make. All the pretorian AV's intermixed with 8 fake nems, with sniper support, 8 master illusionists, Rikti maguses and supporting mentalists/drones, KOA bosses, sappers and gunslingers. Add in the massed ambushes of roman EB's and you have a 1st room that would be well nigh impossible to survive. How long do you have to beat your head on the wall before you give it a big thumbs down?
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
A question:
I believe I read that we can include destructible items to our missions, similar to a Mayhem Mission, but will these items be available ONLY on those maps or can we include them in other maps.
I.E. the great missing hero mission(s) where you go and bust into a villain layer and destroy everything to stop their nefarious plans.
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How will level scaling work? Will every mission automatically scale to your current level (+ difficulty, team size, etc.) or will it be predetermined by the "architect"?
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This is complicated. Every critter has a level range where they are valid. When you make a mission, all of the level ranges must overlap at some point. If you are outside this level range when you go to play the mission you will be brought up or down to the level range of the mission.
Example, I use critters A (1-54), B (34-45) and C (40-48). The level range of the mission is (40-45).
If I am level 5, I will play mission at level 40.
If I am level 50, I will play mission at level 45.
If I am level 42 I will play at level 42.
If I am level 5, but have set my difficulty to max, I will play at level 38.
Note: I said mission here, not arc, each mission has an independent level range.
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I got nothing about ally levels, though.
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I don't know if it was answered, but allies affect the overall system the same way enemies do. In other words, any of the Critters in the above example could be allies instead of enemies, and everything would work the same.
Now MY question:
I wanted a scenario where the player had to get past enemies substantially higher than himself. (I think I could do that by inserting MANY bosses, surrounded by their entourages.) The players would be hard-pressed to defeat them all, until he freed an ally who was substantially higher than THEM.
Would this auto-leveling system permit this to happen? Basically, could I insert an ally who'd con red to the enemy bosses?
If not, is there any way to get a similar effect? What if I make the ally a Hero/AV?
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A question:
I believe I read that we can include destructible items to our missions, similar to a Mayhem Mission, but will these items be available ONLY on those maps or can we include them in other maps.
I.E. the great missing hero mission(s) where you go and bust into a villain layer and destroy everything to stop their nefarious plans.
[/ QUOTE ]I don't believe that was even insinuated. We can have "destroy X" mission objectives and "defend X from being destroyed" mission objectives, but not random destructible objects around the map.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
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Uncertain if we'll get public comments in the future.
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Piling on just to bring up something...
The above mentioned functionality gets very ugly and counterproductive in other show and tell communities. Try working your [censored] off making an independent film/movie/video for the world to enjoy, post it on YouTube, and then open the public comments floodgate for a snapshot of how quickly that path can spiral. It's a reality of life, but not sure we want to open that very public and visible "can" here if we don't really have to.
In fact, Ive lurked to see a few of the more creative user initiated forum topic posts on here end up in total flames once the crows got through pecking... and thats just a post, let alone a designed mission. Yikes.
In the end, for me, I honestly think MA is either your thang, or its not. Im not sure how able or willing the community will be to constructively critique in detail a given MA they thought was under par, when they are a few clicks away from just backing out and trying the next of 1000 available MAs and moving on with their lives (and invaluable, limited, game time).
Ill say this, if youve never won a costume contest, or don't constantly get random compliments on your costume OR your character name or your character bio (IF you even have a bio) with most of your alts pretty much every single time you log on.... then character creation... probably not your gig (but I bet you can power level like a champ). If you put your heart, blood, sweat and tears into designing an MA, and it gets little to no traffic or recognition via the leader board system in place
it's back to the other side of the screen for you.
Harsh? I dunno
but based on some of the costumes I see running around, and the horrible user created content on YouTube and MySpace, I guess I'm a little bit frightened of what this could become. My cloven hooves are crossed that a somewhat dependable rating system combined with the MA participating majority's design sense (whether "creating" or "appreciating" good design) and how high the mission design bar has already been set by the current DEV created content will prevail, and prevent a nightmare scenario of aimlessly endlessly sifting through half-chewed plastic cups lined with stale beer and cigarette butts to get to the holy grails.
Sure, I can run around next to a painfully clashing pastel hero with no cohesiveness (and no pants) with newly purchased tech wings and a shield (of course) whose name is spelled using numbers as backwards letters to get to the end of a long sought after mission
ugh
I might have to, not much choice. BUT to run around in a mission that this clown created, for even 30 seconds? Next!
Hows that old saying go?: You cant selectively hand-pick your mission team (unless you want to boot and recruit to your personal liking for an hour), but you CAN (now) hand-pick your mission!"
In closing, when your 5 year old little brother hands you that unrecognizable stick figure crayon drawing of your entire family, with everyones name spelled wrong, and the whole thing looks like it was made by someone with Parkinson disease who just got duped into getting an online artist degree from Sally Struthers
well okay then you HAVE to look at it, and read it, and say how incredibly awesome it is. Buuuut thats only because (A) hes family and your moms would smack you upside the head if you didnt, and (B) there wasnt a dozen new unpublished graphic novels by Frank Miller beckoning you, stacked right under it.
I'd rather just let the systems reportedly in place that Nacho Libris mentioned either crucify or sanctify any given mission. Natural selection. Less dramatic, less personal, less messy, less tears and bruised egos. Proven effectiveness.
I'm sure this has been answered already within the 81 pages, but I'm too lazy to look so I'm hoping someone will answer. Will the architect provide the ability to re-create existing characters within the game? Such as if I wanted Statesman or Recluse to be in it, would I be able to do this?
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I'm sure this has been answered already within the 81 pages, but I'm too lazy to look so I'm hoping someone will answer. Will the architect provide the ability to re-create existing characters within the game? Such as if I wanted Statesman or Recluse to be in it, would I be able to do this?
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It seems so, but I suspect that some of the NPCs, such as Statesman or Recluse, may require you to "unlock" them in a yet-to-be-announced manner before you can include them in your custom missions.
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I'm sure this has been answered already within the 81 pages, but I'm too lazy to look so I'm hoping someone will answer. Will the architect provide the ability to re-create existing characters within the game? Such as if I wanted Statesman or Recluse to be in it, would I be able to do this?
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It seems so, but I suspect that some of the NPCs, such as Statesman or Recluse, may require you to "unlock" them in a yet-to-be-announced manner before you can include them in your custom missions.
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Well, they've said that one of the things we'll be able to use tickets to unlock is a Recluse with different powers. So my assumption would be that we won't have to unlock the regular Recluse to use in our missions. But we'll have to wait until open beta to see.
Sorry if I missed FAQ 1 but is there an est. release date? Thanks.
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I'm sure this has been answered already within the 81 pages, but I'm too lazy to look so I'm hoping someone will answer. Will the architect provide the ability to re-create existing characters within the game? Such as if I wanted Statesman or Recluse to be in it, would I be able to do this?
[/ QUOTE ]- When creating custom enemies, you're limited to the player costume pieces, so you wouldn't be able to re-create signature characters with specialized costume parts
- You cannot edit existing characters
- You can add existing characters as either the contact, enemies, or allies, though some characters (and I imagine Statesman and Recluse would fall under this umbrella) need to be unlocked first.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
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Sorry if I missed FAQ 1 but is there an est. release date? Thanks.
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According to all the gaming news site articles that NCSoft supplied information for, Issue 14 is scheduled for release sometime this month. This, of course, assumes nothing goes horribly wrong during Closed or Open Beta.
Considering Open Beta hasn't started yet, don't look for it this week or next, but it *should* be out by the end of the month. (Tuesday the 24th and Tuesday the 31st are favorite picks among the speculator crowd.)
Considering you can go from lvl 1 - 50 with MA, how long will an arc stay up if you are just running your own stories or running with a limited number of friends arcs. If you are just leveling with any posted MA content is one thing, but if your only running your arcs what then. If they are posted for a short time, those type of arcs will not get as rated as arcs that stay posted for a long time.
Maybe that individual does not worry about the account ticket pool. Maybe his/her stuff will suck, or be brilliant, but it is sad to be the person who may like an arc only to have it disappear before dragging their friends through it.
Those that over turn their arcs frequently will just have to miss out on significated player feedback for good or for ill, especially if they intended the arcs to be only their toy in the big kids pool.
Actually though of something funny. In those cases with people with large turn overs with good arc stories or simply just removing one of the popular ones, their in-game mail, global tells, and forum mail could be overflowing with requests for a copy of the arc. I think a few people will need bigger boxes. Though I expect some enterprising player(s) to create a website to share or exchange arc files, new NPC groups, or new NPC characters. Assuming the data is in small text files, like the costume data files, some information could be a simple forum post. I know we can use regular email to exchange those files, but sometimes a central location saves time instead of responding to each email requesting the same information. This also leads to a way of tagging an arc that is passed around so the original creator(s) are acknowleged in some way.
Also I wish there would be a way to have an ingame record of arcs and their creators we have played, so we can easily find it and drag our friends in. I understand the MA is run like a TF so while you are still in MA mode the information is there, but one you leave, outside of a posible souvenir, what record would we have. I guess we can keep an out of game list.
Champion
Pillars of Might
Darc Ranger [Blas] / Darc Nebula [Cont]
The Bikini Patrol
Darc Lighter:51-[Blas] / Darc Lady:50-[Tank]
The Panty Raiders
Aegis Magnus [MM] / Atomic Spector [Cor] / Dominar Sefus [Dom]
MEGAFORCE
-Darc Ranger [Def]
I can't seem to find a confirmation, are we able to create our own character and flag them as an AV, thus giving them AV resistance?
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I can't seem to find a confirmation, are we able to create our own character and flag them as an AV, thus giving them AV resistance?
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You can make AV/EB-level bosses, and since custom bosses use the same costume creator that we use to make characters, then the answer to your question is (effectively) yes.
THanks ^_^
Not positive, but I don't think you could use the same name.
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In addition can we mix and match villainous critter archetypes? for example could I create a Stalker, Blaster, Mastermind and Controller on the same mob team/faction within a mission?
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Critters do not have archetypes in that sense. The critter archetypes are pet, underling, minion, Lt, Boss, Elite Boss, and AV (slightly simplified). There is no such thing as a "critter tanker" or "critter dominator." Consequently, the answer to your question is essentially yes.
Also, critters in the game don't have "factions" in the same way we do. They have only three "sides" - friendly to players, hostile to players, and hostile to just about everything. They are sort of on their own side, really.
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
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Sorry if I missed FAQ 1 but is there an est. release date? Thanks.
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According to all the gaming news site articles that NCSoft supplied information for, Issue 14 is scheduled for release sometime this month. This, of course, assumes nothing goes horribly wrong during Closed or Open Beta.
Considering Open Beta hasn't started yet, don't look for it this week or next, but it *should* be out by the end of the month. (Tuesday the 24th and Tuesday the 31st are favorite picks among the speculator crowd.)
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Box edition is on Amazon as a pre-order with an April date for release.
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
Chyll - Bydand - Violynce - Enyrgos - Rylle - Nephryte - Solyd - Fettyr - Hyposhock - Styrling - Beryllos - Rosyc
Horryd - Myriam - Dysquiet - Ghyr
Vanysh - Eldrytch
Inflyct - Mysron - Orphyn - Dysmay - Reapyr - - Wyldeman - Hydeous
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Considering you can go from lvl 1 - 50 with MA, how long will an arc stay up if you are just running your own stories or running with a limited number of friends arcs. If you are just leveling with any posted MA content is one thing, but if your only running your arcs what then. If they are posted for a short time, those type of arcs will not get as rated as arcs that stay posted for a long time.
Maybe that individual does not worry about the account ticket pool. Maybe his/her stuff will suck, or be brilliant, but it is sad to be the person who may like an arc only to have it disappear before dragging their friends through it.
Those that over turn their arcs frequently will just have to miss out on significated player feedback for good or for ill, especially if they intended the arcs to be only their toy in the big kids pool.
Actually though of something funny. In those cases with people with large turn overs with good arc stories or simply just removing one of the popular ones, their in-game mail, global tells, and forum mail could be overflowing with requests for a copy of the arc. I think a few people will need bigger boxes. Though I expect some enterprising player(s) to create a website to share or exchange arc files, new NPC groups, or new NPC characters. Assuming the data is in small text files, like the costume data files, some information could be a simple forum post. I know we can use regular email to exchange those files, but sometimes a central location saves time instead of responding to each email requesting the same information. This also leads to a way of tagging an arc that is passed around so the original creator(s) are acknowleged in some way.
Also I wish there would be a way to have an ingame record of arcs and their creators we have played, so we can easily find it and drag our friends in. I understand the MA is run like a TF so while you are still in MA mode the information is there, but one you leave, outside of a posible souvenir, what record would we have. I guess we can keep an out of game list.
[/ QUOTE ]Your arcs stay published until you "unpublish" them, they get pulled for inappropriate content, or they make "Hall of Fame" and/or "Devs Choice" status. The latter frees up whatever slot they were in.
There is a limit on how quickly you can publish/unpublish arcs, but it was described as "in seconds, just to keep the traffic load down."
In case of a hard drive crash or file corruption, will there be a "Reverse Engineer" feature for us to recover files from the actual arc?
@Blood Beret(2)Twitter
I am a bad speeler, use poorer grammar, and am a frequent typoist.
MA ArcID: 1197
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill
I hope not.
I am not talking any arc. I mean only arcs that we publish.
@Blood Beret(2)Twitter
I am a bad speeler, use poorer grammar, and am a frequent typoist.
MA ArcID: 1197
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill
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Yet, first impressions are the most important. MA arcs are not like regular game content. We have more of a choice about whether we do them. Game content we have to do, if we want what follows. I can't count how many times I've rescued Fusionette in the Faultline arc, because that arc is a good way to get the Ouroboros badge before you're high enough to just go to Ouroboros. If we could START with the actual time travel mission, I'm sure a lot of people would.
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I agree with this to a certain degree but I feel that you can only get a 'cosmetic' first impression with CoX missions. You walk in the door and the only judgment you can really make is based on what you initially perceive e.g. map and mobs.
You need to play the mission for a few minutes before you can really rate it. 30 minutes maybe too long as some missions can be completed by this time perhaps 15 minutes.
As for the comments this would be a nice to have option but it maybe open to more abuse enabling players to type whatever they like. I think it most likely you will just have an opportunity to mark it out of 5 for example. Its quick, easy and will minimize abuse.
[/ QUOTE ]We won't have public comments, but we will be able to send comments to the authors. Uncertain if we'll get public comments in the future.
Make up your own example of a truly horrible bucket of chum mission that you can tell in the first couple of minutes, before you even fight one mob, is something the dog wouldn't eat and the cat would bury rather than drag inside. Those will happen. Let us bail and rate them as they deserve without having to endure it one minute longer than we have to. Other than that, trust the players. Don't force us to endure dreck longer than necessary until we prove otherwise. THEN they can start imposing whatever conditions/limits they feel needed.