Working on an arc, had a few questions...

Title makes the inside obvious, but there are a few things I've been trying in this arc, but I can't seem to find a way to make them work, so I'm here asking if it is even possible.

Only two so far. First, is it possible to have an ambush required to be defeated for a mission to finish, or is there some way to make a similar effect happen that is required?

Second, is it possible to have two of the same named enemy in a group, but with a different Rank? I have an EB you fight that joins you for the next mission, but when he can 1-hit KO all the enemies, I need to lower his rank down, but I'm not sure I can do that.

As I work on the arc, I'll be adding more questions to here, but thank you in advance for the answers.

Ambushes can't be made required. However, you can chain spawn a boss in a different spot of the map. Generally works best if you have an escort since you can place the second boss at the beginning of the map. Takes a fair bit of testing and fine tuning to get right though.

Different enemies in an enemy group can have the same name as long as they have different file names. Generally you do something like name them Minion1, Minion2, etc and then once they're saved you go back in to each character and rename them as Minion, Minion, etc.

Pity on the first, but it's good to know on the second part. I'll get right on that, thank you.

Edit: Wait, does that mean I can have an entire group of enemies with the exact same name, but different powersets?

Yes, you can. I might argue that it's not a good idea to do so but it's possible.

Wasn't really planning on it, at least for this arc, but I had an earlier arc that could have used it.

I'll agree with Zamuel that "same names" in a group might not be a good idea... unless they look different enough to distinguish the two... then it may not be so bad.

They would have been different enough, for hte arc planned, but in this case, I just needed to make an EB a boss.

It's only bad in the context of trying to make the entire group the same name. There are clever uses for it. It sounds like Everfree's plan to swap out an EB is a good idea. Also, it's a good way to get enemies with the same role but just have them look different.

I had to. I tested the mission with the EB as an ally, and when he can kill the entire spawn with the right move (DB/INV), I needed to tone him down...Badly.

New question, though. I wanted to know if it is possible to have a specific mob guard a hostage.

Edit: Is it possible to have two enemy groups with the name group name?

Edit again: In game lore, is the fact that Statesman opened the Pandora's Box, releasing the super powers, common knowledge? It's going to put a damper on my arc if I need to show WHY something is important. I'll dig through the ParagonWiki to see, but if I can get the answer easily, it'd help.

Edited yet again: Heh heh, learn something new about game Lore every day...This may work very well in my favor, very well indeed.

Neverending edits...Anyways, I published my arc. It's very...Basic. It needs work. I'll be working on tweaks to it for a while until I get it how I want it. Arc #503982.

I played through your arc with a level 21 MA/WP scrapper on +0/x0 with bosses on (my standard settings). I was unable to complete it due to it being a bit much for a level 21. I left feedback but I will regurgitate and expand a little more here.

Some things I would consider fixing/changing:

1) Gate your story for level 30+. As above, the mobs were a bit too difficult for a character in their 20s. Especially when you have LTs that can (and WILL) stack Gang War. Also, the boss in the second mission is too much for that level range. If you want to keep it open from 1-54, then I would seriously consider toning down many of your customs. And take the shield off that one minion. Being overwhelmed by multiple shield-using minions will easily piss someone off. Trust me.

2) Variety. Your customs look good, they blend in very well with standard characters that you see, however, getting your variety by running into an LT with Gang War, just doesn't do it for me. I would greatly consider adding more minions. If you do that, then the shield-users won't be such a frustration. Take a look at some of the minions in the lower content for inspiration. I would also add some extra lieutenants to the mix. As I read in another thread:

Honestly, negative feedback is what I want. It helps me fix things.

Also, the contact was sort of change from Tina Macintyre after I was halfway done, so most of his stuff is as if she was talking...I may have left a few things in there. I'll look in on it.

Gating it will be easy enough...Once I figure out how. I'll take care of that, though.

And I spent too much time working on the second set of custom mobs, I forgot to work in new people for the Gang group. I'll plan out some new people. I never noticed too much in the way of problems against the shield mobs, but I can fix it. (edit: What part is the problem, exactly? I'm not really noticing anything major. I dropped AAO for True Grit, if that helps any, but it's hard to tell.)

Oh, I'll take out Gang War, too.

I wouldn't change your minions or LTs just yet. I may have just had some really bad luck when I was running through it. I'll try it a couple more times with a couple different characters and let you know how those runs go.

All I did was add a minion and lieutenant, and took out Gang War. I can only imagine it'd make it less difficult overall.

Also, looking at it...I really do need to do some fine tuning on it.

Edit: You cannot gate your entire arc as a whole, however, you CAN set the level range for each mission individually. That option is under the "Mission Parameters" sub-menu on the first section of the mission editor (where you set the map type and enemy composition).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everfree_Fire All I did was add a minion and lieutenant, and took out Gang War. I can only imagine it'd make it less difficult overall. Also, looking at it...I really do need to do some fine tuning on it.

Played through again. This time on a level 32 DB/SR Brute (+0/x0; bosses on).

Overall Impression:

The arc should probably be a level 30+ arc. My Brute was able to handle it a lot better with the 10-level difference and I think as you play different iterations of it with higher level characters, it becomes progressively easier...meaning if you wanted to put Gang War back on your LT, you could probably get away with it rather well (as long as it is gated higher). It still required more concentration and judicious use of inspirations than the normal dev-created content does, however, that is not a bad thing. A little challenge never hurt anyone, right?

Pros:

• The writing is quite good. It gets much better after the first couple of missions and the pace quickens considerably. The base you have is very solid and should serve you well. Just a little fine-tuning with your dialogue and clue text and you should be in excellent condition.
  
• The custom group in 'Act 2' is diverse and rather well balanced. Having a melee enemy that also can heal is a little annoying, but you learn to take them out quickly. The entire group is different than the run-of-the-mill dev-created villain groups. Excellent work on that group and on the 'Act 1' villain group as well. The first group is much improved with your addition of the minions and the lieutenant. Good job all around there.

Cons:

• Not a lot of variance in the mission objectives. Nothing to really set it apart from some of the older content made pre-Issue 9. However, this may have been your intention all along (since you said previously that it was supposed to echo the missions you receive from Tina Macintyre).
  
  
  (Currently very tired and can't think of another 'con' to balance the other 'pro', so I'll leave it as is )

Okay, with two reviews and a general understanding on how a few things can work out, I'm working on reworking some of it. Any more constructive criticism would be nice as I work on it.

Of course, with some of what I got, I've run into a problem. Apparently, the $name trigger ends up counting the whole name towards the 1000 letter mark, and I need all the room I have. If there's any way to fix this, I would like to know.

I was also informed that I completely failed to fill out a whole lot of random things. I also wish clue texts could be longer.

Edit again: In case people want to see the second review, http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...20postcount=11 . I do thank this person for such a thorough review, and for telling me just how much I screwed some things up.

Edit again again: Should I just make a new topic, actually advertizing my arc, so people can leave the criticism, both good and bad, in one easily findable place?

I know this is a sort of old thread that doesn't really ask questions much anymore, but I figured I should at least keep using the same topic as opposed to making a new one to try and get more people to play my arc.

Anyways, I've mostly finished updating my arc, with one major thing I have an issue with (not enough room to tie into the next arc.), so, again, I'm hoping to get some feedback on anything I can improve (plus spellchecking things, if possible. Goodness knows I'm a typo master.) Arc ID # 503982.

Thanks to any who actually help. Time to work on part two.

That...Really really helps. Now I just need to figure out how.

Edit: Also, please note that, at least at one point, I made a rather stupid mistake which I can't take care of right now, so if you play my arc today, you'll run into a strangely placed Mission Exit text...Which should have been when you went INTO the mission.

It's under mission settings, in the same "tab" as the level range buttons. Just found it today after not having used MA in a while, figured you'd find that useful =)

I did find it. Need to decide if I like the new change, or will just keep it how it was.

I decided to add a new post instead of just editing because I expect it gets answers easier when people can tell they were asked, but...

Does anyone know how Necromancy's Soul Extraction works, in regards to custom mobs? Does it still require a dead zombie to trigger?

Tested, does require a dead zombie, and requires it to be the person with Soul Extraction. Ah, well, fun idea.

So, I'm finally getting in gear and working on the second part to my arc I have planned, and more questions have come up, naturally.

First, is there any real way to make defeating a betrayal mandatory? I can make a workaround for it, but I'd rather do it this way if possible.

Second, on Marchand's map, is there any way to force a boss fight in the top floor? I would really prefer it if I could, but if there's not a way, I could settle with near the top. Just not as useful.

Third, is there any way to make a map where either there are no enemies, or everything there won't attack you?
(found out myself. Yay!)

Still hoping for answers, but one more question. Is it possible to have a hostage/ally with nothing around them?