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Exploration Missions - Call to Authors
rekurzion
Member Posts: 697 Arc User
Good day authors!
Ever since exploration clusters were removed I've sat on an idea waiting for the right moment, then a few weeks ago it was announced the Foundry would be unleashed into sector space in an effort to make missions more visible to players titled the Top 3 Foundry system. The idea comes from much of the heated debates shortly after exploration was "removed" that the Foundry could make a better "Explore Unknown System" mission than a random generator - which ultimately resulted in several of us rising to the challenge and creating exploration style missions. All of which were fun and unique (like an entire mission spent under water...pretty cool).
I'm proposing to take a more deliberate approach to providing exploration content to players that give them the feel of the old style exploration missions with their own special flare. Know that I'm not part of a large fleet, I have no website to collaborate efforts and do not intend this to be invite only. This is simply an idea anyone can take part in and to be done in the most flexible way possible for maximum variety.
My hope is this will spark an increase in exploration cluster missions and populate the vastly empty real estate which at current litters the STO galaxy.
My ideas are below meant as a set of guidelines to make each mission feel similar while allowing for authors to apply their complete creativity. Think of it like a Foundry Challenge or guest writers for TV series. Please feel free to supply feedback to make this the most successful as it can be.
1. Mission length
Missions should be single play and short enough to apply for rewards but in depth enough for a meaningful story. Some of the feedback from players about Foundry missions was the amount of epic multi-mission sagas was a little daunting. That sometimes you just want to get in, get swept away and get out without worrying about playing a trilogy.
2. Emulate Old-Style Exploration Format
We all know how repeatedly boring "Explore Unknown System" missions could be. You knew exactly what you were getting into within the first few seconds of dropping into proximity of an unexplored system. Consoles beveled into walls, empty facilities, mashing the F key and no story. These formats were so boring and silly their essence deserves to be preserved as an inside joke to future exploration missions. Like Captain Archer telling his crew to "turn that damn thing off" referring to the annoying "Red Alert" sounds so prevalent in Star Trek lore.
But the format of these missions also serve another purpose of providing a basic template to begin your story. By using these "templates" (approach planet, beam down, scan 3/3 console, missions complete) we can create a similar feel to each exploration mission. The twist? The author needs to fill in the blanks, provide a rich story and experience on top of the template.
The idea is taking what was a good basic template for a mission and adding the stuff only a human author can add. Additionally, borrowing concepts from Doff missions should also help with template and story construction.
For a complete list of old style exploration mission formats see the following link (thank you markhawkman, now you know why I asked)
List of "Explore Unknown System" formats
3. Consistent Naming Convention
syntax = Explore <cluster> <TRIBBLE><search sector>
The idea here is to emulate the naming convention of "Explore Unknown System" with something equally ambiguous but easily searchable in the Foundry UI. I'm not quite sure about this one so some other ideas here are welcome or just name them what ever you want.
cluster = the name of the exploration cluster where the mission starts, i.e. Delta Volanis
TRIBBLE = random 3 digit number (to avoid similarly named missions)
search sector=the sector within the exploration cluster being explored
At current I've envisioned a breakdown of an exploration cluster in a 5x5 matrix. Starting from the lower left square as 1A or 1Alpha proceeding upwards. Each adjacent column follows a similar pattern increasing the numeric by 1. That is...
1E 2E 3E 4E 5E
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D
1C 2C 3C 4C 5C
1B 2B 3B 4B 5B
1A 2A 3A 4A 5A
The alpha segment can be portrayed as an English letter or their Greek counterpart. So A(Alpha), B(Beta), C(Gama), D(Delta), E(Epsilon).
Example Mission Title: Explore Delta Volanis 417C (shameless self promotion of my exploration mission alert).
4. Sharing is Caring
While I'm suggesting the creation of single play missions I would also encourage authors to borrow plot lines and stories from other exploration missions in a way that allows the player to experience that mission without having played the other while also giving a sense of cohesion within an exploration cluster. So if one author tells a story and leaves out details of a particular character for the sake of their story (maybe a small side character) another author who is so intrigued could pick up that character and elaborate more within their story.
This is another grey area and I'm not sure how well this would work so definitely could use some ideas here.
Conclusion
Of course these concepts can be extended to other doors throughout sector space with concepts such as "Answer Distress Call". I really do believe the recent changes to the Foundry can provide a richer Trek experience to players and a format such as the one I'm suggesting takes away some of the pain of story writing while creating the illusion of a similar thread between missions.
Let me know what you think and I look forward to seeing participation.
Godspeed
Ever since exploration clusters were removed I've sat on an idea waiting for the right moment, then a few weeks ago it was announced the Foundry would be unleashed into sector space in an effort to make missions more visible to players titled the Top 3 Foundry system. The idea comes from much of the heated debates shortly after exploration was "removed" that the Foundry could make a better "Explore Unknown System" mission than a random generator - which ultimately resulted in several of us rising to the challenge and creating exploration style missions. All of which were fun and unique (like an entire mission spent under water...pretty cool).
I'm proposing to take a more deliberate approach to providing exploration content to players that give them the feel of the old style exploration missions with their own special flare. Know that I'm not part of a large fleet, I have no website to collaborate efforts and do not intend this to be invite only. This is simply an idea anyone can take part in and to be done in the most flexible way possible for maximum variety.
My hope is this will spark an increase in exploration cluster missions and populate the vastly empty real estate which at current litters the STO galaxy.
My ideas are below meant as a set of guidelines to make each mission feel similar while allowing for authors to apply their complete creativity. Think of it like a Foundry Challenge or guest writers for TV series. Please feel free to supply feedback to make this the most successful as it can be.
1. Mission length
Missions should be single play and short enough to apply for rewards but in depth enough for a meaningful story. Some of the feedback from players about Foundry missions was the amount of epic multi-mission sagas was a little daunting. That sometimes you just want to get in, get swept away and get out without worrying about playing a trilogy.
2. Emulate Old-Style Exploration Format
We all know how repeatedly boring "Explore Unknown System" missions could be. You knew exactly what you were getting into within the first few seconds of dropping into proximity of an unexplored system. Consoles beveled into walls, empty facilities, mashing the F key and no story. These formats were so boring and silly their essence deserves to be preserved as an inside joke to future exploration missions. Like Captain Archer telling his crew to "turn that damn thing off" referring to the annoying "Red Alert" sounds so prevalent in Star Trek lore.
But the format of these missions also serve another purpose of providing a basic template to begin your story. By using these "templates" (approach planet, beam down, scan 3/3 console, missions complete) we can create a similar feel to each exploration mission. The twist? The author needs to fill in the blanks, provide a rich story and experience on top of the template.
For example: The player starts the mission by approaching the planet to beam down and investigate something strange and new. Upon the approach all systems on board are disable by an energy wave emanating from the planets surface. Transporters are disabled and the mission then becomes to travel to the surface by shuttlecraft to discover the source of the disturbance and restore power to your vessel. Once on the surface you locate what appears to be an abandoned facility shooting energy waves out into space. you deactivate the device (console 1/3) only to be confronted by a new species who attack and capture you and your crew with the intention to sacrifice you for trespassing. You find a way to escape (console 2/3) and investigate more about the people to see if there is a diplomatic solution to be had. You find a terminal (console 3/3) and discover they are a xenophobic race who has been tormented by another unknown foe who begins an assault on your disabled ship in orbit. You work out a peace with your would be captures who help restore power to your ship. You beam up to fend off the invading force (kill enemies 3/3) and save the day.
The idea is taking what was a good basic template for a mission and adding the stuff only a human author can add. Additionally, borrowing concepts from Doff missions should also help with template and story construction.
For a complete list of old style exploration mission formats see the following link (thank you markhawkman, now you know why I asked)
List of "Explore Unknown System" formats
3. Consistent Naming Convention
syntax = Explore <cluster> <TRIBBLE><search sector>
The idea here is to emulate the naming convention of "Explore Unknown System" with something equally ambiguous but easily searchable in the Foundry UI. I'm not quite sure about this one so some other ideas here are welcome or just name them what ever you want.
cluster = the name of the exploration cluster where the mission starts, i.e. Delta Volanis
TRIBBLE = random 3 digit number (to avoid similarly named missions)
search sector=the sector within the exploration cluster being explored
At current I've envisioned a breakdown of an exploration cluster in a 5x5 matrix. Starting from the lower left square as 1A or 1Alpha proceeding upwards. Each adjacent column follows a similar pattern increasing the numeric by 1. That is...
1E 2E 3E 4E 5E
1D 2D 3D 4D 5D
1C 2C 3C 4C 5C
1B 2B 3B 4B 5B
1A 2A 3A 4A 5A
The alpha segment can be portrayed as an English letter or their Greek counterpart. So A(Alpha), B(Beta), C(Gama), D(Delta), E(Epsilon).
Example Mission Title: Explore Delta Volanis 417C (shameless self promotion of my exploration mission alert).
4. Sharing is Caring
While I'm suggesting the creation of single play missions I would also encourage authors to borrow plot lines and stories from other exploration missions in a way that allows the player to experience that mission without having played the other while also giving a sense of cohesion within an exploration cluster. So if one author tells a story and leaves out details of a particular character for the sake of their story (maybe a small side character) another author who is so intrigued could pick up that character and elaborate more within their story.
This is another grey area and I'm not sure how well this would work so definitely could use some ideas here.
Conclusion
Of course these concepts can be extended to other doors throughout sector space with concepts such as "Answer Distress Call". I really do believe the recent changes to the Foundry can provide a richer Trek experience to players and a format such as the one I'm suggesting takes away some of the pain of story writing while creating the illusion of a similar thread between missions.
Let me know what you think and I look forward to seeing participation.
Godspeed
Post edited by rekurzion on
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Comments
I'm actually working on an idea for an underwater mission myself. Do you happen to know the one you mentioned or the author?
Keep at it,
J.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
I feel the same way. my thought is the guidelines are so basic that most missions would incorporate them anyway (it's almost inevitable you have something in your mission you have to scan or kill) and to be honest I'm still on the fence about a lot of it. I guess more than anything in this post I'm looking to collaborate ideas for something inventive rather than just getting authors to follow my orders so to speak. Also looking at as a foundation for newer authors to get into the flow a littler quicker by setting the stage with templates for mission design. But yes, I don't think my idea would work unless each author was able to provide their complete creativity to the process where the templates almost disappeared amidst the story.
I'm really trying to start a public discourse and a unified direction rather than boundary rules.
kirksplat did two missions called Explore Delta Volanis Mission 1 and 2, I can't remember which one it was but they are both worth checking out.
No reason that should be a constraint. I've always said if you ask 100 star trek fans what star trek means you will get 101 answers. "Exploration" can mean anything not just flying around looking for objects to scan. I can hardly recall any episode of Star Trek that was just "exploration" for the sake of exploration. It was nearly always, "Hey, let's check out that strange and new phenomena...WE'RE BEING FIRED ON CAPTAIN!" and then mayhem ensues.
I'll definitely make an exploratory mission in response to this!
~XO
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
Hmm...change the borg costumes to Vaadwar then write in how they have incorporated borg technology into the weapons to pursue their galactic dominating ways. I think they call that the hollywood shuffle?
I have 4 episodes thus far and I'm working on number 5 now.
Missions range from 40 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes.
Each mission you have to explore planets, asteroids, and such tasks. You always beam to a planet's surface and explore a ground map.
My missions are always based on science and are always non-combat.
Levels requirements are mostly any level but Uncharted Worlds 2 is level 31.
These are Federation missions are and are geared towards science officers, however it's open to anyone.
Thanks for you time.
One thing I would like to point out is that the old Exploration Missions where the primary source of R&D materials for crafting at Memory Alpha. The scanning for materials on space and ground maps was the main reward for doing the exploration clusters.
if we could get the Crytic Devs to allow us to place scanning "Objectives" on ground and space maps or even some automated system that places them on maps upon publishing then that would go along way towards bringing back the exploration missions and make them popular.
Probably just going to get jossed again whenever Cryptic decides to launch that Krenim mission they were teasing in "Dust to Dust". Besides, it completely defeats the point of the mission, which was to call Janeway out on committing high treason in "Scorpion".
And I had this great idea to write the Krenim military like 40k's Imperial Guard, too...
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
Yeah unfortunately that aspect will still be missing. The hope is the replacement of quality/unique/creative story and the dil reward as an adequate replacement.