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Foundry versions of STF's?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
What sort of interest is out there in having the STF's recreated within the Foundry where they can be solo'ed?

Are there any rights issues to challenging a Foundry expert-type to recreate the STF's then make them available to the masses?

Okay, let me explain my reasoning a little more in depth including the concept and ramifications of having the STF's recreated in the Foundry...

1. Most of the content and story is recreated so that players can enjoy the content solo or grouped
2. Players are able to play at their own pace and learn to do the mission and have fun doing it
3. Players can then take what they've seen and learned and apply it towards an attempt at the STFs with the understanding that the STF will be harder and that there will be challenging puzzles which will have to be solved by using teamwork

Solo players get the content without the puzzles, teams/fleets get a training scenario in preparation for the "real" thing, grouping-preferred-players get a larger base of knowledgeable teamwork-minded players from which to choose STF partners...

Seems to me to be a win all around for everyone without waiting for Cryptic to get around to it!
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    STFs are available to everyone already.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    But THESE could be made to be SOLOABLE! ;P
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Then they are not "STFs" if they are soloable. Gozer has explained this in other threads. On more than one occasion.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Then they are not "STFs" if they are soloable. Gozer has explained this in other threads. On more than one occasion.

    Oh ye of so little faith...where there's a will, there WILL be a way... :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Making them solo-able would make them other missions entirely.
    To make infected solo, you have to remove a puzzle (since timers aren't in the Foundry) and nerf mobs
    To make the cure solo, you have to remove multiple puzzles (see above) and nerf mobs.
    To make terradome solo, you have to remove puzzles (you can't protect targets in the Foundry) and nerf mobs.

    That said, I was able to recreate Terradome up to the coin-flip puzzle in the Foundry.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Until we reach Soloable STFs I think they will remain STO's least favorite missions, but I appreciate all the work you are doing on them.

    Ummm... so I'm not sure I can be any more clear here. What part of There will never be soloable STF's in the game.. do you not understand? STF = Team ... I don't think I can be any clearer than that. There is no such thing as a Solo STF.

    Look at it this way: Most people really like the weekly episodes.
    Most people really hate the STFs.

    This is simply not true... There are a large number of people that play STF's daily and enjoy them. Sure they are not as popular as regular episodes, but then niether is PVP. We are not going to pull out PVP or STF's just because they not as popular as other content types. We do want them to appeal to more people so we can justify spending time on them in the future.

    I think the biggest problem is trying to convince others to play them. You will have to set up some kind of que system, but that will not be fun as some people have become well known for just not being able to do them and you won't want to team with them?

    I have no idea what you were trying to say here, other than it's hard to get people to play with. Which really isn't something we can do much about. We will soon be adding a PVE Que system that will let you set up private instances of and PVE maps (including STF's). However being popular is all on you. If you don't have any friends you should look into joining a fleet.


    Goz

    I'm saying that we are discussing apples and oranges here. The STF's simply won't work as regular episodes. No matter what people want, this is the fundemental issue.

    Here are a couple of examples...

    Infected...
    The entire boss room mechanic would have to be reworked, and completely redone as there is no way your away team AI is going to be able to handle moving around in there.

    Cure...
    There is no way to tell your away team to "Protect a transformer"....


    This is just a couple of things but the list is very very long.

    These are fundemental issues that mean the only way to give you "solo" versions of them is to completely make new episodes from scratch. I'm not ruling that out long term, but if this is what we ended up doing the new episodes would not be STF's any longer.. the would just be Episodes....

    How else do you want him to spell it out for you?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    The whole semantics thing is silly. No, you cannot create an exact copy of the STFs in the Foundry. But you can make a solo mission that is based on the same story as the STFs. In regards to the OPs questions, I have issued a challenge to the Foundry community along these lines:

    http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=207207
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    How else do you want him to spell it out for you?

    what he wants is someone to take the story, and the environments of the the task force misison. recreate it as best they can using the foundry to make a solo mission so he and others can enjoy a fairly accurate representation of the misison and the story solo.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    How else do you want him to spell it out for you?

    Sir, your authoritarian arrogance is astounding. Why can you not open up your mind to more options and possibilities?

    Okay, let me explain my reasoning a little more in depth including the concept and ramifications of having the STF's recreated in the Foundry...

    1. Most of the content and story is recreated so that players can enjoy the content solo or grouped
    2. Players are able to play at their own pace and learn to do the mission and have fun doing it
    3. Players can then take what they've seen and learned and apply it towards an attempt at the STFs with the understanding that the STF will be harder and that there will be challenging puzzles which will have to be solved by using teamwork

    Solo players get the content without the puzzles, teams/fleets get a training scenario in preparation for the "real" thing, grouping-preferred-players get a larger base of knowledgeable teamwork-minded players from which to choose STF partners...

    Seems to me to be a win all around for everyone without waiting for Cryptic to get around to it!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I have only done Infected once so far and I was unable to read any of the story because I had to keep up with the team.

    I'd like a solo version of them just so I can take my time and read all the dialog. Plus it would make me more comfortable if I was familiar with the maps before I try The Cure and KA.

    That being said, I'm think this is impossible b/c I think Cryptic has not made the STF maps available to The Foundry (correct me if I'm wrong). Plus the boss mobs (or at least their costumes) would have to be available in a nerfed form which they probably have no plans for either.

    So, there's some merit in the idea but probably not enough interest for Cryptic to act on it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I have only done Infected once so far and I was unable to read any of the story because I had to keep up with the team.

    I'd like a solo version of them just so I can take my time and read all the dialog. Plus it would make me more comfortable if I was familiar with the maps before I try The Cure and KA.

    That being said, I'm think this is impossible b/c I think Cryptic has not made the STF maps available to The Foundry (correct me if I'm wrong). Plus the boss mobs (or at least their costumes) would have to be available in a nerfed form which they probably have no plans for either.

    So, there's some merit in the idea but probably not enough interest for Cryptic to act on it.

    Looks like I'll have to devote some STO play-time to researching the Foundry and just what it can and can't do.

    I can understand the reluctance of the devs to share maps/mobs/etc that they would prefer to keep as "surprises" in their "stable of things to throw at the players" both for now and in the future.

    But I also understand that amongst the player-base are quite a few very knowledgeable "programming" type people that would dearly love accepting the challenge of attempting to recreate an STF. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I'm very interested.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    As has been said, there are elements of the current STF's that would be hard, if not impossible (at the moment), to recreate since the tools to replicate those actions for a single player arena aren't there. So you wouldn't get an exact copy of those STF's in the first place.

    Another thing to mention that is a draw for the STF's is the gear grab for the Borg set. This can't be setup as a reward since there is no control over that aspect of Foundry creations (think the reward is something along the lines of doing an Uknown System in an exploration cluster of appropriate level). If you're in it for the story though, it wouldn't be a monumental task of creating a replica of the STF to the best of your ability and filling in with NPC/Mission text (as much as it would feel like a filler).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    As has been said, there are elements of the current STF's that would be hard, if not impossible (at the moment), to recreate since the tools to replicate those actions for a single player arena aren't there. So you wouldn't get an exact copy of those STF's in the first place.

    Another thing to mention that is a draw for the STF's is the gear grab for the Borg set. This can't be setup as a reward since there is no control over that aspect of Foundry creations (think the reward is something along the lines of doing an Uknown System in an exploration cluster of appropriate level). If you're in it for the story though, it wouldn't be a monumental task of creating a replica of the STF to the best of your ability and filling in with NPC/Mission text (as much as it would feel like a filler).

    But just think about being able to do the missions with the time to really appreciate the storyline.

    Being able to give fleet mates a glimpse or run-thru of the maps as a "training" episode.

    Rewards have no bearing on my suggestion to recreate the STF's. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I wouldn't play them, as they'd be a mockery of the dev's work. Also, STF's are group missions by definition in this game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    I looked at this. Last I saw, bridge officer pathing is a nightmare on some of these maps. But I have considered building on STFs, maybe doing Mirror Universe versions of them.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Between Gozer's postings about the issues and other people bringing up the various puzzles along with the AI pathing issues, I still think that there is some sort of way to overcome or bypass the puzzle issue in a recreation.

    The Borg Queen room...Bo's can run up the ramp behind you and fight off the borg while you work a central "puzzle" on the middle platform. Solving the puzzle brings down her shield and extends a ramp to her platform, mission continues. :) No, it's not EXACTLY the same STF, but it is similar enough to be simple in programming and execution.

    We're talking computer programming here! It's not like it's warp theory or something! :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2011
    Pyryck wrote:
    Between Gozer's postings about the issues and other people bringing up the various puzzles along with the AI pathing issues, I still think that there is some sort of way to overcome or bypass the puzzle issue in a recreation.

    The Borg Queen room...Bo's can run up the ramp behind you and fight off the borg while you work a central "puzzle" on the middle platform. Solving the puzzle brings down her shield and extends a ramp to her platform, mission continues. :) No, it's not EXACTLY the same STF, but it is similar enough to be simple in programming and execution.

    We're talking computer programming here! It's not like it's warp theory or something! :)

    Computer programming is like having someone flip hang you by the feet and slamming your face into a brick wall X.X
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