City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Arc #14788 "Childhood Horrors"

airhead

By airhead,
Posted on: 2009-03-23 22:09 in Mission Architect

 

Posted

My first attempt at a story-arc is now complete and waiting for anyone who wants to find out more about what a Superhero's childhood may be like.

Arc Name: Childhood Horrors
Arc ID: 14788
Faction: Council, Arachnos, Custom
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Mantis Sapien / LordXenite
Difficulty Level: Easy
Synopsis: Discover how growing up surrounded by Superheroes and Supervillains can affect the mind of a child...
Estimated Time to Play: Anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!

Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati

 

Posted

The Arc is in the process of going major fixes due to an odd bug that would spawn the last mission's ally without her enemy-group around her (or get them mysteriously killed) and therefore render her an uncompletable goal.

I'm also planning to re-visit the story itself and perhaps even add either more goals, or perhaps even more missions.

I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!

Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati

 

Posted

OK... so after some comments and feedback, I re-balanced those pesky carrot eating mind-controlling creatures of the dark to no longer be too much of a pain...

The story remains untouched (almost) but the last mission is a bit more focused (I hope).

Please continue to test and comment on your findings, however, I would like (if possible) to receive comments through email or on the forum rather than simple in-game tells.

Enjoy!

I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!

Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati

 

Posted

I played this adventure. It is extremely well written and you'll find yourself well into it when the big "Surprise" hits you. I actually ran into some sort of bug after playing it for a while and being unable to continue but I think Lord Xenite probably has that worked out.

Classic Dungeon Crawl Arc ID: 2232-"A satirical look at your average dungeon"
Down the Rabbit Hole Arc IDs: 24346 24397-"Rescue a little girl from an insidious dream invader."

 

Posted

I have updated the Arc to include a secret objective in the last mission for those who find the last Boss fight too difficult. Please re-test the Arc if you've enjoyed it in the past, and send feedback, especially if its too easy.

I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!

Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati

 

Posted

Just played through this arc. The attention to atmosphere, consistent story and the sophisticated navigation updates make the combat flow along very smoothly. Often the Phalanx-related stories are hard to immerse into, but Xenite has done a wonderful job of making it all make sense and giving you a "realistic" purpose. No spoilers from me, I'm still creeped out.

I found this through a chat channel. I'd seen the cool poster, but didn't make the connection that the mish I was in, was this one! (duh). Thanks Xenite!


Arc: 379017: Outbroken See all your old friends in the Outbreak Tutorial sequel!
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Posted

I hereby endorse this arc! o.ob Very fun!

 

Posted

Just logged in to find this private message: "Feedback on Architect Mission Childhood Horrors: Nice story, excelleent arc to play. Well told throughout, good choice of bad guys and maps, the final mish was great, good fights and getting to see states as 'the giver of bunnies' was priceless - bravo."

You've made my day @Beanstalk1.

I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!

Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati

 

Posted

@GlaziusF

Arcing away on a level 40 DB/Fire brute, since Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself.

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Hmm. I'm not sure why Ms. Liberty is trying to use "setting a bad example" as a crowbar here. I mean, heroes free innocent civilians from being kidnapped all the time, and usually they don't even get anything out of it.

Herbert's lame little explanation could actually work out if this is one of those Council bases built into a secret entrance in like a supermarket or something. "But I was just looking for the men's room!"

Hmm. The clues mention a particular Council guy and act like I'm supposed to know who he is, but I've never heard of him before. Maybe he's written his name into the comments of the files in appropriately self-aggrandizing language?

I wonder where he's going to show up and then I remember the winding tunnels at the beginning of the map - which are really terrible for immobile snipers. His sniper status also actually makes the overall fight harder since my splash AoEs clearing out his troops are enough for him to summon help.

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Positron needs backup? But all that stuff is grey to him. No XP.

Ah, Lord Recluse got some of the boys from the old neighborhood to help kick off his latest invasion.

Hmm. Or not. The Arachnos are still talking about an Overseer.

...agh. I cleared out this entire map (no joke) looking for Posi, and finally found him under a ramp in one of the construction yards, tucked away in the corner.

Chaining objectives on an outdoor map like this is really just frustrating. I had to crisscross an empty map three times to find everything out.

...and my contact's mind is going, Dave, she can feel it, but the hologram's still here. I guess I can buy that, but there are lots of Vindicators other than Ms. Liberty.

Also apparently it was Lord Recluse all along? I can buy him using an alias to talk to the Council but his own troops should call him by name.

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And now apparently the whole Freedom Phalanx are getting in on the hologram. I can understand what you're trying for, but there are probably better ways. Like making the contact your mission computer or something.

Speaking of mission computers, don't the Vindicators have a rez ring in their base? Why was Ms. Liberty using the public medicoms?

o/` And there's a creepy doll
That always follows you
It's got a ruined eye
That's always open... o/`

Heh! Okay, this bit of backtracking I don't mind.

But should the enemies really have such detailed information about them? I mean, I come into this having no freakin' clue.

Also Miss Sis Psyche tells me I have to find two objects but the HUD says six. I guess they're all fractured up...

The "allies" who are set to wander say their "you lost me" text and "you found me" text essentially at random, which is kinda atomospheric but also a bit bizarre, since Psyche wandered pretty close to the boss room and I didn't see her say goodbye until the middle of the fight.

And now I... what? That's it? Two missions of setup to one mission of payoff? I was expecting something a little more, especially since the description mentions "every hero in Paragon".

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Storyline - ***. Aside from the thing about Ms. Liberty using the public hospital network, there wasn't much off with the story. But it felt like it was going somewhere and then it stopped. Like, another mission deeper into Ms. Liberty's subconscious, or maybe a trip into the collective unconsciousness of every hero who fell victim to this plan, with the custom group running rampant.

Design - ****. Aside from the awkwardness with ally dialogue in the last mission, this used most of the features of the MA pretty well. I wonder if the custom group should more closely mimic the Vampyr's powers - DM/regen and MA/regen, maybe?

Gameplay - ***. The real deal-breaker here was backtracking across an empty overworld map multiple times in search of objectives. I'm not sure what to say about that, or if everything being around makes sense from the start.

Detail - ***. The descriptions mentioning the details about something crazy I'd never seen before didn't make a lot of sense, and the arc overall has persistent issues with run-on sentences that make it tough to separate ideas. New idea, new sentence.

Overall - ***. An interesting concept that ends too early for my liking, with a rather exasperating backtrack-fest in the middle.

Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?

My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)