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Diamonds in the Rough
khreg
Member Posts: 379 Arc User
drogyn1701 wrote: »If you're finding some good, but obscure missions, make a post about them! Start a "Diamonds in the Rough" thread somewhere, that way we can get the mission names out there and get these folks some plays.
As drogyn1701 is suggesting, here is a thread dedicated to the missions that may not be getting played as often as they should due to the difficulty of just finding them in the Foundry Interface.
I'm keeping a pretty tight list of the missions that I play as I go, in case I want to go back and re-play or write some quick reviews. However, we'll start this with a gem I found while in discussion about non-combat/light-combat missions that were heavy on story.
"Shore Leave Under Siege" by johnnysnowball takes you to the often-mentioned but never-seen world of Betazed. The mission notes pretty much spell from the outset that it's a pretty light-hearted mission, but that's not to say there isn't opportunity for things to go south very quickly. Very VERY dialog-driven, the plot centers around a shore leave you are enjoying with 4 members of your bridge crew, beginning with a camping trip in the Betazoid wilderness. This intro really doesn't factor much into the rest of the story and you may find it to be a bit of a drag. Circumstances however bring you to the city of Rixx, where the plot wheels forward and a new race is introduced as a possible ally or threat to Starfleet. Johnnysnowball wisely leaves things in your hands as far as that goes.
The game really picks up steam quickly once you begin exploring the incredibly designed Rixx. Lots of architectural eye-candy and groups of NPC's wandering about to give this place a living, breathing feel. Many branches of dialog and side excursions to explore in this massive city. Very immersive. The hotel for instance is some of the best design I've seen in these Foundry missions in that it really feels like what it purports to be.
An expertly written supporting character awaits you, especially if you're playing a male, hetero captain. :cool: If you ever wanted to ask "WWKD" in a mission, this one's for you.
There is no space combat at all for this mission, but 1 or 2 ground skirmishes will happen based on your choices (which is just good design as far as I'm concerned). The Trek essence is very well represented (think TNG's "Captain's Holiday") and sheer number of choices at your fingertips keep the dreaded feeling of suffocating linearity at bay for "Shore Leave Under Siege".
10 out of 10. Fun FUN mission.
Next up: "The Bajoran"
Post edited by khreg on
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The synopsis told of a mission to deliver an accused murderer to the Cardassian government. The title didn't make it that difficult to figure out who said criminal was and being a die-hard fan of DS9, I was hooked just on that premise alone, but I ran into an issue - the mission start point was placed with the old ESD in mind. I "hailed" and took the mission, only to wander the newly redesigned Spacedock aimlessly. With defeat accepted, I dropped the mission and ran a search of these boards.
Thankfully, I found a dedicated thread for the mission started by the author themselves. After leaving my dilemma posted, I moved on and hoped an answer would be supplied soon. Days went by and became weeks. No such luck. I eventually forgot about the mission, but recently was reminded of it as I scanned the threads as I often do for the next "high". It was mentioned as one of the many we all have played that qualified as exceptional Foundry adventures.
I looked again through the interface and located "The Bajoran", remembering the problem I had last time at ESD. This time however I checked the reviews and noted that in the months since, it had been played a fair number of times to rave reviews. I was missing twofold: a great mission and that players were, in fact, finding their way in.
Apparently I just wasn't applying myself.
The starting point for this mission is in the conference room just below Admiral Quinn's office and I gotta say....I'm now exceedingly glad to have looked for it again. "The Bajoran" is one of the best the Foundry - well, STO - has to offer. Very few missions have told a great, thought-provoking tale as this one does while still having enough white-knuckle battle action to keep gamers happy. Hell, only ONE of the damn Trek movies managed this.
You and your crew have orders to transport a wanted criminal of Bajoran descent to Cardassia. The twist? He's willingly giving himself up. The mystery you are tasked with is why and this is the key to the greatness of this thing. The dialog is superb in places and as mentioned, the great writing is punctuated with battles that are tough enough to keep you on your toes, both in space and on ground.
Get ready for an ending was well that may just have you reaching for the Kleenex box. The trigger design of the final seconds.....brilliant.
Another 10 out of 10 for djf021's "The Bajoran".
The best way to describe Leviathan99's "Yesterday is Tomorrow" is a Christmas stocking for true Trek fans. Extremely well-written dialogue and one of the more intriguing plots to come along in recent memory. All managed to be woven together with story elements found in every single Trek series (save for TAS as far as I could tell).
This mission also has one of the most compelling bad guys since Gul Dukat. His monologing just made him all that much more evil. Great dialog from him that I could easily imagined being delivered by John "Silik" Fleck.
As mentioned before, the hard-core Trek fan will find goodies galore in this one. Can't recommend this one enough!!
Couple of bugs in the sequences and space combats scenarios, but nothing that makes a serious deal-breaker.
9 out of 10.
Added to the ever-growing "to-play" list.
Can't wait. Johnny's quite the mission author if "SLUS" is any indicator!
That being said, it kinda falls out of the parameter of this thread, but it was a fun one to play regardless and I'd thus like it to have some exposure.
Gammadelta1's "All Of Jack's Toys" echoes back to TNG's "Where Silence Has Lease" and VOY's "The Thaw" in that we have some very effective scenes of hallucinatory, nightmarish atmosphere, and a nemesis that seems to thrive on the fear and chaos brought by trying to navigate this dreamscape. There were still a few unanswered aspects for me as the mission drew to close, but that can be part of the fun with tales of this creepitude. Hell, that kind of storytelling worked for the X-Files on a weekly basis. We can allow for it on occasion here, can't we?
The mission for you: find the missing Starfleet ship. Yes, done before and with varying causes and effects. Let's face it, there's really no way to dispense with the "missing ship" plot device as long as you're playing in a universe like Star Trek. The cause of said missing ship simply has to be entertaining and Gammadelta1 brings it in a very David Lynch kinda way.
It effectively brings you to a point of minor agony in trying to escape the trap in which you and your crew eventually find yourselves, which isn't a bad thing in this case. You do feel a sense of genuine relief. In fact that relief may have to do in that you aren't going to get much of an answer to "why?".
Only the final resolution to "All Of Jack's Toys" seemed a bit too same-ol-same-ol for a story of this kind, having the potential that it does.
8 out of 10
Almost.
First, let me get to why this mission is friggin superb. One thing I am a sucker for is missions that build on the rich stories that Trek has to offer. Hundreds of races and places, many seen one time only, but memorable to Trek fans in that great adventures have been told about them. Trek Lore is a favorite tool of mine in this Foundry. Being taken back to worlds I had seen on the small screen as a kid, and then letting me loose.....ah, gimme more.
I won't be spoiling anything when I say that this game at along last brings us back to where it all started - Talos IV, the mysterious world seen in the original Trek pilot "The Cage". And even better, the evolution of the frighteningly powerful Talosians who are thankfully not simply the same adversary presented in the TV episode.
Schreader1718 has done many great things here in "The Open Cage" , but his greatest achievement here is the extensive research done into the original episode so that a world full of detail and information has been created. So immersive is this mission, you half expect Jeffery Hunter himself to just take a seat next to you and start regaling you with tales of the original shoot.
The worlds of old and new Trek are lovingly melded here in a story of very epic proportions, taking two extremely powerful races (both very known to Trek fans) and pitting them against one another in a very plausible way. The back history of what you will witness in this game is very painstakingly crafted. That's all I will say. The rest is for you to find out.
The plot is very quick to get rolling, and a dark twist in direction about 5 minutes into playing really demands your attention. A plot device I have never seen used before in Trek is put into play here and I have to say, the idea of Starfleet just flipping a switch on your ship and commanding it to report home.....that's a pretty scary feature on a starship. It's original as hell, and just the first surprise of many in this mission.
Now, there has to be some broken eggs to make this omelet, so let me cite those before going back to praising this one, because it surely deserves it.
- Technical issues. BIG ones.
"The Open Cage" is not just a good story that you've going to relax and click thru. No, there's fighting. There's a LOT of fighting. And given that the hit points on everything has been hiked the hell up since the DR rollout, well - you may just find yourself getting a bit tired of dying. If you've you got enough explody stuff both on you and your ship, bring it. Bring it all. This is fine since a good story surround it all, however many times in a series of underground Talosian caves, both the enemy AI and your bridge officers consistently are sucked into one of two 'black holes' in the floor. It made firefights very very frustrating and very nearly led to me giving up, but I pressed on and conjured up enough luck to get myself and my crew to the end.
- Combat balancing.
There was a LOT to kill in this game. I get the sense that the author was trying to strike a fair balance between story and action (and believe you me - there's a lotta story - mucho MUCHO reading). I personally felt that the ground combat centerpiece was far too long. Exciting? Certainly. Again, bring the fireworks.
Besides the glitches and the overbearing battles, "The Open Cage" is some great Trek. A great sequel to the pilot that started it all and some very clever use of existing game elements (the Defera city for instance).
Sadly, the 'black hole' thing might be enough to get someone to quit the game midway thru. That's a big problem, and if it weren't for that.....well.
8.5 out of 10.