Memories of the Foundry

ambassadorkael

By now, some of you have heard the unfortunate news that we're going to be sunsetting the Foundry on April 11th. I wanted to create a place where we can share our favorite memories of this innovative feature and the amazing missions you, as a community, have created over the years.

Please don't use this thread post your disagreements over the Foundry's sunsetting - you are free to post those elsewhere in the forum, as long as they don't break the forum's rules. This is a place for remembering the Foundry and sharing those memories with each other.

So many of our players put so much of themselves into the Foundry, and I'll always be grateful for the wonderful times we've shared together. For me, nothing tops the stream where Zero and I decided to play a mission in funny voices, and ended up accidentally reading romantic dialogue as Goofy and Harley Quinn.

pottsey5g

ambassadorkael#6946 wrote: »

“To reiterate, this decision does not impact any other game feature or content development for Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, Champions Online, or future titles.”

While I understand the reasoning behind this and accept it, there is an impact. Without the foundry there will be large drop in fun with the endeavor system and a large negative impact on the amount of time it takes to complete the new endeavor system. Like a lot of people due to the endeavor system I started to do regular foundry missions as this was the fastest and most fun way to complete many endeavors.

What was fun endeavor play sessions will turn boring. So removing the foundry will have an impact on current content/game features.

Before endeavors I didn't really care about the foundry. After random TFO's and the UI change destroyed running Elites and ruined my daily play experience the endeavor system combined with the foundry brought Star Trek Online back to life for me. It will be missed and the loss will have a negative impact on my play experience

Thank you to the authors who made so much fun content. It really did bring some much needed life to STO.

davefenestrator

I understand the business reasons for this, but it's still a shame that so much content, especially the non-combat content, will be lost to the game.

It's better for the game to survive, but sad that the foundry had to act as the rear guard.

"Go! I'll catch up! I'm right behind you!"
--- Foundry's last words

mustrumridcully0

When the system was on Tribble/Beta-Testing, even I made a few missions.

My main story arc idea was based on two ideas: The Omega Molecule, and the term "Vulcan Love Slove", except adapted to the term "Vulcan Science Slave".

The idea was that some Federation scientist rediscovered the Omega Molecule, but then Starfleet came in and took his research. He was shocked that a liberal government like the Federation could be so harsh and narrow-minded, and he found a way to continue his research. To figure out what went wrong with the Federation's original Omega Molecule project, he collected data from the original scientist. One Vulcan scientist involved in the project that left it, warning of a potential catastrophe, had survived until the 24th century, and died in the battle of Wolf 359. The scientist hired a team of mercenaries to enter the Wolf 359 graveyard and secure the scientists personal and secret logs still somewhere on the wreck he died on. The scientist would use all the data he assembled to eventually recreate a highly accurate model of the Vulcan scientist, who would aid his research.. This would be the "Vulcan Science Slave".

The player character would get drawn into this during a routine patrol of Wolf 359 - Starfleet sends ships regularly there to visit the memoral and ensure no looters come by. The latter rarely happens, so it's normally a nice, peaceful, contemplative detail.
But this time, they stumble upon the mercs. The player would beam aboard one of the wrecks and make his way to and stop the looters.

There would be a follow-up mission involving trying to trace the mercenaries or the scientist that hired them, involving recruiting a Klingon spy, a mission involving a mining facility.
The "end battle" of the mission would basically be the player ship against a battleship NPC group re-customed as a shuttle, stated to be a test vehicle for an Omega Molecule powered ship. The mission would involve saving a Nausicaan world, because that is where the scientist has his secret lab.

I think I actually completed the first and had two further missions half-way done.

Of course, this was the Beta version of the Foundry, so the mission didn't survive the move to live.

Later, I always thought about recreating the mission on the live servers, and I had other mission ideas. But I never really got around to it. I don't remember the exact timeline, but I think it might have something to do with me getting my computer science degree and working a full-time job. I just didn't have the patience or time for it anymore.

And sadly, i never really too the time to play Foundry missions. It was only a handful I probably created.
One that I still remember is where your ship was being shrunk to fly through the body of someone and fix a disease/virus/nano infection or whatever. That was a clever and interesting idea.

It is sad to see it go and realize I'll never turn any of my Star Trek story ideas into missions now. Realistically speaking, that would probably have never happened anyway - But now that is final.

bpranger

Can we not keep the existing Foundry missions? They are a huge part of my enjoyment of the Star Trek game, part of the reason I bought a membership, and part of the success of the game. It will not be adequate for me without the Foundry. I just bought my lifetime membership at Christmas. I expected Foundry to continue to be part of my enjoyment of the game. I am shocked and disappointed, to say the least. This plan to eliminate The Foundry is self-defeating, and will not add to memberships or help to maintain the members you have.

bpranger

I apologize for failing to notice this is not the place for disagreements. The Foundry is wonderful. I will miss it.

markhawkman

I love how the contests have come out. Give several people the same overall mission concept and watch to see how different people take the same starting point and run with it in different directions.

primar13

One of my favorite memories was when we created the Show your in-progress maps thread.

I had been part of the Author community for a few years at that point, and that is where I learned that not only was there a German Foundry Community. Those members were making maps so detailed and intricate that they put even the best of us English Authors to shame. [Insert Joke about German Engineering]

The Foundry really was a Global Author Community, and that day I learned that. I will miss them all.

spiritborn

I'm not gonna lie I'm not happy with this and I'm gonna be upset about not being able to finish the projects I had in progress. I still had many good memories and I'm happy of the time I had with the foundry.

littlesarbonn

The truly sad part for me is that I only recently finally grokked the process for developing missions so I was able to finally start getting my series put together in installment. Part of me suspects that a big part of STO will be lost without this segment of it. One would think that some attempt would have been made to create something to replace it (if they're not allowed to keep using what was already in place).

rattler2

I regret not being able to figure out how to make a mission myself. I had an idea that would have involved maybe visiting the Galactic Barrier, but I never could get through the clunky UI.

Asfor memories... there were some good missions. I didn't go into the Foundry often, but there were some well done missions that did feel like they wouldn't be out of place in STO itself. One where we had the Federation have a run in with the Fek'lhri during the Klingon War, and a couple others come to mind.

Also a couple of the general "house" maps people made that were well done. Good place to just relax and do some light RP work.

baddmoonrizin

RIP Admiral Bobo

ltminns

https://youtu.be/lpZiPZwwXhM

southerlanddo

I dont know which my favorite memory is or will be,Probably all of them I will miss seeking out new worlds and adventures that the foundry represented and is the epitome of star trek.I feel sto is making a grave error in not continuing support, the extra effort would have been worth it in the end for the star trek sto universe.

bumperthumper

This is very sad, but I understand the reasoning behind it.

Will we still be able to access the already published missions? If so, at least previous works won't go to waste. If not, why not just keep them in an archive?

klintobean81

Memories of the Foundry:

-All of the old Foundry mission contests
-The incredible creativity and writing
-The sandbox style of play
-The incredible INCREDIBLE maps that were made
-Player Author's attention to detail and Trek lore
-The depth of gameplay and exploration that was really only brought to the game THROUGH the Foundry
-Story arcs and Foundry characters that were developed that we learned to love!
-All of the Foundry fan podcasts, videos, and community

So sad and disappointing. It's all about the bottom line. Hopefully Foundry will be replaced with something even better? I always thought it should be called the HOLODECK - where you can create the missions/environments you want.

A farewell to all my published Foundry Missions. Play them while they are still alive and not lost to oblivion!
Or just watch the mission trailers! LOL - So fun to make!

The Zypex Intrusion
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oJq6BYQpxfA

The Zypex Revelation
https://youtube.com/watch?v=sUFWn5CQl9M

(Glad I didn't start the 3rd part of the trilogy, and spend countless hours on a new mission only to be deleted weeks later)

Technobabble
"Save DJ Spoonhead"
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QCkHoMUyVVg

Maiden Voyage
"What really happened to Voyager at DS9"

Play them while they are still alive and not lost to oblivion!

-The Magnificent Clinto
Klintobean...ending transmission

rattler2

bumperthumper wrote: »

This is very sad, but I understand the reasoning behind it.

Will we still be able to access the already published missions? If so, at least previous works won't go to waste. If not, why not just keep them in an archive?

According to the livestream Kael did earlier today, guest starring his cat, the published missions are being saved, however there will be no means of accessing them after the Foundry closes down. They've tried for months to find a way to fix it with no luck. They love all the work people have put into their stories and wish they could continue to showcase them, but as it stands they can't.

They can't even leave it as is because the next major update will break it. Kinda like how it always broke after each major update in the past.

klintobean81

Memories of the Foundry:

-All of the old Foundry mission contests
-The incredible creativity and writing
-The sandbox style of play
-The incredible INCREDIBLE maps that were made
-Player Author's attention to detail and Trek lore
-The depth of gameplay and exploration that was really only brought to the game THROUGH the Foundry
-Story arcs and Foundry characters that were developed that we learned to love!
-All of the Foundry fan podcasts, videos, and community

So sad and disappointing. It's all about the bottom line. Hopefully Foundry will be replaced with something even better? I always thought it should be called the HOLODECK - where you can create the missions/environments you want.

A farewell to all my published Foundry Missions. Play them while they are still alive and not lost to oblivion!
Or just watch the mission trailers! LOL - So fun to make!

The Zypex Intrusion
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oJq6BYQpxfA

The Zypex Revelation
https://youtube.com/watch?v=sUFWn5CQl9M

(Glad I didn't start the 3rd part of the trilogy, and spend countless hours on a new mission only to be deleted weeks later)

Technobabble
"Save DJ Spoonhead"
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QCkHoMUyVVg

Maiden Voyage
"What really happened to Voyager at DS9"

Play them while they are still alive and not lost to oblivion!

-The Magnificent Clinto
Klintobean...ending transmission

ltminns

Pick the ones you really want now and keep them in your Mission Journal for play later.

rossi320

I know this will seem paltry in comparision for many, but maybe write it out in story form?

In fact, I'd reccommend that to everyone who had ideas for the foundry. Save your notes from the game into a word file, go onto Fanfiction.net or A03 or whatever and write out your scripts into stories there.

At least that way, your stories can still live in some form, perhaps a more flexible one in the end anyway, and that work and effort can still mean something.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

stoutes

My fondest memories of the Foundry;

- The whitewall bug; still made a 2 stories building with it.
- Foundrytalk Channel, was an awesome channel to hang out with fellow builders on the height of the Foundry.
- Explosions (ask the others)
- My own Foundry review thread, played some amazing stories during that time, while searching for problems/errors/bugs/oversights.
- Writing my own story, but not taking it too seriously, having Imadude and Ghost laughing their pants off on their playthrough.
- Branflakes.
- Mark Valentine's mission.

jiralinria

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/302863522231222282/552380558114816002/unknown.png

I love the Foundry! The one thing that made STO unique. Took many pictures of great missions, thank you so much to all you wonderful authors to make it seem like my toon actually experienced an episode

jim1771

(Flaming/Trolling comments moderated out. - BMR)

angrytarg

I had plans for a Deferi story since I thought they were unrightfully abandoned by Cryptic. I have a mission still in edit mode that was supposed to set it off, I used it to create screenshots for different occasions, but the interface was too unintuitive for me although I liked the possibilities.

I always thought I still got the time to come back to it later...

fovrel

We can enjoy a sunset because we know tomorrow will the sun shine again and will be giving us a new day. The foundry sunset is a truly sad and worrying message. When I decide to buy a lifetime subscription, I serious wondered, is it worth it, it is quite some money for pixels? I thought it was, also because of the foundry access. I thought, whatever they do with the game, as longs as it runs, I can make my own content.
To be fair. I did not make any missions. I played some and they were really good, but the games stayed ahead of me in delivering new content, and this put the foundry and its missions in a second position.
I can understand Cryptics decision. I do not have deep knowledge of programming, but I can understand that if you add new content and new systems to the game, a tool set to make game content has also to be updated. It can be a resourceful activity which does not pay back directly.
Because of Star Trek Discovery we have a basis for new content. I did not see anything of the new serie, but the reviews and the comments that came to me weren't really good. One comment metioned that it looked like the writers of the new serie hadn't look at earlier series and had no clue what Star Trek was about. It missed its soul and replaced it with a bias for political correctness, another comment was about The Orville, compairing to TRIBBLE, The Orville was the better Star Trek serie.
The new Discovery missions we have in the game are great in my view. As a matter of fact, overall the game grows in quality. We win some and loose some, you can say. Farewell foundry. You lived long and prosper. When you were there, you were often neglected, forgotten, never missed, when you are gone you will be missed.

joshmaul

At the risk of being the materialistic weasel here, my question would be how Cryptic would keep track of who did what in the Foundry to give out the stuff. I published three missions (two Fed, one KDF) and was on-and-off working on a fourth (another KDF), but never got around to it; the problem I ran into is that the missions I published kept getting un-published every time the Foundry was down and came back after an extended period. Obviously I'm not going to get the "big one" for being highlighted, since mine can't compare to the highlights, but still...

baddmoonrizin

joshmaul wrote: »

At the risk of being the materialistic weasel here, my question would be how Cryptic would keep track of who did what in the Foundry to give out the stuff. I published three missions (two Fed, one KDF) and was on-and-off working on a fourth (another KDF), but never got around to it; the problem I ran into is that the missions I published kept getting un-published every time the Foundry was down and came back after an extended period. Obviously I'm not going to get the "big one" for being highlighted, since mine can't compare to the highlights, but still...

Your question is more suited for the official announcement thread than here, as this is for sharing memories of the Foundry. But I would suggest, and this goes for anyone with the same question, that after rewards start going out, if you have not received the rewards for your published content, then please contact AmbassadorKael.

zedbrightlander1

There are so many more Foundry missions I wanted to play.

starswordc

Well, there was the time @aleniskendra made this cool trailer video for "Bait and Switch, Part I". (There never was a part 2, I got halfway through and realized I had no idea what I wanted to do with the story. I finally came up with an idea late last year, only to have... this utter pile of BS happen before I found time to act on it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPOTpV0xrrw

Also, the "Delta Mirror" series is worth playing for flipping the Vaadwaur/Kobali conflict. When I recommended the mission to a friend, he joked that the only difference between the Prime Kobali and Mirror Kobali is that the Mirror Kobali are honest.

(F**k the Kobali, seriously.)

markhawkman

zedbrightlander1 wrote: »

There are so many more Foundry missions I wanted to play.

Well, the clock's ticking. I'd recommend making youtubes of them.