[Heroic] [41-54] Rularularian - Arc ID: 848

[Ankylosaur]

Description:   Lt. Col. Flynn, stationed at Mole Point Charlie, needs your help! He sent an expedition team through a newly discovered Hortha Vine... And then it closed! Rescue them from a new part of the shard... ( SFMA - WINNER of American Legion's Monthly AE Contest - Jan 2012!! Solo with provided allies.)

 

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Always thought the Shadow Shard was an underdeveloped zone. So much untouched lore and open questions about all the groups out there. I also fondly remembered the early days when the Rularuu invaded Paragon City and wanted to bring that back.

 

I felt like the story of why there were shard natives who were eager to see Paragon City was an interesting hook and came up with this story to pull together all of that.

 

Came up with some interesting story-telling techniques in this one, with multiple color coded narrators/contacts, using escorts to help find quest items, and even some interactions with NPCs.

[Ankylosaur]

AE stories do not seem to get much traction unfortunately. I think of this as my best, but have sadly not have had a single person play it. It may  be because it’s such a high level, or because it’s not a dev choice, but if anyone at this level is exploring AE missions and is willing to give it a go - it’s a good one - and back in the day others have said so too! :)

[Ankylosaur]

Thrilled someone finally played this! Thanks for the five stars!

 

[Ankylosaur]

Have not been on or awhile, so even though it was from many days ago, it was a pleasant surprise to get feedback on this arc: "That was epic. Great work!"

 

Leaving feedback is most appreciated!

Edited October 17, 2019 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

Had several people play this and leave comments - thought I would share and respond here. Thanks so much for the feedback! 

 

 

Thank you @AskME -  So glad you enjoyed it! Posts like that make my day. If you want another at around the same level I think this and "The Serpent Beyond The Horizon" are my best.

 

@Eildath, Hope it was "Hard!" good? If it seems misbalanced or there are things I should tweak let me know!

 

@Ma1function - So happy you enjoyed and thanks for the bug catch! I had swapped a patrol from Rularuu enemies to Longbow allies and forgot to change their alignment! Fixed it...

 

@purrfekshawn - thanks for the feedback! I checked to make sure I don't have any "Boss Flees" triggers there and I don't so not much I can do here -  we can just chalk it up to the AI.

 

Thanks all for the feedback and SOOO happy you enjoyed it and spending your time in my missions... 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Ankylosaur

[Ankylosaur]

Link to Kyksie review of this in a different thread (some potential spoilers) so here's the key quote...

 

"Rularularian is another perfect arc, with top-notch writing, lots of atmosphere, and no time wasting. Everyone go play it."

 

Thanks for the endorsement, Kyksie!

 

 

[DougGraves]

The first missions are great.  I am not familiar with the shadow shard but it told a good story with background.  And I love missions crammed with details so it doesn't feel like a grind but like each bit is important.

 

but then I got to the mission where I am supposed to find a hidden cave on a large map.  I spent 5 minutes looking for Julia but did not find her.  So I had to quit.

[Kyksie]

10 hours ago, DougGraves said:

but then I got to the mission where I am supposed to find a hidden cave on a large map.  I spent 5 minutes looking for Julia but did not find her.  So I had to quit.

Interesting. Like I said in the review, normally I advise against using that map because it's confusing and the caves are hard to find. When I played it, however, there was a waypoint pointing me to the cave door.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Kyksie

[DougGraves]

I got a waypoint for Hero 1's memorial in City Hall, but no waypoint for the cave

[Ankylosaur]

Sorry to hear you had to quit. Those are hard caves to find.

 

When you enter Mission 4, the dialog box at the mission entrance is a message from Col. Flynn to go to the Nemesis platform in the middle of island and meet up with him.
 

Quote

 

 Over your earpiece you hear...

 

$name. Flynn here. Glad you made it. I'm on the platform of this reclaimed Nemesis base. Come on up. It's you they really want to talk to after all. Over...

 

 

Like you did in Mission 3 with Commander Lefebvre, it is connecting with that escort (Flynn) that enables you to see the waypoint. (I don't think there is any way to set a waypoint without using an escort.)

 

Doubt you'll run through it again, but if you do, that is probably the thing you missed.   Meet up with Flynn and all will be well

 

And if you do decide do decide to play it again and want to learn a bit more about the Shadow Shard before you play - head to Portal Corp in Peregrine Island, go into central building and take the elevator down - head right and go right through the portal (you do not need a mission first). Welcome to Fire Base Zulu!! Here you'll see the military and some of the "natives" which will make all of that make more sense.  If you are really up for exploring - and maybe look up the location online - make your way to the Cascade Archipelago through a portal in Fire Base Zulu  and check out Molepoint Charlie. Here is where Flynn, Sara Moore and others and the mission setting are..

 

Thanks for trying out the arc! Sorry you ran into a roadblock.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Ankylosaur

[DougGraves]

I left the character in the arc, so I can retry the mission.  I did connect with Flynn but I don't recall seeing a waypoint.  I did not stay connected to Flynn though, I went exploring on my own.  So I'll retry it.

[DougGraves]

So the waypoint appears in your normal view but not on the map.  That's why I did not notice it. 

 

The final mission was great.  I've never seen that map before.  And the details and named villains were great.