Zhym

In some AE missions, I've noticed that all the character dialog shows up all at once as soon as I enter the mission. Anyone know why this happens, and if there's anything AE authors can do about it? I think the dialog that's triggered based on damage happens when it's supposed to, but the dialog that's meant to appear when you approach the NPCs sometimes happens all at once, even on large maps.

That's a fun arc! Lots of hilarity. A few notes (including a couple of typos): Again—nicely done!

Oh, and:

Well...

Oooh, close competition on that one. I think I give the dubious "win" to Cleo, though. At least Nadia doesn't act like she's trying to flirt with you while you're running errands for her super-strong boyfriend with a jealous streak and anger management issues.

Just ran through this. Nicely done, as usual, although my shaky knowledge of the lore is starting to come through. Also, I think this (again?) illustrates how hard it is to do Praetorian lore arcs, because there are so many different directions that Praetorian lore can have gone depending on the character choices. For example: A couple of typos I caught: Mission 1: Cleo's descriprion text: last word is "Maruder," not "Marauder." Mission 4 post-text: "Defenceless" s/b "Defenseless." Finally: I don't know why I expected this to be a finale, but it definitely wasn't!

The tragic failure of ASF is that it's a lore-heavy story arc pretending to be a SF. People do SFs and FTs as speed runs. We know this. There's no such thing as a "stop and look at all the Easter eggs" SF run. And yet ASF is full of Easter eggs and story you can only see if you slow down and pay attention to it. As a story arc, it would be incredible. You could take your time, read all the dialog (I mean, Becky alone is worth the time), do a mission here and there in short bursts instead of having to do it all at once, and really be able to appreciate all the lore and story. Heck, if ASF were an AE arc it would be one of my favorites. But for some reason, it got implemented as a SF. Which is a damned shame, because the SF speed runners don't care about the story aspects and the people who want to enjoy the story generally can't run it solo. My theory about why this ended up a SF is that it got caught up in trying to be two things: (1) a great lore-focused story and (2) one of the standard bearers for the new "hard mode" and the associated new currency (the prismatic aether particles). IMO, the latter took over the former—and in many ways, ruined it. I still want an "easy mode" version of ASF (maybe as a Flashback mission?) that can be done solo. Because the story is so good, there really ought to be a way for mere mortals (well, superhero mortals) to experience the whole story. (I'd apologize for resurrecting an old thread, but @Snarky has already said he doesn't mind necromancy.)

The Ultima Underworld games allowed this. You could write anything you wanted on your game map. That game was way ahead of its time.

I've sort of been wondering how much of the recent quietness on Homecoming has been due to TotK. Glad to hear you'll be back to COH more soon, though.

I’d noticed that there seem to be a lot fewer incarnate trials going on these days. Oh, sure, you can still find a BAF most nights, but MoM? Keyes? Underground? Good luck with that. Even @Oklahoman’s Lambda and Magisterium badge runs don’t seem to be happening as regularly (or else I’m just logging in at the wrong times). Also, if people think it’s weird that this thread was resurrected ten months after it was posted, just imagine how I feel, having started the thread. “Wait, that’s my post? What the heck are people still doing discussing it?”

I've updated the "TV Guide" post to use the new numbering. That means it may not match @TerroirNoir's original posts, but I figure it makes more sense to follow the AE series numbering.

Oh, sure, try to deny it. But I've seen how many clones and duplicates you've put in your AE plots. ;)

Yay! We finally got that hot Engineria-on-Engineria action we've been waiting for! ...I mean the battle, people. Jeez. Where are your minds? Anyway—that did rather add something to the playthrough, I think. Also, that's Corporal Zhym to you. :)

That does remind me of something, actually. While I find the location tips in the objective text really helpful (especially the one about an objective being on an upper floor), I was a bit confused in this map because I wasn't sure whether "back" meant the back of the office building or down the tunnels.

Once again, it's a shame people can't make custom maps for AE. A classic bank map with a tunnel dug underneath it—and with more room for objective and glowies—would be perfect. But I can also see how that could balloon the size of the client if every AE author were able to make their own maps. And that's even assuming that the AE authors could also build the pathing into their maps, and that farmers couldn't exploit it, and...yeah, it's just better to pretend an office building is a bank.

"Private banking." They don't serve retail customers, so it doesn't look like a regular bank. Just a thought. ETA: Actually, there's a fancy office building with a big atrium at the entrance that might work nicely for that. Either you or @Darmian have used it as a "law office." Maybe it's Praetorian? ETA2: Of course, the problem with private banking is that they wouldn't have any cash on site, which would make a "bank robbery" difficult unless you brought a team of hackers with you.

Huh. I guess my calibration of large vs. small depends on whether I'm expected to defeat everyone on the map. :) Or maybe "small" on the office map means "only two floors." Anyway, just as an FYI, I think mission 2 is the one where I had to spend a fair amount of time doubling back and track down the stragglers. But if it's a small map per AE, it's a small map. BTW, does AE not have the bank map available? I was a little surprised to find myself in an office when the mission text sets it up as a bank robbery.

It is two missions. And both maps seemed pretty big to me, though I don't know how they are classified in AE. The first was the worst of the two for me—I had to go back and track down the stragglers. I can't remember if that was the office or the warehouse map, but the warehouse map in particular has that intersection room with two levels, plus stairs everywhere, and lots of handy corners to hide in. I think I could have tolerated one defeat-all, but when the second came around my reaction was, "What, again??" And from my recollection, the defeat-all isn't quite as justified from a story or mechanics perspective the second time, since there are other objectives that work just as well. My general design tip would be that if even when a defeat-all is justified by the story, use a small map. Defeat-alls on large (or "AE Medium") maps run the risk of getting tedious, IMO. Or maybe it was just that I started the arc around 11:30 last night, thinking I'd run it quickly before bed. :)

Just finished this one. A great start to what looks to be another intriguing arc (or is it a continuation of a previous arc?). My only complaint (maybe you can sense this coming) is the defeat-all missions. Both of them are on really large maps where it's easy for stray mobs to find out-of-the-way places to hide.

I played this last night and—well, that was certainly different. I still can't figure out if I actually enjoyed it or not, but I get that with a lot of experimental art (including games), enjoyment isn't necessarily the point. But kudos on doing something that proves it's possible to write an innovative arc that's not just about defeating the boss or clicking the glowy, while still working under the strictures of a system that only allows you to use things like defeating the boss or clicking the glowy as mission objectives. In fact, I almost wonder—and someone have an AED ready for @cranebump when I say this—if a timed mission might actually work in this concept. The idea wouldn't be that you're trying to beat the clock, but that the clock is the point. For example, maybe the movement is a 15 minute movement, and the goal isn't to click anything or defeat anyone, but just exist inside the mission for 15 minutes. There would have to be some other goal, because AE works that way, but it could be entirely optional (for example, if you really want out before 15 minutes, you can just defeat everyone in the map). I can't believe I just recommended a timed defeat-all mission. That's how unusual this arc is. BTW, I did notice one typo. The contact description text ends with, "The Paragon Symphony Orchestra a"—was there supposed to be more there?

Another great set of missions. Some thoughts: