Attack on Stahlheim

[Vic Raiden]

So! I decided to give the Mission Architect a try and make an arc. Nothing very sophisticated, just infiltrating a very large base belonging to the Stahlheim Empire - a technology-oriented dictatorship bent on world domination who serve as one of my personal lore's main antagonistic factions - and shutting down the superweapon project that's being developed there.

 

At present, I have more or less decided on the first part, using the Longbow island base map. And I know I want to use the Council giant robot hangar for the finale. But I've got a bit of a writer's block in regards to the rest of the arc.

 

Hence, I am asking you for advice:

1. What sorts of locations should I include in an underground facility, and what maps should they be represented with?
2. How could I make the intro mission more unique than just "go inside and kill the boss"? The idea here is that the boss would drop a keycard giving the player access to deeper parts of the base.

[Darmian]

5 hours ago, Vic Raiden said:

Hence, I am asking you for advice:

1. What sorts of locations should I include in an underground facility, and what maps should they be represented with?
2. How could I make the intro mission more unique than just "go inside and kill the boss"? The idea here is that the boss would drop a keycard giving the player access to deeper parts of the base.

1.  Well, it depends!  Looking through the list will give a selection of Council/5th Column underground style bases, which you will probably have to select and have a walk around to get a feel for them to see if they suit you.  I usually do that.  Load in a map, set it to "Empty" part way down the Villain list, give it a single collectable and some filler text so the AE doesn't bork at you, then just walk around and get the vibe.  Also, paying attention to the layout of Xs and Os and so on on the mini map.

However, if you want a shinier sort of underground base then having a look at the Praetorian Tech or Bio Labs is a good go to, so have a look at those.

 

2. Well, we don't have the option in AE of a locked door, so the best you can do is defeat a boss and have his clue say something about a keycard and trigger a glowie/whatever further inside the base.  A lot of AE building is trial and error, so checking out one of the guides here or checking out how other people have done them is going to help.  Other than that, happy mission making!

 

 

[cranebump]

I would build up to entering the sub base by using other maps in preceding mishes. Since your organization is unique, and new, I’d probably do something like this:

 

Mish 1: Discovery. the contact sends you to check out suspicious activity, thinking it’s X, but it’s really Stahlheim (Steelhelm?). 
I’d have your new bad guys found working with another group. Maybe doing a tech deal, or possibly raiding a labto steal some key piece of tech.

M2: Investigation. Of course, we know nothing about these guys, so time to see who they are, and what they’re up to (and, like, why are they working with the 5th Column? [just spitballing]). Here, we have our first “oh, sh*t” moment (they’ve improved the Council Bots!).

Here, you might’ve tracking the fleeing from M 1 perps to a warehouse. Mission orders reveal their scheme, or a part of it.

 

M3: Investigation 2: find out how to stop the “oh sh*t” thing. Let’s say we find location of one of their cells. We use this suss out their comms\data hubs. We know we need to hit the lab where they’re building prototype. But where is it? Previous clues reveal they’re in (choose appropriate map). The location data is found here, either on a system, or one someone’s person.

 

M4: Hit the hub. Get the key card. Triangulate secret base location. Probably take out minor boss. Probably a lab map, buy maybe it’s an office? One they purchased legally, using a beard organization. Our second “oh, sh*t” moment. Like they’ve already finished the prototype and are attacking Longbow! (Or whatever).

 

M5: big boss finale. Plus destroy their prototypes and research. Use your chosen big robot map here. 
 

If it were me, I’d probably go with “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and have the hero working with bad guys who’ve had key pieces of tech stolen. Then the hero is also worrying about a possible betrayal by their “Allies.”

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by cranebump

[Vic Raiden]

On 7/15/2023 at 4:56 AM, cranebump said:

I would build up to entering the sub base by using other maps in preceding mishes. Since your organization is unique, and new, I’d probably do something like this:

 

Mish 1: Discovery. the contact sends you to check out suspicious activity, thinking it’s X, but it’s really Stahlheim (Steelhelm?). 
I’d have your new bad guys found working with another group. Maybe doing a tech deal, or possibly raiding a labto steal some key piece of tech.

M2: Investigation. Of course, we know nothing about these guys, so time to see who they are, and what they’re up to (and, like, why are they working with the 5th Column? [just spitballing]). Here, we have our first “oh, sh*t” moment (they’ve improved the Council Bots!).

Here, you might’ve tracking the fleeing from M 1 perps to a warehouse. Mission orders reveal their scheme, or a part of it.

 

M3: Investigation 2: find out how to stop the “oh sh*t” thing. Let’s say we find location of one of their cells. We use this suss out their comms\data hubs. We know we need to hit the lab where they’re building prototype. But where is it? Previous clues reveal they’re in (choose appropriate map). The location data is found here, either on a system, or one someone’s person.

 

M4: Hit the hub. Get the key card. Triangulate secret base location. Probably take out minor boss. Probably a lab map, buy maybe it’s an office? One they purchased legally, using a beard organization. Our second “oh, sh*t” moment. Like they’ve already finished the prototype and are attacking Longbow! (Or whatever).

 

M5: big boss finale. Plus destroy their prototypes and research. Use your chosen big robot map here. 
 

If it were me, I’d probably go with “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and have the hero working with bad guys who’ve had key pieces of tech stolen. Then the hero is also worrying about a possible betrayal by their “Allies.”

 

Thing is, using front companies and providing support to other factions don't really belong to Stahlheim's usual modus operandi. They're not above doing either of that when necessary, though.

 

That said, I do love the idea. Makes for a good way to introduce a new force to the canon setting.

[Vic Raiden]

Progress is slow, but it's there: polished the first mission, more or less finished the final one (still need to fill out boss dialogue) and laid out the base skeleton of the penultimate one.

Ended up putting the Giant Mech Man map for the penultimate mission, with the finale instead being set in an Arachnos base with a giant reactor room.

[Vic Raiden]

Okay, so the last two missions are now more or less completed, and I have an idea for the third one: rescue a scientist who was kidnapped by Stahlheim forces and whose research is being used to create a doomsday device.

Also considering shifting the first mission to the second one and adding a new intro where the player has to investigate said scientist's disappearance.

Any suggestions, especially regarding map choices, is appreciated.

[cranebump]

I could not find the arc! Maybe I did the search wrong or something. Is it Attack on Stahlheim?

[Vic Raiden]

Yeah, but I still haven't posted it yet. I could PM you its file, though, if you want.

[cranebump]

I can wait on the posting. Was just trying to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. Even more so. 🙂

[Vic Raiden]

Long-overdue update: this project is not dead, but its scope has significantly grown. Not only did Stahlheim forces develop so much that I had to split them into several smaller enemy groups so that the various branches don't bleed into one another, but I also decided to stretch it out into a series of three arcs because I felt that just a single five-mission arc wouldn't be enough to flesh out a large-scale enemy organization enough.