dugfromthearth

the file size has little to do with number of missions and is mostly custom critters.

no, they should be in the editor
they may be different types. Like instead of tight it might be VEAT chest type

I was running unrated missions.

Now I have a small thread on the other board and am reviewing low level arcs for people.

I'm torn between reviewing arcs on the boards where I can provide more feedback - and running unrated missions.

yep, I did what Steeple did (and posted about it earlier on this thread). That means you also have "Story" in your description as a bonus

why would a farm publisher want to put a story tag in their description?

Griefers might do it with bad stories - but there are plenty of bad stories already. And ratings should take care of that issue.

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You could just make a few variations on the group name. Take for instance... The Skulls, Skulls, Skull

If they are made up of a single mob, just use the mob name, like Skulls Initiate. The character limit might get in the way with like The Circle Of Thorns, but it is helpful in most scenarios.

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scary - the Skull Initiates is a custom group in my arc. Also Skull Summoners.

But I wasn't clever. You can name them all Skulls, SkuIls, SkuIIs, SkulIs - which in game look like the same name.

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So, there's no way to like take any NPC's and re-name them as a custom mob for instance?

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no, you can't as such.

If you set one as a boss objective you can rename the boss.

okay I updated my arc with SFMA - Story Focused Mission Arc

I recommend including the full term in your description so players understand what it means. Hopefully if player see it, they will recognize it as a tag and use it themselves.

I think Story as a tag works better

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And finally, there's the size cap to consider. It's hard to make an arc with both a varied selection of custom enemies and a lot of optional details. Briefing text is the most compact way to convey information.

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It is hard, but I have a 5 mission arc loaded with details, with all custom characters.

Frankly I'd rather cut the intro text shorter and have more in the missions.

yes, it is really annoying that you can't tell the maximum total spawn points. You just have to keep fiddling

I don't think of arcs based on the plot of the arc really. I plan missions and build an arc around them.

The plot of the arc just holds it together - the missions have to be fun to actually play.

So I am thinking of redoing Positron TF - totally redoing it.

CoT wants to destroy Faultline Dam.

So a mission where you have to ask the Clockwork King for help. Use the CK map. At the entrance is Penelope Yin, she will help you because Faultline is her home. You need to go with her to see the CK in person.

Penelope is non-combat - the CK will not attack her. But they will attack you. So you encounter ambushes that say "go back Penelope, I don't want to hurt you". In the end you find the CK who is an ally - when you defeat his minions he doesn't fight. He agrees to help you for Penelope's sake.

I need some more encounters for the map though. More ways to stop you and try to persuade Penelope to leave.

Then in a later mission you will have clockwork allies against the CoT.

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Though the whole premise of this thread is pretty flawed (as Cav pointed out), the tips you give for make sense, and go a long way towards making an interesting mission.

Also. Outdoor missions are good when used correctly. "Fight the boss(es)" or "rescue the hostage(s)" missions suck on outdoor maps, because there is a high ratio of wandering around searching to actual fighting. I can't remember a single canon arc that was outdoor and required a search that I enjoyed. The reason for this is there is no inherently obvious place on most outdoor maps for an objective to be placed. (there are some exceptions, of course, but then sometimes, the objectives still don't spawn there)

If you HAVE to have an outdoor map with a non glowing and humming search objective, make that objective obviously visible somehow. Using the various magical capture emotes could be a good way.

Perhaps I'm way off base with my opinion in this, but that's my 2 inf.

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I generally agree, but I abuse this.

My arc actually has 2 outdoor search missions.

The first is city 02 - you do have to look for people but they are in the streets. And the enemies guarding them are semi-unique (there are patrols that look the same). The whole point is the searching, and I don't think it is a problem. There are spawns all around, so it is a lot of combat, not just running around searching.

The second one has the enemies doing the Pantheon Casting so they glow. Making it much easier to find them.

true - but my concern is that people seem to think you make a great intro text and a plot for your arc - and that makes it great.

They don't seem to realize that the missions themselves need to be fun and interesting.

people seem to think it is Mission Intro Editor, not Mission Architect. I keep running into missions with good intro text - then the mission is just a map, with a selected enemy group, and a named boss at the end. If they are feeling creative there is a click 4 blinkies in addition to the boss.

I've been through many published arcs now, and I keep seeing this - people don't seem to realize that the mission takes 20 minutes and should be fun. It isn't just about the intro text and naming a boss.

Let's take a basic - defeat a boss mission. A standard newspaper/radio mission has text about some bad guy saying you aren't tough and challenging you to a fight. You go to a map, fight the minions in the way, then fight the boss. That is a 3 star mission (if the intro text is good and the enemies are fine).

To make it a 5 star mission you need the mission itself to be interesting.

Let's decide that we want this to be a real challenge - which means we want villains with some honor. So the Warriors.

When you enter the mission there is an Ally (non-combat) who is a Warrior named "Fight Master". He greets you and tells you that you must first face some minions before you are worthy of challenging the master.

There are "bosses" along the way (could be lt's) that challenge you "I'm going to beat you, then beat Master Warrior and take over this gang".

There are warriors standing by weapon racks (destructible items) saying "I can't wait for a fight".

In a room there is another ally to rescue named "Fight Master 2". You have to defeat the minions near him, then he says "let the lesser duels begin" and wars are triggered - warrior on warrior - as part of their duels.

There are warriors who don't fight (allys or rescues) but say "I'm leaving you for Master Warrior, he's going to tear you apart".

In another room an lt is drilling warriors - giving them pointers.

So as you go through the warrior hangout to challenge their leader, you are jeered, attacked, challenged, and see their training/duels.

The mission has flavor as you walk through it. It feels alive and like part of your story, not just a grind to get through.

2 things

1) test repeatedly
2) accept reality and don't include text that displays improperly, don't require a spawn that appears in a specific place, etc.

The key is not planning a mission and then trying to force MA to do it. But to find out what you can do in MA and then build your missions and arcs around it.

what you do is publish the arc with Test in the title

then form a team on Virtue to run through it - they get xp, tickets, etc.

Then unpbublish, make any changes, and republish without test in the title

a couple of things

you can set battles to spawn based on triggers. That way at least all the battles don't go off when the player enters the mission. With a linear map that works fairly well, but not great.

You can also spawn other groups using Fight a Boss objective - you don't have to make the "boss" a boss. But it lets you choose the group that spawns. You can make them enemy so they don't fight the other group, or rogue so that they will fight them if they come across them - but they don't spawn next to them usually. That lets you mix groups without it being a battle.

I agree. Feedback means more to me than a rating.

it isn't so much the sets as the setting.

regen doesn't do much at low - on extreme it is extremely powerful.

but as a general rule heals, controls, and debuffs should only be in lt's or bosses.

keep in mind - people's idea of what is fun varies. Some people just want to face AV's - anything less is too easy.

ramped up has the mobs start at lower level at the front of the mission, and get higher in level towards the back. So it starts easy.

flat has mobs the same level throughout

staggered has higher and lower level mobs scattered throughout

I think with flat they can still vary by 1 level.

it's in an arc called The Wages of Sin Part 1 or somesuch, by @Tempest Master (not me).

It's the 2nd mission, and it has a full story basically in the mission. You get X things, you do Y with them, that summons Z and you have a prolonged and dynamic conflict. And it does it in the order you go through the mission - you don't have to run around the map several times to go back and find things.

My arc is mostly outdoors maps, so I haven't been able to sequence events. Anyone else created or found a mission where it has a good sequence of events in the mission telling the story?

Please try my arc.

I Will Dance On Your Grave
author: @dugfromthearth
arc# I don't know

5 mission arc. Custom version of the Skulls so it is levels 1-50. Dark magic, voodoo, and necromancy. No EBs or AVs.

I just ran an arc.

At the end of the first mission, the contact (Positron) is on the ground, kind of a push-up position. He tells you he has been running ground scanning radar.

I don't know if that was a glitch, or if the author made him change positions.

Any idea how that would be done?

ah - thanks