How to join the Shadowy Author Cabal

bluedarky

I've been noticing a lot of people referring to Foundry authors, particularly those who get Spotlighted as though they're in league with Cryptic and have some form of control over the Foundry.

Well fear not, I'm here to tell you all how to join the Shadowy Author Cabal.

DO NOT OPEN THE FOUNDRY YET! WAIT UNTIL STEP at least step 4!

1. - Follow this link
2. Sign up on StarbaseUGC.com - This is entirely optional but can be a help to promote your missions for step 6.
3. Review the tutorials on starbaseugc.com - This is important, the Foundry seems simple enough at first glance but is a far more complex and robust system than a lot of authors realise. Especially review the tutorials on triggers and creating custom interior maps. If you still want more help then there is a starbaseUGC IRC channel where authors hang out and are nearly always ready to help.
4. Open a word processor and grab a pencil, write a mission outline, what the mission is and how it will run, feel free open the editor and see what maps are available at this point.
5. Create your mission, be prepared to adjust your outline if you feel that you can't get something to work whilst making the mission.
6. Promote your mission - This is important if you want reviews, make a thread on the forums, contact the various podcasts to review your mission for you, post requests in the threads offering reviews on request, add it to your sig, make a picture for your sig. The more your promote your mission, the more chance you have of people playing it.
7. Realise no one author or group of authors has control over the Foundry and what Cryptic does with it - Seriously, even Fox Mulder would facepalm at this idea.

twg042370

Isn't being a shadowy string-puller only open to subscribers though? Can I, a lowly Silver plebeian under your dictatorial thumb, make my own PHAT LEWT mission?

bluedarky

twg042370 wrote: »

Isn't being a shadowy string-puller only open to subscribers though? Can I, a lowly Silver plebeian under your dictatorial thumb, make my own PHAT LEWT mission?

You certainly can, you just need to pay 7000 Dilithium for a Foundry slot which can be done in the Foundry menu down the bottom or on the create page of the Character select menu.

EDIT - I've even got diagrams to make it easy.

Character select

Foundry menu

warbird001

I'd rather not, I'd become a nasty person and I don't want to be a nasty, critical person. I want to be me. Of course, I am joking but I think I'm gonna give up on the Foundry and go back to actual writing. Its much more fun.

lincolninspace

You forgot the step where you sacrifice a goat.

castsbugc

a mere goat will not do, its must be a SPACE GOAT!

thedukeofrock

I heard you get triple credit if it is a space goat from the Delta Quadrant!

designationxr377

I approve of this post and its wisdom.


Now let us chant!

ajstoner

Please bear in mind that you will be asked to prove your loyalty to the cabal and the task set will not be a pleasant one. Make sure you have lime, a shovel, a roll of sheet plastic, garbage bags, painter's coveralls, and plenty of bleach.

kirksplat

You forgot a few steps regarding begging people to play your mission so it passes the review stage and then begging even harder to get it to count for rewards.

Then, watching it get one-stars and sent to oblivion by people who don't play it.

Then, never seeing it again in the list of top-rated.

Then, praying that you'll get a spotlight, since that is about the only way to direct folks to your non-spotlighted story mission.

All this assumes that you're making a Fed mission. If it's a KDF mission, just give up on step 5.

Also, there are the space goats.