I have 2 missions. I have played the first one for real and it worked.
I used test mode to skip to the second. Using a cimmeroran map. I have a custom enemy group selected but Cimmerorans spawn.

I do have a boss group that spawns correctly

what am I doing wrong?

I would swear I ran an AE arc that had this map.
I can find the temple map - you start just outside the cave. But is the map available where you go through the cave?

one issue I have with many arcs is that they just end and the ending is not satisfying.

I was wondering about having a final mission with no combat - just NPC's cheering or congratulating the hero.

Imagine rescuing 3 NPC's over 3 missions, then the 4th mission is all of them in a bar throwing you a little party.

Anyone seen or made something like that?

Hi all, I was wondering if there's a way to have the pop up text appear when you create a mission, like in some of the newer instances they have out? Maybe make an object and when you're close to it, give off a message? Any ideas on this?

Hi folks,

In an architect mission I'm testing, as soon as I step into the mission, all the dialog spoken by the NPCs pops up, even that of a boss at the other end of a single-level Warehouse map. Any suggestions for fixing this?

I was fiddling around with an idea for a new arc < . .> but then I noticed a problem: I can't use Beam Rifle on architect critters! Nor Staff, Dark Control, Beast Mastery or any of the new sets.

So... will we ever see those show up? Maybe? Please? >.>

A three mission arc explaining what must be done in order to fix AE and make it something people will actually want to use.

Feedback/comments welcome.

*This thread is not the place to argue over the state of Mission Architect. Please move those conversations elsewhere.*

A lot about CoH has changed since the Architect has come into play. With i23 coming out soon, there will be many new enemy groups to choose from as well as a few maps. While I appreciate the sentiment, it's really not enough.

I propose that the Architect be updated in these ways:

More power sets for custom characters (the new ones like titan weapons or beam rifle, as well as some of the non-set powers like throw rock, but the latter probably wouldn't happen for balance issues)
Longer clues/souvenirs
Enemies that are friendly at first and at some point turn on you, and vice versa
A "tear-gas" objective that kills every enemy on the map
Constant ambush waves for a period of time, such as in Who Will Die 1 (it could be used to have an escort brought to an object and then the player has to defend it from waves over the course of a few minutes, for example)
Many more unique/outdoor maps (WWD is a good source, but SFs/TFs and iTrials would also be nice)
Mission branching (likely would up the data cost quite a bit, so probably not)
Captions
Cutscenes (probably not do-able, but they'd be nice anyway)
Musical cues

Now, given that not all captions, cutscenes, or cues occur in direct relation to objectives but location, this segues into my next proposal:

Greater freedom of placement

For example, we could designate specific locations to initiate captions and the like, rather than on objective completion. The option to have them on objective completion would still need to be added, though. I would like to be able to have the mission contact tell me about all the Ghouls below me as I cross a bridge over a section of tunnels, not as I click on a glowie after I've crossed it.

I know that we can't have objects and bosses in specific locations because of the potential for farming, but to be honest, farming's there anyway. Regardless, placing objectives manually would probably just increase that, so to allow for manual objective placement, I suggest

RP Mode (name subject to change, obviously).

A lot of roleplayers use the Architect to make their stories more solid and enjoyable (not that text-RP isn't fun, but with a lot of people it can drag on for hours like Monopoly. Many know this already). RP Mode would be a mission parameter that would let architects place everything in the mission that they want. Devs would never allow this, so as a compromise there would have to be no experience gained from it. This is only an option, so roleplayers are still free to make normal missions but with less ability to direct players. It's a mission parameter so that the other missions in the arc can allow for experience gains and not have the penalty spread across the whole arc and make players believe they are wasting their time. I think that many roleplayers and storytellers would adore this option.


I know a lot of these changes would require a lot of pain on the part of the developers. I don't need these updates now (as much as I would like that), just to know that they are thought of. Essentially, I would like to be able to have the level of control that official mission creators have. The Mission Architect is a great tool; I just want it to be better.

Whew, finally got the time to put the polish on it and get it published. Sorry about the delay for those who have been looking forward to this.

As a result of feedback and personal decision. I 'tweaked' this, and the Bonefire arc with remodeled Contacts, and some of the NPC citizens, using the character creator. The asthetics were a bonus, but I realized that hostages and allies using NPC models can be quite limited in their 'emote' pose capability, particularly citizens.

So without further ado, I present The Clockwork Captive: FREEDOM Style

Arc name 002(A)-The Clockwork Captive: FREEDOM Style
Arc I.D. 544909

After getting Carla Brunelli's card from Manticore at the conclusion of Bonefire, what starts out as a simple cleanup job turns into a race to save the life of one of Steel Canyon's citizens!

My next arc will be a followup to this one re-writing the arc "The Mind of a King" where you continue where you left off with Carla to help investigate the mysterious robots that are the Clockwork.

I hope you enjoy :D

I’m a fan of riddles, sometimes. If it’s 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 they’re being done by an insane clown-like character who is holding police officers hostage!

That’s the kind of trouble you’ll find yourself in when you play Grim Riddles, a heroic arc that has unique dialog and an interesting villain to go up against.

You’ll be put to the test with timed missions to see if you’ve got what it takes to save Paragon!

Congratulations to Mantid for Grim Riddles receiving this Dev Choice!

disclaimer: this is written as if it were the word of god because it is simpler and clearer to write that way, ymmv

The contact is the first part of your arc that a players sees and interacts with (after the title, and description but why quibble). They set the mood for the arc. They also appear before and after every mission. They had better be good.

1. Describe the contact location
The contact appears in AE but players are willing to ignore that. Where normal contacts actually appear in a location like a police station, you have to set the stage for the AE contact. Do they meet on a rooftop, in an alley, call on the phone? Include at least one sound or smell in the description.

Also note that the contact need not be in the same location every time. Maybe you first get called to the police station to meet a detective. After the mission he meets you outside the warehouse. Then he calls you to meet him in an alley with a nearby sewer for you to explore. Make meeting the contact part of the story, not just a technical requirement to start the next mission.

2. Describe the contact
The character can see them, but it does not tell the whole story. Are they a reporter, a news vendor, a shoe shine boy? Are they tired, excited, sad? A description of the contact helps set the tone for what they say and makes them more real.

3. Describe the relationship with the contact
Does the hero know the contact? Did the contact look them up in the phone book, get the number from a friend, shine a beacon into the sky to contact them? Are they reliable? Do you like them? This can be very short, but adds a bit of realism to the encounter and can add to motivation. "I'm a friend of your aunt's and she told me you would help"

4. Have the contact talk in quotes in character
The whole text should not be what the contact says (should be obvious from above). So what the contact says should be in quotes and should come across as their character. Do not have a boring contact. If your character is dry "just the facts, ma'am" play that up. Choose at least 3 words that are unusual but fit the character's personality. Tech jargon, street lingo, corporate speak, legalese, cop talk, medical jargon - something.

5. Have a Clue from the initial contact
Going back through clues helps reinforce and explain the story. And getting a clue from the contact adds to the feeling that they are tied to the story. Do not repeat the initial text. Make it information that the character can use. "The Address of a Council Hideout", "A Description of Arbiter Caulkins", "A Map of Sewer Section 417".

6. Make the mission not done text added interest
If the character talks to the contact before the mission is over they get special text. Make the most of this and include location and in character quotes. Reinforce the importance of the mission.

7. The contact is not the boss
Especially a problem for villains, but annoying to heroes. The contact should not figure everything out, tell the character what to do, and have the character just agree. Make the character the star. Contacts should be informers or the Baker Street Irregulars who work for the character, not the character's boss. Instead of "I found a bank to rob, if you rob it I'll let you have half of the money" have it be "You were right, I checked out the 3rd National Bank as you asked and security is light. With your power you should have no problem robbing it if you act fast." You can do this also by having the initial mission text be short, then the character speaks, then the contact gives more details. That way the contact is responding to the character and not vice versa.

If you want to play in AE, here are some arcs (not mine) to play for levels 21-30. I recommend all arcs listed below. The star rating is my own for dividing them here, I would rate all of them 4 or 5 stars in game.

I do not include any missions with EB's or AV's. I rate missions based on their story and the quality of the missions themselves. The story should be interesting and the missions themselves should be fun.

Feel free to post additional arcs for level 21-30 and I will try to play them and put them in the top post if I like them. I still have more to play through but I figured I would at least start the thread in case people are looking for arcs to play.

5 Star Arcs ---------

Level: 25-50, ID#:497506, Name: A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams
Perfect intro text – easy to read, fairly short, dramatic and personal. Great story. Marred by a chain of glowie clicking on 4th mission that took forever – search the end room and ignore the others.

Level: 20-29, ID#:534314, Name: Forsaken People: A Tale of Old Astoria
Great plot. Little fighting. Amazing work of playing out the story in missions.

Level: 1-54, ID#: 54332, Name: Meet the Author
Hilarious, verging on silly. The contact is perfect. The plot is great. Mission details are good. Ending is surprisingly excellent. Some missions are a little long for the detail.


4 Star Arcs ------------

Level: 1-54, ID#: 534435, Name: Hero Space Corps: The abandoned freighter
A good implementation of Alien in a single mission. The mission works well with a series of tasks that rarely require back tracking. Aliens look reasonably good. Four stars because while there is not a lot to the story, it is short and fun while it lasts.

Level: 1-54, ID#: 534498, Name: The Blonde Brawler Gets Her Cape Back
Single mission arc. Lots of details in the mission. Explanation of the story is good and motivating. Dropped to 4 stars because not a satisfying conclusion.

Level: 5-14, ID#: 375018, Name: A Hero in Need...is a Friend Indeed!
Play for the story. Starts out dull, gets much better. Likewise the first missions are just okay but short, gets a lot better. The first part of the arc is 3 stars, the end is 5 stars.

Level: 1-54, ID#: 94504, Name: Daytime Divas
Humorous and pretty silly. Fun and funny plot and characters. Custom villains but not hard. Some missions are a lot of fun, others are basic.

Level: 1-54, ID#: 169260, Name: Eagor to Please
Villainous. Humorous single mission arc. Story has you as the master villain. Fun characters. Custom villains but not hard, plus longbow.

Level: 15-20, ID#: 1874, Name: Dream Paper
Nice story. Missions have good details, lots of optional objectives. The arc is long (5 missions) and the missions tend to be very long - a bit too long for the detail in them.

Level: 5-30, ID#: 255146, Name: An Internship in the fine art of revenge – best villain arc '09
Great plot. Fun contact and story. Missions had some detail but could have used more

Level: 1-54, ID#: 177370, Name: Relativity Be Damned
Good story. Contact is decent - personality but wall of text. Nice objectives in missions add to the story. Main problem is that it is all Arachnos you fight so it gets repetitive.

Level: 20+ (1-54), ID#: 516337, Name: Modern Art Redemption
Amusing contact and story. All custom characters. Might be more different than good, but it is fun. Officially 1-54 but has minions that mezz.

Level: 1-34, ID#: 510265, Name: Special Delivery
Villainous. The contact is named Samuel and your first mission is getting snakes off of a ship. If that sounds good, you will like this arc. Good variety in maps. Missions are either short and to the point, or larger maps but you can just do your objectives. Story is fun, mostly because of the contact.


3 Star Arcs --------------

Level: 20+ (1-54), ID#: 134741, Name: They HATE those boxes
Silly. One short mission. An amusing trifle for something different. Officially 1-54 but hard enemies, including minions that mezz and lt's that mezz and are mezz resistant.

Level: 20+ (1-54), ID#: 233720, Name: A Close Encounter
Better than a normal 3 star but while it had a decent story and some nice detail it just did not add up satisfactorily. Officially 1-54 but hard enemies, including minions that mezz and heal.

Level: 20-54, ID#: 1573, Name: Jabberwocky
One mission, with enough variety to make it amusing/interesting. Not much of a story. Custom characters are creative. (What did you expect a Snark to look like?) Four stars if you are a big fan of Jabberwocky.

Level: 4-54, ID#: 21391, Name: Enter the Father Hat Gang
An amusing, short one mission arc with funny characters and dialog. Not much of a plot and it just kind of ends. Apparently a parody of Azumanga Daioh (an anime show).

Level: 1-54, ID#: 440149, Name: The Trouble With Transformations
Villainous. Interesting story. Good variety of enemies and maps. The missions have some details but not a lot. Very few clues given.

Level: 1-54, ID#: 42083, Name: Arab Spring Democracy
One mission. Not much of a story but enough. Little in mission details. But it is short and the custom enemies are interesting.

disclaimer: this is written as if it were the word of god because it is simpler and clearer to write that way, ymmv

Every mission arc has events that happen which taken together can form a plot. This is advice on how to create a solid plot that players will like. Actual greatness of plot requires creativity and imagination - this is just a checklist of the mechanics of a good plot.

1. Extends From Start of 1st to End of Last Mission
The plot needs to start with the first contact text and end with the final contact text. There needs to be one unified plot the whole way through. The first contact text should have a sentence that summarizes the plot of the entire arc. This can and probably will be somewhat vague "stop the Hellion plot". A plot should build energy and interest to a satisfying conclusion. Without an overarching plot the interest starts and stops instead of building. Each mission may be great but the end will be less than the sum of its parts.

While the first mission has its own plot, it is important that the arc plot also be set up. Do not have the first mission be "stop the bank robbery" and then the contact say "oh, there's something else I want you to do". At a minimum (and it is a minimum) have it be "I need help with a variety of tasks". Think of this like a recipe. Few people would make a recipe that started "Step 1 add flour", instead it starts saying you are making a chocolate cake then gives you step 1.

Likewise the last mission contact needs to sum up the conclusion of the plot. This should provide the player with closure and a feeling of accomplishment. Again, the plot should be summed up in a single sentence. At a minimum, "Thanks to you the city is safe from the evil plots of the Hellions".

2. The Plot Needs to Connect to City of Heroes
The plot does not have to involve a known NPC. It does not have to follow the CoX storyline. But even if you want to have an arc set in the old west or ancient Japan - tie it to CoX in some way. Ouroboros is fine for time travel. You can come up with other excuses. But do at least a little handwaving and pretend that the arc makes sense for characters in City of Heroes.

3. The Plot Needs to Motivate the Player and the Character
The purpose of a plot is to motivate the player and character. Players can be motivated by rewards or fun, characters have various goals from hunger to the pursuit of justice. The intersection is what makes for a good plot. The character will not care about promises of AE tickets. The player will not be excited about a plot to get a sandwich and take a nap. If it is something that would interest both the player and character it is probably a good plot.

The trick to this is the acceptance text. The acceptance text should summarize the motivation of the character. "I will save the kitten and defeat the villains" shows some motivation. "I will rob the bank and make off with millions" shows some motivation. "I guess" shows the plot is not motivating and you just hope the player goes along.

4. The Plot Needs To Be Specific But Not Unique
The more specificity in a plot the more real and important it seems. You are not just going after Hellions but the fiend "Firepower". You are not just rescuing innocents but "Lisa" the barista you see every morning. "Save Lisa the barista from being sacrificed by the fiend Firepower" is much more interesting than "Save the hostage from the Hellions".

Uniqueness comes from specifying a unique person or thing: the president of the United States, the MAGI vault. The problem with arcs involving unique people and things is that you tend to run into a lot of them and it cheapens them. Defeat FrostFire 10 times and he becomes a joke. Much better to make up a new, specifically named villain.

5. Twists Are Good, Turns Have Been Done
A plot should have twists. Players should find out new information. They may achieve part of a goal but find another piece that needs fixing. Every mission the player should come out knowing something new that puts a bit of spin on the story. That is what keeps the plot interesting - it develops.

But many people want to put turns into the plot. It was about robbers, now it is about aliens. Or it turns out that the contact has been setting you up the whole time. There are two problems with this. It has been done over and over again so players are seldom surprised and are usually annoyed. In a superhero game few surprises are surprising. In real life if it turns out that someone is a vampire it would be shocking. In a superhero game it barely registers.

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the proper way to advertise it, but just leaving it in the AE system wound up not getting anybody to see it.

My mission is one that I was working on, about one of my characters, and her friend. I sorta decided to retire her for awhile, so I wanted to make a nice mission arc explaining it, and it kinda... got carried away.

The mission arc is a story arc, not a farming one, or anything like that. It's entire point is to tell a story, so I fleshed it out as much as I could. This unfortunately means a lot of clues. If you want to read them, that's great. It contributes a TON to the story. If you don't, then you can still understand what's going on.

I actually went through today, fixing any bugs I could find, and making a part or two easier to complete. If interested, I hope you like it :)

*****************************
Mission Arc Name: Sounds of Violence
ID:529694
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Morality: Heroic
Enemies: ALL CUSTOM (worked a while to get them all created with their own descriptions when you hit info)
Description: You wake up in a strange lab hearing sounds of violence coming from behind a nearby door...
*****************************