UNITY missions: locations and adjustments

captainhunter1

Hi all!

I wanted to point out some simple location and content issues with UNITY missions that could easily be addressed by our limited, but talented dev team. This list may seem extensive, but really isn't. All the fixes are minor and could easily be accomplished by one person. (Heck, give me intern status for a day, and I'd be happy to do it for free - I have extensive experience with the mission editor over at STO! )

First up: 'Canadian Taken'. This mission entrance should be moved to the Viper bunker at coordinates -2060 57 2514 in Canada, as the door it currently uses is also used by a Nemesis Mission unrelated to a Viper base. (Or it could also be located at any one of the unused doors at Project Awakening base; one of my choices at the base would be at -3099 10 1418). Also, one of the objectives listed is 'recover hard drives' when in the mission you are actually 'shutting down the network'.

Next: 'Lizard Mind Magnification'. This mission shouldn't be using the door it currently does near the Hunter-Patriot base. The entrance should be moved to one of the remote Project Awakening towers near the main VIPER base. Either the one at coordinates -3262 171 2054 (especially if the Nemesis mission 'Bait and Switch' entrance here is moved to Project Stein - see below) or the one at -3634 143 833.

Next: 'Menace and Meltdown'. The entrance to this mission should be near the Gadroon area and not in the Burial Caves area. lol. There are no cave entrances per se in this area (though one could be placed pretty easily as there are a lot of open hillsides close by), but there are two doors. One (that is already used quite a bit) is in the side of Gadroon Hill next to the path that leads up into that area. And another on the backside of Gadroon Hill at coordinates -2223 60 -1285 that would work pretty well (if it isn't used as an alternate for 'Breaking out in Hives' - see below).

Next: 'Breaking out in Hives'. Ideally a new cave entrance at coordinates -3696 184 -1474 in Canada near the crashed Qulaar ship (and closer to the Gadroon area) would be perfect, but even just using the existing door at -2223 60 -1285 would be better than the 'hatch' entrance so far away from the Gadroon area right now.

Next: 'Big Shoes to Follow'. The description says that a scientist looking for Bigfoots was captured by the Qulaar, when in fact it's a Bigfoot Shaman that needs rescuing. Either the NPC (and objective title) need to be changed to a scientist, or the mission description needs to state that a Bigfoot Shaman on a spirit quest travelled far from the Bigfoot village and was captured by the Qulaar. In either case, the entrance to this mission should be closer to the downed Qulaar ship. See 'Menace and Meltdown' and 'Breaking out in Hives' above.

Next: 'Earthworm Gem'. Moving this to the cave located next to the DEMON ritual in the desert would make perfect sense. (see https://arcgames.com/en/forums/championsonline#/discussion/1213106/new-mission-demon-in-the-desert)

Next: 'When the Cat's Away...' The scientist inside should be titled Primus Scientist and not UNTIL scientist. (This 'title' problem is a continuing issue for almost all the missions with scientists as hostages (see below) - maybe just label them all "Captured Scientist" as the one in 'Once Submerged'.)

Next: 'Once Submerged'. This mission takes place in a Primus facility in the Desert, yet the entrance is IN the Viper Project Stein base, lol (this entrance might better a better option for the Nemesis mission 'Bait and Switch' than the one in Canada because of the Draysha connection). A good entrance for 'Once Submerged' would be the door near the north end of Snake Gulch at coordinates -819 27 1365 (but it seem this gets used a lot). Or as an alternate, the hatch at -469 -46 -536 (I can't recall if this is used for another mission or not, but at least it feels like a Primus research facility entrance :P)

Next: 'UFO No!'. This mission is actually problem free. However, it would be good to change the 3 Viper soldiers right outside its entrance (3201 -39 -1163) to Qulaar. This would make much more sense given the mission's backstory.

Next: 'Wetwork'. Viper divers think they have found Captain Claw's hideout cave in Lemuria. Well, they haven't - lol. A better spot for the entrance to this mission might be under the UNTIL mini-sub in the middle of the 'Plunder the Sea' open area mission (the 'cave' at coordinates 1819 1435 2145). This does two things; it moves it away from the overused reef area, and it brings people into the 'Plunder the Sea' area to generate more interest there. It makes sense here not only for those reasons, but because of the robot pirates in the area as well. The Viper divers got it wrong because robots aren't cyborgs - as Captain Claw's crew really are ...maybe even modify the closing mission dialog to say this. (And to be frank, aren't the pirates around here (including Ismashaul, their leader) technically robot GHOST pirates? lol!). It would be nice too, especially given the mission title, to have this mission take place in water-filled caves with scuba-equipped Viper soldiers (see the ones in Canada). Adding a water volume to the entire map would easily accomplish this.

Next: 'That Sinking Feeling'. This is an easy one as the only issue is that the scientists inside are labeled Lemurian Loyalist (both in title and on the interact buttons). The 'Captured Scientist' title fix mentioned above would solve this.

Next: 'Annelid Aggregation' and 'Equal Opportunity Transmogrification'. The mission entrances for these two missions should be swapped. One is located on Monster Island and land based with its human captives, the other in Lemuria and water based (see below), yet the mission locations for them are the opposite (the one talking about Lemuria has you go to Monster Island and visa versa - something easily fixed if the entrances were swapped). Also, one of the objectives for 'Annelid Aggregation' (the land based one) is to rescue captured UNTIL soldiers, yet the mission itself has MC scientists as the captives (a change to UNTIL NPCs is needed). In addition, 'Equal Opportunity Transmogrification' (which should be the one located in Lemuria) would be better located at the underwater temple at 1061 1253 2944 in the old Lemurian sunken city. It fits better with the description here and is a much more interesting location (and it would be cool if it were flooded...which should be a very easy thing to do - simply add a water volume to the entire map - nothing else required as there are no captives and the Elder Worms are already in environmental suits). Location 1805 83 5008 would also work as there a bunch of Elder Worms underwater here - but a building entrance would be needed (though this location might be better suited for the 'Worm Warfare' UNITY mission with a cave entrance instead).

Next: 'Ignaetium Immensity'. One of the 'capstone' UNITY missions that is definitely in the wrong place. It uses the same entrance location in the Elder Worm area that 'Equal Opportunity Transmogrification' currently uses (huh?). It's obvious once entering the mission it should be located at the main Lemurian dig site in Andrithal - specifically at the identical temple building located at coordinates 2337 2 1267. Its description is also in need of an update as it currently says, "UNITY has an important mission, and there's nobody up to the job except for you. Evidence has recently surfaced that the Lemurians have uncovered another of their ancient temples in Lemuria. What sets this temple apart of the others is that this temple houses an enormous Ignaetium Gem, one so big and powerful it could power another Lemurian superweapon on the scale of the Mandragalore. Lemurians are already inside, so you can't waste any time infiltrating the old temple and destroying the gem. Be sure to defeat the Lemurian Elder Sorcerer-Priest in charge, and expect to face heavy resistance during this mission, " The items wrong in this description are: It isn't in Lemuria, but on Monster Island (Andrithal). There isn't just one Gem, but five large crystals. And there isn't a Sorcerer-Priest, but five Sages that need defeating. Additionally, a large number of incubating egg hatches must be destroyed (there is no description for this in the mission text).

Next: 'Draysha Makes Monsters'. Also one of the 'capstone' missions, this one takes place in a Lemurian temple that Viper has recently broken into. Unfortunately, the entrance is the same as 'Equal Opportunity Transmogrification' and 'Ignaetium Immensity' on Monster Island (lol - seems there's only one temple and everyone is in it!). Looking at the maps inside this mission, it looks like the perfect location for it would be near the volcano somewhere and, of course, near Viper activity. A place which fits the bill perfectly would be the battle site between Viper and the Bureau 17 robots. I always thought it was strange that Viper is just parked (in force) against the wall of the volcano here. By placing a Lemurian temple building here (at coordinates -152 76 981 to be exact), it solves many problems. First, it gives a reason for Viper to be there (which in turn gives Bureau 17 a reason to be there...or visa versa - see below). Second, it makes the location much more interesting than just a blank wall and provides a reason for the constant Viper troops arriving as reinforcements (the coordinates above would have the Viper troops spawning right at the temple entrance as if they were coming from there). Third, it provides a reason why there is a research encampment nearby (the tents) - which could be a Bureau 17 encampment overrun by Viper (and being counter attacked) or a Viper camp that Bureau 17 is trying to dislodge. As for the mission itself, there are a couple issues. The dialog says the objectives are to rescue UNTIL soldiers and recover Draysha serum holders. Just as with 'Annelid Aggregation', the captives are actually MC scientists. An easy solution is a small text change from 'UNTIL' to 'Bureau 17' in the mission dialog and label the scientists as Bureau 17 in the mission (or simply use the 'Captured Scientist' title). The other issue is the Draysha holders. The interact button on them is labeled 'lab instruments' and not 'Draysha container' (and the fact they look more like coffins/suspended animation chambers than Draysha containers :P) To be honest, this map and the NPCs look like it was originally set up to be a research mission by Bureau 17 that Viper raided (the coffins/chambers containing ancient Lemurians?), but hey, it works either way.

Next: 'Elders Among Excrement'. Another capstone Unity mission. This one only has two minor issues. The first is the pop up dialog as you enter the mission - the reference to a 'transformation gun' at the end should be changed to 'mystic orbs'. The other minor issue is the entrance placement. Currently it is at the overused manhole next to the TV station in Millennium City. A better spot would be in Downtown near the Elder Worm activity. A manhole placed at coordinates 10403 189 -1379 would be perfect.

And lastly: 'Bleak Reckoning'. A UNITY capstone mission set in Lemuria, this mission entrance is currently located at the small building next to the undying reef to the far west of the Aegir sub (see picture below). Given the story background, a much better location would be near the temple of the Bleak Ones in the Rastrinfhar Abyss. There is a temple building in the northwest corner of Lemuria (at the base of the Mandragalore - coordinates 1108 100 5066) that would work perfectly as the entrance to this mission. This would free up the original building to be used what it was intended for - Undertow's hangout (this poor guy's trapped inside and can't get out, despite what the picture looks like. You have to have the camera angle just right to see him behind the black covered doors - lol)



And I'd like to suggest modifying the Bleak Reckoning map slightly so that the last room entered is the one with the Bleak Ones tentacles for more dramatic effect. Simply remove the corridors at the three spots marked with a yellow X and add two new corridors marked in green. This makes the map linear and not circular. Also, one other issue is that one of the statues that needs to be recovered is in the wrong location. Looking at the map below, the black room (the one between two of the yellow X's) has a pedestal on the north wall that the statue should be on. Instead it is in the middle of the room inside the jail cell. One of the Lemurian prisoners should be here instead.




Thanks for your attention to this, as always.

jaazaniah1

Is this all a prelude to making the Unity Missions really worth the time it takes to run them? I.e. improving difficulty as a justification for improving rewards? I have to say, I haven't done these since they were nerfed.