Three is probably a good place to start. It lets you do an introductory section, a middle, and then a finale with one mission apiece.
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To me, it is not about the number of missions, but total time to complete. One overland kill all is too many missions. five short click the glowie's might be not enough.
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This is true about the overall length, and not something I thought of tbh. I guess in my head I was assuming an average length "Kill all in last room" type mission.
3 or 4 missions "feels" about right for me, for most arcs. However, some people prefer to always use the full 5 missions, simply because they feel using less is "wasteful" somehow.
But, really it should depend on your story. Hopefully, you have a story in mind that you are trying to write. The number of missions should really match the number of "scenes" (or "acts" or "chapters") in your story. Use just enough missions to tell your story, and no more.
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If you're fluid on what the length of your arc is going to be, then I would say try going for 3 or less. The general consensus around the MA board seems to be that 3 or less is the most desirable for random-plays, as it makes your arc appear short--though in reality whether your arc is short or not will depend entirely on your map and objective choices.
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Three: introduction, complication, resolution. All else is self-indulgence.
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While I agree on the general story structure, I wouldn't go so far to say that somehow using the 4th or 5th slot allotted to you is self-indulgent.
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Originally Posted by Daemodand
Three: introduction, complication, resolution. All else is self-indulgence.
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2 loading screens, 4 loading screens, 6, 8, or 10. That's really the choice you're looking at. Think of mission number as number of loading screens. Or number of bathroom breaks, since that's all loading screens are good for.
To reduce the number of loading screens, combine as much content as you can into the same missions together.
Lots of tools at your disposal to accomplish this. Front/middle/back placement of mission details can reveal plot bits sequentially, taking the place of loading screens. You can even swap enemy groups mid-mission with creative detail placement. You can make one mission detail trigger the next to appear, or do betrayals, but please playtest that carefully! In-mission dialogue rather than contact monologue reduces the need for loading screens. Clues and detail completion messages are just as good as in-mission dialogue.
If all else fails, pretend your contact is mute after the initial introduction, force yourself to advance the entire plot using in-mission tools, then add just enough contact text before publishing to recap the major points and smooth the transitions.
Just be careful not to make a mission so long that players actually need a bathroom break before the mission's over. Use the smallest map you can that'll just barely hold the details you need. "Filler" details giving out plot bits is better than contact monologue, but keep them optional. Roll yourself a low level petless mastermind to handicap your skill as a veteran player and your knowledge as the mission's designer. Your petless MM should need 15 minutes max to do a stealthy solo speedrun of each mission at +0 level. If mission #1 is nicely trimmed down but you can't fit any more plot into 15 minutes, find a natural plot break to do a change of scenery, begin building mission #2, and repeat the process.
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Clues are good. Anything else can be easily missed in the middle of a fight, especially detail completion text, which only shows up for the person who actually completes the detail, if a team is running the mission.|
Originally Posted by Rigel_Kent
In-mission dialogue rather than contact monologue reduces the need for loading screens. Clues and detail completion messages are just as good as in-mission dialogue.
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| Roll yourself a low level petless mastermind to handicap your skill as a veteran player and your knowledge as the mission's designer. Your petless MM should need 15 minutes max to do a stealthy solo speedrun of each mission at +0 level. If mission #1 is nicely trimmed down but you can't fit any more plot into 15 minutes, find a natural plot break to do a change of scenery, begin building mission #2, and repeat the process. |
Your arc needs to be exactly as long as it needs to be. If you need five missions, you need five missions. If you CAN do it in three, you should do it in three.
Things to avoid:
- Missions that are essentially repeats of previous missions. In Dev-created content the bad guys split all their important information up into three separate warehouses. AE bad guys are lazy, and keep all the important information in one warehouse.
- Glorified paper missions. Defeating a single boss or grabbing a single blinky doesn't merit its own mission. AE bad guys are lazy, remember? They are also social animals, and the bosses hang out in the same warehouse even if they hate each other.
- Insanely convoluted plots. You have five missions tops. You are not going to be able to recreate World Wide Red in all its convolutedness in five missions. You might be able to get all the basics in, but some of the intricacies of such a convoluted plot would be lost. AE bad guys aren't that good at multitasking either. Keep your plot reasonably simple. If you can't describe the plot in a single sentence, it's probably too complicated.
- Forced backtracking: Ideally, a player should only have to run through the map once. If you're using chained objectives, choose a linear map, and remember that the "middle" area is often most of the map. If you stick to Front > Middle > Back chains there is still a chance the player might miss something and have to backtrack, but the chance is much less than if you have three "middle" objectives chaining off each other. If you must force the player to backtrack, add new objectives chaining off the event that forces the backtrack, to make the trip back interesting, for example, patrols and bosses that only spawn after the escortee is rescued and that the player encounters while leading them out.
- Wall of Text: Where possible, split up information between contact dialogue and in-mission clues. If a large amount of information must be conveyed at once, paragraphs are your friends.
- "But I Really Like This:" Boss, map, enemy group, mission, NPC, whatever. If you really like it but it doesn't add to the story, cut it.
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If you mean AE missions should be easier than Malta missions, I completely agree!|
Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
Go run a Malta mission with a low level petless MM and tell me how you do
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| If you need five missions, you need five missions. If you CAN do it in three, you should do it in three. |
Only go up to 4 or 5 if you're committed to playtesting, you avoid common AE nuisances other than length (I'm happy to overlook excessive arc length if they lack ambushes, typos, OP customs, defeat alls, etc.), and you have SG mates with good attention spans willing to run your TF-length arc.
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I make most of mine Introduction, Complication, Build up, Resolution
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Originally Posted by Daemodand
Three: introduction, complication, resolution. All else is self-indulgence.
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Ambushes are a nuisance?
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Originally Posted by Rigel_Kent
Only go up to 4 or 5 if you're committed to playtesting, you avoid common AE nuisances other than length (I'm happy to overlook excessive arc length if they lack ambushes, typos, OP customs, defeat alls, etc.), and you have SG mates with good attention spans willing to run your TF-length arc.
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Well, not always, but most arcs I've seen have them spawn at 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0% of a boss's health, doing a real number on soloability. Also, lolstalkers.
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My tastes probably differ, but most of the arcs I've seen with more than three probably felt a bit padded to me. It's OK to go to four or five, but really one or two of those should be an easily completed gimmick mission or plot twist. |
Originally Posted by Lillika
Leaving aside storylines and such, what do most people think is the right amount of missions in an AE arc?
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I think it's quite feasible to tell a complete story in a single mission.
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Personally, I like short missions that move the plot along quickly. I don't want to feel like it's a chore to clear out a huge warehouse or collect 10 items from a giant map. 5-10 minute missions are perfect. If you have a longer, complex mission, it should stand by itself or just have 1-2 short set-up missions.
Generally, I'm looking for 25-35 minutes total for an arc. I play really fast, so that could be 4-5 short missions, but if the first mission takes me 20 minutes and there's 4 more in the arc, I'm done.
Keep in mind, I'm there for the stories. If I cared about the rewards or custom bosses, I probably wouldn't be running random arcs.
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I like making a 5-mission-arc because you can. But then again I am me and I hope there's others who rather like making short arcs to make up for that. : )
I like being able to tell a slightly longer story though, and find it easier, more interesting and less tedious for the player to tell two parts of a story (where moving to different places goes well with the story at least) in two quick missions than somehow squeezing them into a single long one.
It's also easier to escalate a story when using more missions, introducing a custom fraction by using weak 'enemy groups' of it in one mission and stronger 'groups' in a following one.
Leaving aside storylines and such, what do most people think is the right amount of missions in an AE arc? Not too long, but not too short, looking for what feels just right. I'm thinking of diving into this for my first time and I was curious what those who have more experience thought. My own idea for an arc can be tailored to any number of missions so just getting a feel of how many to roughly plan for.