I think what Buxom was getting at was the idea that when you finally destroyed that last Heat Pump, you weren't in the Hypothalamus any more, but rather were in the location of the one you'd missed.
If that's the case, that's either a bug or poor design - it should give you the cutscene when you've a) defeated all the Nanobots, b) destroyed all the Heat Pumps, and c) are in the Hypothalamus; that is, if you missed one and had to go back, the cutscene and mission end should be patiently waiting for you back in the Hypothalamus.
And I for one would really prefer returning to full size in the operating area, not out in the alley like someone was just dumping medical waste out back or something.
Edit: By the way, this is the sort of thing I was referring to in one of my many rants about why PTS is useful because the programmers miss something. None of their internal people probably even thought to check the condition of what happens if you're in the final room and just plain missed one of the requirements earlier. So Smacky checked it out and found out! My next mission is to try a toon, an AT for preference, that is at the minimum level for the mission and see how that works out.
"Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"
I think what Buxom was getting at was the idea that when you finally destroyed that last Heat Pump, you weren't in the Hypothalamus any more, but rather were in the location of the one you'd missed.
If that's the case, that's either a bug or poor design - it should give you the cutscene when you've a) defeated all the Nanobots, b) destroyed all the Heat Pumps, and c) are in the Hypothalamus; that is, if you missed one and had to go back, the cutscene and mission end should be patiently waiting for you back in the Hypothalamus.
I getcha. But, that's not the case. I just tried it for a second time, and "Defend the Hypothalamus" completed even though I hadn't gotten all the machines. Soon as I destroyed the last heat pump in the first room, the syringe cutscene popped up, and I was able to complete the mission.
So, bug might not be a bug. Could be a case of one of the Hypothalamus guys going out of world or something? Anyone else care to give it a run?
Edit: I've edited my post to reflect new findings. Thanks dudes.
thank you for not making the corridors that horrible dark red, I can actually see in these ones.
Bugs- plural
In the final room on Louisa's brain, everything cleared, NO attack to defend Hypothalamus
all items/minions finished at room, turned off stealth, nothing
also, note the black section of the minimap.
2 odd yellow patches
1 per map
-46,404,316
and I forgot to do Location on Marty
simple of a 40 FF with mission/heroic gear. not tank.
on Mind AT, level 20 BUGs
1.Ego sleep on nano machines is broken by Ego sprites, some times in Martys brain, Louisa's seems to work normally. have to recheck
2.Heat pumps cannot be shot with ego sprites. its greyed out
3.Nanobot 11- doesn't always react to you until
a) you are right next to them, or
b) if in a group, you shoot them instead of a party with them
PA bot can fire dual beam through walls (and its plasma beam can be fired on an angle-waah)
2 deaths- targeted that one first on third try. finished
not really hard on level 20 Mind at
BUG: Can't change role in the Build menu, the dropdown box doesn't appear properly.
Confirming this. I know there's been a similar issue with costumes beyond #8 (thanks to Kaiserin for educating me), but since the most recent update the dropdown box does not properly appear at all, regardless of costume.
Edit: By the way, this is the sort of thing I was referring to in one of my many rants about why PTS is useful because the programmers miss something. None of their internal people probably even thought to check the condition of what happens if you're in the final room and just plain missed one of the requirements earlier. So Smacky checked it out and found out! My next mission is to try a toon, an AT for preference, that is at the minimum level for the mission and see how that works out.
I think the minimum level is 14, like Resistance. I soloed it on a level 20 offensive passive toon with level 10 gear. It was okay, except for the hypothalamus fight. I died twice in Marty's hypothalamus and thrice in Louise's. I'm not sure what it'd have been like if I had been using level appropriate gear (or at least the post-Poe stuff) but I'd say for level 14-20 toons that you might want a teammate.
Minor thought: Shift Microman's palette slightly; he looks too much like an"I can't be bothered" costume due to the default blue and yellow (to my eyes at least).. shift those off the default colors even slightly and that would be dispelled.
I agree, the first thing I thought was, "They didn't even bother to change the color scheme."
Confirming this. I know there's been a similar issue with costumes beyond #8 (thanks to Kaiserin for educating me), but since the most recent update the dropdown box does not properly appear at all, regardless of costume.
I can also confirm it. I was stuck in hybrid the whole time because of this.
____________________________________
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
It was okay, except for the hypothalamus fight. I died twice in Marty's hypothalamus and thrice in Louise's. I'm not sure what it'd have been like if I had been using level appropriate gear (or at least the post-Poe stuff) but I'd say for level 14-20 toons that you might want a teammate.
Those guys can pack quite a punch. I died once or twice on my 40 freeform main (he doesn't use a super dope build, just a thematic thing).
I agree, the first thing I thought was, "They didn't even bother to change the color scheme."
Yeah, same here. Those are his actual colors though; you can see him in tiny form by Silverback in Renaissance Center. I think he needs an update. And is he supposed to be an old guy?
Maybe his skin can't keep up with all the shrinking...:biggrin:
But yea, his default blue/yellow coloring with the Lightning pattern is kind of 'Pressed A Random Button Hero' thing.
I think he is one of the heroes used in the CO official videos, using Electricity powers....
There he is:
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Confirming this. I know there's been a similar issue with costumes beyond #8 (thanks to Kaiserin for educating me), but since the most recent update the dropdown box does not properly appear at all, regardless of costume.
I thought that was just me... Is there a problem with the character transfer? I *think* builds with costumes from the first few slots work. So the root cause may be that it's just not transferring all the costumes over.
There really isn't that much to say after six pages or so of bugs but I'll just talk about my own lil experience.
Aside from being caught off guard by the screaming civilians as they burst into flame or attacked me...I have to say that was a VERY interesting piece of content.
I certainly look forward to running more of it and continuing the story. Nice to see some lore nodes as well ^^.
As others have probably said, it wasn't too short so that it felt lacking and it wasn't too long that it got boring.
Positives
- The fact that it was in an open world setting. <--This is always a good thing if it can be done.
- The crazy freaky VO's that civilians have, great for immersion.
- VO's for Microman and Silverback. (Microman looks pretty old but sounds young...which is strange...)
- FXs for victims of SHCS, charred corpse effect is very "in your face"...I love it. I like the way that you can clearly see the progression of the stages of the civilians which is apparent through observation or just reading.
- THE INSIDE OF THE BRAIN. Just very nice! I loved the attention to detail for the sulci and gyri and the general map of the brain.
- The enemies attacks were interesting and I had fun when I drew quite a few of them. Was very surprised (pleasantly) at the upgrading in combat ability they had, seems just about right to me.
- There were NO issues with Crowd Control powers or Ego Damage not registering.
Negatives
Aside from the relevant bugs that have been mentioned by other testers...my only issue with it, if anything is incredibly minor:
Character positioning after you exit both missions.
At the end of both missions you are shown to be exiting via a syringe...yet you end up outside of the room you were in for shrinking and in a space next to the makeshift hospital instead of inside the space you were once in.
Aside from that relatively small gripe, I'm looking forward to what else follows this up!
I would suggest...that perhaps with the Hypothalamus part at the end of the mission...
Perhaps have some sort of mini boss? SV rank perhaps? With a few adds maybe?
I say this because I didn't really have to defend the Hypothalamus...just take out the adds and then exit.
Then again the upgraded adds sort of made up for it, but it would be nice to have to actually protect it.
Overall, it was a good opening for a part 1 of 3! Keep up the great work!
Steel Crusade... I hate to say it, but I'm 50/50 on it so far. It's got some definite upsides, the fact that the mobs develop defiance after a while and thereby "adapt" to your invasion is neat. The mob models are gorgeous, and the scenery in the event is spectacular too. I want a pet of one of the spider nanites, it *better* be an action figure. I also hope we get the big bipedal nanite's head. It's creepy and insectile, and would go well with the new spider legs. But, aside from that?
The first mission is tedious, and it's going to be VERY overcrowded when it goes live. 15 victims is just too much. While it was nice and dark, I imagine it's going to get annoying pretty quickly.
The brain maps are difficult to navigate, and seem to lack a bit of focus. Finding tunnel entrances is a pain, even with the mini map. Using travel powers in them is a non-starter because you're flying through a sea of undefined pink. Corners come up at you out of nowhere. And the mob placement is just a bit strange. One mob in a tunnel, here and there, it's kinda counter to the way instances are usually set up. As a result, it just plays very strangely. I'd agree, also, about the need of a SV or something at the very end. Especially of the second brain, a mini-boss encounter would do a lot to spice it up a bit and add variety.
That said? It's got serious potential. It's very dark, and it has touches of sheer brilliance in the story.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
I thought that was just me... Is there a problem with the character transfer? I *think* builds with costumes from the first few slots work. So the root cause may be that it's just not transferring all the costumes over.
This is not caused by character transfer as my toon was created on PTS, and I still couldn't change roles.
Issue: The machines that you have to destroy inside the brains are always level 40 regardless of character level. This was annoying as energy builders don't generate energy when used on inanimate objects and I was running out of energy before I could kill the objects on a level 20 character.
Also, I agree with Chalupa about the layout of the level and mob placement.
A mini-boss in the first brain and a boss in the second would be nice too.
____________________________________
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
The mob models are gorgeous, and the scenery in the event is spectacular too. I want a pet of one of the spider nanites, it *better* be an action figure. I also hope we get the big bipedal nanite's head. It's creepy and insectile, and would go well with the new spider legs.
I was actually half hoping that with the introduction of these new mob models...they'd update munitions pets models with something a little larger and bulkier outside of the normal modes.
(I'd personally like to see perhaps a new pet power entirely based off these mobs. Its something I feel is missing from "tech pets" as a theme/idea. But one step at a time. )
The first mission is tedious, and it's going to be VERY overcrowded when it goes live. 15 victims is just too much. While it was nice and dark, I imagine it's going to get annoying pretty quickly.
Upon reflection...yes. I'd like to second this. I'm not sure how possible it will be but perhaps have multiple areas with these victims to be OR lower the amount of citizens you have to save to 7-10?
The brain maps are difficult to navigate, and seem to lack a bit of focus. Finding tunnel entrances is a pain, even with the mini map. Using travel powers in them is a non-starter because you're flying through a sea of undefined pink. Corners come up at you out of nowhere.
I didn't have much issue with this mainly because I was walking through it, quite literally. But using TPs in the tubes isn't something I see myself doing because of the sheer annoyance of sharp corners and as chal mentioned odd mob placement.
The brain maps are difficult to navigate, and seem to lack a bit of focus. Finding tunnel entrances is a pain, even with the mini map. Using travel powers in them is a non-starter because you're flying through a sea of undefined pink. Corners come up at you out of nowhere.
Yeah the problem is that there's no light sources in the maps, so everything just kinda gets washed out. It wouldn't really make sense to have lighting fixtures in there, but it also doesn't make sense that there's ambient light in there, either. For the sake of the place not being all washed out and hard to navigate, I would darken the place, and put in some lights. Even just some floating glow balls, to signify some kind of illumination bot, and make sure to post two of them at every tunnel entrance and exit. Lights that cast dynamic shadows would really add to the creeptasticness of being inside someone's brain.
hummm...The Brain maps are difficult?
It has 1 main tunnel, with 1 etrance and the main tunnel has 2 short dead end tunnels at the start.
I mean i have a bad sense of direction but Brain maps were nothing compared to the VB dungeons. You really can't get lost. I just wanted to get out as fast as i could. It reminded more of Tectacle Grape Factory than a human brains.
yechs.
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
1. Those firetrucks look kinda lousy next to the giant police vehicles. They are too small for standard NPCs to fit inside.
2. There seem to be tons of victims to save for Heat Wave, but when this mission goes live, people will likely be waiting turns. On the other hand, after a day or two, there will be no problem.
3. The cutscenes are done well. Good voiceovers.
4. Will there be perks for defeating Mechanon's forces?
5. I LOVE how the mobs aren't in those same old groups we see in every other instance. The odd placement is a plus in my book.
6. I like the gray-pink passages; I like how it can be weird and a little disorienting. Maybe this map SHOULD NOT be ideal for speed runs using DS. This is a feature, not a bug.
7. I liked how the mobs were not completely pushover when playing at Elite difficulty. Excellent work.
8. Classify the machinery as henchmen so that folks don't take forever in that last room running out of energy while trying to destroy them. That's how they are in Fatal Error, right?
9. After each instance, you appear in the alley. Hero should spawn near the patient.
10. Overall nice work for phase one.
It would be great if there was a miniboss at the end of each brain section.
I have my computer on Low quality FX and have no trouble seeing and navigating the tunnels.
Mind you the dark/light check at the start of the game, my barely visible is probably non visible to a lot of people
If they get changed to the normal dark red I will the same trouble I normally have in seeing anything in them.
I used rank 3 acrobatics in it with no problems.
and yet again,
Defend the Hypothalamus didn't register in Louisa's brain, despite finishing in that room.
both times It didn't register, i destroyed a device in the room before killing everything. the time it registered, I destroyed all 3 devices after killing everything.
someone else want to check that
9. After each instance, you appear in the alley. Hero should spawn near the patient.
The reason for this is probably so players trying to interact with the patients don't get pushed by others rezoning on the spot. However, something should be done so that it makes sense where we spawn. Maybe put a platform there to represent how we are grown back to size after being extracted?
The reason for this is probably so players trying to interact with the patients don't get pushed by others rezoning on the spot. However, something should be done so that it makes sense where we spawn. Maybe put a platform there to represent how we are grown back to size after being extracted?
Good point.
What about spawning over near Dr. Silverback? A platform would be the best, of course. Just not in the alley.
I feel like I should add that the reason there wasn't a 'boss' at the second hypothalamus is because all parts of the Steel Crusade update will be released at once (save, perhaps, the Anniversary Event portion). The 'part 1' we just did is only the beginning build-up to whatever is next. I mean, I suppose you could add some sort of Nanobot 'Boss' or something, but it's not like this is supposed to be a 'checkpoint' if you will. It'll all come at the same time.
Also, about Microman: He is, quite literally, the Champions Lore version of Giant Man/Ant Man (aka Hank Pym). I'm trying to find an illustration of him from the PnP Sourcebooks, but haven't seen one yet. If I find one, I'll post it, and see how it holds up to his current incarnation in CO.
It makes sense, if you don't think about it.
__________________________________________________
Most often Slice N Dice@zap-the-eradicator in-game.
2. There seem to be tons of victims to save for Heat Wave, but when this mission goes live, people will likely be waiting turns. On the other hand, after a day or two, there will be no problem.
Team up? And have that "Team Up" option that open missions use? I'm assuming this isn't an option since no one is mentioning it.
Ran through it again on a high DPS toon with AOEs.
BUG: Microman does not have a ? over his head after accepting mission from Dr. Silverback, or before Louisa Kohl
BUG: Cannot target machinery with 'next enemy'. Targeted AOE attacks on other enemies do not seem to target machinery either.
BUG: Final room of Louisa Kohl does not display left entrance tunnel on minimap
BUG (or intended?) Defiance stacks on those nanobots that use it stack on every tick (e.g. 0.5 seconds versus 3 seconds)
The second bug is particularly problematic considering the machinery isn't glowing or such; it's very easy to turn what's roughly a 10 minute mission on a high DPS toon into 20 minutes when you have to backtrack once you discover you've missed one. On a lower DPS toon or one without AOEs, these numbers go up.
I also figured out what bothers me most about the brain map.
The better designed cave missions allow you to skip past many of the henchman level guards in tunnels between big areas. You can speed run and hope you get far enough so that they give up, or you can stealth, or you can teleport.
These tunnels are too narrow to do speedruns, and the (edit) near-kill all requirement means you're forced to fight everything along the way in a tunnel even if you were to do so.
My recommendation on Louisa Kohl:
1. Have Microman tell us something like 'We can't yet trace where the signals are coming from, but it looks like the upgrades seem to be processed locally/amplified by her/whatever fits in the story arc."
2. Eliminate all mobs save for those in large rooms, and drop the kill all requirement
3. Move the machinery to the final room along with a boss and a bunch of MVs/henchmen
4. For a more interesting fight, the boss should alternate between the various passives the nanobots use (right now, it looks like defiance/invuln (edit:not available)/fire/lightning - I may have missed some).
Then, link machinery to availability of different passives for boss. Kill different machinery pieces, eliminate options for boss to use different passives. This allows for either zerg rushing if you think you can survive the attacks of a whole bunch of baddies, or more clever whittling down of the boss by taking out the machinery if you can't.
The better designed cave missions allow you to skip past many of the henchman level guards in tunnels between big areas. You can speed run and hope you get far enough so that they give up, or you can stealth, or you can teleport.
These tunnels are too narrow to do speedruns, and the kill all requirement means you're forced to fight everything along the way in a tunnel even if you were to do so.
My recommendation on Louisa Kohl:
1. Have Microman tell us something like 'We can't yet trace where the signals are coming from, but it looks like the upgrades seem to be processed locally/amplified by her/whatever fits in the story arc."
2. Eliminate all mobs save for those in large rooms, and drop the kill all requirement
3. Move the machinery to the final room along with a boss and a bunch of MVs/henchmen
4. For a more interesting fight, the boss should alternate between the various passives the nanobots use (right now, it looks like defiance/invuln/fire/lightning - I may have missed some).
Then, link machinery to availability of different passives for boss. Kill different machinery pieces, eliminate options for boss to use different passives. This allows for either zerg rushing if you think you can survive the attacks of a whole bunch of baddies, or more clever whittling down of the boss by taking out the machinery if you can't.
The kill-all mechanic is essential to the story. They're self-replicating nanobots. If you don't destroy them all, they'll just come back and the patient dies anyway.
Choose your enemies carefully, because they will define you / Make them interesting, because in some ways they will mind you
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
it's not even up and someone is already trying to get it changed for farming runs... sigh. These tunnels are too narrow to do speedruns,
Make the Q drop once per day for Brain freeze.
Otherwise, all you will have, is people just farming the one mission all day and even MORE inflation in the Q exchange.
also the Commendations.
it's not even up and someone is already trying to get it changed for farming runs... sigh.
Couldn't be further from my intentions - which are to promote a variety of ways to do a mission especially for weaker ATs, not just brainless kill all stuff - and your concern is impossible to accomplish. See below (emphasis added).
BUG (?): Upgraded mark 4 and 12s do not appear to have any passives.
For those who are interested, upgrades:
4 (MV) plasma damage
7 - fire form
9 - electric form
11 - defiance/enrage/might attacks
12 (MV) viper's claws.
It does not appear that 4 and 12's upgraded versions have any passives attached, although they go yellow and seem to have a few more HP.
This is also the only real difference between the two missions; except for one mark 11 in the final room during the first mission, you're fighting nanobots that aren't upgrades in mission 1. In mission 2, everything except the 4s and 12s have passives, and since they're MV level, I'm guessing this may not be intentional.
The kill-all mechanic is essential to the story. They're self-replicating nanobots. If you don't destroy them all, they'll just come back and the patient dies anyway.
I'm not sure where you're getting it's 'essential', since the design doesn't reflect that.
The second mission has more than 32 nanobots but a 32 kill requirement. You don't need to kill all, which is why it's both contradictory and at 32 kills x2 where many are too far apart to use AOEs, more than a little tedious.
This is why I suggest a boss-focused mission for the second event, which actually fits nicely with upgraded units having passives. Give the boss attacks that pack a punch and correspond to the different forms. You can try zerg rushing, but there will be a decent shot you'll get wiped. Or, you can try to take down the boxes, take down both the damage additives and damage resistance, and kill it using some brains too. The best missions offer a few ways to accomplish them, and this would help move it towards that.
Either way, upgrades should probably start earlier on the first mission.
Give the boss attacks that pack a punch and correspond to the different forms. You can try zerg rushing, but there will be a decent shot you'll get wiped. Or, you can try to take down the boxes, take down both the damage additives and damage resistance, and kill it using some brains too. The best missions offer a few ways to accomplish them, and this would help move it towards that.
Agreed. I love missions that have more than one viable strategy or option. CO has precious few of these.
For Carrier Wave, a stealthy character, or one using teleport and R3 Congress of Selves can get to the bridge without fighting all those robots. I love that.
I have my graphics on max. I found it incredibly hard to find the first tunnel from that first big room without looking on my minimap. After I finally did find that one I managed to navigate it okay though, I also found it super fun to use hyperball in it.
thank you for the update notes. i hadn't seen that.
L40 FF
full run through on Louisa- 5 m 40secs-(timer not including cut scene)acrobatics 3
6m 20secs with stuff ups
full run through On Marty -4M 2 secs
L20- Mind at with the crappy gear you get from Debugger- acrobatics 1
so , no sheild, no energy unlock, and only ego sprites& blast as attacks and ego sprites you can't use on the machinery
Marty-13m 13 secs
Louisa-no time currently
BUG Hypothalamus not completing
it's not the machines that are the problem after all.
Defend text doesn't come up till you are a certain distance from the Hypothalamus.
so if you kill the mobs beforehand, it doesn't complete
needs to be changed to a larger area or when the mobs are killed.
BUG
during the Brain freeze initial cut scene, text bubbles from citizens behind the buildings show up across the cut scene
it's not the machines that are the problem after all.
Defend text doesn't come up till you are a certain distance from the Hypothalamus.
so if you kill the mobs beforehand, it doesn't complete
Comments
If that's the case, that's either a bug or poor design - it should give you the cutscene when you've a) defeated all the Nanobots, b) destroyed all the Heat Pumps, and c) are in the Hypothalamus; that is, if you missed one and had to go back, the cutscene and mission end should be patiently waiting for you back in the Hypothalamus.
And I for one would really prefer returning to full size in the operating area, not out in the alley like someone was just dumping medical waste out back or something.
Edit: By the way, this is the sort of thing I was referring to in one of my many rants about why PTS is useful because the programmers miss something. None of their internal people probably even thought to check the condition of what happens if you're in the final room and just plain missed one of the requirements earlier. So Smacky checked it out and found out! My next mission is to try a toon, an AT for preference, that is at the minimum level for the mission and see how that works out.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
I getcha. But, that's not the case. I just tried it for a second time, and "Defend the Hypothalamus" completed even though I hadn't gotten all the machines. Soon as I destroyed the last heat pump in the first room, the syringe cutscene popped up, and I was able to complete the mission.
So, bug might not be a bug. Could be a case of one of the Hypothalamus guys going out of world or something? Anyone else care to give it a run?
Edit: I've edited my post to reflect new findings. Thanks dudes.
Bugs- plural
In the final room on Louisa's brain, everything cleared, NO attack to defend Hypothalamus
all items/minions finished at room, turned off stealth, nothing
also, note the black section of the minimap.
2 odd yellow patches
1 per map
-46,404,316
and I forgot to do Location on Marty
simple of a 40 FF with mission/heroic gear. not tank.
on Mind AT, level 20
BUGs
1.Ego sleep on nano machines is broken by Ego sprites, some times in Martys brain, Louisa's seems to work normally. have to recheck
2.Heat pumps cannot be shot with ego sprites. its greyed out
3.Nanobot 11- doesn't always react to you until
a) you are right next to them, or
b) if in a group, you shoot them instead of a party with them
PA bot can fire dual beam through walls (and its plasma beam can be fired on an angle-waah)
2 deaths- targeted that one first on third try. finished
not really hard on level 20 Mind at
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Confirming this. I know there's been a similar issue with costumes beyond #8 (thanks to Kaiserin for educating me), but since the most recent update the dropdown box does not properly appear at all, regardless of costume.
I think the minimum level is 14, like Resistance. I soloed it on a level 20 offensive passive toon with level 10 gear. It was okay, except for the hypothalamus fight. I died twice in Marty's hypothalamus and thrice in Louise's. I'm not sure what it'd have been like if I had been using level appropriate gear (or at least the post-Poe stuff) but I'd say for level 14-20 toons that you might want a teammate.
I agree, the first thing I thought was, "They didn't even bother to change the color scheme."
I can also confirm it. I was stuck in hybrid the whole time because of this.
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
WARNING: Not An Actual Internet Reviewer
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Those guys can pack quite a punch. I died once or twice on my 40 freeform main (he doesn't use a super dope build, just a thematic thing).
Yeah, same here. Those are his actual colors though; you can see him in tiny form by Silverback in Renaissance Center. I think he needs an update. And is he supposed to be an old guy?
Maybe his skin can't keep up with all the shrinking...:biggrin:
But yea, his default blue/yellow coloring with the Lightning pattern is kind of 'Pressed A Random Button Hero' thing.
I think he is one of the heroes used in the CO official videos, using Electricity powers....
There he is:
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
I thought that was just me... Is there a problem with the character transfer? I *think* builds with costumes from the first few slots work. So the root cause may be that it's just not transferring all the costumes over.
Aside from being caught off guard by the screaming civilians as they burst into flame or attacked me...I have to say that was a VERY interesting piece of content.
I certainly look forward to running more of it and continuing the story. Nice to see some lore nodes as well ^^.
As others have probably said, it wasn't too short so that it felt lacking and it wasn't too long that it got boring.
Positives
- The fact that it was in an open world setting. <--This is always a good thing if it can be done.
- The crazy freaky VO's that civilians have, great for immersion.
- VO's for Microman and Silverback. (Microman looks pretty old but sounds young...which is strange...)
- FXs for victims of SHCS, charred corpse effect is very "in your face"...I love it. I like the way that you can clearly see the progression of the stages of the civilians which is apparent through observation or just reading.
- THE INSIDE OF THE BRAIN. Just very nice! I loved the attention to detail for the sulci and gyri and the general map of the brain.
- The enemies attacks were interesting and I had fun when I drew quite a few of them. Was very surprised (pleasantly) at the upgrading in combat ability they had, seems just about right to me.
- There were NO issues with Crowd Control powers or Ego Damage not registering.
Negatives
Aside from the relevant bugs that have been mentioned by other testers...my only issue with it, if anything is incredibly minor:
Character positioning after you exit both missions.
At the end of both missions you are shown to be exiting via a syringe...yet you end up outside of the room you were in for shrinking and in a space next to the makeshift hospital instead of inside the space you were once in.
Aside from that relatively small gripe, I'm looking forward to what else follows this up!
I would suggest...that perhaps with the Hypothalamus part at the end of the mission...
Perhaps have some sort of mini boss? SV rank perhaps? With a few adds maybe?
I say this because I didn't really have to defend the Hypothalamus...just take out the adds and then exit.
Then again the upgraded adds sort of made up for it, but it would be nice to have to actually protect it.
Overall, it was a good opening for a part 1 of 3! Keep up the great work!
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
I have a few oddly dressed characters
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
The first mission is tedious, and it's going to be VERY overcrowded when it goes live. 15 victims is just too much. While it was nice and dark, I imagine it's going to get annoying pretty quickly.
The brain maps are difficult to navigate, and seem to lack a bit of focus. Finding tunnel entrances is a pain, even with the mini map. Using travel powers in them is a non-starter because you're flying through a sea of undefined pink. Corners come up at you out of nowhere. And the mob placement is just a bit strange. One mob in a tunnel, here and there, it's kinda counter to the way instances are usually set up. As a result, it just plays very strangely. I'd agree, also, about the need of a SV or something at the very end. Especially of the second brain, a mini-boss encounter would do a lot to spice it up a bit and add variety.
That said? It's got serious potential. It's very dark, and it has touches of sheer brilliance in the story.
RIP Caine
This is not caused by character transfer as my toon was created on PTS, and I still couldn't change roles.
Issue: The machines that you have to destroy inside the brains are always level 40 regardless of character level. This was annoying as energy builders don't generate energy when used on inanimate objects and I was running out of energy before I could kill the objects on a level 20 character.
Also, I agree with Chalupa about the layout of the level and mob placement.
A mini-boss in the first brain and a boss in the second would be nice too.
That Dork In The Suspenders, signing out.
WARNING: Not An Actual Internet Reviewer
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
I was actually half hoping that with the introduction of these new mob models...they'd update munitions pets models with something a little larger and bulkier outside of the normal modes.
(I'd personally like to see perhaps a new pet power entirely based off these mobs. Its something I feel is missing from "tech pets" as a theme/idea. But one step at a time.
Upon reflection...yes. I'd like to second this. I'm not sure how possible it will be but perhaps have multiple areas with these victims to be OR lower the amount of citizens you have to save to 7-10?
I didn't have much issue with this mainly because I was walking through it, quite literally. But using TPs in the tubes isn't something I see myself doing because of the sheer annoyance of sharp corners and as chal mentioned odd mob placement.
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
Suggestion: Have some of the victims immolate so quickly that they are stuck in poses of agony until the game despawns them.
Yeah the problem is that there's no light sources in the maps, so everything just kinda gets washed out. It wouldn't really make sense to have lighting fixtures in there, but it also doesn't make sense that there's ambient light in there, either. For the sake of the place not being all washed out and hard to navigate, I would darken the place, and put in some lights. Even just some floating glow balls, to signify some kind of illumination bot, and make sure to post two of them at every tunnel entrance and exit. Lights that cast dynamic shadows would really add to the creeptasticness of being inside someone's brain.
It has 1 main tunnel, with 1 etrance and the main tunnel has 2 short dead end tunnels at the start.
I mean i have a bad sense of direction but Brain maps were nothing compared to the VB dungeons. You really can't get lost. I just wanted to get out as fast as i could. It reminded more of Tectacle Grape Factory than a human brains.
yechs.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Here are my thoughts:
1. Those firetrucks look kinda lousy next to the giant police vehicles. They are too small for standard NPCs to fit inside.
2. There seem to be tons of victims to save for Heat Wave, but when this mission goes live, people will likely be waiting turns. On the other hand, after a day or two, there will be no problem.
3. The cutscenes are done well. Good voiceovers.
4. Will there be perks for defeating Mechanon's forces?
5. I LOVE how the mobs aren't in those same old groups we see in every other instance. The odd placement is a plus in my book.
6. I like the gray-pink passages; I like how it can be weird and a little disorienting. Maybe this map SHOULD NOT be ideal for speed runs using DS. This is a feature, not a bug.
7. I liked how the mobs were not completely pushover when playing at Elite difficulty. Excellent work.
8. Classify the machinery as henchmen so that folks don't take forever in that last room running out of energy while trying to destroy them. That's how they are in Fatal Error, right?
9. After each instance, you appear in the alley. Hero should spawn near the patient.
10. Overall nice work for phase one.
It would be great if there was a miniboss at the end of each brain section.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Mind you the dark/light check at the start of the game, my barely visible is probably non visible to a lot of people
If they get changed to the normal dark red I will the same trouble I normally have in seeing anything in them.
I used rank 3 acrobatics in it with no problems.
and yet again,
Defend the Hypothalamus didn't register in Louisa's brain, despite finishing in that room.
both times It didn't register, i destroyed a device in the room before killing everything. the time it registered, I destroyed all 3 devices after killing everything.
someone else want to check that
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
The reason for this is probably so players trying to interact with the patients don't get pushed by others rezoning on the spot. However, something should be done so that it makes sense where we spawn. Maybe put a platform there to represent how we are grown back to size after being extracted?
Good point.
What about spawning over near Dr. Silverback? A platform would be the best, of course. Just not in the alley.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Also, about Microman: He is, quite literally, the Champions Lore version of Giant Man/Ant Man (aka Hank Pym). I'm trying to find an illustration of him from the PnP Sourcebooks, but haven't seen one yet. If I find one, I'll post it, and see how it holds up to his current incarnation in CO.
__________________________________________________
Most often Slice N Dice@zap-the-eradicator in-game.
Team up? And have that "Team Up" option that open missions use? I'm assuming this isn't an option since no one is mentioning it.
Yeah, yeah. "Bla bla bla leachers."
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
BUG: Microman does not have a ? over his head after accepting mission from Dr. Silverback, or before Louisa Kohl
BUG: Cannot target machinery with 'next enemy'. Targeted AOE attacks on other enemies do not seem to target machinery either.
BUG: Final room of Louisa Kohl does not display left entrance tunnel on minimap
BUG (or intended?) Defiance stacks on those nanobots that use it stack on every tick (e.g. 0.5 seconds versus 3 seconds)
The second bug is particularly problematic considering the machinery isn't glowing or such; it's very easy to turn what's roughly a 10 minute mission on a high DPS toon into 20 minutes when you have to backtrack once you discover you've missed one. On a lower DPS toon or one without AOEs, these numbers go up.
I also figured out what bothers me most about the brain map.
The better designed cave missions allow you to skip past many of the henchman level guards in tunnels between big areas. You can speed run and hope you get far enough so that they give up, or you can stealth, or you can teleport.
These tunnels are too narrow to do speedruns, and the (edit) near-kill all requirement means you're forced to fight everything along the way in a tunnel even if you were to do so.
My recommendation on Louisa Kohl:
1. Have Microman tell us something like 'We can't yet trace where the signals are coming from, but it looks like the upgrades seem to be processed locally/amplified by her/whatever fits in the story arc."
2. Eliminate all mobs save for those in large rooms, and drop the kill all requirement
3. Move the machinery to the final room along with a boss and a bunch of MVs/henchmen
4. For a more interesting fight, the boss should alternate between the various passives the nanobots use (right now, it looks like defiance/invuln (edit:not available)/fire/lightning - I may have missed some).
Then, link machinery to availability of different passives for boss. Kill different machinery pieces, eliminate options for boss to use different passives. This allows for either zerg rushing if you think you can survive the attacks of a whole bunch of baddies, or more clever whittling down of the boss by taking out the machinery if you can't.
The kill-all mechanic is essential to the story. They're self-replicating nanobots. If you don't destroy them all, they'll just come back and the patient dies anyway.
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
These tunnels are too narrow to do speedruns,
Make the Q drop once per day for Brain freeze.
Otherwise, all you will have, is people just farming the one mission all day and even MORE inflation in the Q exchange.
also the Commendations.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Couldn't be further from my intentions - which are to promote a variety of ways to do a mission especially for weaker ATs, not just brainless kill all stuff - and your concern is impossible to accomplish. See below (emphasis added).
For those who are interested, upgrades:
4 (MV) plasma damage
7 - fire form
9 - electric form
11 - defiance/enrage/might attacks
12 (MV) viper's claws.
It does not appear that 4 and 12's upgraded versions have any passives attached, although they go yellow and seem to have a few more HP.
This is also the only real difference between the two missions; except for one mark 11 in the final room during the first mission, you're fighting nanobots that aren't upgrades in mission 1. In mission 2, everything except the 4s and 12s have passives, and since they're MV level, I'm guessing this may not be intentional.
I'm not sure where you're getting it's 'essential', since the design doesn't reflect that.
The second mission has more than 32 nanobots but a 32 kill requirement. You don't need to kill all, which is why it's both contradictory and at 32 kills x2 where many are too far apart to use AOEs, more than a little tedious.
This is why I suggest a boss-focused mission for the second event, which actually fits nicely with upgraded units having passives. Give the boss attacks that pack a punch and correspond to the different forms. You can try zerg rushing, but there will be a decent shot you'll get wiped. Or, you can try to take down the boxes, take down both the damage additives and damage resistance, and kill it using some brains too. The best missions offer a few ways to accomplish them, and this would help move it towards that.
Either way, upgrades should probably start earlier on the first mission.
Agreed. I love missions that have more than one viable strategy or option. CO has precious few of these.
For Carrier Wave, a stealthy character, or one using teleport and R3 Congress of Selves can get to the bridge without fighting all those robots. I love that.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
A Playlist of my CO PvP video's (starting from post nerf PTS team duels)
L40 FF
full run through on Louisa- 5 m 40secs-(timer not including cut scene)acrobatics 3
6m 20secs with stuff ups
full run through On Marty -4M 2 secs
L20- Mind at with the crappy gear you get from Debugger- acrobatics 1
so , no sheild, no energy unlock, and only ego sprites& blast as attacks and ego sprites you can't use on the machinery
Marty-13m 13 secs
Louisa-no time currently
BUG
Hypothalamus not completing
it's not the machines that are the problem after all.
Defend text doesn't come up till you are a certain distance from the Hypothalamus.
so if you kill the mobs beforehand, it doesn't complete
needs to be changed to a larger area or when the mobs are killed.
BUG
during the Brain freeze initial cut scene, text bubbles from citizens behind the buildings show up across the cut scene
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
That helps quite a bit. Thanks!