Dr. Aeon
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Posts
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Joined
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Hey guys,
It was fun to work on the answers with Positron and everyone. Posi put a lot of work into gathering all the answers and using all the lore knowledge from years gone by to answer them.
Regarding the Scirocco arc - it was something I was very excited about (which is why I wrote such a long winded response). The idea started when Baryonx and I were talking about Scirocco and I mentioned that it would be interesting to see how a personal story "campaign" would go over that would end with Scirocco becoming a hero. The missions were mixed between a few encounters ending in a unique boss fight w/ mechanics or pure dialog missions, etc.
It's definitely really interesting to see everyone's reactions, as the entire thing was going to be pretty different in a lot of instances from our how normal content worked. It was either going to be great, or a spectacular failure, as Tim Schafer would say.
Regarding Battalion, we were all very well aware about the issues we had with Praetoria and wanted to fix that with the next storyline. The plan that Positron and War Witch agreed upon was to have the Battalion storyline be shorter than the Praetorian War and to also develop other storylines in these issues so it wasn't BATTALION BATTALION BATTALION every issue. The Scirocco story arc is one of the examples, as well as Ultimatum. -
Hi guys,
Please keep in mind stuff that is "dived" from i24 beta, i.e. not actively being tested or even available, was currently in development and was not to be released for some time. If you're using some methods to find it in the game, you're looking at things that are placeholder, ranging from animations to damage numbers to damage types. Please keep this in mind and try to avoid criticizing content that's dived for this reason; we were working on a lot of things for many issues out, and there could have been months of iteration time on anything in there. -
A long time ago, I would PvP a lot in Warburg and Recluse's Victory; something which I hope people remember the good things (being good) and not the bad things (getting angry at losing/other people). The following is either an exact retelling of that memory or the story shifting so dramatically that it sounds amazing when it actually wasn't.
I would do 1 on 1's with other people in Recluse's Victory on my EM/FA brute, back when energy transfer was really over-powered. I forgot who they were, but there was about three or four heroes who wanted to do a consecutive 1 on 1 with me, where as soon as one of them was defeated, another would jump in to fight me.
I managed to take all of them without even having to use Rise of the Phoenix. The best part was the last guy I fought, who was a something/regen scrapper. I already had full fury (uh oh) but I knew as soon as he got near 50% health he would pop dull pain, instant healing, etc. So I wittled him down to near 75% health, crossed my fingers and hit build up and fiery embrace
(back when fiery embrace added +damage) and WHAM'ed him with energy transfer, taking him down.
I thought it was so amazing that I had defeated all 4 of those guys on a build that had no unstoppable tier 9. I immediately thanked them on broadcast for the fun times and logged out so the moment couldn't be taken away from me. -
So, funny story with that helicopter. I was assigned as the everything designer for the neutral tutorial, which meant designing the zone, missions, layout, powers, etc. World design wise, I wanted to get a sense of danger in the area and that a lot of things were going on. The first thing I thought of was, wouldn't it be cool if there were helicopters and jets flying around?
I talked to one of our animators, and this was on a Friday when no producers were around (<_< >_>). He grabbed the helicopter geometry we already had and animated the blades to spin. I spent a while trying to figure out how to get the thing to patrol on a regular path. I used all the new techniques we had developed - patrol routes, unique behaviors, etc. But in the end, the helicopter patrol just wasn't smooth enough; it was jerky and would stop at each patrol point for 1/10th of a second, but that was long enough to bug me. I was banging my head against my desk trying to figure out HOW to get a smooth patrol path. Then, it hit me. Not the desk, but a realization.
The blimp in Atlas Park.
I did some archaeological digging and found out how that blimp worked, and discovered it was a simple but robust system. Soon enough, I had helicopters and jets flying around in the tutorial. And then, just to help add to the idea that things are going down, I added the helicopter into Atlas. To keep it consistent, I also added (I'm pretty sure) another one in Perez Park, since it's supposed to be flying over to Galaxy City.
It's a small thing, but it was something that I was really excited when I found out how it worked and that it could be used in a lot of different ways to help worlds feel more alive. -
Quote:I figured I'd come on here to talk about more of the cool, non-flashy LUA stuff that was going on behind the scenes before going to sleep. I want to emphasize that this wouldn't be possible without the work from Black Scorpion, Neon Walker (did we ever give him a proper redname? Our new lead programmer), and one of our other programmers who was the one responsible for re-programming the character creator UI for Freedom launch.Originally Posted by VoodooGirl
How is LUA scripting beneficial?
First, we had the ability to do branching cutscenes, in a sense. This was done in the Issue 24 villain arc. Wu Yin, at the end of the first arc, issues a live broadcast to announce a bounty against the villain. If you had done Dean MacArthur's arc and talked to him at a specific point in the mission, the cutscene would be interrupted and play Dean's portion of it instead. If you didn't do it, then the cutscene would play as it would normally. It's a cool feature, but one that could have caused a metric ton of work to be added if not used carefully.
There are a few other cool things too, such as creating zone event-like UI bars in missions fairly easily. This was heavily shown off in the Brickstown story arcs to give a feel that you're working together with the rest of the New Praetorians.
LUA also helped us make several scripts that did tasks that normally required several steps to do in one simple, easy step; handing out challenge badges, for example, required about 4 steps, which means 4 places where stuff could break. With the LUA script hooks set up, I wrote a reward script that would always reward a specific item set by a designer to all members of the team. The time of the reward would be based upon several requirements, and this time not objectives; it could be based on the clues you had, tokens you had, AT, etc. etc.
So in closing, LUA, as Arcanaville and a few other pointed out, is an extremely cool language. Before, I would have to have bugged one of our programmers to stop fixing crashes or other high priority things to do something like write a script to change the sky file. With LUA, it was a matter of just asking them to create a hook into that code - from there it was on me. The LUA scripts streamlined the design process to help prevent bugs from cropping up in doing common place things, allowed QA to focus on more iterative testing, let programming focus on bigger tasks, and allowed design to implement cooler things faster.
LUA. Awesome. -
I have to respond with my first memory meeting Second Measure. I had barely been working at the studio for a month when I was told to help Protean and another designer interview a candidate for a job as a producer.
The request was last minute, as the designer who was supposed to be the third was out that day. We all walked into the interview, but I had a shameful secret: I had no idea what a producer was supposed to do. All my questions directed towards Nate were partially to see his answers, but mostly to try and piece together what a producer does. One of his answers still stick in my mind, it was to the question regarding how he saw himself operating in the team. Nate said, "I'm going to do everything I can to help support you guys so you can focus on making great content."
When we walked out of the interview, I asked the other designers if it went well. They said it did, and I can safely say now, knowing what a producer does, that Second Measure was an awesome producer and great friend. -
Hey gang,
So, I've been updating the portfolio for my work and I wanted to share some videos with you all.
The first one is a video montage I had made for the studio to present the new Issue 24 cutscenes. This is SPOILER HEAVY, if you dare to watch it. The video also shows off new cutscene technology implemented by Black Scorpion, which is Depth of Field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjTAI_ozpZY
The second link shows off LUA scripting. This was implemented by our brilliant programming team for Issue 24. The video only shows off a small portion of what we did with it; for example, Arbiter Hawk implemented the new Paladin event in Kings Row entirely through LUA. This scripting language is incredibly powerful and, the best for us, very easy to iterate upon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knCvNsPERlQ
The third link shows off a bit of everything, it is also a bit SPOILER HEAVY, so please be warned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGS8r...eature=related -
Hey guys,
Doctor Aeon here. I was thinking about posting something here for a while that would amount to a farewell letter. Seeing War Witch send hers got my rear in gear to send mine! But this won't be the last you hear from me - I'd like to continue posting fun stories from inside the studio, as well as videos of some of the cool things I enjoyed from the past. I also apologize for any typos in this post, but I'm sure you're all used to that from me by now.
Before I came to Paragon Studios, I was working at a position equivalent to customer service in a Pilates studio. I hated it. I had recently graduated from college with a degree in English and was living with my very supportive and loving parents. I wanted to write, and I loved video games. My life, however, was good and positive; I had great friends and a great family, and I knew life was good.
One day, my father had a heart attack. My sister and mother needed help taking care of him afterwards, so I decided to quit Pilates and help take care of my dad. I'd stay with him in the hospital during his visits and help take care of him at home.
During that time, I needed something to do to keep my writing skills up; I barely wrote anything when I was at Pilates, and I needed to keep my skills polished. That was when Mission Architect went into beta for City of Heroes. I decided that I would set myself up on a schedule - I would write a new story arc every week, publishing them on Sunday nights.
I would talk to my friends and family about the stories I wrote, and I was extremely proud of all of them. I read many books during this time, including one from my favorite author/philosopher, Luigi Giussani. Many of these ideas went into the stories I wrote. I would think of what to write while waiting for my father to come out from his appointments with various doctors or while he was sleeping.
One day, I received a message from Synapse - send me your resume, we want to look into hiring you. I was so excited, but I couldn't just leave my father. However, as destiny would have it, my father was getting better. This was the exact right time for me to be able to leave - in fact, my parents insisted that they would hate me forever if I didn't take this opportunity.
I sent in the resume and after the normal process of interviews etc., I had been accepted to work at Paragon Studios. I would be moving away from the comforts of New York and going to live on my own for the first time in California. I was terrified and excited at the same time (terrixcited).
It has been an extremely amazing experience working with everyone at Paragon. It would be impossible to put all the great experiences I've had into words, and this post is already long enough as it is. It's because Paragon was willing to take a chance on some kid from Brooklyn that I have everything that I do today; amazing friends in the Bay Area and in Paragon studios, and a loving fiancee who I met in California and who I will be getting married to at the end of April.
I don't know where I'll be going from here, but I will always know that Paragon studios was the method through which so many amazing things came into my life. A lot of us are sad now, but it's like Gandalf (NERD ALERT!) said in Lord of the Rings: "I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Amazing friendships were developed in Paragon, friendships that will last for the rest of our lives, both with the people we worked with and with the players.
It has been an absolute pleasure making stories for you guys, and I've always tried to be better and better at them. If there's one thing I want my stories to show, it's this: life can be positive, even if it looks like everything is negative. That's what I learned through my life and through great books such as Lord of the Rings. The story of Dark Astoria, which I'm most proud of, is the best representation of that belief.
We all may be scattered, but our friendships will remain, as well as the beliefs and philosophies we put into making games. Wherever we go, I, and I'm sure everyone that worked at Paragon, will work with those same values to bring people amazing games that can help change their lives.
Sean McCann -
Hi everyone,
Marauder is not replacing Ms. Liberty in Atlas Park. However, he will appear somewhere with the use of phasing technology. -
I love hearing what people listen to when playing these arcs. There are a lot of pieces of music I listen to when actually making the maps and missions for arcs to get myself in the right mindset.
While setting up the scene in Cimerora, I was listening to Chrono Cross: Orphanage of Flame
For the scene in Dream Doctor's mission when you first confront Mot, I was listening to Lord of the Rings: The End of All Things while making the cutscene and mission.
While working on the final mission in Dark Astoria, I was listening to several pieces to get into a epic mood. A few were:
Lord of the Rings: Final Battle (Theater Production)
Bayonetta: The Greatest Jubilee
Lastly, when writing Aaron Walker's scene in Dark Watcher's arc, I was listening to LOST: Looking Glass Half Full (Contains spoilers to LOST - Warning!) -
Hello everyone!
I designed Belladonna's arc with the intention of catching the various cases that happened in Praetoria; for instance, Praetor Sinclair will speak to you differently in the final fight if you worked with him in Praetoria. Neat, huh? That all depends on it working properly, however!
Interrogator Kang was put in the first mission with the following branches:
- If you killed Kang, he won't show up.
- If you worked together with Kang, he'd recognize you.
- If you worked together with Kang and spared him, he'd recognize you.
- If you never saw Kang, he'd introduce himself normally.
If you've done the moral choice where you kill Kang and he's still showing up, please send in a bug report. Thanks! -
Grim Riddles 1396
An enigmatic villain has chosen you to play a little game. Can you solve this maniacs riddles in time to save some of Paragon Citys finest?
Im a fan of riddles, sometimes. If its outside of my experiments and just a casual riddle given by someone who is easily expendable, then I love them!
However, the riddles become a different story when theyre being done by an insane clown-like character who is holding police officers hostage!
Thats the kind of trouble youll find yourself in when you play Grim Riddles, a heroic arc that has unique dialog and an interesting villain to go up against.
Youll be put to the test with timed missions to see if youve got what it takes to save Paragon!
Congratulations to Mantid for Grim Riddles receiving this Dev Choice! -
Hello everyone!
I appreciate the feedback youve all been given here and on the beta forums. Ive just made the following changes:
1) Statesmans Pal will remain Statesmans Pal and will be given out when completing A Heros Hero, the original Maria Jenkins arc, in flashback
2) Positrons Pal will be given out when completing, A Heros Epic, the new Maria Jenkins arc
3) Sister Psyches Comrade will remain the same and be given out when completing Psyches task force in flashback once Issue 23 is launched.
4) Penelope Yins Friend will be rewarded when completing her new task force
5) The Task Force Commander badge will be rewarded by having either Penelope Yins Friend or Sister Psyches Comrade
Thanks again for all your feedback!
Dr. Aeon -
Quote:I would love to see the A-Team intro done with various Coffee talk ustream clips. That would be amazing.Originally Posted by MentalMaden
There is no plan B.
They would be the Z Team, but not enough hats. -
FPARN
Hey everyone!
To add on to what Zwil said, for the weekly rewards with Gabriel, we introduced with this patch a method for tracking your completion of the Dark Astoria arcs that are also removable once you “cash in” everything with Gabriel. This was done since badges and souvenir clues are not removable. This is the reason why, unfortunately, this reward is not retroactive if you've already done them before the patch.
You do not have to talk to Gabriel before you start all the missions. With this patch, you can do the Dark Astoria arcs and talk to Gabriel at any time to see your progress towards the Empyrean merits or claim them if you’ve completed the arcs. -
Quote:Good question! The power and art team always help us with these things; well come up with an idea of how a boss fight should go, and the powers team and art team will support us with the proper mechanics. Case in point, the Protean fight, Black Scorpion and I worked together to come up with the mechanic. Black Scorpion did the foot work and math of making the power work, shipped it off to Tunnel Rat to do the FX, who then tossed it to our sound guy for sound, who then sent it to Black Scorpion for review before he attached the power to Protean and shipped him over to me.
Can you give us a heads up on what it is that the power and art teams do when it comes to designing missions and encounters?
The next question would be then, why is one of the goals to have little to no impact on the art team or powers team? The example above shows the work that goes into doing one unique power, which, as you can see, has to go through several people to make it work. The goal here is that if we receive feedback when we hit beta of, this isnt challenging enough, we may not have the time available to us for art or powers to do something about it. This means we cant make a new power, a new power tell, etc. Thats where mission design comes in with some other ideas to spruce up the fight; this is the point of the thread. That way, instead of having to go through several people and risk the feedback not being acted upon due to time constraints, we have options that can be implemented by one person without causing issues. In the end, were looking at as many opportunities as possible to give you guys unique experiences that are fun and challenging, while also making it feasible for us to do so without risk of delaying when we release an issue.
Absolutely, to re-iterate, the goal with this is to not force new difficulty on solo players who are playing on regular settings. A great example is the Civic Squad one; a solo player on normal settings still fights only 1 member of the Civic Squad, but a player on a higher difficulty will see more.Quote:Now, if the extra difficulty is 100% optional, and it can be left disabled, such that I can play the missions as I have been doing, with the same rewards we get now, then fine. Carry on. More power to ya.
No, this isnt where challenge is going to go.Quote:I suppose if people want "challenge" then its time to pull out mobs who swing the "mighty" cheat codes.
Mobs who have mag 100 mez attacks (Remember the old Longbow Nullifier?)
Mobs who have auto hit unresistable damage
Mobs who are immune to mez
Mobs who can drain 100% of your endurance with auto hit attack.
None of which sounds really "fun" IMHO but that is where I think "challenge" is going to go.
This is an interesting idea, but would be one that we would save for things like task forces in order to not make things too difficult for solo players. Also, I would prefer that the buff they get doesnt negate the ATs usefulness, but makes their role more important in the fight. If the EB has more resistance to controls because of a controller, it just makes it more frustrating to be a controller; however if the EB did more damage because a controller was around, it makes the task of that controller to keep them held that much more important. Finally, it would have to be used carefully in order to avoid a, dont bring this AT because of this buff they get. It would have to be fine tuned to make sure its not frustrating, but it is definitely an interesting idea.Quote:I skimmed through and didn't see this exact idea come up, though some were similar. Kheldians get a bonus based on the archetypes of their teammates. What if the EB got a bonus based on the AT of the players he is fighting against? When faced with more tankers, the EB does more damage. When faced with more controllers, the EB gets some status protection, etc.
This is a cool idea. I had a lot of fun planning and designing Maxs arc to be something new and different, and Im happy that it worked out the way it did. Something like this works well for the solo player to pick and choose how difficult they want the arc to be, while a larger team who wants a challenge also has that option there.Quote:What about the opposite of the Max arc? You get the option to do (for example) three prior missions to take out major allies (EB/AV) of the enemy prior to your assault, or you can cut to the chase and have them all show up in the major enemy's base at once. A soloist can choose to take them down in sequence, while a tricked out full team can take them on all at once.
This is a great talk so far guys, lets keep it up, and Im sorry that Im not able to quote and reply to each and every one of your posts, but I am reading them all and taking notes of your ideas! -
Quote:
On a more serious note, the idea of a mob of EBs instead of a single AVs is good - but it could cause story problems if the mob size scales, unless the EBs are more generic.
For example, if a fight against the 5th Column can involve between 1-3 EBs depending on the team size, then it might be better to have, say Requiem and up to 2 EB henchmen, rather than, say, Requiem, Vandal and Nosferatu, otherwise you'd have a story where Requiem was a definite feature, but Nosferatu and Vandal might or might not also feature in it, which would create a situation where the only way to expereince the full story would be to be on a team big enough to spawn all the EBs.Quote:Actually... why not have an EB bring his friends to play? There's already mechanics to show that when someone gets to a certain level of health they call on help (Return of the Reichsman/Dr. Kahn TF).
Do the AVs (Ghost Widow, Scirocco, etc) have EB versions or are those just scaled down AVs?These are both wonderful ideas and can work well in certain scenarios. Lets take Requiem, for example He can normally spawn with just himself and some regular folks; however on higher teams, he can have unique entities called, Empowered Nictus 5th Column Generals or something like that that are EBs without having to put down or minimize the impact of characters like Nosferatu etc. However, someone like Ghost Widow or Scirocco could have their lackeys (for lack of a better term) show up when enough people are present.Quote:Regarding "more EBs in larger teams". Internet, correct me if I'm wrong but CityOf already has that. The mission where Westin Phipps sends the player against Civic Squad. There are 2-3 bosses (possibly downscaled to LTs) for a solo player and up to 6 (I think) for a team.
The way that this can be used is simple its just a matter of us seeing that you guys would like to see it more often and then seeing how we can not only use it, but improve it beyond what you all want to see. I loved fighting some of the Civic Squad and was excited when I first heard MORE spawn with a larger team. It didnt take away from the experience I had fighting them originally, but it made me want to go in there with a bigger team to see what I was not seeing.
I believe that would involve powers work, and is something that could end up frustrating small team players. I think that works well in the scenario with the Hamidon because there are so many players that could have different attack types.Quote:Intervals where the EB's/AV's are immune to positional typed attacks, much like the parts of Hamidon are, so I'm assuming it's already coded in. So for example there are intervals where Melee attacks do nothing, intervals where Ranged attacks do nothing, and intervals where AoE's do nothing.
Our mission system doesnt play very nicely with having two identical "choice" missions. As well, it creates double the work on mission design if theres a text bug (we never have those though) or other bugs in one mission, since then it needs to be fixed in both, and then our QA guys have to test that it works in both missions.Quote:My humble suggestion was to just have the contact offer two identical missions. One with the baseline EB, and one with the powered up AV.
Differentiate them with something like:
Stop the evil Dr. Aeon
Stop the evil Dr. Aeon (Team Mission)
Futher on, you could have the Team Mission state in red text that that version of the mission would be spawned as an AV and would be a more difficult experience intended for team play.
This is an interesting idea, possibly something we wouldnt do in a mission but one that we could look at for a task force.Quote:What TonyV said
This is good for challenge levels; I actually came in on a Saturday after coming up with that idea one night. I would love to revisit it and come up with a smoother way to do it; internally, its a little complicated and could be done smoother so that it can be used easier and in more scenarios.Quote:Speaking of clones, I like what happens to get the Army of Me badge. Click the glowie, pick your difficulty. Would more of that work? I'll throw it out there for consideration.
Of course! My main character, at level 50 with at all rares/very rare Incarnate slots, cant solo AVs either. The goal with this is to evolve what weve started in Dark Astoria; weve established a fairly good level of something that is good for solo and smaller teams. Now were looking at some more inventive/interesting ways to challenge larger teams/UberToons rather than just an AV with a large sack of hitpoints.Quote:All I'm going to say is please, please, PLEASE keep in mind... whatever you do... that not every character out there is a soft-capped UberToon who can solo AVs.
Im seeing concern here regarding how much time is being put into scripting these boss fights, and I want to re-iterate a point. The design goal from this feedback thread is to come up with simple solutions to spice up fights that specifically do not take a lot of design time to do.
I know I havent quoted everyone here, but Im still making my way through the thread. Please keep posting your ideas and discussing them! -
Hey everyone!
I wanted to start a discussion between me, one of your loving mission designers, and you all, the loving people of the forums. The point is to discuss challenge in mission content and how to make things challenging for solo players, small teams, and large teams, without just turning on and off the AV button. That's not to say that we can't still turn on and off the AV button for future content, however. There was an excellent example in a previous thread of how to make things more interesting with a fight, which was that instead of the EB scaling up to an AV, the EB has more EB allies to make things interesting for a full team. I thought this was a great idea, and Id love to hear more. What were basically going for is...
So! Here are the guidelines to that we need to set up for this:
1) No flaming/putting people down; give each other useful feedback on ideas. Lets keep this polite. Any insulting feedback to your fellows will be handled by Arachnos Laser Drones.
2) Little to no impact on the art team or powers team. The goal here is to come up with ideas that are easily applicable to several scenarios.
3) Stay on the subject!
Ill be doing my best to reply to this thread, but keep in mind I also have work to do on occasion (when Im not in the lab striving to make great science). -
Hey guys!
We have been reading peoples feedback regarding the EBs in Dark Astoria. Right now, were planning on leaving them the same. The goal of Dark Astoria was to provide challenging content for solo players and small teams; upgrading these EBs to be AVs that scale down, at this point in development, has the risk of causing a number issues that could hamper this experience, which is something we want to avoid. However, we are taking the feedback into consideration for future arcs, so please continue to give us your opinions about this. Thanks!
Dr. Aeon -
The Burning of Hearts 2260
Harrier Payne has a broken heart; the love of his life left him for another man, and he really expected better of her. She needs to be taught a lesson, and hell pay you for your help.
The Burning of Hearts is your classic love story; woman leaves man, man is in the mafia, man discovers woman left him for another man in the mafia, mafia war breaks out, and Snake men appear. What more could you ask for? It exists well within the lore of the game, and has some terrific dialog and map choices, with the length of the arc feeling just right. As well, you feel plenty villainous in helping the this particular man get his vengeance for his broken heart.
My name is Dr. Aeon, and I approve this arc for a Developers Choice. Congratulations to TheDeepBlue! -
Vernon Von Grun’s Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions
115174 by Igor Blimey
As the premier scientist for Arachnos, I can appreciate when other scientists have a moment in the limelight. This arc features one such scientist by the name of Vernon Von Grun, who needs a hand in, as you might have guessed, his extradimensional excursions. I normally prefer dealing with time, but everyone has their differences.
You’ll run into many different enemies throughout this arc, which goes nicely with the personality of Vernon von Grun. You’ll find yourself looking forward to hearing what Vernon von Grun has planned next at the end of each mission, even if he isn’t as amazing as a certain doctor who maintains Mission Architect.
I’m happy to give Igor Blimey this month’s Dev Choice for Vernon Von Gron’s Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Oh, the devs are SNEAKY BASTARDS.
I had an idea to demorecord the cutscene and see if it gave away who was behind the wall. Apparently, though, they're one step ahead of me:
0 645 NEW ???
0 645 POS -20 -672 3202
0 645 PYR 0 3.05569 0
0 645 NPC Model_XXXXXXXX
0 645 MOV READY 0
0 645 HP 675.00
0 645 HPMAX 675.00
0 646 NEW ???
0 646 POS -20 -672 3195.5
0 646 PYR 0 0.110447 0
0 646 NPC Model_XXXXXXXX
0 646 MOV READY 0
0 646 HP 675.00
0 646 HPMAX 675.00
ARGH!
-
TALOS VICE
An 80s instrumental blares as the camera pans over scenes of Talos Island: windsurfers on the water, the Talos statue, shoppers in Wentworth's, bikini babes, sports cars racing down the Argo Highway, a speedboat bouncing on the waves. A title card appears over the waters racing below: TALOS VICE.
FADE IN: INT. OFFICE Morning
Somewhere in a private, well-funded lab in Cap au Diable, Dr. Aeon (the PROTAGONIST) is sitting at his computer, deciding just what new Developer Choice to award for this month. His fingers rattle on his desk, Dr. Aeons mind filled with wonder about what exactly to do. He snaps his fingers in a moment of clarity.
DR. AEON:
Thats it! I know exactly which arc to choose. Even if it is about do-gooders, we all need that every once in a while. Talos Vice!
EXT. SKYSKRAPER ROOF Afternoon
Dr. Aeon speaks with his fellow scientists on the roof of a skyscraper. He seems excited in explaining why he feels TALOS VICE deserves this developer choice.
Dr. AEON:
Its an arc that reminds you about the 80s, dont you see? And its uniquely written too, I havent seen anything like this! It really makes you feel like youre in an 80s cop drama working together with this Detective Croquette. Really, if you all havent played it yet, you should!
And thats why Im happy to reward PW with this months dev choice award. Send out the proper messages and let everyone know!
FADE OUT -
BECKY'S REVENGE
The story of one tarantula woman and her totally awesome plan for revenge
Volunteers in the tarantula mistress program always disturbed me a bit. Well, mainly because there are very few people who willingly go into the program. Beckys Revengetells the story of one such tarantula mistress who seemed to maintain her own personality after the transformation. Really, shes a nice girl, if a bit talkative, but that is what makes this arc really work.
Beckys Revenge is a short but sweet arc about one tarantula mistresss revenge against the heroine Fusionette over an argument about Beckys appearance. Really, you have to say Fusionette has this coming to her, as it was, like, totally insensitive of her and stuff to even begin saying that. Youll have a blast reading the story of the arc and the gameplay for it is solid all around, including a small twist thats been put in for the second mission.
Im happy to give this months Dev Choice to New Age Ronin for Beckys Revenge. Congratulations! -
Hello, Architects!
Dr. Aeon here, wanting to let you all know about a new initiative that we’re starting here with the community to find the next arcs worthy of Dev Choice! Every week, members of our community team will be playing arcs that they find in AE or that you suggest here on this forum topic to see if they are eligible for Dev Choice, and you can also participate with them!
Avatea will post more information below regarding teaming up with the community team; what I’ll be covering are guidelines for suggesting new Dev Choice arcs.
1. We are no longer limiting it to just 1 Dev Choice per play, so feel free to post suggestions of Dev Choices from players who have already received them.
2. You can only post suggestions for other people’s arcs.
3. No criticizing of what other people post as suggestions.
That’s it! Simple, right? Of course, being an incredible genius, I can’t tell what’s simple and what’s not anymore, as everything is simple for me.
We will be gathering a number of arcs that will be eligible for Dev Choice and then marking them as such once per month, which will be accompanied by a post here on the forums explaining why we felt this was a great arc.
That’s everything on my end. Good luck to everyone!
Dr. Aeon
