Something wicked this way comes

System

Hi all

So I have been playing STO about a week now and thought I would have a crack at doing a Foundry Mission (name as above).
I didnt understand why I couldn`t find it listed until some kind soul explained that it has to be reviewed before it will list in with everything else.They were quite positive and suggested some changes which I have now actioned and released in Ver. 2.0.
I have noticed that Feedback is not compulsory and think that perhaps Cryptic should make written feedback compulsory.After all it is very easy to rate someones mission as `I didnt like it` but it would help hugely if people understood WHY that was.

There are many elements to think of when doing a Foundry mission and I could see how just a couple of errors or omissions could spoil someones enjoyment of it.
Maybe rating specific elements would help authors to improve things.Having written my own mission I am aware of where things are,what the plot is and can always go to `God Mode` to help rush test it.
If people could rate elements such as Plot,difficulty,ease of understaning missions,enemy placement etc it would be so much easier to fine tune it.
I truly hope that the rating system isn`t abused but thinking about it I can see how a group of people intent on harm could easily sink someones mission by deliberately rating it `didnt enjoy` and making it sure it never saw the figurative light of day.

Just a quick aside - having decided to review peoples work myself I am somewhat puzzled by the raft of missons I have seen published that have `warning dont test this` plastered all over them.One wonders just why they were ever published.maybe its just me....

Anyway I would be massively greatful to anyone who is willing to test my mission.I would be more than happy to reciprocate and offer constructive feedback.

Oh and I`m sure as a newbie to this particular Star Trek time line Im aware I have probably jumped up and down all over several things that are canon

(Btw its under Author monkeydude1969 - for some reason I cant remember my user name is slightly different for STO.)

Archived Post

I started your mission, but to be honest I didn't really enjoy it. There needs to be some more storyline as to why I'm going to the Kinjer system. Just being told to go there...it felt like a patrol mission from the main game. Having to drop in and destroy 8/8 groups was just way too many. I actually enjoy the combat in the game, but just entering the system and having to destroy 8 enemy groups doesn't do much to draw me in.

Then we beamed down to the swamps and had to destroy 4 groups. The terrain of the swamp was really uneven and I ended up getting wiped twice (I was playing on Elite and some of the groups are very difficult on the higher difficulties). I got two critical injuries, and I'm sorry to say but I just dropped the mission at that point. The excessive difficulty is not your fault, but the problem was I just didn't feel any reason to either force my way through, or to go to the trouble of lowering the difficulty in order to continue. You need to give me some storyline to hook me in, and make me want to bother fighting through a ton of guys.

Just my general thoughts would be that the beginning of the mission needs to have something more than just fighting through a ton of guys. Maybe there's a research station or mining outpost in the Kinjer system that has stopped responding and you're supposed to find out why. When you get there you discover 2 or 3 groups of Orions around it (not 8) (or they could be in orbit around the planet as now).

The thing is after that initial encounter you really need something to introduce the story. Like you beam down to a ruined base and have to talk to injured scientists. Maybe you could fighting a couple of ground groups, but not just wade through four of them as things currently are. Mostly you need to have people introduce whatever mystery or conflict your story features at that point. It's possible you do this further in to the mission, but if so it's too far in. I didn't even make it that far.

Also, as far as the swamp map, I think the terrain is annoying to fight on. If I were you I'd fill the swamp with attack saur groups that wander around (not too close together!), but which can be avoided (not an objective to kill them). Maybe have some guard groups wandering around, but once again don't have them as objectives, just have them "patrolling". This way you can introduce a sense of danger without actually requiring a ton of combat, unless the player runs through like a bull in a china shop, or wants to fight everything.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts. In fairness, in the one mission I've made so far, you barely even see any combat at all for the first 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the mission. So maybe we just enjoy different types of missions.

Archived Post

Hmm okay well I guess thats fair enough.

In all honesty this mission is just supposed to be a taster for the sequel but i see your point.

I think that version 3.0 is required then,

I will work on your suggestions and think about swapping the swamp map - i have to admit it is a bit too hilly for decent combat.

thankyou for your honesty and at least bothering to play it and post feedback (which was kind of the point)

cheers

Monkeydude

Archived Post

Well, sorry for not being able to give a more positive review. I know how it can be tough writing a story and then having everyone criticize it.

It's possible the mission flow is better on normal than elite, simply because you get through the combat faster. If in orbit we fought at most 4 groups instead of 8, and then got some sort of tidbit hinting at what's going on ("we've detected something strange, Captain.", etc), and then on the ground had only one required encounter (maybe some optionals spread around), and after that some significant story development, then I think the mission flow would be a lot better. That's just my opinion though.

Archived Post

Well I am working away like mad on Version 3.0

I have taken on board what you said and hopefully it will be alot better.

Ive kind of cganged the reasoning around on some things and it looks like its going in a whole new direction.

I`d love it if you could look at it once I have published it.