How do you write your mission?

apulse · July 2012

I am currently doing a script of a small mission project in the foundry, using Google document (Makes it available where ever I am) in moviescript-style.

Though I am not veteran when it comes to write mission scripts and all that, so I turn to you guys with more experience in the matter and perhaps you would like to share how you write your mission script. Program, technic, etc etc.

Thanks

mikewendell · July 2012

Haven't done a foundry mission as I don;t have access to it but I have written professionally. (Which is scary if you think about it)

For me, it;s a walkthrough/plot outline/ speaking points/whatever on a 8.5 x 14" notepad done in pencil. That way I can plan things out, erase and make changes, etc.

From there, it;s building section by section until I;m happy with it.

Hope this helps

ajstoner · July 2012

Well, I for one do it the exact way everyone will, quite sensibly, tell you not to: I write directly into the boxes and just copy paste back and forth into MS word when I'm done to check for spelling errors.

It does create a lot of extra work (especially for a hardcore dyslexic like myself) but it's much easier for me to look at the boxes while I'm working to keep track of the flow of things.

Every medium has its own limitations and sense of flow and writing video game missions requires a special kind of line discipline. You need to say a lot in very few words and take travel times, object interactions, and combat events into account. It is highly advisable to constantly play through maps as you are making them so you don't go off on tangents that just "don't play" in a game environment.

sollvax · July 2012

im still working on my second mission (the first was really a testbed)
this involves a big stack of file cards (npcs) a map (stored on computer) a flow chart (pinned to wall) and a picture of a dinosaur

drogyn1701 · July 2012

My process is exceedingly simple.

First I outline everything by map so I know how many I need (and if i need to cut any to get it in under the limit). Then i usually get to map building, then I rough in the objectives.

Then I get to writing. I do it pretty simply, just in a word processor somewhere, sometimes on my laptop so I can write in my comfy chair while watching some Star Trek, sometimes. It doesn't have to be everything, just the longer exchanges. Then I copy and paste into the Foundry and flesh out the rest.

sandukutupu · July 2012

I type everything up in Open Office for spell checking. Then I have this cute macro script the hubby wrote up that pastes the dialog into the boxes. So it saves me a lot of screen flipping.

But my process goes like this;

A. Create rough script to refine.
B. Create Maps
C. Create Costumes
D. Create Contacts
E. Copy dialog into boxes.
F. Proof read.

If one of my sons has time, I have them run through it. Otherwise I run through the mission myself.

markhawkman · July 2012

My process:
think out a rough concept of the mission.
Make a rough draft of the mission in foundry
look over what I can actually DO in the foundry this gives me ideas as to how to refine the mission to work within the foundry limits.

After I figure out the mechanical details of the mission then I refine the story. It's a bad idea to completely write the story then realize that you can't do it the way you want to.

Examples from one of my missions: In one of my missions(B'Vat's Legacy) I wanted to use the Guardian of Forever as an NPC, but you can't do that. You simply cannot skin an NPC to look like the Guardian or have any interactable object that does look like the Guardian in dialogue.... So I changed the mission to be a Section 31 NPC instead of the Guardian of Forever.

Another example: dead people are tricky to render in foundry. there aren't any objects that are actual corpses. The only work around is to have an NPC play dead. So, it might be better to come up with excuses for not showing dead bodies. One I've used in a currently classified project is to have them hidden inside chunks of ice.

After I create the actual mission I go back and polish the story. The downside is that I usually forget to explain some critical detail and need to get feedback from people who played it to identify which detail I missed.

nrobbiec · July 2012

I decide what I want the story to be and then tackle it step by step, say I'll choose my map, create a costume, create dialogue then next costume and so on. I find it easier to be very linear with missions.

paxfederatica · July 2012

My typical mission-writing process:

Write a brief story treatment (outside of STO, using OpenOffice, Word or even a text editor).
Make a list of all the maps, character costumes, etc. that I will need.
Create said maps, characters, etc.
Expand the treatment into a full mission outline organized by map and mission objective (again, outside of STO). This typically includes key bits of dialogue and other information needed to advance the story.
Populate each map with NPCs and objects.
Write the dialogue, and intersperse with my mission objectives.
Rearrange and tweak the objects as needed for combat set pieces, puzzles, etc.
Test each invididual map as I get it into a "complete" state, making note of problems and possible enhancements.
Make the fixes/enhancements to the map and test again.
Test-play the entire mission from start to finish before publishing.

thedukeofrock · July 2012

Personally, once I come up with the idea of the mission, I absolutely enjoy building the maps and environments first. I love trying to do things that have not been done before, and to build things that are pretty complex. I don't like to do anything small. (see picture in ad below )

I have the basic storyline in my head, so I don't write anything down. I prefer to expand on the story as I build it. It's just my personal preference to do it this way so I can change things up when I see the opportunity to do so.

cers001 · July 2012

I use MS Word to write the story but over the missions' i've released I have found that the foundry will force things like replies, settings and seenes to be changed but that's when you have to get creative with your writting and how its displayed.

One thing i've learned form Admiral Murphy (juipter force fleet) is that if you need your players reply to be longer than the space you're given, you can put it in the main dialouge screen with coloured gold the button for that is "out of charicter" and it works find just leave the reply field as "continue", if you need any help please contact me

bazag · July 2012

When I write the dialogue for a mission I usually do it within the editor but yeah. It would be better doing it in a word processor (such as Word or OpenOffice Writer) along side.

For me the big issue is determining how everything fits and works together and having a set script before I even head into the foundry sort of makes it harder to alter things as I go to make them work and fit together.

However that does not mean I don't know what I want to happen. I do work out the story flow what I want to do and when in relation to others. I also have an idea about what I want to get out of specific characters or objectives. It's just the last step of actually writing the dialogue to accomplish the ideas and thoughts that I want that I do as I develop a foundry mission and the maps.

zorbane · July 2012

My process:

Come up with a general plot (for example escape from a Klingon encampment)
Write down the a slightly more detailed plot with important events
Break the plot into separate "Acts". Usually each act would be its own map, and some Acts would have different scenes.

Then I go Act by Act
Write the Act's plot again, this time in more detail
Build the map in the editor
Write the dialogue for the Act.
Do any plot revisions for the rest of the story that came up
*rinse and repeat for each Act*

I do all of this in Google docs so it catches any spelling mistakes and so I can work on it wherever I am (as long as I have internet!)

One benefit of keeping things vague at first is so that the story remains flexible. Having the story and characters evolve under your finger tips is a great feeling! It also makes it easy to work around foundry limitations.

evil70th · July 2012

Hi folks,

I would like to say thanks to apulse for starting this thread in an effort to find out how others make missions. To more specifically answer the thread question I do similar to sandukutupu, markhawkman, and some of the other authors combined. Developing a story and then writing the script are very important steps in the process. Of course knowing what limitations of the Foundry in developing the mission is important too. In addition to that below is a repost of my "Best Practices" posting when the I restarted my In depth mission reports upon request thread. For those of you who do not know who I am, over the past few months I've reviewed over 150 Foundry missions and have identified several items in many of the reports that I felt needed to be worked on. The information below will summarize those items into, what I consider to be, a set of best practices for authoring missions Please remember, everything in this posting is only my opinion based on my experience, and they are yours to use of not as you choose.

Plots, storyline and dialogue:

The creation of a storyline is one of the most important elements of mission development. The author needs to capture the player's attention and then hold it for the length of the mission. Most players do not mind playing longer missions as long as there are elements to it that keep them engaged in the story.

Regardless of a mission being story or combat oriented it needs to have a plot to drive the action forward. In a combat mission if all the player does is flying into a system and battle large quantities of enemy mobs, then beams down to a planet, ship or a station to engage more enemy mobs with a single line of dialogue like, "Beam down sir" most likely the player will get bored quickly. This is true with a story oriented mission too. If a player spends time playing a story oriented mission and the plot makes no sense at all then you will lose them quickly as well. You have to have some plot to support the mission and it needs to make sense. Some things to consider when creating a plot for your mission:

What is the motivation of the player to be in this mission? The mission is never as simple as "Fly in and kill the enemy". Then you put every type of enemy on the map. For me this would become tedious really quickly. That is not to say you cannot have multiple factions on a map but is there something to it. For example, there is a secret alliance between the Klingons and Romulans to destroy the Federation. If you don't explain that through even a short bit of dialogue the player will be lost and wonder why they should continue.
What is the goal of the antagonist in the story? The enemy in the mission needs to have a goal. Are they here to wipe all sentient life forms in the universe? Why? There needs to be something driving the story forward.
What is the goal of the protagonist in the story? The good guys need a goal that makes sense as well. If they are simply here with a secret agenda from Section 31 and they can't possibly share with the player. Then why play? There needs to be something to drive the story forward. By the way that was not intended as a dig at Section 31 missions. Okay, maybe just a little.
What is the overall mission goal? Are we here once again to save the universe from another devastating enemy force, or are we finding the secret to an ancient civilization, and their technology. There has to be a point that brings the mission to a close and at the same time makes sense to the player. In the end it is up to the author to write a story, either combat or story oriented, that draws the player in and keeps them riveted to the seat in front of their computer.

The story dialogue that drives the mission forward is another element to good mission design. If the story dialogue does not make sense you will lose the player really quickly and your mission will become tedious. There is a simple way to avoid this. Read the dialogue out loud. This means to actually read the dialogue out loud while you sit in front of the screen testing the mission. When you read it to yourself your brain can trick you into thinking you actually said something in the dialogue that you knew was supposed to be there but actually is not. The brain is an amazing tool that helps us interpret the world around us. When we read something to ourselves and certain things are missing the brain will fill in the gaps by making assumptions. This is especially true if it is something you wrote, because you knew exactly what you wanted to say, even if you didn't write it like that.

Spelling and grammar errors:

As a general rule I will not lower my rating of a mission based solely on the spelling or grammatical errors, but it can be a contributing factor to a lower score. Many of the mission ratings I read, prior to playing a mission, mention "spelling" or "grammar" or both as an issue. Since that is the main thing they mention in their review on STO it would be logical to assume that accounts for a large part of the rating they've given the mission. In some cases it is a three star or less and others a four star rating. Yes even some are five stars with the accompanying "spelling" or "grammar" issues comment. The point here is spelling and grammar issues can easily be addressed with spelling/grammar checking available in most word processor programs on the market today. I write scripts for my missions using MS Word as my principle means of spell checking my dialogue. In the early days of my mission evaluation I noted a few spelling errors that, it did not occur to me at the time, were due to the differences in UK English and US English. I've done so many mission reviews at this point I hardly notice the difference anymore.

Map utilization:

This is an element of mission development that can be abused. To put it simply, just because you can create 10 maps does not mean you should. These are just a few things to consider when creating a map for your mission:

Is this map really needed to tell the story? I have played a few missions where I am to rendezvous with an NPC on a planet, ship, or base. When I get to the entry point for the first custom map and I fly into the system, the spawn point places me half way across the map. The initial dialogue, if any, is one of my BOFF's reporting we've arrived in the system and the NPC we are to meet with is waiting for us. I then fly all the way across the map, with nothing going on, to find another NPC with one or two lines that tell me to transport to the planet, ship or base. Then I am transferring maps again. This would be an example of poor map utilization. To fix this I would recommend the author delete the map and make the actual map where I rendezvous with the NPC the first custom map coming from a Cryptic map.
Do the elements of this map support the story? This means have you placed the right elements on a given map, which includes dialogue, objects, and effects that will support the story. It does not mean you cannot have extra elements on a map for dressing just be sure they do not detract from the story you are trying to tell. In other words, you don't want the extras in the background stealing the scene from the star of the show.
Can maps be combined and still tell the story? This means can you tell the story and combine the elements in one map. For example, you have a trip to a planetary system that you want to put into the story. You combine a space map with a warping effect. The player has a log they are reading or discussing the mission with their BOFFs as part of the story telling. At a certain point in the dialogue the player is prompted to drop out of warp and the planet that appears. This allows the author to include the elements of two maps into one and still tell their story. This would also free up another map space in the mission for your story if you really need it.

Triggers, effects, and NPC utilization:

Using triggers to tell a story is another important skill to have when developing a mission in the Foundry. Here are a couple of ways they can help:

I have recently learned how to use objects to trigger optional dialogue on a map vice NPC's. This allows the author to add a sub-plot or supporting dialogue that may not be required to complete the map but adds to the overall story. It also gives the author the ability to make the dialogue go away after the player has interacted with it. This is not the case when an author uses the standard NPC to trigger optional dialogue. I've played missions where I spawn on a ground map and there are several information icons "I" all over the map. Only one is really important to the story and required to finish the map but now I have to sift through them all. Then all the optional dialogue NPC says is a one liner about how busy they are and tells the player not to bother them. It has nothing to do with the story and is very annoying. The player spends 20 minutes trying to find the NPC they have to talk with in order to continue the mission. The short version of this would be to try the trigger objects for optional dialogue. It works great.
Triggers can also be used to activate effects, trigger enemy mobs, open doors or even set up new options. It is a way of having branching story dialogue on an individual map and allows the author to tell a more in-depth story if the player seeks it out. An example of this would be in my mission "Contamination" I have an option that pops up on a map where the player can trigger an anesthetic gas that knocks out the enemy giving the player the option to avoid combat. If they choose not to do that before reaching another trigger point on the map the option goes away. I use this for optional dialogue as well on virtually all the maps I designed for that mission. It is a good work around for the linear nature of the storyline in the Foundry albeit only for each map and will not affect the overall storyline. However if the story is well written the player will never notice that.

Using effects to dress up a story is another important skill to have when developing a mission in the Foundry. Here are a few things to consider:

There is no point in adding an effect that the player never sees. For example, you set a warp core to breach on a ship and then beam to your ship to trigger it, but the spawn point faces away from the explosion. In that same example the ship must move to a safe distance before detonating an explosion. They move away and the explosion goes off while they are facing away. So then the question is, why bother adding the actual effect? You want to showcase the effects as part of the story, so you have the spawn point facing the blast. Then when the player triggers the explosion they get to see the boom.
The opposite of this would be having effects that overwhelm the story or other map features. In the "Map Utilization" section above I mentioned "extras in the background stealing the scene from the star", this would apply to effects too. I've played missions where the author designed a beautiful map and filled it with a great story. It took me 20 minutes to find anything because the author had it filled with NPC triggered optional dialogue and a heavy dust storm so I could not see anything until I was right on top of it. Now that is very tedious. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use the dust storm effect, but be careful how you use it. Does it really do anything for the story? If not, then why have it?
Some of the effects do not work exactly as the DEV's intended. What the heck does that mean? It means that some of the effects were designed to work in certain situations but not in others. In some cases the effects are just plain broken. When you find those elements you should provide a detailed report to the DEV's so they can fix it. It may not get fixed right away but it will get there eventually, and they can't fix it if they don't know it's broke. This was true for some of the space explosions when the Foundry first opened for use. Now they work pretty well.
The utilization of NPC is another issue that can be easily overlooked by an author. The difference between NPC's and NPC groups is the individual NPC's in the groups will default to the name of the character. For example a Klingon warrior will be labeled "Warrior" or a Starfleet tactical officer will be labeled "Tactical Officer" or something along those lines. With NPC's if they are not given a specific name they show up on the map as "UGC Contact", which can detract from your story. The point here is that if you place NPC's on a map as background you should name them, even if it is simply copying the designation to the name field.

Testing your mission:

There have been a number of times when I mention to the author "I cannot find a story element" or "the element doesn't work" in their mission. The normal response I get back is "It worked great when I tested it" or "I had no problem with it". Here are few things the author needs to remember:

Just because it worked during testing in the Foundry doesn't mean it will during regular play. The only way to be sure is to test it in live play on the server. When I do this I put something in the description regarding "Testing, please do not play" or something along those lines. That will not prevent idiots from picking up your mission and rating it because, as I said, they are idiots, but it will give you a chance to test if it works in live play.
You should also remember that just because you are able to find the story point, interaction, trigger, or other mission objective on a map does not mean the player will be able to. Take into consideration that you designed a mission and of course you know right where everything is and how to get to it. The player will not have that advantage unless you give them clues through dialogue or other mission elements that point them in the right direction. This would also apply to mission length. For you the mission may only take 15 minutes to complete, but for a player it takes an hour because they do not know instinctively where everything is.

The use of response buttons:

When I refer to response buttons I mean the buttons at the bottom of the dialogue window. I know you might have thought that based on my mission reviews this would be at the top of the list. While I do feel it is important, it is not as important as the other items discussed above. As most anyone who has read just about any of my mission reviews knows the use of the response button "Continue" is a pet peeve of mine. There are occasions where it works although I encourage authors to use alternatives to it. For example "..." vice "Continue". Part of this is because I want the author to consider what response is appropriate to the dialogue. As all authors should be aware "Continue" is the default if you leave the button blank. Why does this matter? In my opinion it detracts from your story. For example, one of the player's BOFF's says "Captain, there is a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking off the port bow" the play's response is "Continue". It just doesn't seem to fit the dialogue.

In the end it is up to the author how they want to use these response buttons to drive the story forward. Remember you can also put the player's response in the dialogue window as well; you just have to make it stand out from the other dialogue. Using either [OCC] or [MissionInfo] dialogue is the best way to make it stand out. I prefer the [OOC] myself when designing more extensive responses from the player.

Summary:

It's the details that will get you every single time. I think everyone who has ever had a mission reviewed by me knows I do in-depth but fair reports on authors missions. I have tried to capture those elements that are what I consider to be "Best Practices" in this posting. The above items are ways I feel missions can be improved by the authors. By improving your missions you in turn improve the community and the quality of play for everyone. This makes the entire STO experience a much deeper and rich experience for all players.

Thanks for reading,
Brian

dalolorn · July 2012

thedukeofrock wrote: »

Personally, once I come up with the idea of the mission, I absolutely enjoy building the maps and environments first. I love trying to do things that have not been done before, and to build things that are pretty complex. I don't like to do anything small. (see picture in ad below )

I have the basic storyline in my head, so I don't write anything down. I prefer to expand on the story as I build it. It's just my personal preference to do it this way so I can change things up when I see the opportunity to do so.

Oh yeah, I also just make it up as I go.

Basic story comes into head, I build on it, I figure out when I should stop, I stop.

For example, in Exploratory Crisis (my only mission to date), first I thought "Okay, so I need to figure out a way to get a character into another universe, because I need it for my RP storyline.". So I made the U.S.S. Explorer with its somewhat glitchy reverse-engineered subtranswarp engines. Randomly pulled out a few ships from across the quadrant, blah blah blah, got boarded, beamed to the Explorer...... Deeper into the story, I found out I wanted to introduce some new characters, but I also wanted to make them optional. So, I did so. And I did so again. And so on, until I saved the Explorer and finished that part of the story.

Basically, right now I'm just waiting for a chance to make the sequel and continue the story, bring it closer to the intended purpose.

Did I provide too much detail?

markhawkman · July 2012

Great write-up Evil70th! I did have a few things to add though.

Plots, storyline, and dialogue:

1: definately essential. Also this should be in the mission summary players read before they start.

2: well... Is it player vs Enemy or player vs. Environment? In the former, yes you have villains with goals(which don't need to be diabolical). In the second, not so much. The story takes on a role similar to that of an antagonist.

3: this doesn't need to be complicated. Vs Enemies this can be as simple as stopping the enemies from accomplishing their goals. It's more complicated when doing a Player vs. story mission. In those missions you need a more complex story-driven reason for it.

4: this can be a combination of 2 and 3. But there definately needs to be some sort of conenction between them.

evil70th · July 2012

dalolorn wrote: »

Oh yeah, I also just make it up as I go.

Basic story comes into head, I build on it, I figure out when I should stop, I stop.

For example, in Exploratory Crisis (my only mission to date), first I thought "Okay, so I need to figure out a way to get a character into another universe, because I need it for my RP storyline.". So I made the U.S.S. Explorer with its somewhat glitchy reverse-engineered subtranswarp engines. Randomly pulled out a few ships from across the quadrant, blah blah blah, got boarded, beamed to the Explorer...... Deeper into the story, I found out I wanted to introduce some new characters, but I also wanted to make them optional. So, I did so. And I did so again. And so on, until I saved the Explorer and finished that part of the story.

Basically, right now I'm just waiting for a chance to make the sequel and continue the story, bring it closer to the intended purpose.

Did I provide too much detail?

It is okay to make it up as you go, but if you are creating a story you should be cautious that you do not make something up that contradicts another part of the story. That can be confusing and annoy the player. Sometimes I start off with a script then create maps, add effects, NPC's, objects and dialogue to see if I can make the story work the way I want it to. On occasion I have had to rewrite portions to meet the way the Foundry works. There are several ways to work around those limitations. Most authors I know are willing to share the techniques.

markhawkman wrote: »

Great write-up Evil70th! I did have a few things to add though.

Plots, storyline, and dialogue:

1: definately essential. Also this should be in the mission summary players read before they start.

2: well... Is it player vs Enemy or player vs. Environment? In the former, yes you have villains with goals(which don't need to be diabolical). In the second, not so much. The story takes on a role similar to that of an antagonist.

3: this doesn't need to be complicated. Vs Enemies this can be as simple as stopping the enemies from accomplishing their goals. It's more complicated when doing a Player vs. story mission. In those missions you need a more complex story-driven reason for it.

4: this can be a combination of 2 and 3. But there definately needs to be some sort of conenction between them.

Those are good points. Even a combat oriented mission should have a story of some kind. Something that keeps the player interested in playing your mission and slugging their way through to the end.

I am excited to see what changes they have made in the Foundry and how that will affect authoring.

designationxr377 · July 2012

Evil's write up is REALLY nice! He speaks with experience and history on his side. And authors new OR old should read through it. Evil70th would be the Patron Saint of Reviews if we had a religion.

dalolorn · July 2012

evil70th wrote: »

It is okay to make it up as you go, but if you are creating a story you should be cautious that you do not make something up that contradicts another part of the story. That can be confusing and annoy the player. Sometimes I start off with a script then create maps, add effects, NPC's, objects and dialogue to see if I can make the story work the way I want it to. On occasion I have had to rewrite portions to meet the way the Foundry works. There are several ways to work around those limitations. Most authors I know are willing to share the techniques.

Those are good points. Even a combat oriented mission should have a story of some kind. Something that keeps the player interested in playing your mission and slugging their way through to the end.

I am excited to see what changes they have made in the Foundry and how that will affect authoring.

Oh don't worry, I'm very careful about that. Then again... sometimes my RP storyline contradicts itself. Must be the fact that it's so long and I haven't written any of it down, so some of it just goes down the metaphorical drain of forgetfulness.

Indeed. Ironically, I originally wanted a very story-oriented mission, yet my own evaluation of it would be that it's a combat-oriented one, with very little optional dialogue.

Well, you can preview the changes on Tribble, unless they had to pull the Foundry over there down as well.

Edit: You know what's funny? Ever since playing One Too Many, I've been toying with the idea of using a certain photonic-loving officer in my next mission as a character, yet I never got around to asking... (and yes, I did just bring that up because of the post above :P)

evil70th · July 2012

designationxr377 wrote: »

Evil's write up is REALLY nice! He speaks with experience and history on his side. And authors new OR old should read through it. Evil70th would be the Patron Saint of Reviews if we had a religion.

Thanks for the compliment. Blessed are the authors, for they do enrich the community with their missions.

I merely try to help where I can and offer recommendations, which are my opinion; based on elements I've seen work in other missions, including mine. The community as a whole has many great authors that also teach others through tutorials and recommendations. In addition to my "Best Practices" post, Starbase UGC is full of many great tutorials on how to create missions effectively.

Together we can all build a stronger community. :cool:
Thanks for authoring,
Brian

sameriker · July 2012

I often wonder where the creative process is, especially these days all the Hollywood movies are remakes and cgi added content. My generation seems to be all about eye candy and nothing about the human condition.

I asked my Dad where and how the creative process works, since I am only a high school grad and he went to college. He thinks it starts as several stories we read or real life experiences and the creative process is just how we reorder the facts.

So basically we are back to remakes at different points of view. Plagiarism on a more grand scale. As a King once said, "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.".

My Mom says the creative process is just asking, "What if?". Such as, what if a vampire was your court appointed attorney? Then asking what events may happen afterwards.

I only have one mission so far in the Foundry (assuming it wasn't deleted) and it is just a basic shoot'em up arcade. Nothing fancy. I guess my opinion is I don't have creative talent. That creative story writing was never my strong point. My stories might make you fall asleep. I think creative writing is like painting, some one can teach you to paint, but unless you are born with it, you can never be a master.

nagorak · July 2012

There's always been the argument that every story has already been written. On an abstract level it's probably true to some extent, but in terms of actual practice I think it is basically false.

The reason we have so many sequels and remakes isn't because creative people don't exist out there, it's because the money which backs those projects don't want to take any risks. Someone backing a Hollywood movie cares less if they promote a project that ends up being groundbreaking or remembered, they just want to get a return on their investment.

A lot mainstream movies, games, and even books suffer from this problem. Some of the "biggest" names in Fiction are some of the worst actual storytellers (not saying this is true of every well known author, but it definitely is for some). In fact, some of them basically have ghost writers pump out most of their stuff for them and they just put their name on it.

There are a lot of gatekeepers for what content ends up out there. But maybe this is changing a little bit with the lower barriers to entry thanks to the internet, online publishing and Ebooks.

nagorak · July 2012

Regarding how I come up with a story, I guess that I come up with a basic concept, and then flesh it out. With Dereliction Duty, my concept was that I wanted to capture more of the Star Trek feel, and less of just going in and blowing stuff up, and along those lines I decided that the plot line would be a Starship had gone missing and the player had to investigate why.

To me the most interesting thing about a story is the characters, so that generally influences how I come up with the plot line. After having a basic concept, I then fill it out more, and a major way I do that is by coming up with characters, and seeing how those characters affect the storyline. Some of the plot of Dereliction Duty and Atlas Affair were more or less set by what needed to happen, but there were other side plots that were added due to the characters. For example, the parts with Qig and the ECH were mostly character generated.

Dereliction Duty and Atlas Affair 1/2 were in development for the better part of a year, and a lot of stuff was added to that basic plot line of "a ship has gone missing". By spending that time fleshing things out, I was able to do a lot more with the story than I could have if I'd just come up with it over the course of a couple weeks.

Now that I've come up with various characters, they actually can inspire entire plot lines based off of them. Perilous Prize was mostly based off of Daimon Tat and her crazy scheme, although that was obviously inspired by the whole lockbox nonsense. You can find inspiration in a lot of different places, particularly in your life experiences, other things you've read, current events, but the trick is then to take those ideas and make them your own.

In terms of fiction writing, I would generally allow the characters to drive the plot even more, but with the Foundry you do have to temper that to some extent by the need to give the player a major role, and you have to be mindful that STO is a game so you need to mix in some action. It's a different medium than a novel, so you have to go about things a little bit differently.

I would actually add that coming up with fun game experiences and figuring out how to tie them into the mission is an important part of Foundry development

sameriker · July 2012

I don't have any good ST related plots, my friends and I at college have spoken on several topics for MMO themes. I hope to hook up with them again this Fall and actually get to work on an MMO idea we kicked around. I don't think my university will mind us having a side project.

nrobbiec · July 2012

The plot, in its infancy anyway, doesn't need to be ST related. It's just a story in its purest form, then adapt it to Trek. Tell a story you want to tell and format it to your medium.
This reminds me I need to go back to my Trek short stories, I've neglected them.

evil70th · July 2012

nrobbiec wrote: »

The plot, in its infancy anyway, doesn't need to be ST related. It's just a story in its purest form, then adapt it to Trek. Tell a story you want to tell and format it to your medium.
This reminds me I need to go back to my Trek short stories, I've neglected them.

I agree with nrobbiec. Stories are important to the mission, even if it is only a combat oriented mission. As I said in my write up, "What is the motivation of the player to be in this mission?" It does not have to be complex but it should make sense. The mission is never as simple as "Fly in and kill the enemy". Then you put every type of enemy on the map. For me this would become tedious really quickly. That is not to say you cannot have multiple factions on a map but is there something to it. For example, there is a secret alliance between the Klingons and Romulans to destroy the Federation. If you don?t explain that through even a short bit of dialogue the player will be lost and wonder why they should continue.

On occasion I'll start a basic story to give myself an outline to work with then flesh it out in the Foundry. Then I go into the Foundry and see what my limits are for the story I want to tell. Once I figure that out I go back and write the dialogue to and develop the rest of the story. It just depends on the story I want to tell.

Good luck and I look forward to playing/reviewing your missions when the Foundry is back up and running.

Brian

How do you write your mission?

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