Eva Destruction

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Either he ...Got toggle-dropped... or we can assume that Maelstrom .... had acquired some special armor-piercing impervium-kryptonite bullets.

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It occured to me that the real answer is that CoH:GR is going to once again change the PVP experience sufficient that a lethal dmg blaster can one-shot an Invul/ tank.

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Kinda like how the original CoV trailer was a preview of Defiance v1.0?

I am not a farmer. But I am a Scrapper and Brute player, and so I heartily endorse this change, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it applies to AE as well, because then I'll be able to make your "easily soloable, squishy-friendly" mission into a "challenging" mission when my Scrapper starts nearing 40 and everything becomes stupid-easy.

The purpose of this thread is to start up a list of known bugs, issues, and things that just don't work right in Mission Architect. The purpose of such a list is two-fold: 1) To have a single, unified list to bring to the attention of the devs, and 2) As a reference for architects who can't figure out why their mission won't work.

As with other known issues lists, this will have to be a community effort. So if you find a bug, something that doesn't work as advertised, etc, post it here, along with any workarounds you may have discovered. Do not post anything that can be viewed as an exploit, obviously, and please don't quote this entire post in your reply.

Also, this isn't a wishlist. We all want options that are currently unavailable, but please start another thread. This one is for options that are available but don't work right, or have been removed with no patch note.

I came up with some tentative categories, to better organize the list, so please list what category your bug fits under, or make up your own. This is totally a work in progress that needs your input.

General Bugs--stuff that doesn't fit into any of the other categories, basically. (examples: Timed missions auto-fail when a captive leaves the map, custom critter/Elite Boss/Archvillain warnings don't distinguish between enemies and allies)

Standard Enemy Group Issues--for standard enemy groups that don't spawn properly at certain levels, that don't scale down properly when the mission level is set, or just don't spawn properly in general. Also, for unusual standard enemy behavior that is confined to the Mission Architect. (example: Carnies don't spawn below 40 for heroes.)

Custom Critter Issues--for unusual and/or bugged behavior with custom critter powersets, AI, or spawning patterns. (examples: Critters with /devices spamming Web Grenade to the exclusion of all other powers, allies not using their toggles.)

Problematic Maps--for maps that don't work right. This can include maps that ignore front/middle/back placement, maps that mix up front/middle/back placement, maps where triggered events routinely won't spawn, etc. Please include the category and name of the problematic map. (example: Tech Abandoned > Small 2: blinkies set to "back" will spawn in the middle and blinkies set to "middle" will spawn in the back)

Where Did My <Blank> Go?--for maps, objects, enemies, emotes, etc that have been removed from the Mission Architect with no associated patch note or redname comment. This section is more of a player resource, so people don't have to keep asking "where did the burning forest go?" (examples: Burning Forest map, Crey Clone Lab map, Generator destructible object)

Text bugs --for issues with text, both with inputting text in the mission editor and text problems in the mission itself. (examples: double spacing adds the "nspb&" string, NPC dialogue can trigger from too far away, causing variables such as $name to not insert the character's name.)

Once we have a good list of known issues, I'll compile it (giving credit to the contributors) into a nice neat post, which can be updated when necessary.

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Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

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Because you may have already beaten him up, if you're 50 and have done Crimson's arc

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You beat him up multiple times in that arc. Presumably when he gets into the Zig he just goes "hey guys I'm a normal prison guard and Moment impersonated a nude Sister Psyche to get me in here, help please" and is out a minute later.

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Ye olde cardboard prison is overdone though. Besides, according to their description at least, Malta has a tendency to not tell the left hand what the right hand is doing. But I did replace one of the duplicate patrols in Mission 3 with a patrol that talks about how much they dislike shapeshifters in general and want to not have to work with them. There's comic book precedent for shapeshifters being not all there, and working for Malta can't be good for your sanity on top of that. I couldn't think of a good (and PG-rated) nude Sister Psyche impersonation joke that would fit into the patrol dialogue space unfortunately.

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There was a one-hour timer, until that bug made the mission auto-fail when the captive reached the door. Once it's fixed the timer will be back.

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Ghk. Is there some thread about known issues with the MA?

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No. I think I'll start one.

Snipers will spawn with Nemesis on indoor maps too, but I'm not sure if that applies to the AE as well. I have played very few Nemesis arcs. I guess everyone is just sick of Nemesis plots.

I couldn't add Crey snipers to a custom group either. They just won't spawn.

Yeah, that's even lamer than sticking the generator in a crate labeled "Generator. Do not blow up."

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The patch notes actually state that certain destructible objects were pulled because they were affecting both players and enemies in unwanted ways; i.e. either buffing, debuffing, or generally doing damage when they blow up.

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Lots of stuff that buffed, debuffed, or did damage when it blew up was replaced by the same object that didn't. Most destructibles do damage. I don't know why the generator is so special.

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If it's the generators I'm thinking of, there may have been an issue with them completely blocking certain cave passages, making mission uncompletable. I remember there was a dev-created arc way back that had the same issue.

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The ones in that dev-created arc were the huge ones from the Hess TF. The MA ones were much smaller. They were certainly smaller than some of the objects that were left in, like the truck and the dumpster.

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Thanks for the info!

When making the arc, I didn't want to put AVs in it because I thought they would ruin the ability to solo the arc. Perhaps I could scale up one of the EBs to an AV and then just put a disclaimer in the accept text that the AV is in there.

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The accepted practice is to put it in the intro text, something along the lines of "Big Bad is pretty tough, you might want to bring friends" and color it orange or red. Also a warning will appear in the description, so people who can't solo AVs will know not to solo the arc.



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As for the work arounds, the idea was basically a genocide mission where most of the targets are running for their lives (it's a villain arc) or weak enough to swat them down with ease (and en mass). You know, bad guy stuff...but there is no underling setting to make them quickly killable so perhaps the fear option might work. There would be heroes trying to stop you but you kill them too.

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If you want easily swattable enemies, you could manually set the mission's level, to say, 40-50, make a custom group, fill it with stock mobs that cap at 30 or below, and throw it in. The player will be auto-skd to 40, and will be staring at a map full of greys, that they can swat out of the way, and the heroes will be the threats.

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I'll try using that work around but is there a way to spawn no enemies and on a map and just have these escorts/boss spawns?

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Set the mission enemy group to "empty." It appears in the standard enemy list.

Carnies don't spawn properly for heroes below 40. Snakes are also wonky.

I think the level 30-40 Family issue going on now is different, in that they are not spawning at all, for anyone, whereas before i15 they would spawn at 40 for heroes and the correct level for villains. At least, that's my understanding of what's happening, as I don't have any arcs that contain Family.

If they'd just let you use minions and lieutenants from standard factions for "boss" spawns, you could do #1 and fake #2. Not to mention a whole bunch of other stuff.

I want that.

Thank you for the review, and the highly nitpicky input. No seriously, I love when people nitpick, they always find something I overlooked.

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@GlaziusF
But didn't Project Revenant get the lid blown off it at about this point?

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It did, but Crey show up all the way to 50 villainside. They probably have a few super-top-secret evil plans still going after you throw the boss in the zig.

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This is actually a really well-done evolving mission. Maybe all the chips just fell the right way for me but it flows very well. No backtracking or anything.


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Some maps are magic. By that, I mean they work right.

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Though why aren't these guys using the professional shapeshifter they have on staff?

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Because you may have already beaten him up, if you're 50 and have done Crimson's arc Also, they were planning on using multiple guys, and this way they can use whatever guys are best suited for the job. Also, I forgot about him. But I think mission 3 might have a duplicate or silent patrol that will suddenly remember how much they hate that guy and are glad they don't have to work with him anymore.

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Only complaint is that while the sec agents look the part the engine likes to pretend custom groups are Lost/Clockwork/Vahz alikes and spawn bosses for 2 heroes. And since I'm diff 2 that's a lot of elite protectors.

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An i15 thing? I've run this multiple times on diff 4, and the only bosses that spawned were the ones I placed. Although since i15 I have only tested with a low-40s character, so maybe your level has something to do with it?

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Also the destructo needs a bit more of a guard, right now there's just one minion talking to himself.

...wait a second, let's count here. They had one which I broke and confiscated and took delivery on another, which I also confiscated. I guess they actually had three, then, or does the one in the crate not count?

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There were a few in the crate, you broke most of them when you blew it up. I'll have to look over the clue again. Boss dude's not counting them because he doesn't have them yet, "in a crate downstairs" doesn't count because he's mistrustful of his own shadow.

I will have to recheck that destructy, I was pretty sure I set the guards to medium, I may have accidentally broken it with today's patch.
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What, no timer? C'mon man, this practically demands it.


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There was a one-hour timer, until that bug made the mission auto-fail when the captive reached the door. Once it's fixed the timer will be back.

Again, thank you for your input.

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EB's should scale IIRC.

If an enemy is supposed to be fought, it should fight back. Anything else is, for obvious reasons, considered an exploit AFAIK.

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I just checked, and the trick with the escorts isn't an exploit. They don't give any xp, even if they're set to fight back. This is presumably because of the "betray on arrival" option.

EBs will always be EBs, no matter the team size. If you're solo on Heroic, they will be bosses.

AVs will downgrade to EBs if you're solo and not on invincible.

You can make an enemy that can be defeated but doesn't fight back. You have to set it as an escort, set the guards to "rogue," and set the escort to "passive." Then make it a non-required objective, or the mission fails as soon as the escort is defeated. You can set the guards to "single" if you want your civilian to be alone, or give them guards that must be defeated to fight the civilian. However, you can't make defeating these passive enemies a requirement for completion, since they're escorts, and the objective is completed by leading them out, so you can't "make" the player fight them.

Alternately, you can make the civilians a "boss" objective, and set them to run at full health, 1/4 health, etc. If you make them a required objective and they successfully escape, the mission fails.

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Why would they take out the generator? It's the only "power source" item in the list and as such was easily the most useful of the destructible items.

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The only possibilities I can think of are
1) It was an oversight, when they replaced the regular destructibles with ones that don't affect players or enemies they forgot to replace the generator, or
2) They couldn't/didn't want to make one that doesn't blow up, so they just didn't.

Now that I think about it, is the small generator we get in MA used in any dev-created arcs? Or is it a scaled down version of the big generators the dev arcs use?

Yeah, well you're lucky you could just reselect them. The Generator is gone from the list. I was using it, and now it's gone.

It'll probably be back sometime after the Crey map with the tubes and the burning forest.

Eh, what the heck, it's been a while since anyone's torn into one of mine.

Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black, #161629.

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Nope. But it did get corrupted, and I fixed it.

In case anyone else has a problem, maybe they will run into the same thing. The level range on 2 of my missions got corrupted somehow. I had mission 3 for instance showing up as "level range 2147348480-54". I had to manually set 30-54. Either one being default made it unpublishable, I am not sure why exactly.

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I've had that happen too, slightly lower minimum level though, only 6 digits. No idea what caused it. I didn't touch the local file.

When I manually set the level, I got the warning that "mission may contain enemies operating at a level lower than design intent." It didn't. Grr.

Overall, this feature has caused me no end of headaches...from those stupid inaccurate warnings, to "invalid level ranges" that make the mission untestable but don't show up as warnings, the OP's problem....Great idea, but it would be nice if they could iron some of the bugs out.

No idea, but I get it too. I'm not even trying to edit the info, just recolor his hair.

Replacing all the spawn points might work, depending on the map. Some maps have spawn points that can't be replaced. The "generic" tag...I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more and more of it, as more people create arcs with maps set to "empty."

If you must use Sands, you can always set the level of the mission he appears in to 50-54. In cases like that, I personally would forgive the uneven level range, but of course YMMV.

I think this is a cool idea, and I have seen it done. It might be a good idea to put the "don't click this blinky" warning in the mission pop-up, the nav bar (instead of "click the blinky" it would say "don't click the blinky") or, if it's in the contact's dialogue, repeat it somewhere near the front of the mission, like maybe if you can be sure a captive or boss will spawn where the player has to go past them, add the warning to their unaware dialogue, so even a stealther will have the chance to read it.

Also, a lot of people don't know that you can right-click a blinky to see what it is, so yeah, I'd second the notion of having a warning in the activation bar. If it's a destructible, you can add the warning to the guards' dialogue.

Are you using the STF or RSF AVs? Their levels may be locked.

I got the "Generic" tag when I set a map's enemy group to "empty." An enemy group won't show up in the description unless they're the base group for a map, so unless you set the Crey as a base group, they won't show up. Your custom group made up entirely of standard enemies will still show up as "custom" in the description...or maybe they're what's causing the "generic" tag.

Yes.

Inspirations help, as does the rikti invasion accolade. The allies don't help much, they tend to stand in a nice little clump and get AoEd to death.

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There is only one solution to the "problem" of level 50 noobs: Don't team with them. There. That was easy. Now they're not your problem.

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If they hadn't become a level 50 noob, there's a good chance they could've been worthwhile teammates.

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No, they wouldn't have. See, in my mind, you have to earn the title of "noob." You do this by displaying the attitude of entitlement that the kinds of people who want level 50 NAO have. The same attitude that has them convinced they are entitled to stand there and mooch off higher level people's boss farms also tells them they deserve a spot on your team, just because they asked.

Now people without this attitude, who simply are new to the game, I call them "newbies" and will gladly give them a spot on my team, as long as they are willing to earn that spot by contributing to the best of their ability and learn from the experience. As far as I'm concerned, the fact that they are learning something and want to help the team makes up for them not being great players. Of course, the fact that said people are generally found on lower-level teams where the pace is somewhat slower and the game is more forgiving doesn't hurt.

Yes. Make it an escort, set the surrounding group to "rogue." The escort will be hostile to you. If the surrounding group is set to "single" there will be no enemies around the escort, if it is not, there will be enemies, and you will not be able to attack the escort until you defeat them. Make the escort a required objective. Once the required escort dies, mission fails.

If you want them not to fight back you will have to set them to passive, however the passive escort in the Dark Astoria mission would follow you, even though he was hostile, so you could lead him out and complete the mission.