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Foundry Challenge #1 Discussion Thread

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2012 in The Foundry for Star Trek Online - Discussion & Feedback
Foundry Challenge #1 : Conundrum on Risa
This is the comments thread for Foundry Challenge #1 : Conundrum on Risa.
We also have an Index of previous challenges HERE.

Feel free to link directly to the entry you are commenting on. And please remember: we're not here to tear each other up. Do not troll your fellow Captains, give feedback! Let the others know what you liked and disliked. Maybe they can even go back then and tweak their entries!

Let's get those creative juices flowing! :cool:
Post edited by Unknown User on
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Please add the winner of this and any future challenges to the list of Foundry Spotlight missions.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    the murder of a Stahlonian diplomat
    LOL

    I can't wait to play them.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    It's a fun contest., and I would suggest including additional foundry slots with the prize.

    But, I'm not sure that I could do it in 3 weeks, especially if I'm going to be building any elaborate custom sets.

    Also, because it takes place on Risa, that could be problematic. Risa is a social door in the foundry that we cannot build on. So, we'll have to use it as a door and recreate Risa using a beach ground map. This may be difficult considering that we don't have Risa props to work with, except for a few huts.

    The mechanics will also be wonky. Beam down to risa, talk to an npc (who is the door) and then beam to another part of Risa. Or, we'll have to recreate the planet in space and beam down to a custom set, if we can specify Risa sector space as the door, which I don't remember.

    I'm trying to remember if any of the beach ground maps have beach chairs and stuff, but I don't think they do. We also don't have swimwear for npc, so every visitor at Risa is going to be in uniform, right?

    It's certainly a challenge, lol.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    the murder of a Stahlonian diplomat

    It's also going to be hard to combat player expectations here. Everyone will be thinking: "Obviously he got shanked by a Klingon from making empty promises."

    sorry, couldn't resist.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    i was going to take a break from the foundry until after this feature series. I guess i can be drawn out for one little adventure.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    might I suggest better highlighting
    NOTE: Please do not publish your mission until the morning of Wednesday, March 7th.


    cause I think thats kinda important
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    It's also going to be hard to combat player expectations here. Everyone will be thinking: "Obviously he got shanked by a Klingon from making empty promises."

    sorry, couldn't resist.

    I think the J-Man should get murdered by bajorians in the next one
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    you may wish to lock the other thread until its needed to avoid people posting there by mistake.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Request: Since the contest involves a murder scene, can we please have a npc animation that looks like a dead body? They all have animations, so the body of the diplomat would be twitching on the ground.

    All we would need: floor-dead with no body movement.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    Request: Since the contest involves a murder scene, can we please have a npc animation that looks like a dead body? They all have animations, so the body of the diplomat would be twitching on the ground.

    All we would need: floor-dead with no body movement.

    There is one.

    It's "Lie Flat Front" or something like that. No twitching.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    I think the Stahlonian was killed by the natural enemies all Stahlonians have... Zynganians! :eek:

    By the way, what do Stahlonians look like? Are they perhaps... purple? :D
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Leviathan99 wrote:
    There is one.

    It's "Lie Flat Front" or something like that. No twitching.

    Thank L99

    /10chars
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    It would be nice to have a nice one that has people lying on their back with no twitching for cop show style morgue reveals of dead bodies, mind you.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Captain_Revo wrote:
    i was going to take a break from the foundry until after this feature series. I guess i can be drawn out for one little adventure.

    Would be nice to see your mission for this challenge :)

    I do really like this idea of Foundry Challenge. Unfortunately I am not a creator but a passionate foundry player so I would like to be part of it at least as a "judge" for the reviews.

    I am really looking forward to the final episodes.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Great Idea! I can't wait.

    We would has a separate competition .....

    Design your Stahlonian :D
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Q: Anything here to prevent a fleet from voting up their magic console mission?
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    Q: Anything here to prevent a fleet from voting up their magic console mission?

    I doubt any "magic console" mission would be accepted. However there is nothing to stop a large fleet from getting its members to all support a fleet members mission.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    cerberusfilms wrote: »
    Mission Title: Staaaahl
    @Handle: @cerberusfilms
    Faction: Federation
    Level Requirement: All levels

    Mission Summary: Before the Federation came to Risa, it could be a very dangerous place, but for the past 300 years, the most serious incidents have mainly involved broken arms or pelvis's.
    The suspicious death of a Stahlonian Diplomat causes people to reconsider this supposedly carefree world.
    Are we seeing a re-emergence of it's dark past, or is this a wholly new threat.
    Resistance Can be Futile, but on Risa, Anything's possible

    Can't tell if serious or not :P
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    I think it's a shame limiting the mission to 30 minutes. Why so short? It seems like 45-60 minutes should be acceptable.

    Also, how is the length of time determined: by interacting with every contact on the map and reading their back story plus doing any side fluff objectives, or simply based on the time to follow the main objective line?

    Anyway, it's fine if those are the rules, but I most likely won't be taking part myself if we're restricted to such short missions.
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    Request: Since the contest involves a murder scene, can we please have a npc animation that looks like a dead body? They all have animations, so the body of the diplomat would be twitching on the ground.

    All we would need: floor-dead with no body movement.

    "Lie flat front" and "sleep lying down" don't have animations. With the Alien Gen Starfleet officer sleep lying down has barely perceptible animations but with everyone else it doesn't.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Leviathan99 wrote:
    It would be nice to have a nice one that has people lying on their back with no twitching for cop show style morgue reveals of dead bodies, mind you.

    Sleep lying down has no animation as far as I can tell. It's animated with the Alien Gen Starfleet officer, but with custom contacts and other NPCs they are completely still.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Nagorak wrote: »
    Sleep lying down has no animation as far as I can tell. It's animated with the Alien Gen Starfleet officer, but with custom contacts and other NPCs they are completely still.


    Still if we have any hope of establishing the victim as a character, it would be nice to see their face.

    I think that sleep lying down twitches, if that is the one I used for RTN. It's subtle, but it's enough to bug players.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    I'd also like to point out about the "do not publish until date."

    Foundry authors have to publish and republish their missions many times, in order to play test the maps. From wander to how the mission is experienced at different ranks, republishing is a constant QA process for us.

    To tell us that we should not publish until it is finished kind of shows a lack of understanding about what we have to do to test the maps. It's understandable, but it's unrealistic.

    No offense to the contest, because it's great that someone is finally noticing what we do. But, understanding the logistics of it is different, ya know?
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    Still if we have any hope of establishing the victim as a character, it would be nice to see their face.

    I think that sleep lying down twitches, if that is the one I used for RTN. It's subtle, but it's enough to bug players.

    I just spent at least 30 seconds staring at 6 "dead" bodies and I didn't see any twitching at all. So, unless I'm blind, I don't think they move. I recorded a movie with FRAPs, so you can see for yourself (change to 720P/full screen so that it's easier to see).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDEquanMQrM&feature=youtu.be

    With the exception that the Vixen's sash has a breeze blowing through it, there doesn't appear to be any animation.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Kirkfat wrote: »
    I'd also like to point out about the "do not publish until date."

    I meant it more as a permanent publish. If you need to publish to test something, please do so, but if you are done, leave it unpublished until the date requested.

    Cheers,

    Brandon =/\=
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    I'm glad this contest is going to take place, and the Stahlonians was something I didn't pick up until halfway down this thread.

    However, I have a suggestion for any future projects. Loosen the theme to an archeotype rather than a contest to make the same mission. I say this because theoretically, this contest will only add one more mission to the list of missions we have, just 12 to 20 copies of it. If we were given a broader theme, then more of the missions will be adding to list of different foundry missions for the player base.

    So for the future, might I suggest contest themes worded along the lines of "Make a mission involving the murder of a foreign diplomat involved with talks of joining the fight against the Borg" or "make your own first contact mission" or "a mission that does not involve a specific evil mastermind" or even so simple as "Man vs Nature". Some of the old simple writing contest themes would be perfect. "Not THAT guy" or "Unknown Anomalies". Just the title, or a simple frame, let us make up the rest and see what we really can do. I think if themes are done that way, we won't get entries that are basically the same mission, and will have better replay value for the players and authors.

    That said, the popular vote winning is a relatively fair way to handle this, but there are some... worries I have. Mainly people finding the full list of contest entries. As soon as one of these missions hits a top spot and gets 500 plays it's done. Any player looking at ANY other of the missions without knowledge of the contest will assume it is a "poor copy" or some such. Then you have the fear of guild stacking, the fact that if you don't make the mission Level 0+ you cut off a lot of your voting base...

    Perhaps you can have a special Tag for players to search for such as "[FCE]" that authors put in the mission description for easy searching? That way players can have a list when they search "[FCE]" (Foundry Contest Entry but that's just a placeholder, think of something better, but still unique).

    This is the first contest, I'm sure we are bound to come across a lot of interesting bumps in finding out how this all works, BUT I do approve of the idea! I'm gonna stay out of this one, but still look forward to the contest. I wish everyone taking part the best of luck and above all else you have fun!
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    I agree that it would be better to have a broader theme. In this case it could have simply been a mission involving Risa.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Nagorak wrote: »
    I agree that it would be better to have a broader theme. In this case it could have simply been a mission involving Risa.

    Actually, I think it is pretty broad. I have had a number of possible story ideas come to mind and have had to pick one.

    There are only two requirements
    • The dead ambassador
    • Must be some sort of puzzle

    I am going to use the death as a launching point into another adventure entirely. The way I am doing it, the death of the ambassador and the nature of conference are immaterial. I'm writing a dark story of how this one death is just the most public symptom of an ongoing problem.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    As much as I enjoy creative competitions, this one takes the specifics much too far imo.

    If in the end there'll be 20+ missions who all share the same map, the same general premise and the same elements, there'll be hardly anyone wanting to play all of them. In the end only the top voted will be played and the rest will remain more or less untouched by the regular players.

    This is the reason I will not participate beause I am probably only wasting my ressources - and playing my 20th best Risa-Whodunnit would certainly be a boring experience for anybody.

    For the next competition I would prefer a more general approach for the setting along the lines of:
    - General Theme
    - Combat/Interaction/Puzzle ratio
    - Space/Ground/Interior map restrictions
    - Min and Max of maps included
    - Level range

    Which could have meant for this competition.

    - General Theme
    Whodunnit. A classic Murder Investigation. Twists & turns are welcome

    - Combat/Interaction/Puzzle ratio
    Mission should include mainly conversation and investigation. Puzzles are welcome, combat can be included but should only play a minor part.

    - Maps
    The mission should be centered around a single ground map. Additional interior maps are allowed but no additional ground maps and no space maps. Minimum is 1 map, maximum 3 maps

    - Level range
    There are no level restrictions

    That way we could have had lots of different maps, different backgrounds, different NPCs and different stories which would probably be alot more fun to play.

    EDIT: I haven't read the comments on page 3 before posting and now I am surprised how exact I seem to share other posters thoughts...
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    PWE_BranFlakes wrote:
    I meant it more as a permanent publish. If you need to publish to test something, please do so, but if you are done, leave it unpublished until the date requested.

    Cheers,

    Brandon =/\=

    Thanks for clarifying.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2012
    Nagorak wrote: »
    I just spent at least 30 seconds staring at 6 "dead" bodies and I didn't see any twitching at all. So, unless I'm blind, I don't think they move. I recorded a movie with FRAPs, so you can see for yourself (change to 720P/full screen so that it's easier to see).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDEquanMQrM&feature=youtu.be

    With the exception that the Vixen's sash has a breeze blowing through it, there doesn't appear to be any animation.

    Thanks for the help Nagorak.
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