New Foundry Author here.

mikoto8472

Hi Foundry Authors.

After ignoring the foundry and everything connected to it for so long, last night I finally decided to take a look at it and see what its like. Now I feel like a kid with a brand new toy to play with. It took me a while to figure out how to use it all and put a mission together but I'm getting there.

Naturally the first mission I'm working on is pretty crude and simplistic, much like the very early Fed missions. But I'm hoping to improve as I become more familiar with the workings of the Foundry.

Does anyone have any tips, hints or advice about using the Foundry?

markhawkman

tinker with everything! Seriously, you will learn a lot just by clicking on all the buttons just to see what they do.

captainhunter1

Welcome!

Always great to have new authors.

The Foundry can be pretty overwhelming to start with. I'd like to suggest visiting Starbase UGC's site (https://facebook.com/StarbaseUGC) when its back up. It's chock full of tutorial material and awesome, friendly folks who are there to help out new (and old) authors.

In the meantime feel free to ask any questions you have here.

Again, welcome to the Foundry!

duncanidaho11

There's an entire video series in the works for tips, tricks, and general foundry advice!

http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1216003/new-video-series-foundational-foundry

We also do a weekly show (the foundry roundtable) with more discussion relating to STO UGC (and shout outs and mission reviews, which new authors can definitely take advantage of. )

http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1217267/podcast-the-foundry-roundtable-episode-137-exploration-exasperation

mikoto8472

Thank you all for the welcome!

I'm having way too much fun figuring out the Foundry. Fiddling with things is how I've learnt anything so far. My first major question regards to npcs. Is there any way to open up the character creation editor so I can design NPCS of a particular made-up species of my own?

See I have an alien captain (Starfleet) and I'd love to be able to make a Foundry mission about her species.

duncanidaho11

There's no way to directly port character costumes to the foundry but you can certainly recreate it. Simply create a new ground costume in the relevant Foundry tab and have at it. It's the same system you use in STO, just with a different look.

When done, NPC's can be added to maps as single contacts (custom characters will show up at the top of the selectable list) or as combat related mobs (for which you'll have to specify for each unit what costume you want to use, if not the default.)

markhawkman

Actually, since the Foundry doesn't have costume categories, you can mix things in the Foundry you can't mix in the main game.

councilspectre

When I first started exploring the idea of creating a mission, I googled everything.

I looked through the options in the foundry editor, reading the terms and options. If something didn't make sense, I'd google it or look around on the sto foundry forums. Researching step-by-step worked out well.

Things in the foundry probably won't work how you expect them to. Possibilities will seem to be limited until you learn a few tricks. You have to get creative to pull off some more complicated scenes. There's so much to discuss that it's hard to jump in.

However, feel free to send me mail in-game or message me via forums if you have any questions as you're working on your mission.

dawnpromise

For a really creative use of the Foundry Id suggest RogueEnterprise's First Cause Then Effect.

The foundry community is generally welcoming. It has a few antique sensibilities about things like women but its very slowly changing.

I'll be glad to help with any questions or playtests - being involved with other players gives an incredible insight into the foundry and what it can do.

captainhunter1

dawnpromise wrote: »

It has a few antique sensibilities about things like women but its very slowly changing.

??

Some of the most engaging stories I have played in the Foundry are written by women. DC Fontana who was instrumental in Star Trek's success also wrote some of the best episodes of TOS...and is a woman.

I don't ever recall seeing a negative female bias here in the foundry community.

dawnpromise

Everyones experience is different and a few examples - good or bad - dont determine a group. Its why I quit authoring for a while. But things change just a bit more slowly sometimes.

trelliz

I've thought about making some missions, mainly exploring stuff that happens ingame that aren't discussed properly. What are the consequences of captains fitting a load of borg, tholian, iconian, mirror universe, voth etc. equipment on the same ship? How does the Lobi Consortium get their hands on all these rare ships before the empires of the galaxy etc.

captainhunter1

trelliz wrote: »

I've thought about making some missions, mainly exploring stuff that happens ingame that aren't discussed properly. What are the consequences of captains fitting a load of borg, tholian, iconian, mirror universe, voth etc. equipment on the same ship? How does the Lobi Consortium get their hands on all these rare ships before the empires of the galaxy etc.

Those are great ideas to explore!

captpfdennis

Since our StarbaseUGC site has been down awhile, I'd suggest going to YouTube and enter "STO Foundry Tutorials" in the search. Kirkfat and I made a series of Back to Basics tutorials that might help. I know I learned how to use Foundry watching his original ones. We made the new ones because of changes to the editor. You can also come by our chat anytime. The link is at StarbaseUGC even though the site is offline. There is usually someone there 24/7.