ZamuelNow

A mix of theories on the issues with AE spawn points AKA Why President Marchand's Office probably hates you A rather understated but quietly major happened in the Issue 27 Page 7 patch. After years of things getting broken on Live, spawn points on a map got fixed in Mission Architect. Sure, it's just one map and a newer one but it got me thinking of what underlying problems might be causing these headaches, especially for outdoor maps. These are just theories but they're stemming from generic programming knowledge and my experience stumbling through AE's Test Mode. -Front, Middle, Back designations might not be turned on: In programming, the most basic states are Off (using 0) or On (using 1). There are more complex things--essentially seeing what's in a container--but at the end of the day it's a light switch. It's wholly possible that half the system is looking at the designation, the other half is telling it nothing's there, and the game defaulting to Any so things don't break. So, maybe the game rolled the dice and the villain seating chart put the grand archvillain of the story near the front door instead of the top floor of President Marchand's Office. -Spawns might be in contradictory coordinates to the designated name: Despite the names of "Front, Middle, and Back", an individual spawn point can be given any coordinate. Considering the programming truth that computers are dumb, the game doesn't know when a spawn point makes no sense to what it's supposed to be. Test Mode shows that objectives are numbered and presumably enemy placements are too. Objective 0 might be at [3.14.1] while Objective 1 might be at [0,0,0]. So, the game might have given out seating charts to the villains and the archvillain got a seat labelled "Back" but the seat was at the front door instead of the top floor of President Marchand's Office. -Some spawn points simply don't exist despite reasoning that they should: Essentially "maybe someone decided that President Marchand's Office didn't need a receptionist", though this affects other maps a bit more. Sometimes a dedicated spawn was never created. It might make sense for a captive to be in the pawn shop or collectible near a jungle pyramid but the game doesn't know where it would make sense to put things--it just knows where they are. This is compounded by the fact that AE maps are copies of the maps in the rest of the game but not with the same spawns and objective placement. The actual problem might be something else altogether but the question now comes to, how do we help the devs with this? Despite my complaints, I understand that a hundred or so maps was a lot for the Live devs and the Homecoming devs are volunteers. Something that will help is being as specific as possible when pointing out map weirdness. Using the /loc command for exact coordinates helps with pointing out weird spawn placement or literal bugs like glowies you can't access. I think a general suggestion to any devs that might view this is that outdoor maps should have Front spawns closest to the entrance, Middle spawns for most of the map, and Back should be the opposite side as the entrance or it should be at a centralized cinematic spot. Things like maps with outdoor/indoor transitions probably skew this. Still, it's a start. Oh, and thanks to @Cobalt Arachne for noticing and addressing the glowie problem on the Smelting Cauldron map.

Dhahabu Kingdom and the Indelible Curse of Hate - Arc ID: 60044 [SFMA} A hero's work with the Portal Corporation doesn't just spread through Paragon. Other dimensions need help as destiny has decreed you to be their savior. Aid Queen Auri as the Dhahabu Kingdom fights to stop an evil curse from destroying all she holds dear. Dhahabu Kingdom and the Unfathomable Nightmare of Sand - Arc ID: 61528 The thrilling sequel to Dhahabu Kingdom and the Indelible Curse of Hate (#60044). As you return to this mystic land, the people are assailed by an unholy drought. As something sinister lurks, only you can save this world from an ancient threat. [SFMA] So...it's back. I think I worked out the problems in Test Mode but I don't have the same resources I had on Live. Still worried about a few parts but as a top level arc I'm less worried about some of the potential problems with enemy difficulty. On the positives, I did try to tighten up a few things. And I held off until I27 page 7 dropped because one of the changes is Queen Auri now has her own costume, instead of just being a recolored Sybil. Looking for feedback and constructive criticism. Fun fact: The arc is so old that I didn't have a SFMA tag on the original. EDIT: Added the sequel since it's also been republished.

Do you have a YouTube with older VODs?

I'm rusty but what maps have you tried to use? You might need to fake a store instead of using a real one.

This...actually makes a lot of sense and is accurate. Despite any individual issues I have with Praetoria, I've always felt like Precinct Five is the game's best tutorial (with Breakout being the second and Outbreak and Galaxy's Last Stand tying for third). The rest of your comments I have thoughts on but I feel a larger discussion is needed outside of Beta.

Ah, so that's what I'm seeing. I think I can work with it but I guess I won't know until republishing. Incarnates will throw the balancing for a loop with anything in high level ranges.

What users have content of them playing AE missions?

In working on my older arcs to revive them for Homecoming, I acknowledge that a lot of things have changed since Live. When not being experimental (which I will do sometimes), what are best practices for minion/lt power design to keep them relatively balanced and give an okay amount of XP (even if it's not 100%).

Do Void Hunters spawn in AE missions? I forget if they do or not and my only Kheldians was from a AE story team on Live.

While the vendors now have their START names in Fort Trident and The Crucible, the map still says their P2W name.

Returning Test Char has been given up in favor of Black Downburst.

Something got fixed instead of broken in AE? Color me shocked (and pleased).

Likewise, the P2W Field Agent in the Crucible is still using the original name.

I guess I have to ask, is there a group periodically running AE missions like on Live? I've put down roots in Torchbearer but I remember it traveling across servers near the end of the game's life.

Could this possibly be done for some of the chairs and stools in Blackbeard's in Port Oakes? Nothing major since I myself am not a major RPer but since it's one of the few RP spots redside, it would be useful for those who want to use it.

Oh wow, I actually have comment file. It's interesting to reread some of the feedback on the arcs (though some of it is "posted review on the forums").

I know a lot of things have changed with bases but I spotted the Combo Power and Control Unit in the wiki. Does this still exist or was it removed/altered?

Voted for Praetorian Office over Arachnos. Not because of Praetoria but because the lack of an office style has always felt weird.

I agree with many of the things already said and I'm not sure of the exact right thing to do. I agree with the fact that "more content" is needed redside, even if just for the people already there. One thing that stands out is the fact that villains don't have Origin contacts. Granted, the starter content blueside isn't great but it does theoretically start your character out with something vaguely fitting and it does get followed up. Lore means that this isn't something Arachnos would set up but it feels like something based on origin should exist. I do wonder how much is player side momentum. In the post about the team members not knowing how to get redside, I remember back on Live that happening even on blueside with people not knowing how to get content. I also remember people thanking me for showing them content they had never seen before. In returning to the game, learn to play YouTube videos show you the beginning of blueside but not redside. I will give @Dacy credit for showcasing where the supergroup registars are for blueside, redside, and goldside in her base building video. I don't know if there needs to be more advocates for redside specifically and even if so, it probably should be after Issue 27 Page 7 drops. Though with difficulty mentioned, I gotta say on Live I was gleefully vindictive at the post GR story arc where heroes had to fight rogue members of the PPD that villains had to deal with for years. Getting glued was an eye opener for some.

Adding on to the gendering problem, the devs might want to tweak some of the originally redside only ATs still have villainous sounding parts to their descriptions. Though I'm not sure of the exact replacements needed.

When CoX originally sunset, I was disappointed like most but went on to other things. Eventually, the lack of news about the game led me to delete the directory for the hard drive for space. Years later hearing about Homecoming getting officially licensed led to me redownloading and stumbling through the game. On a hunch I checked a backup drive and I was surprised to find actually still have my arcs saved. I thought I had lost everything. To the question, how would you go about transferring the files to a new computer to republish? Being about a decade rusty, I have no clue what directory things should go in (and this is on a wholly separate computer). Not everything will come back but that will be more than zero.

They should at least add the Mutant origin power so it can get a similar situation as igniting Oil Slick Arrow regardless of powerset (though all of the above should probably also be considered).

As a returning player, I gotta say that the adjustment to the Origin powers feels good for filling in low level attack chains. Not mind blowing...but nice.

As someone who wrote for AE a lot before shutdown, seeing map fixes is actually exciting. However, there's still glowies that aren't accessible on Smelting Cauldron. Two of them, one roughly at [-745.1 0.0 88.7] and the other [-755.5 0.0 28.1] on the floor, are inside the big boiler in the last room. The third is on a wall at roughly [-834.2 0.0 153.3] where you can't jump out. I think it's either inside a shipping container or there's an invisible ceiling. I found these by maxing out the number of collectibles and using the test setting to jump to objective. Also, I think the numbers are off since it said you could place 40+ of floor and wall objectives but the mission only had around 15 of each. Makes sense for the size of the map that there's not 40 of each but that might need adjusting in the mission settings if you can't actually set that many.

Going with the concept of immersion, the ELITE office for Atlas Park seems a little empty. It stands out compared to the other offices that have things that represent their origin as opposed Natural getting nothing. I don't know if there's room for suggestions but I do have a few small ideas if so. Susan Davies left as is for easy accessibility for players who are given her as contact after Outbreak. Derek Amberson could be in front of a training dummy practicing martial arts or swordplay. On the opposite wall where Rachel Torres is could have a poster ranging from a conspiracy board with connecting strings or a map of the city with her rotated so she's looking at it. This would be a suggestion to try to be on theme but keep characters coordinates the same. More could be done if willing to change their locations but I figure that might break things and take more time.