Discussion: Issue 14: Mission Architect - FAQ
By
8_Ball,
Posted on: 2009-02-26 13:02 in Developers' Corner
I won't overuse allies. It's only an story idea I had some time ago.
Thank you for your answers 
One way to make the mission architect more powerful without too much work (for the developers or us) would be to add two simple mission goal types:
And: This would not actually do anything except complete immediately when two other specified goals are both complete
Or: This would not actually do anything except complete immediately when the first of two other specified goals completes
Either of those could be used to trigger other goals (including further And or Or goals).
These two would let people set up cause an effect between the goals that actually do something in far more complex ways than they currently can be
If you wanted to make it considerably more complex you could also include the following goal:
Not: This would be considered complete while the specified other goal is not complete. When that other goal is complete it would be considered incomplete.
Obviously this last one would have to come with warnings about making combinations that prevent a (required) goal ever triggering and the game itself might want to check for such a scenario occurring with a required goal and then failing the mission (if such a check is possible to code).
That warning aside this one lets the wise designer change the order of events as required: For instance A then B can trigger C which triggers D while B then A can trigger D which triggers C.
In algebraic terms: A and not(B) triggers anotb. anotb and B triggers ab. ab or D triggers c which triggers C while B and not(A) triggers bnota. bnota and A triggers ba. ba or C triggers d which triggers D. Overall this particular sequence requires 8 (I almost forgot to count the 2 not goals) of these goals that don't do anything themselves, but each will take many fewer bytes to define it than the goals that actually do something.
That might seem pretty complex, but I worked it out on the fly as I typed it (and I'm presuming I didn't mess it up). Combinations of these goals to set up to achieve the sorts of things people will want to do could and no doubt would be published in guides, saving people time working out how to use these new goals.
Note the interaction of Not with triggering. Once the Not has triggered another goal, even if that goal is an Or or And it won't turn incomplete if the Not becomes "incomplete".
  takes up a lot more space in our storyarc files than a single space would.
You'd save us a lot of bytes if you could change it to not use 5 bytes where 1 (maybe with double quotes around the outside of the whole string) would do.
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For the record, my philosophy's that every arc is a three until proven otherwise. Not horrid, not great. I'd hate to think I had to go into every arc expecting the worst thing on City of Heroes.
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Yeah, when I think of the normal game missions I've played... 3 for me is "average normal game arc". 5 is something truly exceptional like Viridian. 1 is something truly terrible, either not-even-bothering-to-phone-it-in bad or deliberately obnoxious. You should have to work for a 5... or a 1.
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Glad i'm not alone here. I always plan on giving a 3 star simply because i know how much time and effort goes into making a mission/arc. If i feel it's better than average, i give an extra star (Once i gave an extra star simply because it had me fighting alongside Ghengis Khan and Abe Lincoln). If i feel it could have been better, i drop a star. You really have to stand out if you want a 1 or a 5 from me.
Check out my "Rule Britannia" series if you feel like something different. The arcs are #19599, #20575, #23977, #134775, #134923 and #144543. The series is complete, but spinoffs are in the works.
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The XP reduction is worth it from a good story aspect. But I wouldn't plan on overusing Allies. If ya do folks might not play your Arcs, or Rate you badly.
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You could also try what i've been doing: if i have an EB on the map, i'll have an optional EB Ally you can rescue to help out if you feel the need. That way its the player's choice.
Check out my "Rule Britannia" series if you feel like something different. The arcs are #19599, #20575, #23977, #134775, #134923 and #144543. The series is complete, but spinoffs are in the works.
Awww.... I'm bummed out now, having found that the map I wanted the most is not available... I really needed the Atlas Park Fashion Show map, like immensely!! I'd really, really appreciate if the devs could make it happen... Please!!!!
Also, if I may ask, making the Jewelry Shop 02 map just a tad little bit more flexible, just being able to add an escort or ally or rescue (any) objective to it would make my day!
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We've added a TON more datamining hooks exclusively for Mission Architect as well, so we can easily see spikes in aberrant behavior. Spikes point us to exploits, which points us to log files, which reveal the identities of exploiters. So if you find a really big exploit in the system, I'd encourage you to PM me or another Dev and try to get your Bug Hunter badge, as the alternative is not pretty.
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I really realy really don't like the wording here. I wonder just what is considered an expliot. You called running KHTF once every three hours an expliot so I wondering what "exactly" is meant here by expliot?
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If your personal moral compass flip flops or even wavers a little while doing something in the game that is obvious to you is not intended behavior, it's probably an exploit.
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I am autistic, I don't have a personal moral compass as you know it, I have a self-generated set of codes which I abide by created by interactions with others and by the statements of those in a position to know, that guides my actions in an attempt to remain capable of socially interacting with others.
The only 'moral compass' I possess is the golden Yule, or 'do unto santa clause as you would have santa clause do unto you."
Based upon my experiences with everquest, the only solid 'exploits' I have been able to uncover are:
'taking advantage of a break in geometry in order to attack in such a manner that mobs cannot attack you back'. Apparently this was a problem, which was why all mobs in the game were given ranged attacks, including recently the MA ones.
'taking advantage of a bug that allows you to obtain something in a metagame fashion that would otherwise require extreme measures to obtain' such as taking advantage of a bug to duplicate purples or hami-O's. That I understand and steer clear of.
'taking advantage of a bug that allows you to grief other players in a fashion which does not allow a response' I have never done this, although every person who's ever street sweeped in atlas park has had a kill stolen by a level 50. Things such as the hurricane in the hospital pvp problem and base-teleport griefing are definitely examples of this.
So, what else qualifies as 'exploits' and makes YOUR personal moral compass flipflop?
I would like to know why there is no anti-matter character pack
Is there any way to get Missions taking place at night? I think night time versions of outdoor maps and/or some way to dim lighting on indoor maps would be excellent.
Is there anyways to make MA lvl specific to the zone lvl its located in. ie atlas MA alows toons up to lvl 10 to access the mission computers. PI only toons over lvl 40 can access the mission computers in this zone? All this spam in atlas for MA teams over 40 is getting old.
Dear devs, one of the things I like about the MA is the different storylines and whatnot. However, if you are not the leader of the team, you can't read the info that the contact offers you. Is there a way to allow others to see the contact info?
Just a quick idea to throw in here
I would like the option to allow my custom characters in the MA to be able to use the costume change emotes. (like when the character spots the players the dialoge fires then they change costumes with the selected emote.)
Yes, I'm quite late in this thread.
This is the only place I found where this suggestion might be placed without offending certain nitpickers.
Could there please be a hero analyst within the contacts/computer terminal area for difficulty adjustment? Some arcs are simply too challenging for my typical PvE settings because of the custom power selections. I would prefer to scale down the challenge settings without traveling across a zone to do so. Maybe they could give us a mission and we could call them to make changes... or simply have one in the AE building. Call them an arc Calibrater if you like, doesn't really matter. Just my suggestion.
"Most people that have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
@Ukase
Everytime I tried to do it in Closed Beta, the Ally was still reflected in a Hostage Situation.
I tried every combo of settings I could think of, and still the Ally was in a Hostage Situation.
If they are working on a way to do it, that is good news to me; as I had to get back to my SG, once we were told Live Beta would be coming soon.
The XP reduction is worth it from a good story aspect. But I wouldn't plan on overusing Allies. If ya do folks might not play your Arcs, or Rate you badly.
Black-Strike: lvl 50 AR/Dark Corruptor
Brutally Beautiful: lvl 50 BA/Inv Brute
Seared Earth: lvl 50 EC/EA Dominator
Yashi Onuku: lvl 50 Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Stalker
Death-Widow: lvl 50 Night Widow