December Player Choice Awards: Customs [img warning]
By
ArrowRose,
Posted on: 2009-11-30 21:20 in Mission Architect
AAIIEEE! I have an arc that's about two-thrids done right now with a custom group of foes I'm pretty proud of - I need to get off my duff and finish it (and them) so I can enter!
(It is actually already published (taking tickets during all those test runs is always fun), but I wouldn't want someone to think I'm advocating they play it before I have it "just so"...
Thanks for giving me a kick in the pants to get working. 
Now this I can really get behind.
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So what's up with this rule?
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Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
Best Custom Group
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A Penny For Your Thoughts #348691 <- Dev's Choice'd by Dr. Aeon!
Submit your MA arc for review & my arcs thread
Can the custom groups be ones that use custom standard enemies?
To the Fraps!
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I ran into the problem last time that at least a couple of the finalists are no longer active players. Also, many of the nominees weren't even aware of the contest until very late in the process (which I take responsibility for). But there is still the other category for the single character that you can nominate from any arc(s).|
Originally Posted by Tangler
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Originally Posted by OzzieArcane
Can the custom groups be ones that use custom standard enemies?
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Doesn't Player's Choice imply that the arcs are chosen by the players? Not by the authors? Aren't there better ways to eliminate arcs by inactive authors without also eliminating arcs by authors who just aren't active in these forums?
What if I don't have an arc with a custom group that I would like to enter? What if I think another author has created a wonderful custom group that should be recognized? Shouldn't I be able to give this author some kudos?
I would also suggest that screenshots of the custom group are far less important than actually playing through the arc in question and seeing how well-balanced and fun to fight the group is.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
I like sticking with Player's Choice because of the voting process. The players choose the winners. I plan on continuing this from month to month, with different categories and different nomination processes each month (unless I come across something I like the best). Also: I greatly encourage everyone to play through as many arcs as possible, that's really what the whole point of this is. But this time around, I want to keep things different and interesting. If you know of a great custom group that you'd like to nominate, contact the author and convince them to enter. Show your support for them in this thread, nominate a character from the arc. Good luck to everyone, and remember to have fun!
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Then tell that author to get their butt in here and to submit their group. If they can't be bothered to do so then so what?|
Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
What if I don't have an arc with a custom group that I would like to enter? What if I think another author has created a wonderful custom group that should be recognized? Shouldn't I be able to give this author some kudos?
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Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
I would also suggest that screenshots of the custom group are far less important than actually playing through the arc in question and seeing how well-balanced and fun to fight the group is.
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Fine, get your butt in here and submit your group
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
Custom Group: The Lost Choir
Found in: The Lost Choir parts 1(mission 5) and 2(all missions). (ID: 123675 and 136959).
Keywords: Challenging, Balanced.
Description: All gods have servants, usually known as angels. But when a god dies, their servants are left stranded in the vastness of the universe. Such was the case with Thellos, the Rikti God-Mother. When the Rikti starved her of faith, she lapsed into a deep sleep, leaving her choir of angelic servants with no direction. Unfortunately they were found by a malevolent, hyperdimensional entity known as Xhantranos, who took control of them, warped them into bizarre new forms, and sent them ahead of him to scout for new universes for him to devour.
B'nai Elohim. Minion. Psy Blast/Empathy
Melakh Adonai. Minion. Sonic Blast/Sonic Resonance
Melakh Elohim. Minion. Broadsword/Shield
Cheribum. Lieutenant. Battle Axe/Willpower
Ophanim. Lieutenant. Gravity Control/Forcefield
Seraphim. Boss. Psy Blast/Fire Armor
Nephilim. Arch Villain. Fire Melee/Fire Armor
Nagan Hegemony
The Nagan Hegemony is a group of technologically advanced aliens originating from the Beta Hydri system. Earth originally caught their attention due to two things: a large population of super-powered beings that they considered worthy of battle and the trans-dimensional portal technology that had eluded their scientists for so long. However, their exposure to human culture has had a profound effect on their younger members, who have quickly taken to assimilating various aspects of it. Having a skewed concept of what Earth was like, due to much intelligence being derived from satellite television signals, may be partly to blame for this. They especially love human junk food. The Nagans are a diverse group featuring a wide variety of weapons and powers both defensive and offensive. They are loosely arranged into five groups: the Fists (Powerfists, Shockfists), the Hunters (Brawlers, Archers, Jaegers), the Skirmishers (Talons, Duelists, Assassins, Samurai, Phalanxers), the Engineers (Robotisists, Technicians, Engineers), and the Combat Scientists (Entropists, Radiologists, Gravitists, Incinerators, Psionisists). The group contains a total of 6 minions, 7 lieutenants, 4 bosses, and 1 archvillain. The leader of this expedition to Earth is Naga Obscura, who has been posing as a supervillain for years.
Key words: Challenging, Balanced
Nagans can be found in the following arcs:
Arc 3326: The Portal Bandits - All missions as enemies.
Arc 254599: Of Futures Past - 1st mission as allies.
Arc 296884: A Show of Hands - Missions 3 and 4 as enemies.
Arc 347029: Breaking The Barrier (And Putting It Back Together) - Missions 1 and 2 as enemies; missions 3, 4 and 5 as allies.
Left to right: Duelist, Phalanx, Powerfist, Roboticist, Radiologist
A Powerfist, Entropist, and Brawler pursue a fleeing Crey Scorpion Tank.
Donut break!
Front center: Naga Obscura
Left to right: Technician Suziku and a fellow Roboticist
Nagan Engineers don't believe in fair fights.
Visible to the right: a rare Nagan Assassin.
Happiness is an army of lizardgirl minions helping you beat up Dr. Aeon.
Left to right: Gravitist, Roboticist, Jaeger, Radiologist, Powerfist.
Battles with Nagans are always colorful affairs.
Custom Group : The Satyrs
Arc # 12647: Tales of Cimerora, volume 1 : Of feathers and fur...
As a big fan of mythology and of Cimerora in the game, I saw the AE as a way to enrich the lore and the bestiary of that particular zone. The two arcs I have designed so far are attempts in that direction. (A total of 4 arcs will be devoted to Cimerora. The other two are being worked on).
The first arc contains my interpretation of what Satyrs would be like if they were present in Cimerora. The arc was created in I14's beta and "The satyrs" was my first custom group!
If you want to know more about them and the many others, please feel free to play my arcs! 
Satyr (Minion class)
Satyr Huntsmaster (LT class)
Satyr Sorcerer (Boss Class)
Lurco (Elite Boss)
The Satyr-Lord (Elite Boss)
[COLOR=darkorchid]Nebulhym's AE Arcs: Try them now![/COLOR]
# 12647: Of feathers and fur...[COLOR=yellow]Winner of [B]The American Legion[/B]'s January 2011 AE Author Contest![/COLOR]
# 292389: From Tartarus with love...
# 459592: Interdimensional Headache
Paparazzi from Celebrity Kidnapping (arc id 1388)
Smile!
Get the scoop!
@PW - Police Woman (50 AR/dev blaster on Liberty)
TALOS - PW war journal - alternate contact tree using MA story arcs
=VICE= "Give me Liberty, or give me debt!"
Custom Group : The Wannabes
Trademark Infringement, Arc ID: 2220
Description: We all know villains are not a very creative lot. Take over the world; pull the moon out of orbit....yada, yada, yada. Some heroes are no better. It's no big surprise that the Paragon City trademark lawyers are kept very busy. I think you know the type the lawyers are concerned with; you see them running around Paragon after every new superhero movie release. We have all seen a Spider Guy, Wonder Girl or just a bunch of mostly naked blue men suddenly appearing around Atlas. Well, now they have a group they can call their ownÂ…introducing The Wannabes!
Keywords: Fun, Comedy
Edit - I just wanted to mention that I did not want to give away names or origins for these guys since much of the humor comes from it.
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Man, how did you get all those customs into one arc, WN? There's so much variety!
Astoria in D Minor, a horror arc. Arc ID: 41565 - The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts. Arc ID: 170547 - Ignition of the Machine, a story with robots. Arc ID: 318983
Captain Skylark Shadowfancy and the Tomorrownauts of Today. Arc ID: 337333 - Signal:Noise, where is everybody? Arc ID: 341194
@The Cheshire Cat - Isn't it enough to know I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
12 second horror stories - a writing experiment.
Captain Skylark Shadowfancy and the Tomorrownauts of Today. Arc ID: 337333 - Signal:Noise, where is everybody? Arc ID: 341194
@The Cheshire Cat - Isn't it enough to know I ruined a pony making a gift for you?
12 second horror stories - a writing experiment.
Not hard when it's only a single mission.
Matchstick Women #3369
These women are sought out and recruited by a mysterious cult leader named Emily Metzer. Young girls and women who might just be showing signs of their affinity for fire talents are promised a place where they belong, with others like them. But once there they are in for a bigger surprise. They are subject to horrible trials that are supposed to bring their powers to the fullest potential, but leave them burned and scarred, unable to return to a normal life.
Keywords: Themed, Detailed backstory
Initiating a new recruit within the ring of fire
Hanging out at basecamp
Fire in the distance
Their leader
The healer, watch out for them!
Custom Group: The Anti Liberty League
Found in: In Pursuit of Liberty (ID 344916) - They apear in all missions but are featured in 2 and 5
Description: These followers of MAL are twisted souls who will do anything in their power to ensure that the citizens of Paragon are not able to live out their lives enjoying freedom and liberty.
Keywords:
Themed: Because each pursued his or her dark side which led them to become Followers, all bear the same chest and cape symbol and all fight for the same evil cause.
Balanced: Thanks to changes I made due to input from many reviewers.
MAL: Master Al, also known as MAL or the MASTER is the mastermind behind the Anti Liberty League. He is pure evil and will stop at nothing to destroy freedom and liberty in Paragon. Albert Hawkenstien, started out life as a child genius who was constantly mocked for not fitting in. He felt powerless, and out of control, and he hated feeling that way. First, he used his intelligence to create his bots. He loved the feeling of control that gave him. As he grew older, he recruited his Followers, and became a true MASTER. Finally, he had the control he so badly wanted.
Fern Fatale: This evil villainess is one of MAL's greatest allies and possesses amazing plant-like powers. She is the leader of The Evil Garden Dwellers, and is an elite covert member of the Anti Liberty League.
Fearsome Follower: Fearsome Followers have a strange ability to inspire fear in all they meet. As children, they were bullies who pursued the feeling of power they got from making the weak fear them. These bullies are recruited, and after extensive training they become Fearsome Followers.
The Feline Follower: Feline Followers have cat-like powers and are in many ways more feline than human. They are selected from girls who pursue all things feline with a passion and who exhibit that certain cat-like aloofness that sets them apart from their peers. They are implanted with deadly sharp claws, and after extensive training they become Feline Followers. They are especially deadly because their cat-like looks distract many of their male adversaries.
Fatal Follower: Fatal Followers are skilled in all forms of combat. The darkest of souls are chosen from youths who devote their energy to pursuing martial arts championships. This darkness is focused, and after extensive training they become Fatal Followers.
Fiery Follower: Fiery Followers have fire powers and a fiery passion to kill. They are selected from children who have a fascination with fire, and who constantly pursue new ways to start them. These pyromaniacs are recruited and given extraordinary abilities to control and start fires. After extensive training, they become Fiery Followers.
Frozen Follower: Frozen Followers have mysterious ice control powers. They are selected from girls who are exceptionally selfish and cold-hearted. This cold-hearted selfishness is channeled into a hatred of the forces of good. These females are instilled with deadly ice powers that almost, but not quite match the coldness of their hearts. After extensive training, they become Frozen Followers.
The evil villains in action!
Author's NOTE: I want to thank all those who reviewed my initial version of this arc. I made many changes based on all the feedback I was given and republished it with a new arc number. The most notable update is that I changed my contact from Ms. Liberty to a custom Mendor. If anyone replays this arc, I would love feedback on whether the new contact works better.
Special thanks to Wrong Number for answering my endless questions as to how to get images posted on the forum!
@Gypsy Rose
In Pursuit of Liberty - 344916
The Vigilante - 395861
Suppression - 374481 - Winner of The American Legion's February 2011 AE Author Contest
I've received some positive feedback on the custom enemies in my arc, so I thought I'd jump in with them, as well. You may recognize the inspiration for some of them.
Custom Group: Weaponized Toys
The Toy Box
Arc # 132772
The concept is that apparently villains dressed as toys are committing crimes... but then there's a bit of a twist.
There are more custom bosses than these, but this group of 10 screenshots gives a pretty decent sample. (I probably shouldn't have used my tallest character to get the screenshots, but he's a Tank and therefore able to just stand there and take punishment without concern as I get the best shot.)
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
Best Character Nominee
Name - K-10
Appearances - Old Dog, New Trick Arc 81318, Mission 3 (Ally)
K-10's Origin
K-10 fighting his arch rival Junkyard Dog
K-10 standing tall
WN
Check out one of my most recent arcs:
457506 - A Very Special Episode - An abandoned TV, a missing kid's TV show host and more
416951 - The Ms. Manners Task Force - More wacky villains, Wannabes. things in poor taste
or one of my other arcs including two 2010 Player's Choice Winners and an2009 Official AE Awards Nominee for Best Original Story
Group: Big Evil
Arcs: #250480 BE Prologue: Gangs United (They appear in every mission though it is a weaker variation of the group), #340274 Evil is Thicker Than Water (All but one mission), #348697 The Night Big Evil Stole Christmas (Both missions)
Keywords: Homage, Themed
Description: I tried to make a group that could work as somewhat a homage to villains like Cobra and Big Fire but also feel like they could believably exist in the CoX world. So I made them a group of villains that originally split off from the Council before recruiting former 5th Column and others. This choice was also because it's easier to make balanced enemies using existing enemies and they have the military feel I wanted. They also have demons summoned by their magicians and werewolves created by their scientists.
Demon Ninjas are the only non standard enemy that appears as more then a unique boss. They're regular boss enemies for the group. They are the product of both magic and science.
Dr. Zero a member of Big Evil's elite Malevolent Ten. He has the ability to control ice using his gauntlets.
Human Succubus another member of their elite. She behaves much like an actual Succubus using her mind control powers to spread evil through the world.
For my nomination of best character, I decided to go with a less-than-serious one, so I present to you...
Fritz, Your AE Representative from my arc A.E.'s Premium Quality Mission: "guaranteed qualityyyLOADING ERROR 0.000459 Arc ID#: 101165
Behold him in all his glory!
His bio reads "Hello and welcome to the A.E.'s Premium Quality Mission Content sales floor! My name is Fritz and I'll be your A.E. representative for today, how may I help you?" He's the contact for the story arc and shows up in the last mission as a hostage who needs rescuing as well.
He's not as battle-hardened of course as a real hero or villain... here he is, overcome by fear, short-circuiting one of my robots. A.E. was nice enough to pick up the repair bill on that for me.
"Can I please go now?" Poor guy just wasn't cut out for this kind of life I guess...
My nomination for Best Character is Ms. Manners. She appears in 2220 Trademark Infringement and 259920 In Poor Taste as your contact and in the latter as an ally in mission three.
Ms. Manners with bio:
Ms. Manners trying to reform some hooligans:
Ms. Manners as contact:
Jail.Bird
That's right kids. You liked it so much that I couldn't wait until next year to have another run through. But I'm not crazy enough to go though such a huge list like last time, so I'm limiting it to much fewer categories. Also, this time around, I want to see lots of pictures. That's because this month's contest is all about the customs and I want to see them in all their glory! Enough jibber jabber, let's get onto the categories!
Best Custom Group
Best Character
Best Group Entries
Mr Squid's: The Lost Choir
Found in: The Lost Choir part 1 #123675 (M5) and 2 #136959
Keywords: Challenging, Balanced
Lazarus's: Nagan Hegemony
Found in: The Portal Bandits #3326, Of Futures Past #254599 (M1-A), A Show of Hands #296884 (M3,4), Breaking The Barrier (And Putting It Back Together) #347029 (M1,2 M3,4,5-A)
Keywords: Challenging, Balanced
Nebulhym's The Satyrs
Found in: Tales of Cimerora, volume 1 : Of feathers and fur... #12647
PoliceWoman's Paparazzi
Found in: Celebrity Kidnapping #1388
Wrong Number's The Wannabes
Found in: Trademark Infringement #2220
Keywords: Fun, Comedy
Bubbawheat's Matchstick Women
Found in: Matchstick Women #3369
Keywords: Themed, Detailed Backstory
ArrowRose's The Anti Liberty League
Found in: In Pursuit of Liberty #344916
Keywords: Themed, Balanced
Ironik's Weaponized Toys
Found in: The Toy Box #132772
OzzieArcane's Big Evil
Found in: BE Prologue: Gangs United #250480 , Evil is Thicker Than Water #340274, The Night Big Evil Stole Christmas #348697
Keywords: Homage, Themed
Mirror Man's GP - Division 0
Found in: The Galactic Protectorate -01 #47143
Keywords: Challenging, Themed
Poptarts Ninja's Space Ape Armada
Found in: The Invasion of the Space Ape Armada #81043
Laser Jesus's Freedom Militia
Found in: Fighting Freedom #177930 (M1, M2, M4, M5)
Keywords: Balanced, Varied
Clave Dark 5's WickerWork
Found in: Against the WickerWork Khan #346904
Best Character Entries
Jail Bird's K-10
Found in: Old Dog, New Trick Arc 81318 (M3 Ally)
Clave Dark 5's Fritz, Your AE Representative
Found in: A.E.'s Premium Quality Mission: "guaranteed qualityyyLOADING ERROR 0.000459 #101165 (contact, last mission Hostage)
Wrong Number's Miss Manners
Found in: Trademark Infringement #2220 (contact), In Poor Taste #259920 (contact, M3 Ally)
Fem Fury's Erica Lashion, aka Escalation
Found in: Escalation #6143
LaserJesus's Ashton
Found in: Rise of the Drakule #51357 (M1,M3), Return of the Revenge of the Son of Drakule Part 2: First Blood #84543 (M2), Drakule Armageddon 5: This Time, It's Personal! #257242 (M1, M4), Drakule vs. The Werewolf Bikers From Hell #340316 (M2)
Tubbius's Waddle
Found in: Polar Emergence Neutral Government User Interface Network (PENGUIN) #29205 (M3), This Costume Contest Sponsored by Tubbius #101933 (M1, M4), Waddle's Revenge #302196 (M4)
Wrong Number's The Firecracker Kid
Found in: The Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society #344596 (Contact)
New Age Ronin's Becky, the Tarantula Mistress
Found in: Becky's Revenge #60197 (Contact), Becky and Mandy #175000, Payback, Tarantula Style #235630
Lazarus's Cobalt Stinger
Found in: Of Futures Past #254599 (Contact)
Supafunkadunka's McGrimm
Found in: Clan Destiny #349053 (M1 boss)
Good luck!