Mission Architect
Contains Spoilers!
This is a quick and dirty page for my MA creations. Hopefully I'll have something more elaborate later.
I'm only providing info for my arcs on the Live servers. On Live my global ID is @Venture; if you want to see if I have anything running on Test currently search there for @DFH.
I've been reviewing arcs in the official forums for a while now. I was originally posting to the thread "Arc Reviews" and then to "Venture's Reviews II: The Nightmare Continues". New reviews are going to "Venture's Reviews IV: The Search for Part III". I have all of my reviews stored in .odt files which I will someday get online in some kind of database...somehow...
Arc Name: "Blowback"
Arc ID: 4643
Length: Very Long (5 mission)
First Published: 4/8/2009 08:42 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: Malta and the Rikti learn that the enemy of my enemy is my enemy, and a Malta officer learns that you can't retrace your steps after you've walked off a cliff.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: A fairly straitforward Malta story, inasmuch as Malta is ever straightforward. I had a bit of a hard time getting started on it but it came together when I stumbled over the TVTropes pages for the Hannibal Lecture and The Reason You Suck Speech, which is what Enigma Silver 2-0 gets to deliver. While we're on tropes I'll note that as far as I'm concerned anyone who's willingly joined Malta has crossed the Moral Event Horizon so don't expect any arcs from me about "redeemed" ex-Malta operatives...the best I'll ever give is maybe a noble sacrifice of some kind. Maybe.
I updated the arc on 4/15 to change Bluehawk Avenger to MA/AR instead of MA/Devices and cleaned up the text in a few spots. I briefly considered changing 2-0's death clue to include a mention of bits of molten brass in his ashes (from shell casings), but I had someone hit me in the head a few times until I felt better. Just to be clear, Word of God: this was not a Nemesis plot. The current version of the arc (070509, which I consider final) describes the Enigma Silver cell as being an advanced R&D group sporting new units. This allowed me to make a custom Malta faction replacing both Sappers and Op Engineers with less annoying custom versions, as well as adding two new lightweight Titan models.
Arc Name: "Chains of Blood"
Arc ID: 4829
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
First Published: 4/8/2009 08:54 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: A (very) non-canon story about the Circle of Thorns and Legacy Chain.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: This arc gives an origin for the Legacy Chain that is almost certainly not what the developers have in mind. But since the group is underused and pretty much undescribed in the canon, I decided to show what I would do with it for my first try at the Architect. It also draws some conclusions about the Circle's pact with Hell that aren't int the canon but I think are reasonable. The Circle essentially made a Deal With The Devil to escape destruction at the hands of the Mu. If you think that killing all the Mu would actually square them with Hell, have I got an offer for you...cash only and small unmarked bills, please. After all, no one beats the devil. Having the contract refer back to the Circle as well, through their (canon) common ancestry with the Mu, is the obvious twist. I extended it to mean all humans with the ability to wield magic figuring that the demons, like the gods, didn't really want humans to have that kind of power. Doubly so for them, as magically-adept humans could even summon and enslave demons -- which the Circle now regularly does, as a result of being screwed over by Hell. Karma's a bitch.
I updated the arc on 4/15 to change the Circle Arch-Magi models used for the Redeemers to custom Bosses. Many people were complaining about the Redeemers not being fun to fight. The new custom versions are harder in some ways but don't have the huge resists and regen of the Arch-Magi. They also have a very cool look, thanks mainly to the new Magic Pack. This let me put Xanos back into act V. I also downgraded the allies in act I to Lieutenants and removed the ally from act II entirely.
Elder Cinoval's name is a Shout Out to Babylon 5, though I think JMS spelled it differently. His role in the story also riffs off of the episode "Passing Through Gethsemane", though that one is based on a story that's Older Than Feudalism. Xanos' name is also a more obvious reference...even though he and the Redeemers found out to their dismay their role in the story wasn't quite what they had in mind.
Arc Name: "Two Households Alike"
Arc ID: 126582
Length: Long (5 missions)
First Published: 4/28/2009 01:52 AM
Morality: Heroic
Description: Feuding families, star-crossed lovers...you've heard this story before. The ending sucks. Maybe you can blue-pencil in a better one.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: I blatantly swiped the idea from an entry on the TVTropes page for Take a Third Option - which one should be obvious if you read the page. The title, along with most of the Act titiles, is from Romeo and Juliet. There are a number of Shout Outs and such in this one, which I'm not listing for now.
This arc has gone through a number of changes before settling on the current one. It originally used all custom mobs for the two Family sub-factions, but now they are largely composed of the stock Family mobs recolored and with new backgrounds. The Bianchi family has a "Streghe" sub-faction composed of made women, including a unique female underboss equivalent. The Streghe use a slightly different version of superadine tailored for women; it does give then some enhanced physical attributes but mainly enhances psychic powers. The Polettis only have one custom Minion, the "Battitore" (beater). Diablo Navarra keeps his army of imps for now but with the new ability to have empty maps and Bosses spawn with no guards I may do away with them.
Arc Name: "Why We Fight"
Arc ID: 253990
Length: Long (4 missions)
First Published: 7/7/2009 04:34 PM
Morality: Villainous
Description: Arbiter Webster uses the Architect Entertainment system to show loyal subjects of Lord Recluse the wisdom and benevolence of their monarch. Or...maybe not. A political satire in four acts.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: This is an attempt at comedy largely at Arachnos' expense. Because it's a satire it has to be deconstructed a little to get the point, so I expect I'll take some flak from people who don't get it, particularly over Act III. Just try to remember who you're supposed to be laughing at. The writing is deliberately over-the-top in a lot of places as part of the joke. So far in its preview run on Test the arc has gotten good feedback.
The disjointed level range is a bit annoying, but my options were to either use a much more limited faction for Act I, squeeze the entire arc into the 20-29 range, or allow it the range to vary. I decided the last was the least of all evils.
Arc Name: "Splintered Shields"
Arc ID: 253991
Length: Long (5 missions)
First Published: 7/7/2009 04:35 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: An Arachnos agent makes a daring raid on Paragon City...business as usual, one might think. Or is it?
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: I did this one to play around a bit with some of the tools. I expect there will be some objection to the triggered events in Act II but I did use the smallest map in that class. I'm particularly interested in seeing how people take to Act III.
This one does have another guest appearance by one of my own characters: Victor Praetorius/Virtue. I wouldn't have done that if the actual Rogue Isles Villains faction was available in the Architect. I think it's hilarious that we can have Hami Mitos and the LRSF version of Ms. Liberty that uberbuffs herself every ten seconds but not the generic villains and heroes from Mayhem and Safeguard missions. Also on the issue of characters, I'm not really sure I did a good enough job on Dietrich's voice. I think my portrayal of her comes off a bit less arrogant than in the RWZ missions. Arguably that's not a bad thing as the outcome of that should have taken some of the wind out of her sails. Time will tell, I guess, as people respond to it (or not).
I'm only providing info for my arcs on the Live servers. On Live my global ID is @Venture; if you want to see if I have anything running on Test currently search there for @DFH.
I've been reviewing arcs in the official forums for a while now. I was originally posting to the thread "Arc Reviews" and then to "Venture's Reviews II: The Nightmare Continues". New reviews are going to "Venture's Reviews IV: The Search for Part III". I have all of my reviews stored in .odt files which I will someday get online in some kind of database...somehow...
Arc Name: "Blowback"
Arc ID: 4643
Length: Very Long (5 mission)
First Published: 4/8/2009 08:42 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: Malta and the Rikti learn that the enemy of my enemy is my enemy, and a Malta officer learns that you can't retrace your steps after you've walked off a cliff.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: A fairly straitforward Malta story, inasmuch as Malta is ever straightforward. I had a bit of a hard time getting started on it but it came together when I stumbled over the TVTropes pages for the Hannibal Lecture and The Reason You Suck Speech, which is what Enigma Silver 2-0 gets to deliver. While we're on tropes I'll note that as far as I'm concerned anyone who's willingly joined Malta has crossed the Moral Event Horizon so don't expect any arcs from me about "redeemed" ex-Malta operatives...the best I'll ever give is maybe a noble sacrifice of some kind. Maybe.
I updated the arc on 4/15 to change Bluehawk Avenger to MA/AR instead of MA/Devices and cleaned up the text in a few spots. I briefly considered changing 2-0's death clue to include a mention of bits of molten brass in his ashes (from shell casings), but I had someone hit me in the head a few times until I felt better. Just to be clear, Word of God: this was not a Nemesis plot. The current version of the arc (070509, which I consider final) describes the Enigma Silver cell as being an advanced R&D group sporting new units. This allowed me to make a custom Malta faction replacing both Sappers and Op Engineers with less annoying custom versions, as well as adding two new lightweight Titan models.
Arc Name: "Chains of Blood"
Arc ID: 4829
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
First Published: 4/8/2009 08:54 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: A (very) non-canon story about the Circle of Thorns and Legacy Chain.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: This arc gives an origin for the Legacy Chain that is almost certainly not what the developers have in mind. But since the group is underused and pretty much undescribed in the canon, I decided to show what I would do with it for my first try at the Architect. It also draws some conclusions about the Circle's pact with Hell that aren't int the canon but I think are reasonable. The Circle essentially made a Deal With The Devil to escape destruction at the hands of the Mu. If you think that killing all the Mu would actually square them with Hell, have I got an offer for you...cash only and small unmarked bills, please. After all, no one beats the devil. Having the contract refer back to the Circle as well, through their (canon) common ancestry with the Mu, is the obvious twist. I extended it to mean all humans with the ability to wield magic figuring that the demons, like the gods, didn't really want humans to have that kind of power. Doubly so for them, as magically-adept humans could even summon and enslave demons -- which the Circle now regularly does, as a result of being screwed over by Hell. Karma's a bitch.
I updated the arc on 4/15 to change the Circle Arch-Magi models used for the Redeemers to custom Bosses. Many people were complaining about the Redeemers not being fun to fight. The new custom versions are harder in some ways but don't have the huge resists and regen of the Arch-Magi. They also have a very cool look, thanks mainly to the new Magic Pack. This let me put Xanos back into act V. I also downgraded the allies in act I to Lieutenants and removed the ally from act II entirely.
Elder Cinoval's name is a Shout Out to Babylon 5, though I think JMS spelled it differently. His role in the story also riffs off of the episode "Passing Through Gethsemane", though that one is based on a story that's Older Than Feudalism. Xanos' name is also a more obvious reference...even though he and the Redeemers found out to their dismay their role in the story wasn't quite what they had in mind.
Arc Name: "Two Households Alike"
Arc ID: 126582
Length: Long (5 missions)
First Published: 4/28/2009 01:52 AM
Morality: Heroic
Description: Feuding families, star-crossed lovers...you've heard this story before. The ending sucks. Maybe you can blue-pencil in a better one.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: I blatantly swiped the idea from an entry on the TVTropes page for Take a Third Option - which one should be obvious if you read the page. The title, along with most of the Act titiles, is from Romeo and Juliet. There are a number of Shout Outs and such in this one, which I'm not listing for now.
This arc has gone through a number of changes before settling on the current one. It originally used all custom mobs for the two Family sub-factions, but now they are largely composed of the stock Family mobs recolored and with new backgrounds. The Bianchi family has a "Streghe" sub-faction composed of made women, including a unique female underboss equivalent. The Streghe use a slightly different version of superadine tailored for women; it does give then some enhanced physical attributes but mainly enhances psychic powers. The Polettis only have one custom Minion, the "Battitore" (beater). Diablo Navarra keeps his army of imps for now but with the new ability to have empty maps and Bosses spawn with no guards I may do away with them.
Arc Name: "Why We Fight"
Arc ID: 253990
Length: Long (4 missions)
First Published: 7/7/2009 04:34 PM
Morality: Villainous
Description: Arbiter Webster uses the Architect Entertainment system to show loyal subjects of Lord Recluse the wisdom and benevolence of their monarch. Or...maybe not. A political satire in four acts.
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: This is an attempt at comedy largely at Arachnos' expense. Because it's a satire it has to be deconstructed a little to get the point, so I expect I'll take some flak from people who don't get it, particularly over Act III. Just try to remember who you're supposed to be laughing at. The writing is deliberately over-the-top in a lot of places as part of the joke. So far in its preview run on Test the arc has gotten good feedback.
The disjointed level range is a bit annoying, but my options were to either use a much more limited faction for Act I, squeeze the entire arc into the 20-29 range, or allow it the range to vary. I decided the last was the least of all evils.
Arc Name: "Splintered Shields"
Arc ID: 253991
Length: Long (5 missions)
First Published: 7/7/2009 04:35 PM
Morality: Heroic
Description: An Arachnos agent makes a daring raid on Paragon City...business as usual, one might think. Or is it?
Forum Thread: Link
Notes: I did this one to play around a bit with some of the tools. I expect there will be some objection to the triggered events in Act II but I did use the smallest map in that class. I'm particularly interested in seeing how people take to Act III.
This one does have another guest appearance by one of my own characters: Victor Praetorius/Virtue. I wouldn't have done that if the actual Rogue Isles Villains faction was available in the Architect. I think it's hilarious that we can have Hami Mitos and the LRSF version of Ms. Liberty that uberbuffs herself every ten seconds but not the generic villains and heroes from Mayhem and Safeguard missions. Also on the issue of characters, I'm not really sure I did a good enough job on Dietrich's voice. I think my portrayal of her comes off a bit less arrogant than in the RWZ missions. Arguably that's not a bad thing as the outcome of that should have taken some of the wind out of her sails. Time will tell, I guess, as people respond to it (or not).