Ankylosaur

Thanks for the great feedback! Tremendous gift to capture all of that. The text was rougher than I realized. I think I had been looking at it all too long, but that is why a fresh perspective is so valuable. I will apply all of those changes. As to ConDev, I have been struggling with how to bring them in in detail. I agree their costumes are a little over the top and retconned that in as a call out from the doc in 3.1, but decided they embraced their identify as pirates - there is a reason behind it but it's about as detailed as why are the Goldbrickers Retro-scifi. As to mob design - the ones with gold accents are primarily using Praetorian tech, the ones with green, primarily Rikti tech. The group names are using specific attacks/costume parts: Buccaneers (PPD with rikti blaster), Picaroons (Resistance armor/dual pistols), Swashbucklers (Rikti Sword), Privateers (Dual blade/olympian guard), Reavers (IDF)) or are vanilla IDF (Paixhans, Blunderbuss, Culverin, Man O' War, etc) or Rikti tech (Clipper, Frigate, Galleon). Of course, the other source of the theme is just that there are a lot piratey names and costume parts I can leverage to support a custom tech mob that is scavenging alien tech. 🙂 As to M4 - I agree - that is a pretty exciting climactic kind of end scene, but flow-wise did not feel like the final mission - maybe I'll see I'll if I can rework that somehow. Have an opinion on the two thoughts below? Maybe ConDev should attack instead of the council in M4 which may bring them more to life and be a better lead-in to M5? Or maybe M5 becomes M4 and the retaliation is ConDev because of that? (Cause that was not their only hideout) As to what is M5 today - was worried about that map being too big and the objectives being too many but compensated with lots of allies that should help it flow. Also - how was the final boss? Again - thank you for being willing to take an early run and for all this great feedback.

OK then in M4 or M5 text somewhere I think I saw "Arachnos have something-or-other" Corps and orgs are singular so would be "Arachnos has something-or-other"

Did a run through of Cassini - here's some thoughts along the way. M1 Intro "nstructions" Objective text "First Floor" >> was wondering if this would be an american or british first floor 🙂 The wall safe is not an arachnos base safe? You get to use those so rarely 🙂 M2 Sendoff "Bailisk" Who put that up there! 🙂 Said the robot about robots... 🙂 5 Bombs to arm. <--- objective text - remove period and do init caps? Bombs should fade in? hard to find this bomb in the foreground behind the boxes - but a good challenge... Return pop up - "as the facility is destroyed" is passive "as the bombs you placed rip the facility apart" or something. M3 Intro: Considering we are dealing with a clone, my <---needs that comma nav: 1 Mainframe Data huh - what's wyvern doing here... Chatty arachnobots! 🙂 [NPC] Arachnobot: Wyvern everywhere! [NPC] Wing Talon Agent: No unneccessary prisoners! [NPC] Arachnobot: Wyvern everywhere! [NPC] Wing Talon Agent: No unneccessary prisoners! 1 Specimen Refrigerator, Recall <-- objectives after defeating Gorgon unclear where recall will be or chimera just have to run through the whole base oh! he was behind me in the back room - maybe some unaware text to let me notice him in all this smoke 🙂 oh and that was Recall with those agents! did not even see him for the smoke [NPC] Recall: Thanks for the assist. We have more trouble though. Guy called...Chimera! Yeah! Didn't you just see me beat him up? M4 Sinclair is high falutin' who talks like this 🙂 "It seems our efficacy as a tactical unit will soon be curtailed." 1 Shut down CCTV <--nav cctv computer had no countdown bar text when almost every action results in an ambush they become less special i saw a body bag - suspect i need to click it later - maybe set it to fade in? guessing you are using the "1" on purpose - there is a space at the end of feed line: 4 Bodies to Place, 1 Clockwork Recording Feed Line , Eliminate all Witnesses no text on feed line computer countdown bar oh the bodies do fade in... M5 While the crystal is neat - I think having Sinclair as the contact would be better. Cause "Praetor Sinclair's familiar presence awaits you." is not true - not familiar at all 🙂 Recall not fighting what was the deal with that arbiter? Computer in a sewer? sewers to arachnos tunnel? what the heck map is this? Color me surprised! 🙂 oops! - died from Tammi cause she caught me by surprise - and she rezzes! NPC] Tami Baker: Come on! Arachnos are on the way so we need to get this place sealed up. [NPC] Tami Baker: Another of Chimera's pets? Or Protean's? [NPC] Tami Baker: This assault on my person will not go unpunished. You will die for that. [NPC] Tami Baker: Your DNA will be harvested. Mr. G will have use of your shape and form. [NPC] Recall: Stuck in a sewer on a different Earth. Well that's just great. So that - as is typical of you - was rich, deep, thoughtful, detailed, intriguing fun and occasionally a little chained objective heavy for my tatstes. 🙂 I think you are missing a big opportunity to recast these as stories from 40-54 though. I don't think I saw a mob here that is not at those levels, and it fills a hole for the gold side. I have not played gold so i don't know how often they "invade" Primal Earth but that angle gives you so many maps and places you could use, and great stories you could tell! You could even integrate the "Wards" stories back towards the main threads and do some cools stuff there - maybe the midnight squad from earth and praetoria unite to fight cole or something Great stuff!

Since you are looking for Praetorian-ish stories, you could try my Policemen vs. Aliens - which spans many levels and ends up in Praetoria - but its definitely from a blueside perspective. and has more to do with Kheldians than Praetoria. And @Darmian - maybe you should do a level 40-50 series to plug the hole that is sadly left in the goldside. 🙂

So I have to admit that I am goldside newb. I played the Bridge of Forever and it was a good ride. It's making me want to roll a dedicated Goldside toon so I have better perspective on this and future stories.

Some of those I thought I had already fixed! Fixed it again. 🙂 (Don't know if you ever encounter that bug where you reopen something that was published and it uses an old cached version before your most recent publish. I'm going to blame it on that. 🙂 ) Thanks for taking the time to play through it. I think - other than errant typos - its done. Have made a few other little tweaks, swapping a map in M2, and applying some changes to M4 like we discussed. I think I can call this whole suite from 1.1 to 3.2 final now. Moving on to the 4.x series...

I wonder if all the maps on this demo list are old enough that they would easy to make available? https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Demo_Editing/Scenic_Maps Many already are after all, but even of those, maybe the fact that many of those are bugged/quirky (Marchand's Office, Freaklympics, etc) speaks to how tricky they are to convert. But I'd love that portal corp exterior map. And if you had not seen this - its a handy reference that i never remember to use 🙂 : https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Mission_Architect_Unique_Maps

I did the first two and really enjoyed them. Good writing and story and It was great to explore a new "place." The customs had nice details and while each story is self-contained there is clearly a through line which makes me want to know more.

@Take One - thank you for all of this! The feedback is a gift that has helped give me gain some much needed additional and fresh perspective: 2.1 - This was the first arc in the series that I wrote, and after putting missions before it and developing the missions far after it, I have fiddled with it changing a few things - and a few related things were not updated (like the Gold Bricker who no longer has an energy weapon). I applied all the typo fixes, and the Royal Overbrook mention (Which used to be a totally different map). 2.2 & 3.1 - thanks for the feedback here too - all applied 3.2 - Sorry about this one. Frankly I did not think anyone would get to this yet. I have even only played it once myself and had planned to run through it this weekend and tidy it up but you did that for me! Applied all your typo fixes as well as the "too many objectives" problems. 3.3 - Was unsure if this would work and it did not. While The Ghost in The Machine was my inspiration for who Midas is, that story does not neatly fit. Made it a Side Arc instead and will continue the series in the 4.x missions that explore ConDev. And a big shout out to your "The Doctor Returns" mission that I just played. It was awesome. (I was worried my idea was a duplicate of yours! (Thankfully it wasn't, but it was interesting to see how we put the same two things together for a story - The Doctor and AE.) Additional thoughts... I have not even started 4.x stories that explore ConDev - just some vague outlines, motivations and masterminds in my mind and may take a little of a writing break - just polishing what is here. To do ConDev justice, I think I will need a new 2.2 (Fragment in Faultline?) that introduces ConDev in more depth earlier in the series - they currently just get mentioned in 2.x and start appearing in 3.x. When I finish that I will bump up the current 2.2. to 2.3 and increase its level range now that Wyvern goes to level 44. The whole reason the Manticore mansion mission was in 2.2 was because Wyvern capped at 30 previously.

@Take One mentioned this discussion to me. I have a mob called The Gaians and backstory for them in my arc "The Genesis and Geneticists of the Coming Hammigedon" in my sig if you want to explore one person's take on this idea. How they became this way is revealed in the story, but the minions have less mutations and bosses more. It all takes place in Eden and The Hive so its fairly high level - not low level like mentioned above. In storytelling - one of the things about the DE that's tough is they have no voice - which makes it hard for anyone to care about them other than things to be wiped out. In my story I let the Hamidon speak through the Gaiains which makes him much more interesting as a big baddie IMHO. On a related and strange DE voice side-note, I "heard" DE talking near the Dark Astoria entrance Bladegrasses and Herders speaking - not sure I've seen that before Also - I think if we are thinking big, there are opportunities for an Eden zone redo ala Faultline. Nothing much happens in Eden, The intriguing Utopia Complex is there (I use that and The Gaians again in another arc) and it is the home to DE and pathways through woods that everyone just avoids.

Thank you for all of this feedback and your refinements applied all typo fixes contact details - this may be a bug as I checked and all the contacts do have details. 1.1 M2 - fixed those longbow 1.2 M1 - used your suggestions and have a more interesting M1 as a result - thanks for the ideas! 1.3 M1 - the luddite patrol were a holdover. originally I had both luddite and goldbricker patrols, but decided the luddites worked better with animations (pamphlets and torches), and the gold brickers as patrolers (as the flying paths are more interesting). So I made that patrol an enemy but forgot to make them gold brickers and give them dialog. anyway - fixed that 🙂

I know that a series can't be submitted per se, but I thought I would throw my latest in the mix. Maybe the first arc - All That Glitters 1.1: Missing in Mercy is strong enough on its own...

So - from level 1-54 this is done-ish - on its first pass. All the arcs are fairly solid - though some of the later ones may have some sharp edges. It's a lot to write a series - and I am a little - spent. 🙂 Impressed that @Darmian and @cranebump have completed any! I think I need some feedback and additional perspectives before I can make much more headway. Feedback welcomed and encouraged! At the same time I know it is a lot to ask of anyone to play a series, so I'm worried few will take the bait - but if you happen to - would love to hear what you like and or hate. And if you could be kind with stars in its early stages, always appreciated.

One more little thing I stumbled on is that Wyvern now has mobs up to level 44! That's 14 levels higher than it used to! This is pretty handy for my All That Glitters series. Note that the AE does not show this in the mob drop-down; it's only when you peek within the mob. Unrelated to the update, both the Skulls and the Hellions go higher than the level listed in the Mob drop-down too - level 20 instead of 15. If you ever have the AE throw an error or not let you select them because of level range the work around is to make a custom mob with the characters you want in it. (I had to do that for some level 15 - 20 Hellions). Also, if you set the mission to the right levels, it may work. For example, Wyvern as a drop down says max 30, but if I put them in a patrol on a mission that caps at 44, they con correctly. (If I put them in a mission at 50 they are gray and maxed out at 44).

UI feature - Convert Rescue One other little QoL feature is a "Convert" button that lets you change your mind between release Captive, Ally, and Escort. a few times I have decided t change an ally to an escort or the other way around - and having to manually move all the dialogue and settings between them is a hassle. I know its not a one-for one - but just moving what you can would be nice.

THe stance setting is the author’s option - not the players

Unless something has changed of late, if they are flagged as an ally, and set to follow, they should stick with you. If they are set to aggressive, they attack anything within their perception. If they are set to defensive, they attack once attacked I believe. If they are flagged as an escort, then they may fight with you until they reach their predetermined location - which should have a waypoint marker. Once they do that they may be set to wander or to exit the mission, among a few other things.

UI feature - Duplicate. Sometimes I’ll have something like a boss or an ally, or a patrol or a battle, with all the options set just right, and rather than have it spawn 5 times, I want to make five unique ones with unique dialog, and maybe even swapping out a group or mob. Would love a “Duplicate” button so I don’t have to go in and recreate it five times but can just tweak what is different. UI feature - Spell Checker. Wondering if by now there is some sort of free to use spell-checker/dictionary it could integrate with. The AE editor does throw an orange error for banned words, so it is parsing the text. Maybe throw a yellow error for words that it does not recognize? (Should allow you to add to the dictionary with character names or things to help reduce erroneous errors.)

A few of the standard mobs - the Skulls and the Hellions - have their levels mislabeled in AE. Both of them are listed as 1-14 but they have mobs that go up to at least twenty. What this means is that if you wanted to make a mission of level 15-20, even though the mob supports those levels, AE won’t let you use them as the default mob. Vahzs may need an update too... Easy enough to work around by creating a custom mob, but not everyone will know to/think of doing that.

On live, you used to be able to unlock certain content to use in your missions with architect tickets - like the Croatoa maps, or the Longbow Officers, by buying them upstairs in AE. I suspect that part is just old boilerplate.

Glad you all enjoyed wandering around wonderland! Thrilled and honored to be selected, Thanks so much!

Similarly, some could be “objects” people in mission that you can “collect” or be "defendable/destructible" but can’t interact with (e.g. Golden Roller, Fathim, television) but that can’t move.

Agreed - and I would think this would be easy. You can get to them through a Pets group today as either bosses or as captives, but you can’t add them to a custom group. For example, I included an Oni as a boss you fight in “Return to Faultline” and included the robots as allies you rescue in “Robolution”

One other tiny change I noticed. I am working on an arc that I wanted to use Hopkins from Crey. I would swear he used to be level 32-38 (an infuriatingly narrow range) and is now 32-44. Does he appear in the Freaklok content?