New Players so called "SPARKLY LINE"

savaikun · July 2013

Cryptic, for the love of all mankind - PLEASE allow authors to control the navigation of the sparkly line. I hereby start a petition to allow author's have control over sparkly lines :P

Savai

zovya · July 2013

Or just delete that abomination from existence.

ambisinisterr · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Or just delete that abomination from existence.

As much as I would like that I feel the map features are not adequate enough to simply remove the sparkly line. I'd turn it off if it wasn't for the fact that without the line certain objects, especially in Official Content, would be nigh impossible to find.

If the maps/minimaps had actual objective waypoint markers on them I would never turn the abomination on but as it stands when they tell you (content pulled from thin air) to find get a note out of a barrel in Protectors Enclave without the line I'd be searching for the barrel for an hour.

Foundry missions are another matter though, I normally turn it off in them, but until the maps get a bit more love the line remains a necessary evil.

savaikun · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Or just delete that abomination from existence.

OR that! haha - good one zovya!

vrtesseract · July 2013

when I was dabbling with the foundry I did see a pull down that had location marker or none or similer text and when I chose none there didn't seem to be a sparkly line. I could be wrong of course.

savaikun · July 2013

vrtesseract wrote: »

when I was dabbling with the foundry I did see a pull down that had location marker or none or similer text and when I chose none there didn't seem to be a sparkly line. I could be wrong of course.

sadly it doesn't work the way we want it to

thalazar1 · July 2013

I built my catacombs for the ruined temple 100' off the ground (originally so i could have a second floor but ran out of detail budget) as a result, no sparkly line.

xpurpleinsanityx · July 2013

thalazar1 wrote: »

I built my catacombs for the ruined temple 100' off the ground (originally so i could have a second floor but ran out of detail budget) as a result, no sparkly line.

Yep, no sparklies for my Abyss either.

(Same issue with the high elevation)

lonnehart · July 2013

One thing I've noticed about that sparkly line (may or may not apply to Foundry quests) is that it always tries to veer you into whatever mobs are on the map, even when the clear dirt trail in front of you is clear.

artgod · July 2013

One thing I've started doing.. use reach point to control the sparkle line's path... do a series of them to lead it where you want it to go...

xpurpleinsanityx · July 2013

artgod wrote: »

One thing I've started doing.. use reach point to control the sparkle line's path... do a series of them to lead it where you want it to go...

That does nothing for high elevation afaik, sadly.

zovya · July 2013

artgod wrote: »

One thing I've started doing.. use reach point to control the sparkle line's path... do a series of them to lead it where you want it to go...

That works great actually. However, the sparkly trail will only show at terrain level or floor level indoors.

The reason I want it removed from existence is that it's training a new lazier player base. While in the official Cryptic content, they can control the sparkly path, we cannot in the foundry. Then this new lazy player base tries to navigate your quest. With all the mapped out waypoints and the best descriptions possible, they still struggle to make it down a straight hallway. So you have to decide on making a unique map for wow factor, or a simple one that the lazy players can follow.

All that said, I can work with the tools given to me. I always have.

cipher9nemo · July 2013

I'm happy with the sparkling-hold-your-hand-lines because there are so many ways around it in a Foundry quest.

This should be a user setting, as it already is, not a Foundry author's setting.

ambisinisterr · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

That works great actually. However, the sparkly trail will only show at terrain level or floor level indoors.

The reason I want it removed from existence is that it's training a new lazier player base. While in the official Cryptic content, they can control the sparkly path, we cannot in the foundry. Then this new lazy player base tries to navigate your quest. With all the mapped out waypoints and the best descriptions possible, they still struggle to make it down a straight hallway. So you have to decide on making a unique map for wow factor, or a simple one that the lazy players can follow.

All that said, I can work with the tools given to me. I always have.

I actually loved your sparkly line! And I also think it might even be better than the in game system because it was more of a breadcrumb system which, if not careful, could have been lost while the built in system is more like a slap in the face cheat.

I mean, how can people even begin to design maps with exploration if players have a direct line of sight of the next achievement 24/7?

But again, I think they need to add more tools to allow players to more clearly know where to find their next objective before they can outright remove the line, if they even will.

rogu3ish · July 2013

In my first quest it actually works to the *disadvantage* of the player. A couple of my "puzzles" involve not walking into the wrong areas, and if you do mobs will spawn. I only have the sparkly on during those bits of the quest, and if you follow it straight to the objective you get jumped - possibly by stacked encounters if you pay absolutely no attention to what you're doing.

In the quest I'm currently working on, the last bit takes place in a multi-level swamp village. I didn't realize the sparkly would only work at terrain level. I guess they won't be getting one at that part either. I hope they talk to the NPCs in that case or they could be wandering a bit.

zovya · July 2013

ambisinisterr wrote: »

I actually loved your sparkly line! And I also think it might even be better than the in game system because it was more of a breadcrumb system which, if not careful, could have been lost while the built in system is more like a slap in the face cheat.

I mean, how can people even begin to design maps with exploration if players have a direct line of sight of the next achievement 24/7?

But again, I think they need to add more tools to allow players to more clearly know where to find their next objective before they can outright remove the line, if they even will.

Thank you. But a tool, as you hint at, to control the sparkly path in the foundry would be fantastic!

lolsorhand · July 2013

I have no clue what this "Sparkly trail" you speak of is

cipher9nemo · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Thank you. But a tool, as you hint at, to control the sparkly path in the foundry would be fantastic!

What they really need to do is fix the sparkling line so that it works correctly in the first place. It needs to work with Foundry quests that have objects blocking off passage that the sparkling line doesn't know about.

And that comes down to the AI pathing in-game. It's horrid. NPCs, encounters, and even the sparkling line seem to run off the same broken AI. The pathing needs to be fixed.

Then once that's fixed, and as founder authors, it would be nice to have better control of when our objectives are track-able or not via the map/sparkling line. We shouldn't be allowed to completely disable it for anything with POI or Area markers on the map, but we should be able to stop those markers in the first place.

For example: you can disable the POI with the inspect objective, but you can't disable the POI showing up on the map for NPC dialog objectives. Both pretty much do the same thing, except the NPC one zooms in for NPC animations as well.

lonnehart · July 2013

So will Cryptic take action if that sparkly trail goes through a lot of wrong turns, spinning loop-de-loops, and criss crossing all over the entire zone until it finally leads you to your next objective..... which was five feet away from where you began and not blocked by anything?

zoiks100 · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Thank you. But a tool, as you hint at, to control the sparkly path in the foundry would be fantastic!

Originally I would've thought this was a good idea too.

But after trying to do "for review" quests for awhile now I'm inclined to say no, definitely don't let authors control the trail. Why? Because seemingly 50% or more authors can't even figure out how to place the entrance to their quest or the end loot chest so that players can get to it, and then there's the authors who would no doubt use the trail for things other than what it's intended if they had control over it.

Better to have a glitchy, sometimes non-functional trail that can't be misused/abused, and that they might one day work on improving.

ambisinisterr · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Thank you. But a tool, as you hint at, to control the sparkly path in the foundry would be fantastic!

Sadly no hints.

I don't know if they are working on improving this. I simply support it being improved both for Foundry Authors being improved control over the line as the author suggested and for Official Content in the terms of improving the no line gameplay.

Simply put I would prefer to play without the 'newb trail' as I call it but since the map outright fails to supply me with even the faintest clue as to where my objective is (outside of the zone objectives) I can't.

So the map UI needs additional work so that players who really don't want to use the trail can still navigate to objectives. And heck those types of improvements would help both player types.

cipher9nemo wrote: »

Snip

Very true. If we wanted to get to the root of the problem it simply doesn't check for pathing issues as it is.

karitr · July 2013

How did those of us, completely dazzled and misled by the fairy lights in Mount Hotenow, ever manage to complete the story quests there?

drakesigar · July 2013

He who controls the sparkly line, controls the universe.

I admit there are legitimate reasons for the sparkly line, but I don't like how prevalent and overused it is, and I also suggest keeping it off most of the time. God forbid we have to ask around for a contact at the bar rather than having a sparkly line, or highlighed arrow, or giant neon sign pointing this person out for us. GOD FORBID!

nimmanu · July 2013

I dunno, I'm a little amused that mine drives you through rocks and barns and up steep cliffs.

"Fairy <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> trail" remains my favorite name for it, by the by.

ananvilhurtz · July 2013

zovya wrote: »

Or just delete that abomination from existence.

I've gotten 1 star reviews for where I've disabled the "Next Objective" marker. *sigh*

neverwinter1776 · July 2013

nimmanu wrote: »

"Fairy <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> trail" remains my favorite name for it, by the by.

Hey I started that LOL

zovya · July 2013

Or....

......

......

Wish that sparkly trails were never invented.

zebular · July 2013

. . . . . My nephew really likes the sparkly line, it helps him immensely. Myself, I use it on occasion only when I don't know where to go next. I uaully end up forgetting it is on and eventually turn it off. Then I turn it back on to find something again, some-time later and the cycle repeats. I do not wish for the removal of the line. Some enjoy it, some don't. The option to toggle it exists for those of us who do not use it or do not always use it.

. . . . . With the OP topic in mind, I do agree. This line needs to be able to be directed much better by authors. Right now, in order to dictate the quest trail to a degree of accuracy, one would need to drop quite a lot, depending on map size/layout, of markers set as objectives. That can end up being horrendous for both players and authors alike on detailed and large maps/layouts.

New Players so called "SPARKLY LINE"

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