Took a day's break from testing but putting up some more now. But the shard is coming down so I only have time for a single mission...
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LOST CITY OF PARADISE
Observations: Long mission with a lot of running around. In away it's kind of like "Coliseum" but in a non-linear hub as opposed to a boxed-in area and a straight trail to the final destination.
Obvious Dune reference later on. Even the drills near the ruins look like Thumpers a bit.
Not a lot actually happens in this one. You just sort of run around, shoot some stuff, and then talk to Horace at the end. That said, Law has the potential to be an interesting character.
Issues/Bugs: As mentioned a few days ago, copies of my BOFF hang out around the entrance to Paradise City even when I've reclaimed them by going outside.
The medium-sized scorpions are "Dewan Arthropods" rather than "Sand Scorpions". Maybe D'Tan is raising some quick cash by selling captured specimens to Nimbus III concerns. Or it could be a textual mistake.
One of my BOFFs (Hiven) was lying down dead in the NW corner of the ruins.
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OTHER NOTES: There was some cheesy music playing in the bar a few days ago, and now it's not playing any more for some reason.
Wrapping up the arc with today's patch.
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BLIND MEN TELL ALL TALES
Observations: Another long mission but this one has a lot more character than the first. Nice seeing a DOFF assignment tie into an official mission. Running around a fobbing crowds though was a lot more mundane.
I thought Law would turn out to be more interesting than he first appeared, but I didn't really explore his dialogue too much. Maybe for my live character.
The head guards coming up the hill are pretty tough, first time I have been one-shotted by an NPC probably in ages. Don't go up to fight them without teamed buddies on Advanced or Elite. Surprisingly easy to run out of things to kill when you have a lot of other teams around.
Similar to the first mission, but more enjoyable and memorable.
Issues/Bugs: Would it be possible to put a waypoint indicating the entrance to the tunnel to the prisons? I backtracked thinking that the entrance was near the entry to the canyon at totally missed the tunnel until I did some close map observation.
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THE UNDYING
Observations: Shangdu is an alternate spelling of Xanadu. Appropriate from a historical standpoint but I was slightly concerned that Olivia Newton-John would assail us with laser-beam dances. Inside it is pretty tacky but not enough for that film.
The map screams PIT FIGHTING just as you walk in so of course you will fight in it. And some of the fights are pretty tough. Wasn't expecting the aftermath though. Haven't killed that many people in a bar since "Meat King" in Hitman 3.
One of the better space battles in quite a while. The sudden chiming in of a familiar voice and the concurring plot line is genius. And the option to either arrest or double-tap Hassan is pretty neat.
This arc starts slow but it keeps getting better and better.
Issues/Bugs: I personally don't have a problem with it, but I can see newbies getting frustrated with the fire pits. Might want to signpost them a bit more.
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OTHER NOTES: Sort of odd playing around with all those clones of Tovan, Hiven, etc. running around Nimbus. Likely that would explain the "extra" copies of my BOFFs running around.
Last two missions of this arc.
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A FISTFUL OF GORN
Observations: Spaghetti homage is expected from the title but we only get the "high noon" sequence at the beginning. Other than that it is more running around. Much more of a standard mission this time around.
Canyon looks nice though. As do the satellite receivers, which I noticed cast dynamic shadows.
Issues/Bugs: For some reason I was taking damage from a hidden source near the third terminal at the bottom of the canyon. And it wasn't the snipers, I shot those.
Law as a duty officer looks totally different than Law as an in-game character.
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INSTALLATION 18
Observations: Pretty buggy mission but very entertaining. Working elevator plus a lot of story content in between fair shooting contests. Explains Slamek situation a bit better, although wasn't there a CMDR Awren (or something) mentioned as captured here in an earlier mission?
Also reveal the Elachi here. Twice actually, the first time was pretty class.
Space battle was fine but an uptick in difficulty from the previous ones. All of a sudden Mogai's and D'dre.'s are dangerous again, of course I wasn't really in a position to cloak-scum them either.
Somehow I didn't find the resolution of this arc satisfying. Maybe because it has to stand up to the likes of Turning Point or Mind Game. It's a fine mission on its own, though.
Issues/Bugs: During the Tovan/Rinna reunion (after you initially talk to her), it looks like the beginning of a longer dialogue but it seems to cut short after she teleports out.
When discussing where to take Rinna, Tovan's voice says flotilla, his text says New Romulus.
After clearing the Rinna room, Satra spoke twice. The two dialogues were exactly the same, except one mentioned Hakeev at the end and the other mentioned the station's commanders at the end. Basically the only difference is a flipped line of text, so I am wondering which message is superfluous.
The Elachi committed suicide by vaporizing himself in a cutscene, but he was just fine and in containment when I regained control of my character. If it helps, I was just exiting combat when I triggered the cutscene.
When wrapping up with Horace, he also did two different dialogues, one talking about a "Tal Shiar boss man" showing up, the other talking about Hakeev showing up. It's sort of like the issue I had with the redundant dialogue with Satra in the mission. I am guessing early on in development of this mission it you were supposed to face a different Tal Shiar boss or Hakeev was supposed to be a surprise, and then the generic text was changed to Hakeev explicitly later on. But the old text is still in there.
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- shops, where are the shops? we need some traders
- other settlements - it would be nice to see that all residents, be it permanent or not actually live somewhere, like those gorn in canyons etc
- for future reference this wild, weird west style is very appealing, but NPC's need some attention, like this gorn engaged in gunslingin' duel, why the hell he wears KDF uniform? give him some regular clothing and a sombrero! please just try and make this setting look westeros, it's really cool
- second thing - if we had more settlements we could have 'protect caravan' live quests, think about it
I am lucky to have the opportunities to play the Romulus story arc. I have in joyed it so far I believe you are going in to the right direction with it keep it up. You could use some more voice overs. :P
Comments
---
LOST CITY OF PARADISE
Observations: Long mission with a lot of running around. In away it's kind of like "Coliseum" but in a non-linear hub as opposed to a boxed-in area and a straight trail to the final destination.
Obvious Dune reference later on. Even the drills near the ruins look like Thumpers a bit.
Not a lot actually happens in this one. You just sort of run around, shoot some stuff, and then talk to Horace at the end. That said, Law has the potential to be an interesting character.
Issues/Bugs: As mentioned a few days ago, copies of my BOFF hang out around the entrance to Paradise City even when I've reclaimed them by going outside.
The medium-sized scorpions are "Dewan Arthropods" rather than "Sand Scorpions". Maybe D'Tan is raising some quick cash by selling captured specimens to Nimbus III concerns. Or it could be a textual mistake.
One of my BOFFs (Hiven) was lying down dead in the NW corner of the ruins.
---
OTHER NOTES: There was some cheesy music playing in the bar a few days ago, and now it's not playing any more for some reason.
---
BLIND MEN TELL ALL TALES
Observations: Another long mission but this one has a lot more character than the first. Nice seeing a DOFF assignment tie into an official mission. Running around a fobbing crowds though was a lot more mundane.
I thought Law would turn out to be more interesting than he first appeared, but I didn't really explore his dialogue too much. Maybe for my live character.
The head guards coming up the hill are pretty tough, first time I have been one-shotted by an NPC probably in ages. Don't go up to fight them without teamed buddies on Advanced or Elite. Surprisingly easy to run out of things to kill when you have a lot of other teams around.
Similar to the first mission, but more enjoyable and memorable.
Issues/Bugs: Would it be possible to put a waypoint indicating the entrance to the tunnel to the prisons? I backtracked thinking that the entrance was near the entry to the canyon at totally missed the tunnel until I did some close map observation.
---
THE UNDYING
Observations: Shangdu is an alternate spelling of Xanadu. Appropriate from a historical standpoint but I was slightly concerned that Olivia Newton-John would assail us with laser-beam dances. Inside it is pretty tacky but not enough for that film.
The map screams PIT FIGHTING just as you walk in so of course you will fight in it. And some of the fights are pretty tough. Wasn't expecting the aftermath though. Haven't killed that many people in a bar since "Meat King" in Hitman 3.
One of the better space battles in quite a while. The sudden chiming in of a familiar voice and the concurring plot line is genius. And the option to either arrest or double-tap Hassan is pretty neat.
This arc starts slow but it keeps getting better and better.
Issues/Bugs: I personally don't have a problem with it, but I can see newbies getting frustrated with the fire pits. Might want to signpost them a bit more.
---
OTHER NOTES: Sort of odd playing around with all those clones of Tovan, Hiven, etc. running around Nimbus. Likely that would explain the "extra" copies of my BOFFs running around.
---
A FISTFUL OF GORN
Observations: Spaghetti homage is expected from the title but we only get the "high noon" sequence at the beginning. Other than that it is more running around. Much more of a standard mission this time around.
Canyon looks nice though. As do the satellite receivers, which I noticed cast dynamic shadows.
Issues/Bugs: For some reason I was taking damage from a hidden source near the third terminal at the bottom of the canyon. And it wasn't the snipers, I shot those.
Law as a duty officer looks totally different than Law as an in-game character.
---
INSTALLATION 18
Observations: Pretty buggy mission but very entertaining. Working elevator plus a lot of story content in between fair shooting contests. Explains Slamek situation a bit better, although wasn't there a CMDR Awren (or something) mentioned as captured here in an earlier mission?
Also reveal the Elachi here. Twice actually, the first time was pretty class.
Space battle was fine but an uptick in difficulty from the previous ones. All of a sudden Mogai's and D'dre.'s are dangerous again, of course I wasn't really in a position to cloak-scum them either.
Somehow I didn't find the resolution of this arc satisfying. Maybe because it has to stand up to the likes of Turning Point or Mind Game. It's a fine mission on its own, though.
Issues/Bugs: During the Tovan/Rinna reunion (after you initially talk to her), it looks like the beginning of a longer dialogue but it seems to cut short after she teleports out.
When discussing where to take Rinna, Tovan's voice says flotilla, his text says New Romulus.
After clearing the Rinna room, Satra spoke twice. The two dialogues were exactly the same, except one mentioned Hakeev at the end and the other mentioned the station's commanders at the end. Basically the only difference is a flipped line of text, so I am wondering which message is superfluous.
The Elachi committed suicide by vaporizing himself in a cutscene, but he was just fine and in containment when I regained control of my character. If it helps, I was just exiting combat when I triggered the cutscene.
When wrapping up with Horace, he also did two different dialogues, one talking about a "Tal Shiar boss man" showing up, the other talking about Hakeev showing up. It's sort of like the issue I had with the redundant dialogue with Satra in the mission. I am guessing early on in development of this mission it you were supposed to face a different Tal Shiar boss or Hakeev was supposed to be a surprise, and then the generic text was changed to Hakeev explicitly later on. But the old text is still in there.
---
- shops, where are the shops? we need some traders
- other settlements - it would be nice to see that all residents, be it permanent or not actually live somewhere, like those gorn in canyons etc
- for future reference this wild, weird west style is very appealing, but NPC's need some attention, like this gorn engaged in gunslingin' duel, why the hell he wears KDF uniform? give him some regular clothing and a sombrero! please just try and make this setting look westeros, it's really cool
- second thing - if we had more settlements we could have 'protect caravan' live quests, think about it