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RFD: Story Element "Timer" - Feature Request
hobstbank
Member Posts: 19 Arc User
Introduced with Season 7, any Mission suitable for OR needs to last 20 Minutes or more.
It is hardly possible to create a Mission that - independent from player - runs for a certain amount of time. So a mission can easily need 15 min for one player and 25 for another. It is hard enough to get a mission OR certified, even harder to regain it.
To avoid a mission loosing OR cert, like other authors I add a timer to the mission, realized by NPCs who patrol and then kill each other. To avoid users to interfere with the "timer", I place it somewhere out of range - if possible.
This might be a bearable workaround if the AI would work a bit more reliable. But since for some publishes the "patrol timer" works ok, it often enough fails, causing time consuming reviews of the mission. This is not only frustrating for me. Being unable to finish a mission is even more pain for users.
So - long talk short sense - I want a Timer-Feature for the Foundry storyboard. And I want it with priority, since it makes no sense to modify all the missions for this damn patrol timer and then later write all back and use a well laid timer.
Technically this is one of the most easy things since any game uses endless sets of timers, I really wonder why it still is not there.
So I hope this thread helps to discuss and/or support the Feature Request.
It is hardly possible to create a Mission that - independent from player - runs for a certain amount of time. So a mission can easily need 15 min for one player and 25 for another. It is hard enough to get a mission OR certified, even harder to regain it.
To avoid a mission loosing OR cert, like other authors I add a timer to the mission, realized by NPCs who patrol and then kill each other. To avoid users to interfere with the "timer", I place it somewhere out of range - if possible.
This might be a bearable workaround if the AI would work a bit more reliable. But since for some publishes the "patrol timer" works ok, it often enough fails, causing time consuming reviews of the mission. This is not only frustrating for me. Being unable to finish a mission is even more pain for users.
So - long talk short sense - I want a Timer-Feature for the Foundry storyboard. And I want it with priority, since it makes no sense to modify all the missions for this damn patrol timer and then later write all back and use a well laid timer.
Technically this is one of the most easy things since any game uses endless sets of timers, I really wonder why it still is not there.
So I hope this thread helps to discuss and/or support the Feature Request.
Post edited by hobstbank on
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Now, however, I doubt they will implement one because someone could, once they got the mission to qualify, simplly put in a 16 minute timer and let the player go afk and so players could run it over and over again and get lots and lots of dilithium for absolutely zero effort and the mission average time would never drop below the requirement.
I recall asking they do away with the "quickies" which as I knew would p_ss off a lot of dilthium farmers. But I don't write missions to be forced or want people to feel bribed to play something that should be entertaining. I do agree 20 minutes is a bit too long... I believe I suggested a minimum of 2 or 3 map transitions.
There are some "tricks" to adding timers. I have used Kirkfat's timer but substituted ships on the far side of a planet. The timer is a plot device as well. Even if the user skips my dialog they still MUST wait for the collision of the anomaly into the planet. This trips other battles and dialog.
Since the devs chose this path, they should have a simple method of testing your mission and giving you the average play time by having an AI play through the mission. While I support your thread and idea, I don't think the devs thought this one through well.
Dialog should count as well and they could give the AI a nice slow reading speed.
Any author is going to want you to read their dialog, it is why we write books. LoL
Best wishes!
1) Have a room walled-off so the player can't get in there.
2) Have a high-level friendly mob in that room.
3) When you want your "timer" to start have an enemy mob spawn in there (low level so it can't win) and make its destruction a progression objective. You can name the objective whatever you want so this can be disguised.
It is inexact but will cause a delay in mission progression.
The only thing I can see this doing is creating a mission where the player can afk for 15 minutes so they can get free dilithium for doing nothing.
Foundry Mission Database
Check out my Foundry missions:
Standalone - The Great Escape - The Galaxy's Fair - Purity I: Of Denial - Return to Oblivion
Untitled Series - Duritanium Man - The Improbable Bulk - Commander Rihan
Iif you like this or not ... these missions are already there, and the patrol timer works better for them than for more complex missions. So your argument seems to be quite futile.
A storyboard timer would open more possibilities, more reliability and so more fun for authors and users as well.
Yes, this way timers have been done, also sending mobs on patrol is an option. In space you can lock out ppl form certain areas using invisible objects, or put them on a platform in sky or on the ground for other map types.
But ... due to foundry limits it needs a bunch of time to adjust the timer to be as exact as necessary and in some maps the patrol wont start if it is too far away from the users position what makes the map unreliable.
So why cause hundreds of foundry authors waste their time into painful workarounds when a timer element for storyboard could solve all this problems?
Well, this is one of the questions why I started this request for discussion. Maybe most of the foundry authors out there love the pain and dont know what else to do with their time. If so, it would be stupid to ruin their fun by implementing a simple and effective solution...
But now, exploits man. This is why we can't have nice things.
Is it really an exploit to design a mission for max output at minimal time and attention costs? Or is it strict within the rules?
And - lots of such missions already are there, but where is the timer?
So "can be abused" is a quite pointless argument. Also no reason to cut and run, isnt it?
10 char
If it is something where the player can afk through the whole thing and still get the reward, then yes, personally, I would call that an exploit whether it officially breaks any rules or not. And if we had a timer mechanic someone could build a mission where that would be possible. But obviously Cryptic makes rulings on that, not players, not me.
These boff grinders and ones where you or npc ships shoot at mobs set to timid creature so they don't fire back and with the nebula effect so they don't have shields. Those are definite gray area. Probably not exploits in the strictest sense, whatever my personal feelings toward them.
"Can be abused" is not a pointless argument. MMO devs have to seriously look at things from that perspective.
But hey, request whatever you want. Obviuously I can't speak for Cryptic. The only thing I'm telling you is I don't think they will implement one for this reason.
So it is not that interesting for me what you believe that they will think. I'm more curious for your personal opinion to this topic.
Trust me, I'll be properly ecstatic if they put one in. We've requested one many times. I remember back to mission editors for games like TIE Fighter that a timer was one of the basic features, and I do feel it is lacking here.
I hope other ppl will support as well, even more since with the last update the patrol AI was updated and now has even more problems on some maps than before.
The only way i can see something like this working at all would be to have them as entries available on the storyboard (like "go to reach marker x" or "interact with object") that can be up to, let's say, 1 minute long and limitted to 1 per map.
If you want to use a nice map or have some story or certain freedom of movement on the map ... well, bummer.
And - why should you or anyone want to restrict himself with awful limits because the game gods failed to implement a sufficient balanced reward system?
In my opinion, 20 minutes is too long of a restriction. If they use a time restriction then the authors need some kind of a tool to estimate the time. But we all know that isn't going to happen.