The Starfleet Security Files [SSF]

monkbeard

Thanks for providing a KDF version of Apex. Really enjoyed it.

I noticed a couple of minor spelling mistakes so posting them here for your information.

On the first map it says "l[Push the Nausicaan aside]" and in the lounge Sandoval says "needs to confronted with".

On the Plane of Discovery map Valin says "we should start looking for way back" and on Recursive Moment map there is a dialogue button that reads "contine". Finally I think "barbeque" should be "barbecue" right near the end (Sandoval I think).

Again, thanks for making the mission.

duncanidaho11

monkbeard wrote: »

Thanks for providing a KDF version of Apex. Really enjoyed it.

I noticed a couple of minor spelling mistakes so posting them here for your information.

On the first map it says "l[Push the Nausicaan aside]" and in the lounge Sandoval says "needs to confronted with".

On the Plane of Discovery map Valin says "we should start looking for way back" and on Recursive Moment map there is a dialogue button that reads "contine". Finally I think "barbeque" should be "barbecue" right near the end (Sandoval I think).

Again, thanks for making the mission.

Thanks for the typo finds! I'll get on those when I have a chance (though I personally like my invented spelling of BBQ better than the official version. A "c" doesn't make the occasion seem special enough. )

As an additional note: the Apex sequel, Epoch, has so far (in the FED version) been faction neutral. Once I'm done with Part 2, I'll gladly port both to the KDF if there's any interest in that.

duncanidaho11

SSF2-3: Entanglement is now out in review.

duncanidaho11

I should probably give SSF2-3 a little bit more of a lead in for those just checking up on this.

Entanglement is a long, story focused mission which takes to Ferenginar to investigate shady dealings there, plus the disappearance of one Captain Ji'Goro. Previous SSF missions are not required to play but I'd recommend Gemini and Echoes to get the full effect (or at least just Echoes).

I've created an optional minigame for this one. Through the mission you'll have various options to "spend X amount of GPL." If you want an extra challenge, see how much you can lose over the course of the mission (I'd be interested to know).

On twitter I've declared that the person who loses the most in one playthrough (by Oct 16th) will be awarded a lock box key. I'll throw that out here as well. Just reply with your result and you'll be entered into the same contest.

Good luck, let me know what you think of the mission (feedback is very helpful), and enjoy.

duncanidaho11

Update time!

The current list of planned missions (in no particular order) is as follows:

Epoch, Part 2 [AEI]
SSF2-4: Refraction
Unannounced multi-author project

Notice how I didn't mention SSF3-1. That's because I'm considering making SSF2-4 the SSF grand finale, with no SSF season 3 in the foreseeable future. What's next then? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about exploration missions outside of AEI. We'll see what that turns into.

duncanidaho11

And now for something completely the same: the news

The SSF series will reach its conclusion in SSF2-4. HOW CAN I POSSIBLY SAY THAT?! Because it seems like a good place to leave off for the time being. Characters and factions will be in an interesting place (from an ongoing implications standpoint) but not for a galaxy ranging set of adventures with strong narrative themes across multiple episodes.

So, I will be creating a new series which is better setup to handle galaxy ranging adventures with narrative themes across multiple episodes. For a few weeks, I was simply thinking about random stand-alone episodes. But, I've finally arrived at an idea I can run with for a while (including map builds I haven't tried before.)

So, here's introducing what I'm provisionally titling: Temporal Investigations

Basically, you'll be following along with a ship that's been specifically setup to handle investigations into temporal incursions and other anomalies. This will differ from my previous time travel missions because the setting will (as far as I can see now) remain fixed with 2410. What will change are the ways in which time travel (in some form) is used to potentially cause problems with the STO universe, highlighting big ideas about historical and personal development while staying grounded in a familiar setting (that I don't have to keep explaining at length.)

To this end, I'll be creating a Temporal Investigations crew. I was prototyping a general Starfleet crew before Foundry downtime (see vid below)...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0w4v05066E
...and what I'll eventually publish will be based on that work. I say "based on" because things will certainly change to fit this more focused idea.

Another thing I want to highlight now is that the Laurentian-APU-turned-Starfleet-officer, Frank will remain unchanged as one of the new main characters. I will replace the alien captain shown in the video with an SSF character who will lead the player through episode 1 (and become fixed to this new series thereafter, undergoing a new arc). Who might that be? Well, consider the fact that I've played AOY and I want to represent the Temporal Integrity Commission of STO with a complementary character. He'll have to 1. be at the raw end of history (and therefore deserving of a second chance) and 2. be dead (as far as you know now.)

So it's Graves (from SSF season 1), which makes the name much less of a cruel joke now (for being the only main character I've so far killed off). Episode 1 will deal directly with the past I never explained in SSF...and help gloss over the whole "making him a KDF general" thing from SSF-3, which I'm doing my level best to ret-con out of existence.



More info to come as I start building (at some point after the Foundry comes back online.) Temporal Investigations won't be my primary project then (Epoch, Part 2 takes priority), but I will be starting work on T.I. in the not too distant future.

paxfederatica

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

So, here's introducing what I'm provisionally titling: Temporal Investigations

Basically, you'll be following along with a ship that's been specifically setup to handle investigations into temporal incursions and other anomalies. This will differ from my previous time travel missions because the setting will (as far as I can see now) remain fixed with 2410. What will change are the ways in which time travel (in some form) is used to potentially cause problems with the STO universe, highlighting big ideas about historical and personal development while staying grounded in a familiar setting (that I don't have to keep explaining at length.)

So how will this work - if we stay in 2410 will it still be "our" 2410 or will it involve jumps into different realities, Quantum Leap-style? (Maybe you could even rename your captain Beckett...)

duncanidaho11

paxfederatica wrote: »

So how will this work - if we stay in 2410 will it still be "our" 2410 or will it involve jumps into different realities, Quantum Leap-style? (Maybe you could even rename your captain Beckett...)

It'll be our 2410, no changes. Plots will deal with current events that will in some way be related to temporal incursions, anomalies, or other activity dealing with the past and/or future.

For example, what I'm planning for episode 1 will (at first) seem rather conventional. The Na'Kuhl are trying to interfere with the development of a new species just beyond FED space and you've got to stop them (in 2410). There's more to it than that, but spoilers.

In episode 2, a private Laurentian company is making surprising technological advances, drawing the attention of Temporal Investigations. Could someone be passing on future tech? You're called in to help figure out what's going on.

More to follow after that, but this is what I've got so far. The list of Star Trek episodes I'm looking at for inspiration includes Space Seed (TOS), A Matter of Time (TNG), We'll Always Have Paris (TNG), Relics (TNG), Broken Bow (ENT), Cold Front (ENT), and Future Tense (ENT). But that's assuming the investigation actually uncovers something related to temporal activity. I totally reserve the right to fake players out (Gemini style), provided the story makes sense to be told through T.I. characters.

duncanidaho11

Foundry missions are back but SSF, AEI, and BTI (the upcoming Bureau of Temporal Investigations) are in total lockdown mode. As it is, my missions are in bad shape owing to a number of lighting 2.0 issues. Lighting 1.0 is fine, so if you're aching to play something of mine drop your settings down and you'll be good to go.

Hopefully there will be a fix. However, if the Foundry is brought back as is, I will be taking all my missions down for an indefinite period to sort out just what the hell am I going to do. Writing and planning for future projects has been halted, awaiting developments in the Foundry.

duncanidaho11

In the absence of Foundry stuff (soon), here's some Ji'Goro screenshots from the winter event. Incidentally, she'll be getting another redesign (third screenshot) come the blessed day that the Foundry comes back online in fully playable shape. Nothing huge (as yet) but more style tweaks and a subtle "I'm happy because I see it" reference to the fictional character that probably most informed her personality.





Next time: Santa Ross

duncanidaho11

Quick update on things:
Given that total Foundry kerplosion is a fading possibility work on upcoming missions is progressing (as much as possible, which means writing and character designs.) I know Epoch is owed its part 2 but I've hit a strong chord with SSF2-4. That may end up being the finale I release first. So, stay tuned. Things are pretty fluid right now but the key thing is that more Foundry stuff is coming.

duncanidaho11

Release plans are a foot!

The end to SSF2-4 is in sight. If everything was back online, this would translate to a week or two of work before release. But everything is not back online. With reviewing down there's no way for a new mission to make it out of review (if I understand the mechanics correctly.) That makes the already tricky task of getting a mission out there just that much harder.

With no likely prospect of the Foundry being fully fixed in the next or following downtime, that means I'll be holding onto it for a little while. That also means more opportunities for polishing and optional dialog writing. So, for those waiting on SSF2-4 there is compensation for this self-imposed delay. For everyone else, it means that you have time to play through any SSF missions you may have missed before I finish off this part of the arc.

I say "this part", because I've doubled back on my plans to not make SSF season 3. There will be an SSF season 3. It won't be for a while, there's a bunch of other stuff I want to make first (ex. secret collaborate project, a stand-alone Temporal Investigations episode, and Epoch, Part 2 which is quickly becoming my Midas, Part 3 ) but one or more SSF team members will be back for another multi-episode run. The only thing I can say now is that the season 3 arc will probably have 3 episodes as opposed to 4. In both season 1 and 2 there's one episode that I feel I could have done without, so I'm approaching the next thing with that in mind. Keep things moving, keep things fresh.

It's also likely that Episode 1 of Season 3 will be another Ibi episode, but dealing with an inhabited station in orbit of Iffar rather than Iffar itself. This one in fact, if I can manage the interior/exterior ground builds.

duncanidaho11

Refraction [SSF2-4] is in "open testing." Basically, it's out now.

Mission Description:
Captain Cetsa Ji'Goro is dying. She struggles to hold onto the life she know while trying to uncover the source of deadly biogenic weapons. Starfleet Security stands at an impasse. Section 31's conspiracy remains concealed. The galaxy hangs in the balance but little can they do but wait for events to unfold.

That is about to change.

Once reviewing is back online I'll put out another notification so those who played it can leave their review (and help get it out of the review tab). But there's no reason that people who follow SSF here shouldn't be allowed to enjoy the mission now.

In the absence of reviewing, feedback by forums or twitter (handle: @Gorgonops_SSF) would be very greatly appreciated. A lot went into this mission and I'd really like to know how it turned out for you.

So, with that I hope you enjoy the finale to SSF season 2.

duncanidaho11

Update:

Things are currently in a state of flux. I have 3 projects in the works I can talk about.

• Epoch, Part 2
• Voices on the Surface of Time (Temporal Cold War episode)
• New KDF Mission

Each of these is in a "prototyping" stage where I have just enough completed to start work on mission dialog and plot. This helps me get a feel for the mission, at a point where big changes doesn't require large amounts of rewriting and rebuilding. I've never been at this point with three project simultaneously (plus secret collaborative project ). But, after SSF2-4 I want to work on something different.

My point is that while I want to give Epoch it's part 2 soon, I don't want to rush it into a retread of character themes and plot mechanics that SSF resolved for me. I also want to be sure that once the mystery is explained (and is therefore gone), something else of interest remains. So that's being pushed back a bit, until I'm in a place where I can work on it with a sense of creative fun rather than not obligation. So, what's next?

Voices on the Surface of Time.

It's a new mission that tasks the player with confronting a past taken from them by the Temporal Cold War. It stars you and the character "Sibatu" recently introduced by my latest short story (see. the creative writing thread in the Foundry discussion forum). Incidentally, this is what my idea for a "Temporal Investigations" series has evolved into, so certain elements (Graves, Frank, Sierra) will appear in some form (though not exactly how I originally envisioned.) The design of Sibatu takes from a recent thought-experiment, how would I "reboot" SSF? That, of course, isn't happening now but I liked the visual design of "Ji'Goro 2.0" and thought it fit well for this new character.

Voices may end up getting it's own thread, there will be character sliders/tailor files to share with the mission's completion and I want to be able to direct players to those easily. But for now I'll be posting any major updates to Voices in this SSF thread.

duncanidaho11

Right, the Foundry has its review system back! That means I'm giving this thread a heads-up that Refraction is now officially out in the wild. If you played it during downtime, I'd very much appreciate it if you left a rating to help it out of review.

I've made a few small dialog updates to targeted missions in the SSF series. However, I have not yet been able to give my missions a full test after this latest downtime. I'll have this done at some point in the near future (after real-life work stuff) but if you happen to find any irregularities/glitches let me know here, on twitter, or in game through the mail system.

Further updates:
-Voices on the Surface of Time is moving along
-Epoch, Part 2 is still a thing
-Secret mission is still secret
-Some map building has been done for Starfleet Security season 3. Main mission location: Starfleet Security's new HQ station in the orbit of Neptune. There'll be a short story primer for this soon, but the mission is a ways off (matches timing.) Other faction involved in SSF3-1: Iconians (the nice ones).

nappers1

Just played Gemini. Good mission. I look forward to playing the rest.

duncanidaho11

Series update:

I've hit a wall in Foundry things. SSF2-4 is out in the wild and doing well (thanks to everyone who's played it so far.) What comes next though is entirely up in the air. I've tried a few things out, made a little progress on Epoch Part 2 and other things, but I'm struggling to maintain creative energy.

So, I'm not going to be building anything new for a little while. Instead, I'm going to revisit a mission which in the overall scheme of things is a little redundant. Specifically: Inversion [SSF2-2]. I originally intended this to be a niche mission but it's being exposed to a general audience through the Nimbus adventure zone. The careful subtlety of cross-series development is getting knocked down by more general mission issues.

Namely, I don't actually need the explicit AEI connection for the mission to do it's thing. It's taking time and space that could be better used for SSF character development. So, I'm going to start revamping this mission. It needs a big lighting 2.0 pass anyway so I'm already getting deep in the technicals.

I'm currently planning on the new Inversion to have the same overall plot but with major modifications to settings and explanations. Here's the quick list:

• Uchaxan will be from a planet towards the galactic core, not the distant future.
• Uchaxan will have additional motivations, depth. He will also not be Kriyt (naturally)
• What is now 4.5my future Nimbus will become that planet.
• Neith Pim or Eith will be involved. Eith returning to the future will still be "AEI canon," only now implied. Pim's still just wherever.
• Ross will become a more central character to the mission.
• It may become a ground only mission (depending on how the rebuilding/rewriting goes).

Feedback would very much be appreciated on this one because I am revamping Inversion based exclusively on my impression of how the mission's working ATM. If you don't think that it should be disconnected from AEI, now would be a very good time to say so (dialog tear-downs will start very soon.)

spiritborn

I just finished both seasons of SSF, it's a really nice story. some minor error here and things to tweak but there's no such thing as a perfect mission but still these were enjoyble and fun to play thru and only reason I didn't play the whole thing is one session was time and the fact I was ill this week so I couldn't play STO at all.

duncanidaho11

I wanted to give a shout out to my original SSF thread that the final episode (in the Foundry): Evolution's Smile [SSF3-3] has been released. Give it a play if you can (it's a short non-combat project, had to work with what I had available) but if you can't get around to it with everything going on know that I'm recording it (as well as the entire SSF and AEI series) for youtube and latter narrations.

Thanks for the years, I'll see you all around the galaxy