Suggested Feature: Drawing from the Player

kovabomb

I would first like to say that I've not worked with the Foundry myself, so I don't know all that it is capable of creating. However, it appears that it is not very good at creating content from the Mirror Universe. This is because there is no way to know what the player of the mission looks like or what kind of ship the player is flying. To that end, I would suggest adding a feature where NPCs can be generated using settings and features from the player, the player's BOFFs, and the player's ship. With a feature like this, you would be able to tell the program to "Create an NPC that has the same features as the player, but with these specific cloths." Or "Create a ship that matches the player's ship, but with this paint job."

What are your thoughts?

duncanidaho11

After spending a little while with the foundry my wishlist has gone from specific resources necessary for particular premises to being able to specify in the editor which 2D asset to display on top (ex. not the damn floor!). Also, I need ready-made stairs.

There's a few things I can imagine doing with player/ship/boff copies but not as many as simpler UI updates and item add-ons.


Anyway, for Mirror Universes the thing to do is just avoid having the player face themselves. It's going to be rough in any case because what you don't have any clear idea of is kind of the character that player has made. You could try to make a laughing, psychotic villain only to discovered that someone out there is rolling an ex-Tal Shiar agent with an ever growing collection of skulls. It's impossible to get a good narrative foil so the best possible use of the MU (IMO) is pretty much out unless you focus on other characters.

And we just recently got a collection of those (see. Mirror Quinn) plus any you can make for yourself (within the terms of the Foundry EULA.) So if you have an idea for a Mirror plotline just substitute in for your Mirror [Insert Own Name Here] some other (and much easier to work with) STO character (ex. Mirror Quinn, Mirror Tarkaram, Mirror Shon, Mirror Kurland, ect.).

markhawkman

I've played a mission where the story included an alt-timeline you, but it was in no way similar to you.

lincolninspace

I just wish the foundry could differentiate between the gender and maybe even the species of the player. But what the op is asking for is beyond what even cryptic has done for its own missions.

antman9173

lincolninspace wrote: »

I just wish the foundry could differentiate between the gender and maybe even the species of the player. But what the op is asking for is beyond what even cryptic has done for its own missions.

actually cryptic has done this with that whole delta recruit thing awhile back. In the tutorial you were confronted by the future you, complete with a totally different uniform. So it is something Cryptic can do

thay8472

Tell the player they are taking on the role of their MU counterpart and advise them to dress for the part. (Whether they want to or not is up to them.)

wombat140

Currently, you can't even place your BOffs, unaltered and looking just like themselves, as NPCs on a map, nor can you do the same with your Captain, nor use the Captain as a dialogue contact (useful when, say, you're starting off with a "Captain's Log Entry"). I'd be glad of just that.
(Cryptic CAN just about do the partially-altered-Captain thing in their own missions - for instance, "Temporal Ambassador" where your Captain appeared in a Tholian worker's jumpsuit and you met a few of your BOffs, similarly dressed, as NPCs - but I heard that that was hard and something they don't want to make a habit of, even with the much more versatile tools available to them.)