[UGC] - The Assassin Chronicles - Campaign Feedback

zovya

The Assassin Chronicles
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Roleplay as an assassin in Neverwinter. Your choices determine the outcome of the story. You can be good or evil.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter
Story: light
Combat: heavy
Tips: maps are tight, use the environment to keep adds to a minimum.
Play time: 15 minutes

Chapter2: The Initiation
coming soon.

Feedback request:
This is my first ever. I plan on making some fun dungeons, but this will be my regular story-driven campaign. Anything you see that seems irritating, or lore-breaking, please let me know.

apocrs1980

Going to give this a spin tonight also herd some very good things

drakedge2

Same here, should be fun I will edit this post with my feedback.

Feedback Edit:

I loved the city, it was very alive so to speak. There were a ton of mobs haha. I think in the Estate you might want to add some light. You can add FX lighting with out having to add torches. This could give light from the candles already present on the map. This area was a little bit dark.

Outside of that it was cool. I need to figure out how to do the "save the civilians" type quest objective myself.

zovya

Thanks for the critique! I need to play around with lighting effects for sure.

Save the citizens is pretty easy. Mobs will attack an NPC on site, but they can do no damage. Works good for aggro control for the player too.

drakedge2

Did you just make a kill quest then for the groups on the citizens?

zovya

That's it.

zovya

Revised Chapter 1 a bunch. Spaced out the encounters to make it a little easier. Expanded on the story ending a little more. A new basement. Varied the encounters to mix it up a little, make it more fun. Enhanced the lighting in the Estate.

Thanks for the helpful feedback.

zovya

Revised Chapter 1 again. Seems people wanted more eviler evil choices. Revised most of the dialogue near the ending.

wininoid

I enjoyed it! Great environments, though some inside spots were pretty tight (which makes it tough for a wizard to fight, especially with the tough melee mobs). There was a purple glowing orb in the front hall (I think). You might want to raise or lower it out of sight. I especially like how you handled the basement area. Changing tile sets made me forget that it was all at the same level.

One problem though, some guards spawned behind the basement door and agroed before I could open the door. Then since I was in combat, I couldn't open the door. My pet bugged his way through and killed some, then died. But then the rest of the guards came through so I could kill them and move on. Maybe leave that door open, move the guards on the other side farther back, or spawn them after the door is opened.

I liked all the story choices, but as someone who isn't looking for an excuse to go on a killing spree, there wasn't enough motivation to go on a killing spree. You need to make her story more believable. Maybe just with [OOC] text or a hurt child lying next to her. Some planted evidence to find at the beginning of the house.

zovya

I got tired of people saying it was too hard. I didn't want to make it easier, because others liked the action. So I put in a difficulty slider.

Part of the story and interaction with an NPC will let you customize the difficulty. I wanted it to be part of the story, and not a mechanic of the game. But, I had to tailor 3 sets of encounters for the whole quest. Whew!

Let me know what you think.

zovya

Oops, wow. Still publishing. Nevermind. Must be busy tonight.

zovya

Ok, it's live now. sorry.

skullforged21

To preface, I ran this on a 8600gs CW and chose the hardest difficulty each time.

I found the pacing to be quite good and without spoiling anything, I found the story quite to the point and well put together.


* SPOILERS *

I tend to notice the odd bugs as I run though these UGC's and I have found a few you may want to take a look at. When you copy/paste an encounter, the mobs tend to sometimes swap models, this can be seen in the early portion where a mage has full armor and a warrior runs at you in robes, where a few streets back it was the opposite. While on mobs, I noticed a few mobs had mismatched names/types. Such as near the end there is a guard captain of sorts. I forget his name but his type is still set to Wight.

The map is very well put together with a few minor notation i'd like to make. In the slave pens at the end of the mission. When you open the door it is quite easy to jump over the bed onto the wall. If you fall off the wall you have to leave the mission as you are now stuck. I'd suggest making the wall higher or extending it to the full wall at the back of the room, so there is no gap. Kinda funny when you tell the slave girl to bring another slave you get a dude.. lol.

Overall well done and I am genuinely interested in playing the next map, good luck.

zovya

Thanks for the review!

I noticed that too when playing hard mode, mobs swapping skins. I'll go back and fix that. I put a ladder back behind the walls in case anyone falls back there. I did get some in game feedback complaining of that too. About the male and female part, it plays into the next quest that should be ready to publish this week.

gsundered11

Hi

I really enjoyed this. The opening fights were really tough and the character choices plain. It's great to have something that fits into the RP game side of things. I didn't think it was too hard at all. I like the Foundry adventures to offer more of a challenge and your did it without doing like some others do - just populating the place with way too many mobs. Looking forward to the next installment.

charsiz

Great quest.

No excessive conversations or barren maps where you run back and forth looking for one stupid item, just beautiful areas, non-stop action and engaging dialog. The quest itself was not too long and not too short, just right, it felt right basically the best foundry quest that I've had the pleasure of playing through - kudos!

I only noticed a single bug which occurred at the very end as I was able to open the cage door but not advancing the quest before grabbing the key.

Interesting solution to the difficulty problem, I cautiously choose medium on the first map but hard inside the mansion - still easy for a level 10 CW with legacy weapon of course. :P

I didn't get to rate+tip your excellent map because I moved right after accepting the loot, I really wish they would fix that.

kamaliicious

I also moved after accepting the loot, preventing me from rating. I picked medium combat and played a level 9 TR. Cryptic in their infinite wisdom decided I was killing things faster than I "should be", so I got very little xp or loot, but that is not your fault. There is a shadow bug with one wall in the room with the campfire, also not your fault. The customization of the prefab external map was very good, as were the rooms you made in the interior. I actually got to have evil dialogs (yay!). Overall probably the best Foundry quest I've played.

maddllama

Aside from the nerfing BS... very well done Zovya. I liked it... and as I stated in the review, your difficulty slider is intuitive. I understand how much work goes into making something like that.

All around GJ... enjoy the tip.

zovya

Sweet, thanks for playing it and thanks for the feedback. I'll fix that cell door this evening.

coanunn

I enjoyed this immensely when I played the first chapter last night. The story I felt was a bit weak which I included in my in-game feedback but the crux of that is simply the dialog feels very disjointed and I'm given no reason why I'm saving these people in the first portion of the first map. I felt very much like it assumed I was the "hero" and as such was expected to save citizens. That sort of heavy handed feel makes me feel less like a participant and more like a spectator along for the ride.

The encounter pacing felt good and challenging (I played on maximum difficulty on a lvl 21 TR) but was too fast for loot and XP. Not really your fault but something to be aware of as it left the player getting fewer rewards for their investment. I felt the second map suffered a bit from being so constrictive and having encounters placed just a tad too close to one another. I felt like I always got "chain pulls" and found in most combats that my companion was down and I was using potions. I died my first foray going up the stairs where the landing seemed to have two full encounters stacked on top of each other. While I also noticed the swapped models in some encounters I have to admit I assumed it was on purpose. I thought you were swapping the models to keep the player off balance.

That said the layouts of the maps was spot on! I felt like I was really on a busy street in the hustle and bustle of Neverwinter. I have the exact same map in use in one of my campaigns and I know just how empty it feels to start! I was completely blown away by that and must say congratulations. The only place aesthetically I would comment is the encounter NPCs felt very copy and paste. I never got a feeling I was facing anything other than "premade" encounters. Some custom behaviors, costumes as well as battle cries would help with that considerable as would naming some of the NPCs. Ralph the Guard Captain, Jimmy Slim as a thug, etc. It's a common issue with UGC to over look making the hostile NPCs into actual characters and instead it's "enemy thug number 1". That isn't a big deal when compared to 'Live' content but as a GM and a storyteller it is very glaring.

Minor notes that no one else has mentioned, the slave girl's door was interactive and openable before I had the key. I received a message that the "husband" NPC was dead before I encountered him as an objective update, you may want to check all your "reach" text for objectives. I think it was as I headed up the stairs but I could be remembering that wrong.

Last but not least I would make the "slider" NPC a non-objective interaction and default to the medium difficulty. Let the player decide if they want to see the mission at a different difficulty or at your "envisioned" difficulty level.

Very fun and enjoyable, already suggested to my family and friends who are playing. Hope my feedback helps.

zovya

Thanks coanunn for taking the time to give me the feedback. Maybe you might have a suggestion on a couple of things for me.

The initial objective, save the citizens. I was trying to give the feel of doing a typical quest, when suddenly you're approached with the main task. Maybe I make the initial object less heroic?

I made the dialogue deliberately VERY short but interactive so the player is forced to know what's happening, but not burdened with reading a wall of text. I don't want it to be choppy, but I don't want it to be too long either. But it is a RP quest, maybe it warrants a longer dialogue?

I can't believe you beat the 15 minute time on max level, some people have trouble with easy mode. I just don't know how to fix this other than make the map larger, I may need to replace the first map for a bigger one.

Thanks for mentioning the detail, I spend about 90% of the time on the details. Chapter 2 is 3 times larger with 6 maps, so it's been a ton of work.

coanunn

I am by far not an expert, and my point of view should not be the only one you consider. When I say the story feels like a ride that isn't a bad thing. Every movie you ever watch is the same way and some have AMAZING stories to tell. I would wager both a larger narrative from the outset as to why you find yourself in the Market during the attack and more dialog would definitely help the player feel more engaged, but again, with the rating it has you may already be spot on for what the audience you have is looking for in terms of dialog. I'm a GM and a storyteller, so my expectations storywise run a bit more long winded. Think of it this way, R. A. Salvatore is an acclaimed and very popular writer but Issac Asimov is as well and their styles are near opposite ends of the spectrum while both able to tell a thrilling fantasy. Neither is wrong, and as such my comments may simply be for a style you aren't going for in your tale.

I wouldn't say make it less heroic necessarily but give it an option... Maybe the players who are evil decide to aid the raiders and kill the guards? This way there is a choice that changes which encounters are active and leaves the mid point interaction NPC cowering after the defeat of the guards rather than cheering after the defeat of the raiders before her hook for the second part of the quest?

My clearing the map as quickly as I did has a lot to do with the fact I have been an MMO DPS'er and Tank for many years and understand target priority and how to truly take advantage of most fights. As the TR I execute the LT in each encounter as my opener and as such make the individual fights FAR shorter. I would wager that the difficulty ramps significantly at the higher levels though as at 21 they aren't using any specials against the player. I wouldn't worry overly much about pace until the Devs lock in where the xp and loot thresholds will be though, until we get a final version of that system any tweaks you make will just have to be redone later.

I am a MONSTER on detail. I think one piece of feedback I gave Kamallicious on his was a steering wheel was backwards. Things like that make you feel like you are part of the world. My PnP game used maptools for a few years when I moved cross country and had friends overseas, as such I would spend weeks getting the map JUST RIGHT for what would be 15 minutes of play. A friend once told me it was insane and that no one notices the little touches but frankly they aren't for them, they're for me. Keep up the great work, looking forward to seeing chapter 2 as soon as I can.

beeblebrox69

Some notes while I play:

-29 Great Weapon Fighter - chose Medium fights
-Right at the very beginning there's a cat named "Cat 5." Although if you're an IT sort of person this might just be a joke, so... XD
-Battles in town were fun...although as someone mentioned they do appear a bit cut and paste-even just some slight armor customization could help... not a big deal to me though
-Town environment is EXCELLENT
-Oops...wasn't paying attention and dragged in the next encounter group and couldn't hit my potion fast enough... RIP. D'oh! My bad. I like maps that punish recklessness and stupidity.

Okay, entering Estate...
-Chose Medium fights again
-The fight in the bookcase hall was made considerably easier when the pack of guys near the corner with the two women got hung up in the bookcases until I killed everyone else.
-Appears to be a candle flame floating in midair in the bookcase hall...but maybe something caused a glitch there.
-Dang it...the guard bashed my poor wittle dire wolf into the next room and aggroed them as well. >.< But we survived this time.
-Again, excellent scenery.
-Well poopnuggets. More dire wolf bashing led to about a million baddies eating me for lunch. Bad doggy!
-Okay, dragged the punks downstairs and wiped the walls with 'em
-Finished up without difficulty.

Excellent work! Had fun and the only problems I encountered were due to my own mistakes, as it should be. Entertaining story and I can't wait to see where you go from here.

The only thing I would add is a few interactables around the estate to flesh it out some.

Regardless, definitely a 5-star quest!

Huzzah!

zovya

Wow, thanks for taking the time to find this thread and give me an extensive review.

This was my first attempt. Chapter 2 is about to be published any day now, it's 5 times the first one in scope. And effort. I'll be going back to the first one to bring it up to par.

nyysjan

level 60 CW, rank 5 healer companion, medium combat.

All in all, awesome quest, loved the dialogue, although it felt like i was either going to be easily tricked fool, or a blood thirsty psycho (maybe add an uncaring mercenary type dialogue in future chapters?), neither of which really grab me, as my more "evil" characters tend to be more pragmatic amoral mercenary types (not mercenaries as such, but out for themselves, and always trying to figure out what's in it for them, and largely uncaring about morals/ethics, but vary of possible consequences).

Could not review in game, as i moved accidentally (and got summoned to instance right after looting the reward), but will play it again tomorrow and put in a short review (and 5 stars), no tips though, i'm poor (next daily will double my AD).

zovya

nyysjan wrote: »

level 60 CW, rank 5 healer companion, medium combat.

All in all, awesome quest, loved the dialogue, although it felt like i was either going to be easily tricked fool, or a blood thirsty psycho (maybe add an uncaring mercenary type dialogue in future chapters?), neither of which really grab me, as my more "evil" characters tend to be more pragmatic amoral mercenary types (not mercenaries as such, but out for themselves, and always trying to figure out what's in it for them, and largely uncaring about morals/ethics, but vary of possible consequences).

Could not review in game, as i moved accidentally (and got summoned to instance right after looting the reward), but will play it again tomorrow and put in a short review (and 5 stars), no tips though, i'm poor (next daily will double my AD).

Thank you for the review. The next chapter you can be REALLY bad if you want. I felt like I need to go to church after making it. But you can be good to, so I leave it to the player. I've learned a lot of tricks since the first one.