LF Feedback: The New Heroes of Paragon (Arc #42432)

[Electricboots]

Hello! I'm looking for some feedback on my first arc - The New Heroes of Paragon (Arc #42432)

 

****An email from the PPD Youth Outreach department****

Hello, I'm Kathy Wright. Thank you for reaching out to the PPD Youth Outreach 
department. As you can imagine, parents of superpowered children need all the 
help they can get, especially if they have no powers themselves. 

So, we are looking for superheroes to mentor and, well, mind, young heroes and 
heroines of Paragon City. Your job would be to try to keep them out of trouble, 
however what usually happens is that trouble finds them anyway. Therefore, 
your goal then is to follow them around and try to resolve whatever "compromising 
situation" they got into.

We think we have a perfect match for someone of your abilities, we will send 
you all the information very soon.

Thanks for your help!

 

(It says "Very Long" but I play-tested it with 3 different ATs, forgot to time it but it was definitely not "Very Long")

 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Electricboots
formatting

[Electricboots]

 

Thanks @Kyksie for your feedback!

 

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I do have a few nitpicks, the most notable being that the whole arc is locked at level 20. A few of the custom mobs are missing descriptions and a few maps have Objective Overload. And... ummm... the "bully" NPC group is the second arc is cute, with "Kicking Bully" and "Vicious Bully", but "Knife Bully" really doesn't belong. Knives kinda escalate stuff from 'bullying' all the way to 'attempted homicide'. Maybe replace it with "Annoying Bully" whose sonic attacks are cutting insults, or "Yellow Water Bully" with squirt guns and water balloons. (jeez, it's just food coloring, get your mind out of the gutter).

 

All of this is fair, thanks! Some of these probably due to the fact that I just learned how to use Mission Architect and this is my first arc. I'll go back and check for the missing descriptions though!

 

For the bullies I so wish I could give custom NPC the "basic attacks" from Hellions minions (as example). The player powersets are so powerful when trying to make very basic enemies... and very few of the powersets work with the "this enemy has no actual powers but they have some basic weapon (or no weapon at all)" idea... I will take a look at those enemies again though, I agree with what you said about the more "powerful" of them.

 

The part I struggled the most with: the ally NPCs. Basically I wanted ally NPC that do minion-level damage but have AV-level defense. Do little damage, but almost impossible to kill by the enemies. Not sure if anyone here has a trick for that, but I couldn't really get it the way it was in my head...

 

So basically as I was making the missions, I was learning Mission Architect (and its many limitations/bugs/quirks) but I already had my ideas in my head. I tried to make my ideas work as much as the Mission Architect let me...

 

If I ever get another idea for an AE arc at least I know all limitations now beforehand, lol

[Kyksie]

You can make a custom mob and give it plenty of defensive powers but only the tier one attack. It will still do boss/EB scale damage with that attack, though.

 

Still, strong allies aren't necessarily a bad thing. (They reduce your XP, but we're not playing architect for XP, right?) In particular, this arc ended with an EB foe, who was quickly set upon and beaten by my three EB allies. If I hadn't had those allies, a sudden EB while reduced to level 20 would be a Bad Thing.

[Electricboots]

25 minutes ago, Kyksie said:

 It will still do boss/EB scale damage with that attack, though.

Yeah I guess I would just want a "damage scaler" for custom NPC when I can make them EB or AV but do 10% of the damage. Maybe a damage debuff? Anyway, that's not possible currently. :)

 

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Still, strong allies aren't necessarily a bad thing. (They reduce your XP, but we're not playing architect for XP, right?) In particular, this arc ended with an EB foe, who was quickly set upon and beaten by my three EB allies. If I hadn't had those allies, a sudden EB while reduced to level 20 would be a Bad Thing.

Oh yeah that's another thing I was struggling with: difficulty/balance. My claw/elec scrapper could do the arc at +0x1 fine (had to be careful with bosses though), but my rad/sonic defender definitely had no issue doing the arc on higher difficulty. At some point I just assumed that different players would use their own difficulty settings, because I don't think there's a way to build an arc that feels about the same (difficulty wise) on all ATs/powersets.

[Darmian]

2 minutes ago, Electricboots said:

I don't think there's a way to build an arc that feels about the same (difficulty wise) on all ATs/powersets.

Nail on the head.  There literally isn't right now using the tools we have.

[cranebump]

Okay, here's my run-through.

 

I went with: KR Devil, an exemplared Incanate AR/TA. Why? I don't trust you, man.:-)

 

M1

• GREAT costume on contact.
• I’d title the missions, but that’s a style thing more than anything else. I feel like it’s another opportunity to add thematic components or easter eggs. And sometimes it’s fun to figure out if there are certain references involved (pop culture, Shakespeare, etc.)

• Feel like we need a period before “she has this magic doll.”
• Use of highlighting is interesting, but not sure we need as many things highlighted as you have. Typically, a highlight for the main mish objective (to accentuate the main objective). But, we’ll see what happens inside. Maybe it’s foreshadowing or something?

 

Style, but maybe carriage return before “See you there!” Also I’d put “here’s the address” on the same line as Awesome!

 

Miss Loud dewc: should be “but, often,” instead of “but often.”

 

Great use of the escort. Excellent dialogue all the way around (NPCs, perps).

 

Broom...hehehehe.

 

Now THAT’s a neat trick.:-)

 

Strong use of patrols.

 

Fyrestorm down!

 

SUMMARY: I could’ve done without the glowie chain. Looks like it was mainly to spawn an ambush. If so, maybe unlock the extra glowies by making them non-required. Then, when i seek out the doll, I might get it right, or I might trigger an ambush. Otherwise, I’m just running around for no reason. This is still a very good mission, and excellent use of the Hellions/customs.

 

NOTE: Feels like the Nav Obj should be “Keep the kids out of trouble” or something. It IS a search and rescue, but feel like that could be a mish title instead. Not a “have to,” by any means.

 

M2

Entry text: go there, like, right now. (comma needed)

Contact text is character-rich. Nice job.

 

Not sure why ??? is a mission goal? (the wolf, yes?)

 

The NPCs are great! Ice cream vendor, etc. Nice touches.

 

FYI: I HATE maps like these, but it worked well because it wasn’t overly cluttered. Wish it was **slightly** smaller, but the kids were easy to spot due to consistency of baddies. Felt weird spraying them with fire, though. (I'm a jackass...)😕

 

M3

Send off text: hehehehe...My toon is the King’s Row Devil and he’s telling me how to get around KR.:-)

 

If it’s THIS crate, I can’t access it...yet…

 

There we go. Second room.

 

Only downside to window dressing - wondering if I'm gonna have to click ALL this stuff at some point.

 

Rats in the sewer. Now, why didn’t I ever think of that?:-) (like, seriously)

 

Lots of interesting window dressing (objects). 

 

M4

I’m working the Goonies…(sigh) 🙂

 

EXCELLENT multi-spawns of Skulhead. And self-deprecating reference “yeah, whatever beat this guy so we can move on” is a great touch!

Ha. Niiice….

 

By this time, I’m like “Where are all the freakin’ adults?” Feels like I’ve been dropped into Stranger Things.

 

Window dressing is one of the best things about the arc. That’s a lot of work just to create ambiance. Bravo.

 

I am sooooo not a kid, kemosabe…

 

Must assuredly…

 

No, I got this. Y’all just...stand there…:-/ (and bullets MATTER, chick with the British boarding house mistress name!)

 

Annnnnd...DONE!

 

Good stuff:

*The object window dressing is excellent. 

*Use of NPCs is superior (esp. “window dressing” (civilians in outdoor map [who are ignoring the kids being bullied]; “Guard duty”).:-/

*Dialogue is excellent.

*A unique arc, due to the kid-centric focus.

*It doesn’t take itself too seriously.:-)

*It’s clean and fairly quick.

 

Tweaks:

*The glowie chain on M1. No reason to go to the trash can, the desk, the lockers, etc. Surprised Kyksie didn’t mention this, because it feels like one of those “time wasters.” I **think** I know the reason (ambush spawn?). But I’d do that the way I suggested, above.

*A few minor grammatical things (commas)

*What's up with the wolf? Never was mentioned again. Or did I miss that? (First rule of Poetics - everything should be attached to the plot in some way-but I digress...as you did there....):-) [I'm sure I just missed something).

*I felt funny spraying down bullies with fire. Kinda wish the Hellions were messing with them instead (which would fit the whole “doll is magical and they want it” throughline).

*I feel highlighting is overused. I don’t think “me and my sister” needs to be in green. Names are fine. Highlighting the major objective is fine. The rest, I’m not sure the need is there. It doesn’t hurt anything, however.

*Just a personal preference: I like the individual mishes to be titled, but, again, personal preference. It’s fine the way it is.

 

Verdict: It’s damn near a 5-star arc. Most of my suggestions are simply cosmetic. Better than probably the first 10 things I attempted. And you got a BEST EVER! from Kyks, so file that away (for the dark times....when you're scripting and the damned. thing. just. won't. work.):-)

 

Well done! Keep it up!

 

Crane

Edited August 7, 2021 by cranebump

[Electricboots]

Thank you for the feedback @cranebump!

 

Thanks for highlighting the typos, English is my second language so very possible I missed some things there. Sometimes though I tried to write it the way I imagine a kid would say it (like a long sentence, as if a kid speaks without pausing/breathing, lol)

 

Yeah some of the objectives, often I was trying to do something specific, then realized Mission Architect won't let me.  I would then try different ways, with triggers etc. I can probably remove 1 collection from first mission though. My initial goal was for Wolfie to come back at last mission, then realized I didnt have the room on the map for the last mission.  I really wanted to use that map though, so I made Wolfie optional because I like that pup, lol. I thought maybe if I make second arc, Wolfie can appear in that one instead of the last mission of this arc... I dunno. :)

 

Example while I was making the missions I had issue with objectives that trigger Ambushes, then wouldn't trigger anything else.  After googling I read that was done to stop exploits for farm missions.  Kinda annoying though... also I wish I could make Ambush a required objective for the mission... 

 

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I felt funny spraying down bullies with fire.

Yeah... well to be honest I feel funny on any of my heroes using guns sometimes.  We're supposed to "arrest" the bad guys... lol

 

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I feel highlighting is overused.

Yeah, I kinda was trying the different features of Mission Architect, maybe got excited with some stuff, so you're right about this one probably... :)

 

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No, I got this. Y’all just...stand there…:-/ 

Yeeaaah. I struggled with ally AI... on "Defensive" they are too defensive.  On "Aggressive" I find them too aggressive, lol. I need a "short range aggressive". Also, Mirage is Illusion/empathy, but I've seen her use healing maybe 3 times max.  Tried different "AIs", same result. I guess all these issues I've had with allies are just quirks of the Mission Architect.

 

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Rats in the sewer. 

I'm sad I can't give them beast run stance....

 

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civilians in outdoor map [who are ignoring the kids being bullied];

Do they? The civilians are enemies to the bullies (and the other enemies on that map), I've seen them fight if they were close to each other.  I wish I could make real civilians who just stand there in "scared" stance instead, but oh well... :)

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by Electricboots

[Kyksie]

6 hours ago, cranebump said:

*The glowie chain on M1. No reason to go to the trash can, the desk, the lockers, etc. Surprised Kyksie didn’t mention this, because it feels like one of those “time wasters.”

 

The first map suffers from what I call "Objective Overload". Something like five glowies, two bosses and three meetups IIRC. I was going to mention it but that map was just so awesome in all other ways 🙂

 

But yeah, 'chained' glowies are generally a no-no on big maps, unless you have them spawn all in the same area.

[Electricboots]

Ohhh thanks @cranebump !  I haven't received any more feedback so I should tweak/fix things now! 😄

[cranebump]

Of course I messed up the arc name and the ID but @Take One fixed it so you’re good 🙂

[Electricboots]

Just updated the arc. Tweaked the contact text and dialog here and there.  Main changes are:

• Removed two collection objectives from Mission 1
• The "Bullies" faction is gone from Mission 2. They have been replaced with a different custom faction that I think is just better overall. This new faction has proper descriptions, yay.
• Wolfie gone from Mission 2 also. Wasn't replaced with anything. He was a relic of a bygone version of the arc, but I will miss him. 😢
• Ratkins now have proper descriptions.
• In Mission 3, the "find the crate" objective is now "find the wooden crate" and now there's only 1 wooden crate on the map. There are a couple of other "decorative" crates but they are now metal crates.

[TerroirNoir]

This looks like it could be fun.