[Custom powers for AE characters...?]

As good as can be expected, @Darmian Working on Part 2 of Lojac's Brain.

 

Thanks for the custom powers advice here for Ultimo (and others). Most of the characters I use are customs, as I am working on world building in my arcs. I'm pretty proud of my Death Knights and their assorted sub factions, as well as Strikeforce Alpha.

 

I'd love to see a bunch of us get together and collaborate on some mission builds. If anyone is feeling this, I'll be your huckleberry.

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

So, when I'm not making AE missions, I'm also crafting bases. I have 2 1/2 and I'm the only player in any of them. Having said that, I actually have an SG and base for Strikeforce Alpha, the supergroup I've been using in my AE story arcs. Its a big ol place that's not being used, so I figured why not offer it as a reward of sorts for playing thru The Grave and the Old. I've added some text with the option of me adding your character to the SG if you would like at the end of mission 4. (Storage options will open up after a short vetting period) If you don't want to join but are still curious, the passcode is SFA-25519.

 

Maybe we can even get some RP going around it.

 

Enjoy.

 

~Paws

[Base Item Catagories]

Not exactly a new item request (tho I will have a few further down) but I think the base editor could benefit from a reshuffling of categories. Currently, Arachnos has items in mutliple catagories such as Tech and Villains Lairs. could we pool all the Arachnos stuff into one category? Like wise with Rikti, etc? I find myself crafting areas that make heavy use of villain items sometimes, and its hard to keep up with the thousands of items and where they are across different categories.

 

As to new item suggestions: NPC's. I run my bases like RL installations which need staff. Infirmary, computer lab, vehicle shop, etc. 

 

Example: we have a nurse, but no doctor. Crey scientists would be nice to have to use as lab people. PPD. Devouring earth. They don't necessarily have to do anything like Midnighter Loremaster, but if they did that would awesome. The nurse hands out inspirations. Maybe the doctor hands out tier two inspirations?

 

Thank you all for listening and for all you do.

 

~Paws

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

I think Crane has the right idea with a level range. Find that sweet spot if you can where its challenging but not too brutal.

 

If the idea is for the story to be the main character, don't worry too much with making it challenging, as players will want to take in the story elements. 

 

As to the map, I don't mind big maps as much as others as long as there is something engaging and interesting in most areas. I think either map you've used is fine.

 

~Paws

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

Ok!

I've revamped it a bit, and changed the map (let me know what you think... one of the things I liked about the original map is it's SMALLER, so the bad guys aren't as spread out... but the new map being bigger means they're not likely to infringe upon each other...).  It SEEMS to be working ok now...

I also tweaked all the enemies, as well as the bosses.  I need to tweak my super allies... they're still just too strong.  Mega-Troll's Hurl power does 100% of my health every time he uses it, and that's just not manageable when he's spamming the thing every 10 seconds and following it up with even MORE damaging powers...

Just ran the revamp, and it took me about two minutes to complete. Neither boss were hard at all to complete. Ran with a 50+ Sentinel Beam/bio armor.

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

I'll check on when you republish it and give it a spin.

 

I had some glitches chaining events together as well in my first arc. Or it was my novice skills. 

 

BUT...

 

I am intrigued with how youre putting this together. Keep em flying friend.

 

~Paws

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

20 hours ago, Ultimo said:

Great suggestions, thanks!

The wandering heroes (and villains) were there more for flavour, but also to make some fights easier.  When soloing, you can lure tough foes into one of the ally groups.

The wandering foes are a good point.  Not sure how I would do "fixed pockets," do I put them out as bosses, perhaps pick a generic boss minion or lieutenant as the "boss" and have them as objectives?  I could then make THOSE the objective of the mission and be rid of the Defeat All...?

 

On that point... is there a way to set a series of objectives as an objective to unlock a final one?

 

For example, suppose I put out a number of Lieutenants as Defeat Boss objectives, say 10 of them.  Is there a way to have a final boss, an ACTUAL boss, like Lord Marko, appear only after all 10 lesser bosses are defeated?

Yep, I'd set a boss objective so you can then build enemy groups around them.

 

The main crane, @cranebump, seems to have given great advice on the points you've listed. also, I ran it with my 50+ Dual Pistols/Devices Blaster. 

 

Give us a shout when you've tweaked it for mechanics or story and I'll run it again.

 

BTW-my personal choice when playing an AE arc based on story, is to see it not too hard to run thru. I stop and read everything. 

 

Looking good, keep at it!

 

~Paws

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

Just played it.

 

Great customs and the feel of a running pitched battle is achieved

 

Notes below.

 

Spoiler

Suggestion: a few less patrols, and more fixed pockets. For a defeat all, constantly moving targets forcing you to go back over old ground to end the mish may not go over well with some. I don't mind and I think it fits the feel however.

 

Secondly: I ran around a corner smack into a Boss and Elite Boss standing side by side. That was a lot tougher than the first boss I ran into. Granted, I was solo and teammates would have helped. Perhaps a note about team play being suggested? I think it would also add to more of that Avengers/JLA feel.

 

Lastly, the "hero helpers" didn't really impact the gameplay for me. I had cleared most of the map by the time I met them, as they were all the way in the back.

 

~Paws

 

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

I assume it's the one posted on 6/29?

 

[The Battle of Steel Canyon]

I'll try it out now!

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

18 hours ago, Ankylosaur said:

 

Yes, you can right click highlighted text to use Font Colors in contact text, mission intro/exit bubbles and clues - loads of places. Any standard HTML hexadecimal codes work, but some are more readable than others - even in the ones on the right click menu.

 

Explore to your Hearst content! (I tend to just used some of the named colors - lighter the better in most cases but not all)

https://htmlcolorcodes.com/

 

I have tried colors in dialog boxes and they worked with unpredictable results, meaning, sometimes without rhyme or reason, so I gave up on that.

Thank you!

 

I've discovered the right click options, and have revised TGa/tO and Lojac's Brain with colored font options. In addition, I've tried to color code certain instances across all missions, such as yellow for drawing attention to text that should specifically be paid attention to, orange for faction/enemy group proper names, etc...

 

I'm hoping this will add a sense of continuity as well as being helpful for players who "speed read" or gloss over text in favor of the action.

 

I've been playing thru different non-farm missions in AE to get a sense of what others are doing and paying better attention to in-game missions that i have been running thru for literally decades in some instances. Someone posted about a discord group for AE missions that I intend to join as soon as I re-familiarize myself with discord.

 

I've implemented most of the advice you and others have given me. The reccomendation of an SFA dossier is being considered, but you are correct in that I believe there are some critical pieces of lore you missed in The Grave and the Old. Regardless, I have added a note to Lojac's Brain advising playing the other first, despite it being labled as a sequel.

 

Again, thank everyone for their insight and feedback. If you haven't tried these arcs out folks, please do so. As much fun as I have expressing my creativity, I would be more thrilled to have others enjoy them as well. If anyone wants me to try out a mission(s) that I havent yet, just send me a dm in game to @blackpaws. I'll try it as soon as I can and give feedback.

 

~Paws

[City of Dread, The Complete Saga + All Spin-offs]

Just played thru the first 9 missions and greatly enjoyed it.

 

4 stars. Would recommend.

 

~Paws

[AE Challenge Content Discord: City of Debt]

Great thinking. I will definitely be joining.

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

Lojac's Brain/The Grave and the Old have been updated and (hopefully) refined in mechanics and story to provide a better experience.

 

As always, feedback and suggestions are always desired. (not a farm build)

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

19 hours ago, cranebump said:

Ran it. A few comments:

  Reveal hidden contents

• Let's streamline your Arc desc. 
• Color code titles & sub titles. It's like an advert, and you want me to always be reminded what arc I'm playing. So I should see, on contact screen:

Lojac's Brain

Part 1. Mish Title

• Tone/presentation of Blackpaws is excellent. Seems like a no-nonsense, military-precision type guy. Nice work.
• Hehehe. Love the mish entry popup
• Woo...10 is a lot of collections. Even so, edit your objectives using the Plural and Singular entry spaces. I should read "10 Portable Surgery Stations to investigate" (or destroy or whatever), and, on the last one "Investigate the last..." (I make this presentational error ALL the time btw). I'm fixing arcs I made years ago because of it.
• Critter text is excellent.
• Glowie text: use the Begin interaction for things like "You place the device..." or "You begin to..." And then the interact text for what's occuring (EX: "You place the teleport trigger on the device...")
• I'm not sure we really need 10 glowies, BUT...if you cut the number down, to, say, 5-6, I think they would all appear in the same room, which makes it less annoying for the player (because the glowies are all the same), and has the added bonus of making it seem like it's the perps "storage room" or "test area." Then the extra become window dressing, which is a nice touch. You can also make it to where you only need one glowie, but you can set up additional, non-clickable ones in the same area, provided you connect them to a front spawn that the player won't return to to activate the chain. Then you give them the clue, you keep the window dressing, and the mish moves on.
• Holy f***, a truck! HA! Right on top of me. FYI: The truck objective test is the same as the general text when it appears. I know I'm supposed to "Destroy Truck," but the text says "The Sound of a Truck" or something like that. Technically, it's a description and not an objective.
• Good dialogue, but don't put quotes around any of it. They're not quoting anyone, they're just talking.
• I didn't bother to check whether the prisoner's animation was "Wounded." If so, I'd use that for his captive and rescue animations. You can also use Dead Slab to have him fall down, then get back up upon rescue. If you wanted that.
• It's a long run back, and the map is empty. Consider throwing some patrols in after rescue is complete.
• Tb perfectly honest, if possible, I'd just have the poss pop in in the back, have me fight them, with the ally in tow. Then, after I beat them, just end mish there. Escorts aren't a favorite for most players, esp if the map is large, or the run is long, like this one. Seriously, it's a long run. 
• 
• By the way. I lead the guy out, without engaging Death Angel, and the mish completed.:-/ If you really want me to fight 'em, make it an objective.
• The various clues are great. Grist. Bone Guard. it's appropriately sinister.
• I'd avoid giving the PC too much dialogue in the clue text. It's a turn off for some players.  You can sorta work around this by saying, You put in a request for a teleport. AND a new, less brain-covered change of wardrobe when you get back.
• FYI: "Intel" is on l. I used to work in Army Intelligence. I know. Oxymoron and all that.:-)

Overall: It's a strong start, but I'd say there are some "must changes:"

• Fewer glowies. Maybe even only 1, if we're mainly just getting a clue with them. I'd work on "window dressing" the middle area, having the one active glowie.
• Boss fight: If you want me to fight them for sure, make them ab objective, then have them pop in with the Truck in the back (btw, that was GREAT--just this damned truck all of a sudden. It makes no sense how it got there, but it was great).:-)
• In conjunction with the above, remove the long escort. Keep the "Defeat Death Angel to Escape." Make the escort a non-combatant so they can't be targeted, then the mish will end when the boss dies, and it can be assumed I waltzed out of there.
• We really need a dossier on on SFA.  I'm still in the dark about who they are and why I'm working with them. World-building, yes. But where in the world do they fit in? If you want to keep things close to the vest, then maybe everything's just classified, and somehow I get drafted or something. I did read the contact text

 

I like the customs. I like the contact. I like the map and feel. I'd like more of that background to be foreground. (I'm hoping I didn't miss something when I read contact desc. Maybe SFA stuff was all in there?).

 

Pretty strong start. Tweak it a bit, then drive on, hombre!

 

Thanks for the tips. I am probably overthinking the immersive elements I am putting in, and trying too hard with the collection aspect in that regard.

 

I'll spend some time with it this weekend. As always, I really appreciate your help and the advice of others as I learn to tell stories using this medium.

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

On 6/13/2023 at 6:18 PM, cranebump said:

Font color code is a menu option. You can highlight and select it. There’s additional colors if you know the codes. I think @Darmian knows about that. I would think @Ankylosaur would have some expertise in this, too.

I got some help from @Darmian yesterday, and am currently going back and adding font colors to "The Grave and the Old" and "Lojac's Brain".

[Show Off!!]

11 hours ago, Dacy said:

Oh, I didn't feel you were taking anything away from them; indeed, it's something of a compliment for someone to think that maybe that base just wasn't possible within the current system! 🙂 I'm just here to tell you, it's very possible, and I think anyone can get there with enough vision, determination, information, and practice.

 

If you're looking to give it a go, feel free to join my Discord, and sing out if you want any help! (Link expires in 30 days, apparently they've changed the ability to have a permanent link for Discord...) https://discord.gg/tjqvx8EvG

 

-Dacy

TYVM, I appreciate the Discord offer and the offer of help. I'll be in touch.

 

I have a second base I am building that I intend to tie into the AE arc I am working on, allowing the players in the arc to join the SG being used in story as an immersive element.

 

~Paws

[Show Off!!]

6 hours ago, Dacy said:

All of the bases were done using the tools available to everyone. No mods, no other coding. Just pure determination, skill, practice, and patience.  Afaik, there is no coding one can add to a base to do things to it, and any mods would require people coming into the base to have the same mod. Mods were never even brought up by anyone, so, no mods were seen or used, and if any were present, they wouldn't have been seen because we did not have those mods.

 

(snip)

 

Of course, and I certainly meant to take nothing away from the winners or appear to be grousing. I freely admit to having operated in a bubble where base building is concerned. Your points are all valid. This is kind of the beginning me starting discussions about what I don't know. 🙂

 

6 hours ago, Dacy said:

 

@Easter Bunny and I are always happy to help, give tips, be a second set of eyes to help you see if you got the effect you wanted, give tips on how to get there if not, and there are a lot of other really skilled builders around who are more than happy to help in this way, as well. 🙂 Sometimes, admittedly, it's nearly impossible to get to exactly what you are imagining, but no matter where you're aiming for, having someone to give input or feedback is incredibly helpful. EB and I bounce things off of each other all the time.

There actually have been contests for these, that's what the awards that show up next to the missions are about. I have nothing to do with that, however. 🙂 We probably need an AE CR to do more of those!

Of late, I've been writing AE missions and really enjoy it. I've been posting on the AE forum about them and have gotten some very good feedback from very kind people.

 

6 hours ago, Dacy said:

 

-Dacy

~Paws

[Show Off!!]

@Dacy

 

Something I just thought of...Were bases in the last contest built using solely the base editor without any extra coding like html?

 

I think for the next one, if that's not the case then please consider it. It will make for a level playing field.

 

Looking at bases previously, it felt that I HAD to build outside to make an impact and be considered.

 

Also, I'd like to see a contest for AE missions. 🙂

 

Thank you for everything you do.

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

TYVM Crane.

 

I implemented several of your suggestions...most of them...into TGa/tO. I'm most proud of the new enemy group/faction I implemented.

 

Question: Do I have to use html to change font colors?

 

~Paws

[Lojac's Brain]

The exciting sequel to my series "The Grave and the Old" has begun, and the first part is now published.

 

Lojac's Brain picks up the story and expands on my world building efforts. Its still being tweaked and that's where you come in.

 

Please provide technical and constructive criticism for mechanics and story as you see fit. I'd love to know how you think this product is developing.

 

Its story based fun, that I hope also provides a challenging tactical experience, and chock full of Easter eggs, drama, comedy, horror, and weird science.

 

"The Grave and the Old" and 'Lojac's Brain" contain lots of custom characters, original (I hope) themes, and there is an SG available to join that these missions are based on.

 

These missions afford opportunities for RP aplenty, but isn't essential to its playability. Its not a farm.

 

Give it a try for Lojac. He's counting on you.

 

~Paws

 

 

[Revamped Rogue Story Arc "The Grave and the Old"]

With many thanks to @cranebump and others, I have completely overhauled this 4 mission series, both mechanically and story content.

 

Once again, I ask that my fellow players give this a try and I hope it brings you joy. Please feel free to give feedback on the mission either in AE or here.

 

For a bit of understanding this arc...It is not strictly canonical. Yes, its based in this wonderful game and makes potential use of the heroes, villains, and places we all love. However, I'm doing a bit of world building by using my own characters, groups, and themes. Most of the characters are custom, and the SG's used are those I have actually made in-game. "The Trust Fund" is the base I entered for the SG base contest recently.

 

To whit: If you see a term or element that isn't fully explained, its on purpose for expansion in future arcs I intend to write. Or foreshadowing for a sequel.

 

Enough of me. I present to you "The Grave and the Old." I hope you like it.

 

~Paws

[First time AE Mission Maker]

7 hours ago, cranebump said:

Carry On My Wayward son.:-)

 

The compulsion to feedback is often too strong in this one. Which is why I often sigh to myself when I agree to run something and provide it.:-) 

 

Mission one is revamped and published. Moving towards mission two tomorrow.

[First time AE Mission Maker]

I've taken all the suggestions here and printed them off, highlighting areas of opportunity, and condensing the material into actionable prompts.

 

I'll be implementing changes in the week or so to come, and I am grateful for the time put into coaching me on this.

 

Hopefully I will have a more refined product up sometime this weekend or the next.

 

Thank everyone again who took a look at my creation.

 

~Paws

[First time AE Mission Maker]

4 hours ago, Darmian said:

I've not played it yet, but if @cranebump and @Zhym think you've got a good thing here then I will get onto it.  Always happy to have more AE story writers around!

 

I've avoided spoilering stuff for myself!

 

Thank you very much, and I look forward to your feedback.