Frequently Asked Questions about Mission Design

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Depends. You can still make more than three arcs, but only three can be published at a time. If one of your missions isn't getting good ratings, you can republish it after an edit, or pull it down entirely (and loose ratings) in favor of something that's hopefully better.

Additionally, if a mish makes it to Hall of Fame or Dev's Choice, you get a slot back for more publishing.

But if you just want to make a mish that you only want to run with your friends or SG, don't publish it. Just save it locally and run it in Test Mode whenever you want.

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This is like being given $100Million to make a movie, then just before filming you find out you can hire no more than 10 actors, and no wardrobe changes either. Doesn't make it impossible, but you just eliminated the vast majority of stories ....

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That's a false analogy. In addition, even if it was a truer analogy, the amount of custom creatures to be placed into an arc was never exactly quantified in any of the press releases, only the ability to create custom creatures. Ergo, the budget in your analogy was never specified.

I would be in favor of a file size increase, but I'm not sure about the impact on the MA Server, especially if the file size doubled. It all depends on back end storage capacity, server hardware or visualization, file access speed, etc. Doubling file size could slow down load times, lead to lag in searching the mission database, etc.

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It seems you can't make basic mission objectives trigger from something happening - like having a find object objective trigger when you find another object (going from clue to clue).

Is there a way to do this, or can we just not do it?

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You can do this. Once you make your objectives, you can edit them to occur when certain conditions apply. For example, you can create an ambush to occur when a particular boss reaches 50% HP. Or, in order for that boss to appear at all, you can have him spawn when a certain click object in the mission is activated. Or have another clue spawn when the first clue is clicked.

The key is to create objectives in the mission first. Once they're set, you can go to the drop-down menu (can't remember the specific one off the top of my head), where you'll be able to select from other objectives, in order to create an event chain.

Two tips: try not to use chaining in every mission, and be careful how you use chaining. For example, it might be good to chain a clue near the front of the mission to spawn another clue near the middle or back, especially on bigger maps. No team wants to clear a map or ghost to a clue only to have to backtrack several times as each clue is clicked. Unless you like torturing players and/ or want low ratings

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It seems you can't make basic mission objectives trigger from something happening - like having a find object objective trigger when you find another object (going from clue to clue).

Is there a way to do this, or can we just not do it?

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You can do this. Once you make your objectives, you can edit them to occur when certain conditions apply. For example, you can create an ambush to occur when a particular boss reaches 50% HP. Or, in order for that boss to appear at all, you can have him spawn when a certain click object in the mission is activated. Or have another clue spawn when the first clue is clicked.

The key is to create objectives in the mission first. Once they're set, you can go to the drop-down menu (can't remember the specific one off the top of my head), where you'll be able to select from other objectives, in order to create an event chain.

Two tips: try not to use chaining in every mission, and be careful how you use chaining. For example, it might be good to chain a clue near the from of the mission to spawn another clue near the middle or back, especially on bigger maps. No team wants to clear a map or ghost to a clue only to have to backtrack several times as each clue is clicked. Unless you like torturing players and/ or want low ratings

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A warning about this: if you make an objective "not-required" like a blinkie, if you want to chain another blinkie to it that blinkie must *also* be not-required. Chaining a required objective onto a non-required one generates an error (for obvious reasons).

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Another problem i have, the end boss in my last mish is suppose to be a EB but keeps spawning as a Lt. how do i fix that?

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In the current version of the MA, custom Bosses *and* custom Elite Bosses will downscale to LTs if you play on heroic (custom AVs will downscale to EBs). This is different from the normal PvE game where Bosses will downscale to Lts, but EBs will generally stick to being EBs. Personally, I think they should have downscaled to Bosses not LTs, but this is an issue the devs have been wrestling with all beta long: custom critters just tend to be vastly stronger than normal PvE critters, and missions that the MA authors make that seem perfectly reasonable to them are often coming up practically impossible to defeat for many players due to skill, archetype, or build.

Plus, there was an additional phenomenon going on in closed beta: Elite-itis. Players went berserk making missions in which it seemed every other critter was an Elite Boss, or an AV. *Part* of the reason for that was that it was just fun for many of the beta testers to make really tough critters. *Part* of the reason was that EBs were originally bugged to do only minion-levels of damage.

So it was subtly very attractive to be loading up missions with really tough critters that didn't return fire *so* hard that they annihilated you instantly. But the devs became cogniscent that it was very likely many of the early MA authors might load up missions with really tough things, thinking it was better to err on the side of not looking like a pushover. The devs are using the "Heroic" setting as a safety valve for players that want to play such missions.

One reason this might be important is that without this safety valve, the devs might have been forced to avoid most or all of the mission arcs that had such critters in them in terms of awarding dev-choice awards: they couldn't be highlighting large numbers of missions that the vast majority of the playerbase couldn't complete. Those mission arcs are now completeable on heroic, and those players can still enjoy the story within them.

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A warning about this: if you make an objective "not-required" like a blinkie, if you want to chain another blinkie to it that blinkie must *also* be not-required. Chaining a required objective onto a non-required one generates an error (for obvious reasons).

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Ah yes, thanks for that addendum. Required objectives MUST be linked to other required objectives (or vice versa). Without this check, it was previously possible to create non-completable missions, which are no fun for the average player.

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Some quick questions on things I couldn't find:

Are cutscenes possible in the current iteration of the MA?

I can't find a "Kill X of Y" mission objective. I assume this is because the MA arcs are instanced out, and you're not actually doing them in the game itself, thus making street hunting impractical. I was thinking of getting around it by using a large outdoor map, populating it with many different types of enemies, and doing the Kill X there, but I can't seem to do that either.

Is it possible to make multi-part missions? The first mish for the arc I've got outlined would want to work like this:

1) Talk to contact
2) Kill X of Y. Final kill gives clue leading to
3) Door mish, need to kill boss and recover glowy.

Appreciate the closed beta folks here helping us out.

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SMASH!!! is all.
SMASH!!! is divine.
SMASH!!! is control.
SMASH!!! whips and chains our soul.

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Some quick questions on things I couldn't find:

Are cutscenes possible in the current iteration of the MA?

I can't find a "Kill X of Y" mission objective. I assume this is because the MA arcs are instanced out, and you're not actually doing them in the game itself, thus making street hunting impractical. I was thinking of getting around it by using a large outdoor map, populating it with many different types of enemies, and doing the Kill X there, but I can't seem to do that either.

Is it possible to make multi-part missions? The first mish for the arc I've got outlined would want to work like this:

1) Talk to contact
2) Kill X of Y. Final kill gives clue leading to
3) Door mish, need to kill boss and recover glowy.

Appreciate the closed beta folks here helping us out.

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I'm pretty sure it would take you two missions for this.

Mission 1: Talk to Contact, be sent to outdoor map populated with assorted groups. Mission Goal: Defeat all of X Group. Have Clue drop on final defeat.

Return to Contact

Mission 2: Indoor mish, Mission Goals: Defeat Boss and Find Clue

I haven't had the chance to play with this too much, myself. I'll delve into it a bit more tonight. I'll let you know if I figure out how to do what you are thinking of.

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New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)

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It seems you can't make basic mission objectives trigger from something happening - like having a find object objective trigger when you find another object (going from clue to clue).

Is there a way to do this, or can we just not do it?

[/ QUOTE ]
You can do this. Once you make your objectives, you can edit them to occur when certain conditions apply. For example, you can create an ambush to occur when a particular boss reaches 50% HP. Or, in order for that boss to appear at all, you can have him spawn when a certain click object in the mission is activated. Or have another clue spawn when the first clue is clicked.

The key is to create objectives in the mission first. Once they're set, you can go to the drop-down menu (can't remember the specific one off the top of my head), where you'll be able to select from other objectives, in order to create an event chain.

Two tips: try not to use chaining in every mission, and be careful how you use chaining. For example, it might be good to chain a clue near the front of the mission to spawn another clue near the middle or back, especially on bigger maps. No team wants to clear a map or ghost to a clue only to have to backtrack several times as each clue is clicked. Unless you like torturing players and/ or want low ratings

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do you create the event chain under each event - or someplace else?

I was able to chain some events but not others - I don't know why.

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You chain events under the objectives themselves. I could igve you more info, but I'm not online. Admittedly, I'm at work

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I'm pretty sure it would take you two missions for this.

Mission 1: Talk to Contact, be sent to outdoor map populated with assorted groups. Mission Goal: Defeat all of X Group. Have Clue drop on final defeat.

Return to Contact

Mission 2: Indoor mish, Mission Goals: Defeat Boss and Find Clue

I haven't had the chance to play with this too much, myself. I'll delve into it a bit more tonight. I'll let you know if I figure out how to do what you are thinking of.

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That sounds about right. Currently, there's no way to chain objectives to directly lead into another mission without first talking to the contact.

Also, no cutscenes in this version. AFAWK, it's a tricky system to program as a dev, and they haven't developed an easy-to-use interface for it yet. Wish list item.

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Here's a somewhat dumb question:

Where do I go to edit a contact's greeting text and "Ask about this contact" description?

*edit*
And there is no way to enable the standard test typing beeps in the Architect, is there?

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Here's a somewhat dumb question:

Where do I go to edit a contact's greeting text and "Ask about this contact" description?

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I do not believe contacts will talk about themselves: they will only talk about the missions they are giving out. You can set the text they will say during the mission, including for each mission's introduction, what they say when you complete the mission and go back to them, and what they will say if you talk to them in the middle of a mission (say you exit the mission before completion and decide to talk to the contact).

I don't think there is an "Ask about contact" option for dialog, at least not that I've seen.

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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.)

BTW, thanks for this FAQ, Arcana!

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I don't think there is an "Ask about contact" option for dialog, at least not that I've seen.

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Well, that's a serious disappointment. If custom contacts are just a pretty face, it sort of kills my most promising story idea. Any chance this will be changed?

-D

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Darkonne: Pinnacle's (unofficially) mighty Dark Miasma/Radiation Blast enthusiast!

Be sure to check out this mighty Arc:
#161865 - Aeon's Nemesis

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I don't think there is an "Ask about contact" option for dialog, at least not that I've seen.

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OK, THAT'S a serious oversight. As was said - if contacts will only be a pretty face, that's about half the story down the drain. It's two extra text fields that play only once. I'm significantly disappointed they're not present.

Here's another question - can I make a boss teleport away like, say, Professor Echo does when he's low on health? I can set him to run, but I can't seem to set him to disappear.

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Not currently possible. Can't even give them a teleport movement set yet.

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Story Arcs I created:

Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!

Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!

Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!

Too bad. Guess I'll have to settle for CLAIMING he teleported when he's defeated, like Echo used to do

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You can make them run at 1/2 or 1/4 health... >.>

Not quite the same

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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

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Gah, this filesize limit is really neutering all my plans. side note: Can different critters share the same name?
for example, 3 minions named "Bob" all with different costumes? or 3 minions named "Bob" all with different power sets?

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Yes, you can do this. On the Save screen, click on the button to change the save path and change the file name e.g. from "Bob" to "Bob Minion 1" and save it with the name you want them to share in the Name field. Edit it after saving, making any costume or power changes you want, then change the file name again "Bob Minion 2", and so on until you are done. In a mission, they will have the same name, but other stuff will be different.

I have found for best results with spawns, 4 minions, 3 Lts., and 2 bosses make for decent randomness. And leaves you room for AVs/EBs or allies.

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Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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Can I set up random trap things?

Say Stealth Trip Mines or Pop out Turrets? etc...


JJ

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I delete more 50s, then you'll ever have.
http://www.pandora.com/people/jjdemon

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Can I set up random trap things?

Say Stealth Trip Mines or Pop out Turrets? etc...


JJ

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Nope. But there are a couple of maps that have built-in things like turrets or sometimes even spawns. My guess is that the spawns themselves are bugs - things the devs forgot to remove. But the turrets, 50/50: those are probably bugs, but the devs might be convinced to let us keep them (re: RWZ outdoor map).

You'll have to make stealth critters instead.

---

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That sounds about right. Currently, there's no way to chain objectives to directly lead into another mission without first talking to the contact.

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Yeah, I'd figured that was wasn't yet possible, as I was pretty sure I went over everything with a fine-toothed comb and didn't see it. Means I'll just have to rejigger things around the limitations. I'm already redoing the second mish in the chain, changing the outline sketch which had a "deliver clue to NPC" component into a "you need to rescue the NPC who you were going to deliver the clue to, and along the way he/she will do the analysis".

Workarounds, workarounds.

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Also, no cutscenes in this version. AFAWK, it's a tricky system to program as a dev, and they haven't developed an easy-to-use interface for it yet. Wish list item.

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Again, I'd figured that was the case but just wanted to make sure. Means I'll have to revamp a lot of the planned dialogue and I'm not exactly sure how I'll do that yet...maybe end up having NPCs in the missions.

Anyways, thanks again for the help from folks in the thread. And Lightfoot, I'm gonna start playing around with your suggestions shortly. I think that might just work.

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SMASH!!! is all.
SMASH!!! is divine.
SMASH!!! is control.
SMASH!!! whips and chains our soul.

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In the current version of the MA, custom Bosses *and* custom Elite Bosses will downscale to LTs if you play on heroic (custom AVs will downscale to EBs). This is different from the normal PvE game where Bosses will downscale to Lts, but EBs will generally stick to being EBs. Personally, I think they should have downscaled to Bosses not LTs, but this is an issue the devs have been wrestling with all beta long: custom critters just tend to be vastly stronger than normal PvE critters, and missions that the MA authors make that seem perfectly reasonable to them are often coming up practically impossible to defeat for many players due to skill, archetype, or build.

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This is very good thinking on the devs part (whether they scale to LTs or bosses).

If we truly want an enemy to be nothing less than an EB, we can make the AVs. Otherwise, having it scale down for solo/small group is a good thing.

This is the first time I've toyed with the idea of setting up the test server; I usually wait until it goes live to experience new issues. But I *really* want to get my hands on the MA.

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do you create the event chain under each event - or someplace else?

I was able to chain some events but not others - I don't know why.

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The specific problem you're experiencing is that you currently can't chain a collection detail on to anything. To my knowledge, that and "Defeat all" are the only details you can't chain.

You can chain things on to them, they just can't be chained.

I would love to be able to chain collection details, though.

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bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner-
ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenth ur-
nuk!

Here's another question:

Can I make a mission that doesn't spawn anything until you trigger some kind of event, like the trap for Nocturne in the Faultline Dam, and if so, how do I achieve that? I don't seem to have any control over regular spawns, other than saying what enemy group they are.

And another question:

Why does it seem like my missions are MASSIVELY more populated than regular contact missions? Seems like there will routinely be two 6-minion spawns overlapping with each other in a small corridor or intersection (warehouse), leading to some nasty encounters that I hadn't intended.

And another question still:

Is there any way to determine what static spawns are doing when they spawn? On regular missions, Nemesis soldiers will spawn crouching, Council soldiers will be sitting on crates, Freakshow will be dancing to boomboxes, etc. On mine, they spawn in packs huddled together, punching their fists or looking around.

Similarly, are boss and entourage animations not working properly? I set my boss to "Extracting Soul" and his minions to "Shotgun (Lookout)." What actually happened was the Boss was cycling "pinching fist" and "taunt" over and over rapidly, like half a second each, and his entourage, while they WERE holding their shotguns, we jittering and playing only something like 10% of their idle animation before looping back to the start.

While it's not necessarily bad, a bit of a finer control would certainly allow me to make my missions more interesting.

Final question:

I've seen I can give bosses starting animations that are part of a two-character combo, like punching/getting punched. I can spawn more bosses in a spawn, it seems, but how can I make them interact with each other?

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Can I make a mission that doesn't spawn anything until you trigger some kind of event, like the trap for Nocturne in the Faultline Dam, and if so, how do I achieve that? I don't seem to have any control over regular spawns, other than saying what enemy group they are.

[/ QUOTE ]No. Ambushes take up spawn points, but you're capped at 3 ambushes and you're going to have more than 3 spawn points.

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Why does it seem like my missions are MASSIVELY more populated than regular contact missions? Seems like there will routinely be two 6-minion spawns overlapping with each other in a small corridor or intersection (warehouse), leading to some nasty encounters that I hadn't intended.

[/ QUOTE ]Weren't the spawn points re-done for MA? It could be that they are in fact closer.

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Is there any way to determine what static spawns are doing when they spawn? On regular missions, Nemesis soldiers will spawn crouching, Council soldiers will be sitting on crates, Freakshow will be dancing to boomboxes, etc. On mine, they spawn in packs huddled together, punching their fists or looking around.

[/ QUOTE ]None that I know of

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Similarly, are boss and entourage animations not working properly? I set my boss to "Extracting Soul" and his minions to "Shotgun (Lookout)." What actually happened was the Boss was cycling "pinching fist" and "taunt" over and over rapidly, like half a second each, and his entourage, while they WERE holding their shotguns, we jittering and playing only something like 10% of their idle animation before looping back to the start.

[/ QUOTE ]Many spawns do that hyperfast cycling, seems to be a general bug. The boss in question may not be able to do the animation you wanted, so reverted to "default"

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I've seen I can give bosses starting animations that are part of a two-character combo, like punching/getting punched. I can spawn more bosses in a spawn, it seems, but how can I make them interact with each other?

[/ QUOTE ]No idea

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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt