test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Options
Real Time Foundry
alexmakepeace
Member Posts: 10,633 Arc User
So I've been eying up the game Arma III lately. I don't have the dough to actually get it, but one of its features that makes me go "squee" is one of its free DLCs called Zeus. This is quite an ingenious feature which emulates tabletop role playing games where one player takes the role of the "game master." This player has access to a special menu which allows him to place structures and AI units as the game progresses, and to command (or even take control of) those AI, allowing him to create a dynamic scenario for the players to play through. It's like D&D, but with better graphics and you don't have to worry about stopping to calculate "to hit" versus "evasion" dice rolls.
So I thought, why not do that in STO? Give us a mode where one player has access to a Foundry-like tool set to build maps, place AI, show dialogue, and transition between goals and maps on the fly as his players play through? After all, STO is an MMORPG, and MMOs are really about people playing together, right? Plus, you know, RPG video games trace their lineages back to D&D anyway.
I know that the current foundry setup isn't up to doing something like this (the map editor in particular) and making it possible would be non-trivial, but wouldn't it be awesome?
Think of it: instead of spending all day grinding the same queued content over and over, where the only things that matter are DPS and knowing the sequence, we could have new, dynamic player-created content at will. Difficulty wouldn't scale as a mathematical function of level, but according to how well the "GM" feels the players were doing. "Grinding" could be fun!
There are downsides, of course. In tabletop gaming, being a GM takes some skill, and the possibility exists for abuse of power. Then again, current queued events are kinda crapshoots anyway, at least to hear the forums tell it.
In the real world, those shortcomings are overcome by forming gaming groups--groups of people who know each other, and know their GM. In STO, the fleet could fulfill this purpose.
With a good GM "tool box" and perhaps a good set of tutorials for prospective GMs, I think this could be really, really cool.
So I thought, why not do that in STO? Give us a mode where one player has access to a Foundry-like tool set to build maps, place AI, show dialogue, and transition between goals and maps on the fly as his players play through? After all, STO is an MMORPG, and MMOs are really about people playing together, right? Plus, you know, RPG video games trace their lineages back to D&D anyway.
I know that the current foundry setup isn't up to doing something like this (the map editor in particular) and making it possible would be non-trivial, but wouldn't it be awesome?
Think of it: instead of spending all day grinding the same queued content over and over, where the only things that matter are DPS and knowing the sequence, we could have new, dynamic player-created content at will. Difficulty wouldn't scale as a mathematical function of level, but according to how well the "GM" feels the players were doing. "Grinding" could be fun!
There are downsides, of course. In tabletop gaming, being a GM takes some skill, and the possibility exists for abuse of power. Then again, current queued events are kinda crapshoots anyway, at least to hear the forums tell it.
In the real world, those shortcomings are overcome by forming gaming groups--groups of people who know each other, and know their GM. In STO, the fleet could fulfill this purpose.
With a good GM "tool box" and perhaps a good set of tutorials for prospective GMs, I think this could be really, really cool.
Check out my YouTube channel!
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
The current Foundry cannot do all of this, But you can use it to create custom RP maps during a session, it simply takes one person to not be in the group. The limit is ofcourse that you only have 5 people there.
The reward thing is a big no-go area. A player deciding what other players, preferably friend and fleet mates, deserve as reward? A 5 minute mission rewarding 106894786904789358874562908374560984237450 dilithium would come into the realm of possibilities then. This is ofcourse an overstatement, but Cryptic, carefully monitoring the ingame economy and adjusting rewards as they see fit, is not gonna give a player control over ingame rewards. Not now, not ever.
And the question remains, how can we monetize this? As a company, every release has to pay itself back, with interest if possible. Monetizing the Foundry, or this RT Foundry, is very hard, unless you are going to restrict access to gold members only. Then the F2P crowd will cry, and you'll see hatred popping up everywhere, potential customers leaving the game and so on.
Personally, I feel that the time and effort it would take to create this idea, which does indeed sound awesome don't get me wrong, would be better spend in expanding the Foundry. For example, the map-making could be expanded to a more user-friendly level, similar to, say, Spore Galactic Adventures.
Join the Deltas today!
I would expect that the rewards would work similarly to the foundry/queues. You'd be rewarded based primarily on how long you play, perhaps with preset "side objectives" like getting through without dying, etc.
Perhaps you need to pay to unlock the ability to host these missions. That could serve as a similar "dedication" test to the 10,000 dil foundry unlock. You could still participate as a player in these missions as F2P, but you'd have to pay to be the GM.
The idea has merit, though I'm fairly sure the current tools would not be up to the task exactly.
Though Its within the realm of possibilities that a "game master" could be put in a position to select from a multiple variable list of objectives, tasks and enemies provided by cryptic Or by a foundry ish builer
Would certinly go a long way to diversifying PvE content if the mission flexed based on the actions of an additional player, fitting their theme or agenda
I don't expect that to happen here.
I don't either.
But for THIS game, it's a missed opportunity IMO.
Star Trek has always been about story and about character interactions. The Foundry is not a horrible tool for storytelling, but it has a lot of limitations and it really does not work well for active role-playing. (Passive conversational role-playing can happen anywhere.)
Imagine a system where fleets and others could set up their own interactive role-playing events guided by a Gamemaster/Storyteller. Obviously rewards would have to be non-existent or very limited to prevent abuse. But talk about infinite replayability!
However, it can't possibly scale... there would always be far more players than storytellers and would require a lot of planning to pull off an 'event'. For a free-to-play game, that is indeed not enough 'bang for the buck'.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek