Due to that attitude, tempted to start a review thread for people that make arcs that are more challenging than "OMG U [sic] USED HELLION[s] THERE [sic] TO [sic] HAARD [sic]!!1 [sic] 1 [sic] 1 [sic] !!!1 [sic] !!"
Not that I'm interested in "lolAVfaction ambush vers. 2" but stuff that is actually say, on the lines of the STF or LRSF (which are a little easy for what I'm saying but hey...when you can raid the MS with 5 people...). Content with teeth, as it were.
Blue: ~Knockback Squad on Guardian~
Red: ~Undoing of Virtue on [3 guesses]~
can you make ambushes like the old ninja mission?
Theres a hilarious mish called The Pickup-Group from Heck or something. One of the allies, when rescued, says Phones ringing. AFK. Then the character just stands there, ignoring all of the fighting, for some period of time, and then starts following you. Its as if there was an emote called Stand still for 90 seconds. Anyone know how he accomplished this?
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I agree.... some kind of offical style guide from the devs would be awesome and help us add a lot of much needed polish.
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Originally Posted by Vardra
Something I'd like to see is a simple guide to getting colored text in the mission descriptions - what the html codes are, and what colors are used by the default game for things like "This is an objective", or "Warning, this mission may be a bit difficult."
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Erm, there is an option to have those objects fade in when they are created. If you choose to not have them fade in, they are there all the time. They just dont blink.|
Originally Posted by Mandu
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I'm a big fan of chained objectives. For example in one of my missions you have to get the "code" to open a computerized vault. The code is retrieved by kidnapping a hostage (i.e a rescue) that then spawns the glowie (a safe). Of course opening the safe spawns the end boss. It's a nice way to control the story events somewhat. Thus keeping people from skipping through the mission and heading straight for the end boss. [/ QUOTE ] I hate this type of chained objective if it's not done the right way. Not because it's a terrible thing overall but because it kills my immersion. I've been through a room or hallway before and there was nothing there. Then I kidnap somebody and suddenly I notice a huge obelisk or tech doodad sitting in the middle of the floor. Now I have actually used this kind of chain in a mission I'm working on but I made it a whiteboard in an office map. That way it's something that somebody might legitimately overlooked on their first time through. Other examples would be file cabinets or trashcans or else crates in warehouse maps. I suppose a safe would be reasonable too if it were some kind of wall safe. |
You can put some info into their description for those curious on why they cant interact with something they found yet, e.g. "You need the codes to open this safe."
As for the door ambushes, you should be able to have them take a while by assuring that all front (and maybe middle depending on the map) spawn points where ambushes can go are occupied when you enter the mission - it should spawn further away then and take a while till it gets to the door.
The player's character is undercover with a bunch of Arachnos, and they're about to go rob a bank. That means that the security guards are Enemy, and Arachnos are Ally. But what if the PC's job is to betray the Arachnos guys? That means that the Allies have to become Enemies and vice versa. Is there any way to simulate that?
Here's a modified version: the PC clicks a glowing phone and call in the police. Maybe the security guards are still Enemies, but the police have to be Allies to the PC and the guards, and Enemies to Arachnos. Is that possible?
(I'm halfway to a workaround. Calling in the police can also call in a new patrol of Ally guards and Enemy Arachnos, and you can just pretend that they were told of the situation before they got there. This still doesn't solve the problem of the original guards who are still shooting you.)
Great idea, this.
I'm working on a new story, finally, re-using my Satyrs group, only this time the Satyrs are working with high level "Warriors".
I had level non-overlap issues with standard Warriors, so I chose instead to make my Elite Warriors out of recolored Battle Maiden and Marauder mobs.
Other useful mobs are Nemesis Automatons, who get turned into friendly patrols of "Concerned Citizens".
Friendly Boss encounters are a good way to add flavor texts. You can set a character to perform a repeating animation and say a flavor text when approached. I have a mixture of those texts and single hostage rescues to add non-combat flavor text; there is only one combat in the first mission.
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I know this thread is age old, but a hot door sounds like a lot of fun to me. Might just want to do what the developers do and leave a little warning text in the mission accept dialogue like "Be careful, this villain is known to be very viligilant, and the door *may* be guarded."
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Originally Posted by Gnaythan
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I'm a big fan of chained objectives. For example in one of my missions you have to get the "code" to open a computerized vault. The code is retrieved by kidnapping a hostage (i.e a rescue) that then spawns the glowie (a safe). Of course opening the safe spawns the end boss. It's a nice way to control the story events somewhat. Thus keeping people from skipping through the mission and heading straight for the end boss. [/ QUOTE ] I hate this type of chained objective if it's not done the right way. Not because it's a terrible thing overall but because it kills my immersion. I've been through a room or hallway before and there was nothing there. Then I kidnap somebody and suddenly I notice a huge obelisk or tech doodad sitting in the middle of the floor. Now I have actually used this kind of chain in a mission I'm working on but I made it a whiteboard in an office map. That way it's something that somebody might legitimately overlooked on their first time through. Other examples would be file cabinets or trashcans or else crates in warehouse maps. I suppose a safe would be reasonable too if it were some kind of wall safe. [/ QUOTE ] I avoid these sort of things as much as possible. If we had locked doors it could be easier to make it work right as then you could prevent the "I just searched this room, where did those destructables all come from?" syndrome. The only time it works is when the spawns are enemies and you can write that they came in after you did. But if the objective chaining causes me to run back and forth across the map over and over, then it's just plain annoying and not "clever" at all. [/ QUOTE ] hmmm, learning a lot here. First.. I was all proud of my hot door trick, till I found out some people hate it.... now when I start taking notes on another thing I like, turns out there are people who loathe that too.... I'll look at changing the hot door. after all, if people dislike it enough to call it a dick thing to do... I'd better rethink. In Dorothy... I have a floating eyeball that is labeled "Poorly designed giant head". Defeating it spawns the wizard somewhere else. What I really want is for the wizard to spawn right there in same location. it's an outdoor map... any advice? |
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I've been experimenting with tests, and you can use the same trick to make a board completely free of anything. Here's the trick:|
Originally Posted by Mandu
Something I've used is a technique for making an entire map free of enemies. Loading the maximum number of destructible objects with no guards can take up all the available enemy space.
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Let's say you have a map with 25 spawn points. You want it completely free, except for the main objective (ex. kill the boss).
Obj a- kill the boss (back) - required
Obj b- destructable object (front) - not required - appears when boss is killed.
obj c - 23+ (max amount) destructable objects (any) - not required. appears when obj b is completed.
This way, you have a free space. Of course, you can also add as many other things (for example, patrols), in case you want SOME enemies.
Still not sure how to have objects appear without flashing though... am I missing a button?
Edit: I see... you can make 'Collect' glows remain partially hidden, but you have to have destructs either spawn at the start, or drop. How inconvient.
However, I came up with another neat trick: Optional Henchmen! When testing an outdoor mission on my own, the number of villians were INSANE. When testing it with several others, though, they said that there wasn't ENOUGH (I'd still disagree, but he's entitled to his opinion.)
So, I set up 5 objects (wine jugs) on the level (non-objective), and linked each to a Mid-heavy ambush. The contact gave a warning at the start ("don't touch the bottles unless you're looking for a fight"), and had, as the item is activated, "you shouldn't touch other people's things..."
When the ambush shows up, they yell "hey, hands off!", and fight. For a weak/cowardly player, it takes 5 spawn points off the board, making it easier (or however many you want to add). For the curious player, he/she'll click on one, be hit with a lot of guys, and most likely not do it again. The aggressive player can hit every one, triggering baddies to their heart's content!
(Of course, I dediced not to do the same thing in the same mission, which DOES have objects to click/destroy as the main objective... no sense confusing people with a ton of glowing objects around...)
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Originally Posted by ShawnVW
(I'm halfway to a workaround. Calling in the police can also call in a new patrol of Ally guards and Enemy Arachnos, and you can just pretend that they were told of the situation before they got there. This still doesn't solve the problem of the original guards who are still shooting you.)
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If it's a tiny/small level, you could add a "Destroy all enemies" in the objective... that way, they'd be focused on wiping out all of the Security before the plot twist... just an idea.
For those who want an empty map, you can now MAKE it an empty map. Just set your enemy group to EMPTY, and voila - abandoned map. I used that in mission #3 of "For All the Wrong Reasons...", where *spoilers* you lure Anti-Matter to an abandoned lab, and summon him in by activating a beacon. He (and his minions) spawn onto the map, and now it's just you and him (and his minions).
Michelle
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THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
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MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
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Ahh, thanks for the excellent tip! I really like this one, can't believe I didn't notice the Empty enemy group before.|
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
For those who want an empty map, you can now MAKE it an empty map. Just set your enemy group to EMPTY, and voila - abandoned map. I used that in mission #3 of "For All the Wrong Reasons...", where *spoilers* you lure Anti-Matter to an abandoned lab, and summon him in by activating a beacon. He (and his minions) spawn onto the map, and now it's just you and him (and his minions).
Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite |
On a side note, I can't seem to get the Hot Door trick to work. It just won't spawn the captives. I tried going in Test and teleporting to objectives. they just never appear.
Edit:- and the mission enemy group was not set to empty for the hot door attempts
New question: is there any sign that enemies with the Grant Cover power are actually using it? I have an encounter in one of my missions where a group of "bodyguard" enemies with this power (from the Shield Defense set) are supposed to use it to protect a debuffer-type boss.
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If someone could shed some light on this, it'd be greatly appreciated. I've got a defendable object that once destroyed by its attending party, I'd like to spawn a massive string of ambushes.
How do I make a massive ambush since I can only link to the defendable object destroyed trigger once?
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Far as I know and have read, there isn't one. The closest you could come would to be to have said object spawn a boss and have him spawn an ambush every time his health drops by the quarterly increments (3/4 health, 1/2 health, and so on). |
Originally Posted by Sentinel_Queen
If someone could shed some light on this, it'd be greatly appreciated. I've got a defendable object that once destroyed by its attending party, I'd like to spawn a massive string of ambushes.
How do I make a massive ambush since I can only link to the defendable object destroyed trigger once? |
At least I think that's doable - I haven't felt the need to try it yet.
Thanks for the reply. I know it's possible based on the number of AE missions that spawn more than 6 stacked defendable objects to somehow beat the 6-ambush-limit in AE.
Those missions are INCREDIBLY fun/challenging/deadly.
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You could try using an Arachnos Soldier with Surveillance and checking their combat attributes for the buff.
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Originally Posted by Olantern
New question: is there any sign that enemies with the Grant Cover power are actually using it? I have an encounter in one of my missions where a group of "bodyguard" enemies with this power (from the Shield Defense set) are supposed to use it to protect a debuffer-type boss.
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~union4lyfe~
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Set a "free a captive" to single only, and tie an ambush to him... and you get a "Hot Door" (ambush that hits the second the players zone in)
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This should really be in the second section, i.e. don't do this. People with long load times could very well zone into the mission dead.
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It sounds like the OP wants their arc to be 1-stared by ragequitting Mastermind players.
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Heh, it's in "scary things 201596"... and in the very first mission. Minion level mechanical spiders from the Arachnos set attack... Even a soloing mastermind should be be able to get some defenses up long before they take you down. A full team will face a wall of these things.... but even still... more scary than lethal. Which was my intent. This ambush stays.... still trying to tweak the second mission though, so the zombie little girls aren't quite as tough
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Don't expect good ratings...
...I do think zone-in ambushes are a good idea in some circumstances...but only when used for the purposes of story development and only with easily defeated mobs.