How to make a good foundry?

jedite2012

Like any tips you guys can give either story related or mechanics, is it better to do a campaign or just a quest

what kind of story do people go for that gets lots of reviews and plays

cipher9nemo

Just a heads-up: "good" Foundry content is subjective. But if you want "popular" Foundry content then:

Make an exploit quest. Seriously though, if you want a popular Foundry quest then...

• Single-quest only, no campaign.
• Keep is between 15 and 20 minutes long.
• Hand-hold the player through everything.
• Make the path to progress very simple and straightforward.
• Wow the player with a ton of effects.
• Mass-promote it as if your life depended on it.

Now, if you want to skip that sell-out nonsense to make interesting Foundry content...

• Add plenty of details to increase a sense of environment within the areas where players spend most of their time, dialog, pseudo-boss fights, etc.
• If the player can reach other areas of your map where the quest isn't happening, then fill out those areas with something. Or just wall them off.
• Add some lore. Let players read clickables in places they explore on the side. This really adds value for both the explorer and story-enthusiast.
• Don't make the side-stuff mandatory for quest progression. Example: if you have a dozen NPCs around a village with dialog, don't have the storyline make the player talk to every single one. In other words, don't be afraid to have optional dialog and other POIs.
• Test, test, test. Play your own quest in Normal mode and make sure everything runs smoothly. Don't be afraid to scrap or entirely re-work something to get a smoother experience. Run the dialog through a spell checker, check grammar, etc.

Just remember one thing: it's not about what type of story or the setting, it's about how you present all of that to the player.

karitr

Hi jedite, I am not an author so you can take all this with a pinch of salt.

As a player my perspective is completely subjective of course, but for me the most fun quests have the following elements:

1) An environment that does as much to tell the story as the people and narrative within it. Although I can't tell you how to do this, I think it's a seriously good exercise to go into foreign language quests to see what impact the environment alone can have on you.
2) A story that doesn't take itself too seriously. I like a heavy read, but the tool at the moment does not lend itself to over complicated or bloated story lines. That doesn't mean a story can't have moments of depth, poignancy etc. but try not to be verbose.
3) The author had fun making it! You can tell when the author enjoyed what they were doing but, honestly, you can also tell when they were struggling. I've read others saying "do what you enjoy" and there is so much wisdom in that simple statement - heed it.

A quick glance at the "Best" tab in game will make it apparent that players are not put off by length of quest. Indeed, I have replayed as many longer quests/campaigns as I have short "Daily" types, if not more. I replay quests that include the 3 points up there, regardless of length.

PS: I loved your line-dancing monsters.

jedite2012

Though with exploit quest would that most likely get u banned?

TY

karitr

jedite2012 wrote: »

Though with exploit quest would that most likely get u banned?

cipher9nemo had tongue planted firmly in cheek. He was joking.

jedite2012

Yeah im too tired to notice anything atm lol

cipher9nemo

karitr wrote: »

cipher9nemo had tongue planted firmly in cheek. He was joking.

Indeed.

antonkyle

karitr wrote: »

1) An environment that does as much to tell the story as the people and narrative within it. Although I can't tell you how to do this, I think it's a seriously good exercise to go into foreign language quests to see what impact the environment alone can have on you.

I couldn't agree more with this, but sometimes I am very surprised to see maps that have almost nothing on them and people have commented how good there maps are, but then there are some that are just amazing but people have commented how there maps need more detail. Makes me laugh.

Goes to show, 'you can't please all of the people all of the time'. Abraham Lincoln said that. 'I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours'. Dylan said that.

I don't much like sparse maps but if the story is interesting and the combat good it's not the be all and end all.

bobmdq

As a player, i may add to be careful on encounters, specially not to use stacked encounters/traps (one put on top of the other), keep always in mind that what's easy at level 20 can be virtually way too hard if you play at level 60. If the quest will become hard at high level, advice on it in the description.

As an author (not very experienced but learning) above everything else, enjoy what you are doing, take all the time in the world to fine tune the details and the ambience, visual effects and sounds

koboldbard2

jedite2012 wrote: »

Though with exploit quest would that most likely get u banned?

TY

hahahaha, what gave you that idea? Exploit quests are almost a surefire path to the best list.