raven9864
-
Posts
56 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Store
Articles
Patch Notes
Posts posted by raven9864
-
-
On 8/14/2023 at 9:18 PM, Clave Dark 5 said:
Same. I plan to start doing more arcs as my chances to team seem to be evaporating, so name me one of your arcs and I'll run it.
the Grave and the Old, Lojac's Brainare two arcs bundled under The Atlas Chronicles.
-
1
-
-
19 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:
Those two you mention are indeed meant to be pretty short. My general design philosophy is not to stretch stuff out needlessly, which often means I'd go for whatever "tiny" map I could find and try to not clutter it up much with unneeded spawn, and the leg of the story those two tell is organically (to me anyway) pretty short. But that's me and might tastes, I can see how it might otherwise come across as jarringly short or something. Again, thanks for your input, I've been considering a few tweaks based upon it.
Glad to help. I've gotten a lot of support here for my arcs, so I'm happy to return the favor.
-
1
-
-
On 8/10/2023 at 10:18 AM, Clave Dark 5 said:
Curious to know which two you thought ended abruptly. I have my ideas but don't want to name them for spoiling them ha ha. If it's the ones I suspect, yeah, they were meant to be short, partly to help the whole thing go by quickly.
SpoilerThe last one and I believe the third one. and it struck me as being for the reasons you mention. Or i just got lucky and stumbled onto thee objective right off. BTW: from what I can tell I think my idea of what constitutes a "Long" mission/arc is different from others. I am willing to put the time into a good series of missions, especially where intriguing content like yours is present. If an arc takes an hour or longer, I'm fine with it as long as its good. I'll try to read all the clues and info I can.
~Paws
-
1
-
-
Thoughts below:
SpoilerA very fun, quirky storyline with a lot of clever vocabulary uses.
The font was a bit hard to read for me, but I'm old and need new glasses.
Two of the missions ended a bit abruptly, and wasn't expecting that. I can't call it a flaw, but it caught me off guard. If it serves the story, roger dodger.
Eoachai as a contact in-mish was cool AF.
Other than the font, my only suggestion would be a bit more connective tissue in the narrative. I dig on the fairytale aspect of it, but I would like to see more clarity on why I'm doing what I'm doing, and some of the NPC's intentions.
All in all, 4out of 5.
~Paws
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:
Very oddball writing, probably not for everyone.
I think it's "playable" enough? I don't have a crew to test it with as a group, but solo especially at less insane-o difficulty settings I did pretty well. As stated, you won't actually have to fight any GMs although a few do show up in non-combat roles.
I'll give it a run soon!
~Paws
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, cranebump said:
Paper Tigers:
Mish level is lower than previous, so it feels a bit like a step backward, but let's reserve judgment to see what's actually inside.
Heh...I have a Linked-in profile.:-) (I am one stupid-ass vigilante. Punisher wouldn't do that. [would he?]).:-)
Timbuk3 ref (future's so bright). Yes, I actually bought that stupid album back in the day. (Life is Hard is a good song, though-I THINK that's the name).
Narratively, you have a clever "in" with subsequent Trust Fund mishes. Assuming the character "joins" the team, they can now be recruited to do stuff for the TF. This means you don't have to throw out a lot of background as to why they're helping out. They're in the group, so, of course, they'll jump right in. Smart move.
Wtf? WHERE ARE MY SEWERS?:-)
First tweak:
You want that to be "X Files to find," or something.
Wind Eagle reminds me of that Raven character guy in the other super hero game who greets you in the frozen zone.
Or rather, THIS guy. Just an observation. Not a criticism or anything.
WE follows me, but doesn't fight. I guess I'm being evaluated, right?
Spotted a unclickable desk in a corridor on floor 1. LOOKS like an objective, but we'll see.
On the initial objective (files), It looks like I have "3 places to search," or something to that effect.
Use of END MISH clues works pretty well as a means of getting some extra info in there. All the clues, in general, are well done. The VP tried to run, btw. Didn't work well for him.:-)
Looks clean, hombre. Keep it up!
SpoilerMission level is lower, as it is not consecutive with the events in Lojac's Brain, but rather takes place before in the middle of The Grave and the Old. It also is indicative of a more rookie hero trying to break into a team, as opposed to a more seasoned hero shopping around.
Remember that The Trust Fund is a very financially connected SG. They employ accountants as financial agents, and heroes as personal security, warrant agents, etc. Plus Linked In just sounded funny. The Trust Fund is a very public, corporation style structure, and thus look to employ more Spider-Man and Less Punisher. That's why Strikeforce Alpha is funded by The Trust Fund as a vigilante style sub group that can be publicly denied. 🙂
Heh. "X files". 🙂
Wind Eagle is indeed "supervising". Think of him as your Student Driver Teacher. He's hands off unless something drastic happens and he needs to stand in. He is set to "Defensive", so if youre doing well in the game he likely won't step in. Character-wise, he is the first toon I ever made back in Issue 7, and is an indigenous character. I've never played Champions Online or other super games. CoH is just too good to leave.
Hmmm...I'll check on that desk. It shouldn't be there as an objective.
V.P. shouldn't run either. I'll look into that.
Did the offer to join The Trust Fund base/SG show in the end clue(s)?
Thank you for the analysis. This is meant to be a light-hearted, snippet that only lightly ties into the meta story. Kind of like the Marvel One Shots in the early MCU flicks. If you've played The Grave and the Old first, you get the tie in. If you haven't played TGa/tO first, its doesn't (shouldn't) impact Paper Tigers (title taken from an old Emerson, Lake, and Palmer song). Its just a fun "Mid credits scene".
my next mish will be a one shot from the villains side of things, spotlighting The Death Knights, and tying into Lojac's Brain. Just what DID happen to The Void as his essence floated away? (Dust in the Wind clue)
Crane, thank you so much for the effort put into reviewing my works and the great responses. It means a lot.
~Paws
-
2 hours ago, cranebump said:
Paper Tigers:
Mish level is lower than previous, so it feels a bit like a step backward, but let's reserve judgment to see what's actually inside.
Heh...I have a Linked-in profile.:-) (I am one stupid-ass vigilante. Punisher wouldn't do that. [would he?]).:-)
Timbuk3 ref (future's so bright). Yes, I actually bought that stupid album back in the day. (Life is Hard is a good song, though-I THINK that's the name).
Narratively, you have a clever "in" with subsequent Trust Fund mishes. Assuming the character "joins" the team, they can now be recruited to do stuff for the TF. This means you don't have to throw out a lot of background as to why they're helping out. They're in the group, so, of course, they'll jump right in. Smart move.
Wtf? WHERE ARE MY SEWERS?:-)
First tweak:
You want that to be "X Files to find," or something.
Wind Eagle reminds me of that Raven character guy in the other super hero game who greets you in the frozen zone.
Or rather, THIS guy. Just an observation. Not a criticism or anything.
WE follows me, but doesn't fight. I guess I'm being evaluated, right?
Spotted a unclickable desk in a corridor on floor 1. LOOKS like an objective, but we'll see.
On the initial objective (files), It looks like I have "3 places to search," or something to that effect.
Use of END MISH clues works pretty well as a means of getting some extra info in there. All the clues, in general, are well done. The VP tried to run, btw. Didn't work well for him.:-)
Looks clean, hombre. Keep it up!
SpoilerYes indeed, I will have to back out and re-edit. Following your input, I may eliminate the color coding on the nav bar going forward. For now, its consistent across too many missions to rewrite. 🙂
M1: The map choices really help with grouping on multiple Collect objectives. I ran a couple different maps in test to see how they would group. A map with only 3 rooms (most of the time) will have better objective placement if Front/Middle/Back is important for narrative flow. Yes, Mother Box is indeed an easter egg. 🙂 I have several Easter eggs in every mission related to music, comics, and pop culture. I should really do some sort of contest for players to try to find them all. 🙂 The face plant by the escort at the end came from a suggestion by someone, I think it was actually you. 🙂
M2: Yeah, I've found you can't color code the Quantity in the objective. It grates on me as well. 🙂 I used the yellow barrels for just that reason, but also because they contain the scary stuff Kraven uses. The Sludge (Muck Fiends/Mud Trolls) are meant to be challenging, and the holds to represent them grabbing you with mudddy pseudopods, etc. Think Clayface from the Batman: TAS toons. Coinspinner is indeed NOT supposed to be a combatant. As stated in text somewhere, he is solely focused on mentally tracking Lojac's Brain. The hero is literally escorting/bodyguarding him. I've tried multiple things to get The Void to spawn anywhere but up there, but apparently he has threatened someone in AE with consequences if he appears anywhere else. I took The Void down a bit in power from previous versions. He is supposed to be the toughest member of The Death Knights to appear thus far, his rank in the mythology being "The Harrowed", second in rank only to The Mortis Loci. I plan on posting a dossier on The Death Knights, Strikeforce Alpha, and The Trust Fund et al soon. I'll include specific crunch in it as I'd like for other creators to be able to use them if they so choose. I'd love to see some of us do a shared universe thing with our stories, characters, etc.
M3: Spot on. Obsidian Oedipus as a title was chosen with a Grendel flavor in mind. You are very much in my head on this. Grave Hag is indeed a miss on info. I'll have to put that in. I did an overhaul of this critter at some point and forgot to put it in. Good catch, I love that you're reading all the info on everything. Thank you for that.
do you feel the amount of holds is TOO heavy in this? The Sludge are here because I wanted to some connective tissue from previous missions, since they first appeared in The Grave and the Old. That there is continuity and object permanence in my little pocket universe. That consequences have lasting effects. The are a product of Kraven's machinations, but out of his control. Thus, they are there only as an Add A Battle to fight Vschone's Embalmanations.
The end clue IS an arc end. I'm glad you read it that way, and that it carries the intent I had in mind.
I build bases as a coping skill for my anxiety/depression and I haven't really found a group of players to run with, so I have multiple bases just laying around with only me using them. I hit upon the idea of using my bases/SGs as the basis for my AE arcs, and that I could just gift them to the public. Maybe even spark some RP around them using story material from the AE arcs I'm writing. Thank you for the compliment too. Its a concept I am really proud of as I want to contribute unique things to the AE environment.
Totally would be honored to see one of your alts in one of my bases. I even have a Villain one. The Trust Fund is my Hero base. Striikeforce Alpha is my Vigilante base. The Black Lodge is the HQ of The Death Knights, my Villain Base.
Even if you don't commit a toon to joining, please feel free to just take a tour. You're pretty familiar with the lore I've laid down in AE, so I'd love your input on how the bases interact with the AE arcs.
Thank you so much for the Verdict.
The next one, "Paper Tigers", runs concurrent with The Grave and the Old.
Thank you again for your detailed analysis. I appreciate it more than I can express, and I hope you enjoy Paper Tigers.
-
8 hours ago, Jiro Ito said:
It depends what you mean by custom. If you make your own powersets, ie one guy who has Dominate, Char, Rain of Arrows, Jack Frost, Granite Armor, Singularity, Headsplitter, etc; a bunch of powers from all kinds of different powersets, then they will not grant xp.
If you're making your own enemies but using existing powersets (fire blast/super reflexes, etc), then they will grant experience.
Personally, I don't care about xp within AE missions unless I'm farming. When I play storymodes, I'm usually using lvl 50 characters that are fully built, even when exempted down, so it doesn't matter much to me.
Thank you for your feedback. I'll take the powerset info into consideration going forward.
~Paws
-
Greetings Homecoming!
Last night I wrote a new installment related to my previous two arcs, The Grave and the Old & Lojac's Brrain.
The title of it is "Paper Tigers".
To make sure any players can find my connected stories (I know you're out there, just waiting for now) I have repackaged all 3 entries with the visible title blurb "The Atlas Chronicles" showing. Story Descriptions will detail what arcs are recommended before playing the one selected.
In addition to revamping the titles, I've realized something about the lack of gameplay I'm getting on my missions. Thus far, up to "Paper Tigers" I've used custom enemies 90% of the time. My understanding is that they don't give xp. Is this a concern for the majority of AE players? Do you choose standard or AE rewards most often? For "Paper Tigers" I used standard enemies.
"The Grave and the Old" is 4 linked missions. "Lojac;s Brain" is 3. They're both designed in a way that forces the player to go thru the entire suite of missions to get the story. (These are all heavy story-based content) You can't do one or two, leave and then come back where you left off. For this reason, going forward I will be posting all chapters as separate missions linked by title and supporting descriptive text.
Having said that, "Paper Tigers" is a stand alone spinoff story. It relates indirectly to "The Grave and the Old", so you will have a richer story experience if you've played that, but nothing will be lost by not having done it first. This is a storytelling style I will experiment with going forward...a main arc with small branching one-offs.
But for now, please give "Paper Tigers" a try, and as always I welcome any and all feedback. It will help me grow a a creator, and that's what I want. To be able to provide quality content that strikes the balance between story and reward. To give you something enjoyable.
Thanks for listening, Homecoming.
~Paws
-
Greetings!
I'm thinking about engaging some RP on Everlasting, but open to other shard participation.
I'd prefer it to be casual, but open to the right experience.
Also, a healthy amount of gameplay is preferable not neccessary.
Any SG's out there looking for new participants that fit this bill?
TYIA
~Paws
-
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
~Paws
-
1
-
-
22 minutes ago, Mr. Vee said:
Can always use merits to buy whatever you need if you want a more Walmarty experience. It's not the most bang for your buck use for them but it works.
I just want to buy what I need for the enhancements I want to use. I'd rather spend time enjoying the content rather than worrying about competing with 339 other buyers for a piece of salvage that there is only 10 of in the market. BUT...its been this way for 20 years, so I don't expect it to change. I dont want to just have an experience. I just think a straight retail experience where you can just buy what you need would be a quality of life improvement. I could outfit toons better, making them more enjoyable to play. But, maybe it can be both. An auction house AND a Store where you can buy salvage, recipes, and enhancements. It would help level out the auction house and prevent player frustration due to chasing bits of stuff.
-
1
-
-
Am I the only one who thinks Wentworth's should be more Wal Mart and less Ebay? I mean, really.
There is no shortage of ways to make Influence. There is a shortage of things that you want to buy, but aren't available in WW. Or at least not available for a price that is reasonable.
When I look for a recipe and every single listing of every level of it all have the same history, I feel like somebody somewhere is just working the market in an exploitative way.
It's one of the only ways Homecoming feels like late stage capitalism to me.
~Paws
-
1
-
1
-
-
- Part 3 of Lojac's Brain has now been published. This is the finale for the saga of Strikeforce Alpha for now, as I turn to other avenues of writing AE missions. I intend to expand on The Trust Fund and The Death Knights next.
- As always, I would appreciate an and all feedback from my esteemed peers.
- If you play all 3 missions, there is an ending option that I hope some of you will take advantage of.
- During the course of writing Part 3, "Obsidian Oedipus", I also made some very minor tweaks to mission details for parts 1 & 2.
As always, if you have something you'd like me to run thru, just give the word.
As someone told me recently (please forgive me for not remembering exactly who) "AE is the real end game content".
I hope you enjoy "Lojac's Brain", the sequel to "The Grave and the Old".
TYIA
~Paws
-
4 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:
@raven9864 - I'd maybe try the others and wait for the consolidation. 🙂 Saves you some time and should be a better experience for it.
Right on, brother!
~Paws
-
I'll run through this soon.
~Paws
-
Tweaks and fixes applied to Missions 1 & 2.
Beginning work on Mission 3 (finale).
Password for Strikeforce Alpha's base is: SFA-25519.
Anyone is welcome to visit and anyone that wants to actually join this SG is welcome to do so. Currently its just me and my alts.
I'll update in the near future with password entry for The Trust Fund AND The Death Knights!
As always, please give my missions a try and leave any commentary you like. Hit those stars and submit a comment!
~Paws
P.S.-if you have something you want me to try, just LMK. I'm trying to work in other creator's efforts into my gameplay as time allows.
-
1
-
1
-
-
I'll give it another spin as soon as I can.
-
Here's my observations:
SpoilerThis was a fun little arc with a great narrative connective tissue. The events flow nicely from one mission to the next. Excellent continuity.
I love seeing custom toons, and I stop to look at "Info" on critters and other toons as often as possible. Nice mythology going on.
Talking to Mindspyre wouldn't complete for me. I tried map clearing, etc. but it never completed for me. I suspect something in the chain is off.
Its a little shiny (to me) to be a rogue flavor. Rogue is one step off of being villain, and the contact keeps appealing to my "good nature" and sense of honor. I feel it would make for more consistent narrative to appeal to my ruthlessness, with a dirtier payoff, one where the contact gets dirty paws for giving it, but the Rebound is better off. You don't be willing to work with Rogues unless you are desperate (I blackmail the contact) or have a little bit of rogue in you as well.
It feels a little more vigilante than rogue to me, as I understand the alignment system.
The bosses are challenging and can put you down if they catch you off guard. Nice flavor on the wailers, and I'd like to see them again in a future arc. The map choices are exquisite. One personal pet peeve is the fade in glowies. I spent far more time trying to find that scanner than any other part of the series. Second was the Wailer Lord I had to attach the device too. Maybe a term in title that matches with the nav window so I know what to look for a little better. I ran past him twice thinking he was just another boss.
4 out of 5 stars my friend overall. The story was engaging, and I could see my charqacter and his responses in my brain. Well done.
~Paws
-
I would love to see a P2W npc/item for bases.
~Paws
-
4
-
1
-
-
I'll give it a run tonite!
~Paws
-
1
-
-
-
On 6/21/2023 at 11:01 AM, Biosphere said:
City of Debt Discord Server
How do I join?
Click on the link provided here to get started: https://discord.gg/ujjQrA4A27
Is this still a thing, and may I join?
-
Part 2 of Lojac's Brain is now published.
Lojac's Brain (Sequel to The Grave and the Old)
Part 2-Drums in the Deep
As always, your consideration, feedback, and enjoyment of this mission is welcomed, encouraged, and hoped for.
~Paws
-
1
-
Lojac's Brain
in Mission Architect
Posted
Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it.