Really.
One guy gave me this review on my "Save the Signal" KDF mission, which is basically "Stop the Signal" from the KDF's perspective and NOT a carbon copy of "Stop the SIgnal".
"I stopped playing about halfway trhough i think.
That listening station was at Bomari II not Bomari II.
You need to actually PLAY some Cryptic missions before you rip them off."
However, I played Stop the Signal again, and I he was wrong.
The map was labelled as Bomari III in the Foundry, but when I played the mission, it was callked Bomari II.
Whatever. I just imported the mission, and republished it without his one-star review ^_^
Nah that wasn't me if you're implying something . I am not that much about details or specific facts of names and what not, I like missions that draw you in. Most of the missions I've played were very short and most likely based on real ST episodes or resembled them. What I didn't like in those missions is that creator didn't get out of the traditional standards. It felt similar to Cryptic missions just a bit better story. Some of the missions are too short others are too long and you feel like reading a book.
I think there should be a good balance between reading the story and "fighting a war". To keep you interest and on the other hand to not let you fall asleep in front of the monitor and to keep you on your toes.
I still recognize a good effort and I have tipped some Dil to fellow creators even though my score may not be round 5 for those missions I've played.
I'll have my mission ready soon, that would be a good way to show what I like and how I like my missions .
Never said it WAS you and never inplied that it was.
I was trying to agree with your statement about never knowing the tastes of the players playing your missions.
That is all.
And, actually, what that guy said was "That listening station was at Bomari *III* not Bomari II."
I never noticed that mistake until I saw your quote from it >.<
Found enother limitation today. You can only have a specific number of maps in your mission. And you can only have 2 transition points from each map if I am not mistaken - there and back. Each next one will replace the previous. So putting it all together your mission can only be that big. Bleh . Now I have to remove maps to fit in this ever limiting feature of STO.
Found enother limitation today. You can only have a specific number of maps in your mission. And you can only have 2 transition points from each map if I am not mistaken - there and back. Each next one will replace the previous. So putting it all together your mission can only be that big. Bleh . Now I have to remove maps to fit in this ever limiting feature of STO.
Really?!
Because everytime I have tried to transition back to a previous map, it causes the original map's objectives on that map to reload as well, thus causing the mission to enter into an endless loop.
What I mean is you enter a map and then you exit it and enter another map. So its 2 transitions one in and one out. Thats the limit. We can't use same map for 2 in transitions since as you say it will reset all the triggers etc. What I do, I create a copy of the same map, disable triggers that player already played through and thats the only way it seems. It gets very bad when your story wants you for example to go to map 1, then go to map 2, then go to map 3 and then if you need to return to map 2 you have to make a copy - map 2.1.
...It gets very bad when your story wants you for example to go to map 1, then go to map 2, then go to map 3 and then if you need to return to map 2 you have to make a copy - map 2.1.
That's what I meant.
I have this 1 mission I can't finish making because I need 1 more map transistion, but I can't have it because I've reached the map quota, because I can't just disable the previous objectives on a map I've already used so I can use it again.
Basiaclly, I have to do what you just said above, but I can't because I've already reached the limit on the amount of maps I'm allowed to use in one project.
Pft!
Same drill as always. Another month, another period of time without an updated roadmap.
Can we get a preview of what would like to appear in season 6
what works, what doesnt?
a picture of a space goat?
something?
Since there's no roadmap, I think we just keep requesting features, like:
Transporter pads as doorways from one map to another (imagine that)
Space maps for Gamma Quadrant systems like Idran (especially after seeing the maps in the latest FE)
The ability to create cutscenes
These are 2 very welcome additions, should they decide to do so. I'm sure there are a ton of other great ideas in this thread, but I simply skipped to the last page. (yes, I actually went there.)
It gets very bad when your story wants you for example to go to map 1, then go to map 2, then go to map 3 and then if you need to return to map 2 you have to make a copy - map 2.1.
This troubles me. I haven't yet set up a foundry mission, but this would seem like a very large hassle.
On the "haven't yet set up a foundry mission" tip, can anyone point me to a thread on how to start one from the ground-up. When I say ground-up, I mean "how can I access the Foundry in the first place?"
Sorry, didn't mean to highjack the thread on that last part. I just need help, since I already wrote the mission and want to plop in the commands.
Can anyone point me to a thread on how to start one from the ground-up. When I say ground-up, I mean "how can I access the Foundry in the first place?"
On the character screen, click the "Create Content" tab. If you're a Silver player, you need to purchase Foundry slots for 10,000 RD. Then create a character for testing your mission, and you're off.
I was going to subscribe in just over a weeks time, and it was the Foundry that was drawing me to it. But after reading in these forums exactly what all the limitations are, I've been completely put off from subscribing. The foundry was the thing making me want to subscribe, but now I see that it's fairly limited in what it can do, I don't think I will be.
It's sad, I can't be the only one feeling this way. As JupiterBroadcasting's Chris mentions in STOked episode 109, the Foundry can keep the community happy - players like me will stay in the game just to create their own content, and others will remain in the game due to the new content being generated by the Foundry.
Please Mr Stahl, give us a Foundry that allows us to create missions on a par to those being created by your team. Not having this has stopped me subscribing, where-as having this would cause me to - and the law of averages would suggest that I'm not the only one.
(I'm not sure why I'm posting this - it's completely rhetorical, I don't expect or need a response from any body... I guess I just felt compelled to express my disappointment.)
I was going to subscribe in just over a weeks time, and it was the Foundry that was drawing me to it. But after reading in these forums exactly what all the limitations are, I've been completely put off from subscribing. The foundry was the thing making me want to subscribe, but now I see that it's fairly limited in what it can do, I don't think I will be.
It's sad, I can't be the only one feeling this way. As JupiterBroadcasting's Chris mentions in STOked episode 109, the Foundry can keep the community happy - players like me will stay in the game just to create their own content, and others will remain in the game due to the new content being generated by the Foundry.
Don't let the limitations get you down. I almost gave up on the Foundry for the same reason when I started out, but then I started playing more UGC missions and I realized that with a little creativity, you can overcome almost all of the limitations in some fashion.
And you don't have to have a subscription to use the Foundry; you can buy project slots with Refined Dilithium in the game.
Don't let the limitations get you down. I almost gave up on the Foundry for the same reason when I started out, but then I started playing more UGC missions and I realized that with a little creativity, you can overcome almost all of the limitations in some fashion.
The limitations are putting me off a bit.
I've been complaing about this fact on the forums for a few weeks now, but I really can't get over the fact that they put the DS9 Promenade in as a map, but forget about OPS, Quarks and the upper promenade.
You can use OPS if you use "talk to contact" but you can't talk to the main characters like James Kurland.
You also can't use any Admirals or main storyline NPC's like Sulu, which is my second limitation irritation :P.
The limitations are putting me off a bit.
I've been complaing about this fact on the forums for a few weeks now, but I really can't get over the fact that they put the DS9 Promenade in as a map, but forget about OPS, Quarks and the upper promenade.
You can use OPS if you use "talk to contact" but you can't talk to the main characters like James Kurland.
You also can't use any Admirals or main storyline NPC's like Sulu, which is my second limitation irritation :P.
That bugs me as well. The only Admiral we can use is Admiral Marconi at DS9, who doesn't even appear in any missions.
The limitations are putting me off a bit.
I've been complaing about this fact on the forums for a few weeks now, but I really can't get over the fact that they put the DS9 Promenade in as a map, but forget about OPS, Quarks and the upper promenade.
You can use OPS if you use "talk to contact" but you can't talk to the main characters like James Kurland.
You also can't use any Admirals or main storyline NPC's like Sulu, which is my second limitation irritation :P.
I wanted to use Fleet Admiral Quinn in 2 different Foundry Missions. He did not exist, so I built him.
By the way, what is the number of maps limit?
Is there a list of Foundry Limits so when I am planning a mission, I don't go over the limits?
I don't personally understand why Cryptic can't just release the ToolKit that they are using to create missions for STO.
Dragon Age Origins developed, published and then released the game and gave us an awesome Toolset Kit, polished down for player usage. Cryptic instead gave STO players completely different Toolset Kit that they now are working on to improve it for players instead of just giving us the game toolkit itself and work on whats important and what you still have budget for.
There are a number of possibilities:
1. There is a licensing restriction. Perhaps what they use requires some sort of commercial software and it would be expensive to extend the license to the community.
2. Cryptic doesn't want player-generated content to rival its own in terms of quality, because it would make their paid developers look bador potentially cost them jobs. Why pay people if the community can do the work for free? The only thing that PWE would need to do is hire proofers to make sure the community-generated content is appropriate.
Personally, I think this explanation is far-fetched, but I'm trying to include every possibility I can think of for completeness. Plus, workers are very often forced to find ways to maintain their usefulness. There's an old joke in IT that Microsoft's products are popular with IT folks because they're so unstable (this was particularly true in the past when we had DOS-based Windows).
There is also a consistency issue. If user-created content gains additional prominence by being made of higher quality due to more advanced tools, then the "one writer goes over every line personally" paradigm could become more difficult to maintain. I suppose it could be easier (for consistency) for the staff writer to change the material that interns produce and/or do the vast majority of the writing herself. By keeping Foundry content limited in functionality and thus limited in in-game impact, there is less of a demand for the staff writer to make the scripts conform.
3. Perhaps the tools they use are not friendly for novices. They may require hand coding, script creation, and so forth. They may also be diffuse/modular, which would make it more cumbersome for new designers to publish missions due to the requirement of moving from one mode to another, particularly if the modules are quite different in terms of UI.
4. The tools could be used to create conflicts, because they're too expansive. Someone might, for instance, create an alternate Earth Space Dock that conflicts in the game with the official one. There would have to be safeguards created to protect the existing content, and it could take considerable effort to shoehorn the developer toolset to conform with such restrictions.
5. Having a special development tool for users is good for marketing. If people were to be given access to the developers' tools, then there would be more complaints about unpaid labor. By creating a unique tool for players, Cryptic is seen as making an extra effort. This seems to be a weak explanation, but who knows, perhaps it is a factorparticularly if the developers' tools aren't very user-friendly.
There may be other explanations, but I'm not a video game developer so I'm just speculating.
I just hope the Foundry will be improved dramatically. They've already invested time into making a separate tool, so let's hope more will be invested to make it more worthwhile.
Do you like the idea of a featured foundry wrapper? This seems that it could feature a foundry mission AND give a nice reward, plus maybe add a "previously featured" tab that would retain foundry missions as long as they do not get republished (they would need to "recertified" for their featured spot)
1. There is a licensing restriction. Perhaps what they use requires some sort of commercial software and it would be expensive to extend the license to the community.
Merc,
You make some excellent points, all of them very relevant however lets take this a little further.
As someone who was once an important part of many of the older mods of past titles, I can say for certain that Cryptic is restricted heavily, even if they state otherwise as they wont tell you how much they are restricted or what I like to call being micromanaged by the lawyers of CBS and the IP. Now, I mentioned that I worked with many modding groups on different titles of the past that held Star Trek IP. However, during many developments of these mods, we would have to obtain permission to use certain assets and if they said no, they wouldnt be allowed. Even, to the point of going after the modders, no matter how popular the mod was, but what they seemed to forget is that with these mods, came more revenue for those titles that went into the hands of CBS. Example, we obtained graphical image of a Borg Vessel, by and through the original artist and CBS got wind of it someway or another and we were told that we couldnt use it as it was an IP element but we did in fact get permission to use it by the original artist that created the mesh and still couldn't use it. Therefore, that is just one example of many and while some will state well they were protecting the IP, yes that is true, but modders dont make any money off of the creations.
Cryptic, will never tell us how entrenched CBS is, when in fact people like myself and many others from that of SFC series, Bridge Commander, Elite Force and the list goes on and on. They could tell you tails of what lengths CBS meddling does, to be honest CBS is a hindrance that has been the problem of acting irresponsible with the IP for far too long.
As for "Cryptic doesnt want player generated content to rival its own in terms of quality", however I would disagree and say much of what the foundry has already allowed and the amount of what the authors have done, they have already out done that of many of the developers original content. Ive been playing many authored missions, all I can say is that while it isnt on the level of modding that I was once apart of many missions are just beyond much of the original content. In a way, Cryptic has given the community the means to exceed that of the original development. The developers ultimately should be flattered; as it is an extension of their original work just as those mods I had worked on were extension as well. It hasnt come full circle, but having a centralized location starbaseugc is the only way to per lobby that of Cryptic to improve the access.
Overall, I think that the authors lobbying Cryptic through starbaseugc is great direction and should keep up the great work as a community.
It's been quite awhile since this thread has received an update about the proposed features. Does anyone know if the foundry is still being supported? I know Neverwinter is supposed to have a version of the foundry, but I am beginning to think that attention to the Foundry on STO has slipped through the cracks....:(
It's been quite awhile since this thread has received an update about the proposed features. Does anyone know if the foundry is still being supported? I know Neverwinter is supposed to have a version of the foundry, but I am beginning to think that attention to the Foundry on STO has slipped through the cracks....:(
They seem to be pushing Foundry missions in game as of last week (5/16/2012), so I would say its still supported. The foundry itself still looks the same to me as it did when it first came out if that's what you mean.
I'm going to take closer look at it. The last time I tried I found it difficult (perhaps awkward better describes it) to use. For those who persisted they seem to be doing a pretty good job.
There is renewed support for featured foundry missions. We're getting one a week now, which is nice.
And supposedly the Foundry is getting some major updates in Season 6. I have not heard if that means right away when season 6 launches or sometime over the course of the season. I believe I have heard that Season 6 is launching sometime in June.
I've mentioned this in another thread but I think it bares repeating:
Have "Current Player" available as a costume in foundry missions so that authors can assign dialogues to captains instead of the short, one-liners that are possible now. Would also be helpful in mirror universe and time travel missions.
Comments
Nah that wasn't me if you're implying something
I think there should be a good balance between reading the story and "fighting a war". To keep you interest and on the other hand to not let you fall asleep in front of the monitor and to keep you on your toes.
I still recognize a good effort and I have tipped some Dil to fellow creators even though my score may not be round 5 for those missions I've played.
I'll have my mission ready soon, that would be a good way to show what I like and how I like my missions
Never said it WAS you and never inplied that it was.
I was trying to agree with your statement about never knowing the tastes of the players playing your missions.
That is all.
And, actually, what that guy said was "That listening station was at Bomari *III* not Bomari II."
I never noticed that mistake until I saw your quote from it >.<
Really?!
Because everytime I have tried to transition back to a previous map, it causes the original map's objectives on that map to reload as well, thus causing the mission to enter into an endless loop.
Can we get a preview of what would like to appear in season 6
what works, what doesnt?
a picture of a space goat?
something?
That's what I meant.
I have this 1 mission I can't finish making because I need 1 more map transistion, but I can't have it because I've reached the map quota, because I can't just disable the previous objectives on a map I've already used so I can use it again.
Basiaclly, I have to do what you just said above, but I can't because I've already reached the limit on the amount of maps I'm allowed to use in one project.
Pft!
Since there's no roadmap, I think we just keep requesting features, like:
Transporter pads as doorways from one map to another (imagine that)
Space maps for Gamma Quadrant systems like Idran (especially after seeing the maps in the latest FE)
The ability to create cutscenes
Just a few off the top of my head.
These are 2 very welcome additions, should they decide to do so. I'm sure there are a ton of other great ideas in this thread, but I simply skipped to the last page. (yes, I actually went there.)
This troubles me. I haven't yet set up a foundry mission, but this would seem like a very large hassle.
On the "haven't yet set up a foundry mission" tip, can anyone point me to a thread on how to start one from the ground-up. When I say ground-up, I mean "how can I access the Foundry in the first place?"
Sorry, didn't mean to highjack the thread on that last part. I just need help, since I already wrote the mission and want to plop in the commands.
On the character screen, click the "Create Content" tab. If you're a Silver player, you need to purchase Foundry slots for 10,000 RD. Then create a character for testing your mission, and you're off.
As for constructing your mission, I highly recommend "Foundry 101", a blog by @alimac30. Link: http://foundry101.wordpress.com/
I still don't understand why the site doesn't have an FAQ for such basic questions on The Foundry.
Thanks again!
It does. Under "The Game", click "The Foundry" and then the "FAQ" tab. Or, just follow this link: http://www.startrekonline.com/foundry_faq
It's sad, I can't be the only one feeling this way. As JupiterBroadcasting's Chris mentions in STOked episode 109, the Foundry can keep the community happy - players like me will stay in the game just to create their own content, and others will remain in the game due to the new content being generated by the Foundry.
Please Mr Stahl, give us a Foundry that allows us to create missions on a par to those being created by your team.
(I'm not sure why I'm posting this - it's completely rhetorical, I don't expect or need a response from any body... I guess I just felt compelled to express my disappointment.)
Don't let the limitations get you down. I almost gave up on the Foundry for the same reason when I started out, but then I started playing more UGC missions and I realized that with a little creativity, you can overcome almost all of the limitations in some fashion.
And you don't have to have a subscription to use the Foundry; you can buy project slots with Refined Dilithium in the game.
Hmmmm. Definately food for thought. Thank you.
Yeah I know. Maybe I'll give it a go then make a decision. Cheers.
I've been complaing about this fact on the forums for a few weeks now, but I really can't get over the fact that they put the DS9 Promenade in as a map, but forget about OPS, Quarks and the upper promenade.
You can use OPS if you use "talk to contact" but you can't talk to the main characters like James Kurland.
You also can't use any Admirals or main storyline NPC's like Sulu, which is my second limitation irritation :P.
That bugs me as well. The only Admiral we can use is Admiral Marconi at DS9, who doesn't even appear in any missions.
I wanted to use Fleet Admiral Quinn in 2 different Foundry Missions. He did not exist, so I built him.
By the way, what is the number of maps limit?
Is there a list of Foundry Limits so when I am planning a mission, I don't go over the limits?
Thanks...
See www.starbaseugc.com for a recent news posting with confirmed limits.
1. There is a licensing restriction. Perhaps what they use requires some sort of commercial software and it would be expensive to extend the license to the community.
2. Cryptic doesn't want player-generated content to rival its own in terms of quality, because it would make their paid developers look bador potentially cost them jobs. Why pay people if the community can do the work for free? The only thing that PWE would need to do is hire proofers to make sure the community-generated content is appropriate.
Personally, I think this explanation is far-fetched, but I'm trying to include every possibility I can think of for completeness. Plus, workers are very often forced to find ways to maintain their usefulness. There's an old joke in IT that Microsoft's products are popular with IT folks because they're so unstable (this was particularly true in the past when we had DOS-based Windows).
There is also a consistency issue. If user-created content gains additional prominence by being made of higher quality due to more advanced tools, then the "one writer goes over every line personally" paradigm could become more difficult to maintain. I suppose it could be easier (for consistency) for the staff writer to change the material that interns produce and/or do the vast majority of the writing herself. By keeping Foundry content limited in functionality and thus limited in in-game impact, there is less of a demand for the staff writer to make the scripts conform.
3. Perhaps the tools they use are not friendly for novices. They may require hand coding, script creation, and so forth. They may also be diffuse/modular, which would make it more cumbersome for new designers to publish missions due to the requirement of moving from one mode to another, particularly if the modules are quite different in terms of UI.
4. The tools could be used to create conflicts, because they're too expansive. Someone might, for instance, create an alternate Earth Space Dock that conflicts in the game with the official one. There would have to be safeguards created to protect the existing content, and it could take considerable effort to shoehorn the developer toolset to conform with such restrictions.
5. Having a special development tool for users is good for marketing. If people were to be given access to the developers' tools, then there would be more complaints about unpaid labor. By creating a unique tool for players, Cryptic is seen as making an extra effort. This seems to be a weak explanation, but who knows, perhaps it is a factorparticularly if the developers' tools aren't very user-friendly.
There may be other explanations, but I'm not a video game developer so I'm just speculating.
I just hope the Foundry will be improved dramatically. They've already invested time into making a separate tool, so let's hope more will be invested to make it more worthwhile.
Merc,
You make some excellent points, all of them very relevant however lets take this a little further.
As someone who was once an important part of many of the older mods of past titles, I can say for certain that Cryptic is restricted heavily, even if they state otherwise as they wont tell you how much they are restricted or what I like to call being micromanaged by the lawyers of CBS and the IP. Now, I mentioned that I worked with many modding groups on different titles of the past that held Star Trek IP. However, during many developments of these mods, we would have to obtain permission to use certain assets and if they said no, they wouldnt be allowed. Even, to the point of going after the modders, no matter how popular the mod was, but what they seemed to forget is that with these mods, came more revenue for those titles that went into the hands of CBS. Example, we obtained graphical image of a Borg Vessel, by and through the original artist and CBS got wind of it someway or another and we were told that we couldnt use it as it was an IP element but we did in fact get permission to use it by the original artist that created the mesh and still couldn't use it. Therefore, that is just one example of many and while some will state well they were protecting the IP, yes that is true, but modders dont make any money off of the creations.
Cryptic, will never tell us how entrenched CBS is, when in fact people like myself and many others from that of SFC series, Bridge Commander, Elite Force and the list goes on and on. They could tell you tails of what lengths CBS meddling does, to be honest CBS is a hindrance that has been the problem of acting irresponsible with the IP for far too long.
As for "Cryptic doesnt want player generated content to rival its own in terms of quality", however I would disagree and say much of what the foundry has already allowed and the amount of what the authors have done, they have already out done that of many of the developers original content. Ive been playing many authored missions, all I can say is that while it isnt on the level of modding that I was once apart of many missions are just beyond much of the original content. In a way, Cryptic has given the community the means to exceed that of the original development. The developers ultimately should be flattered; as it is an extension of their original work just as those mods I had worked on were extension as well. It hasnt come full circle, but having a centralized location starbaseugc is the only way to per lobby that of Cryptic to improve the access.
Overall, I think that the authors lobbying Cryptic through starbaseugc is great direction and should keep up the great work as a community.
Cheers,
Acidrain
I'm going to take closer look at it. The last time I tried I found it difficult (perhaps awkward better describes it) to use. For those who persisted they seem to be doing a pretty good job.
And supposedly the Foundry is getting some major updates in Season 6. I have not heard if that means right away when season 6 launches or sometime over the course of the season. I believe I have heard that Season 6 is launching sometime in June.
Have "Current Player" available as a costume in foundry missions so that authors can assign dialogues to captains instead of the short, one-liners that are possible now. Would also be helpful in mirror universe and time travel missions.
That's a well-documented bug that's (hopefully) being worked on as we speak. Hopefully it'll be ready for the launch of season 6.