Anton MercerEngineering - Captain
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Joined: 20 Sep 2009
Posts: 1620
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re: Review: Task Force Sol
 by Anton Mercer on 05/05/13 14:28
I have quite the review for you Evil! I was very impressed with the overall mission and its design. I give this review, not to bash, but as constructive critiquing from a fellow foundry author. EvilJedi70 on the the STO forums does great Foundry reviews, and I will try to mimic his style here. PLEASE NOTE: I played on Normal, as it is a better gauge on certain aspects of the Foundry. I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there may be a few. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE MISSION BEFORE PLAYING, STOP READING NOW, this is solely for Evildead to help him increase the awesomeness of what is an already awesome mission. I also tried to spot any grammer and spelling errors, I'm sorry if I missed any.
TASK FORCE SOL
Grant Mission Dialog, Mission Prompt, and System Entry:
Both Grant Mission and Prompt dialogs are the same. Consider re-writing one or the other to vary what the player is reading and draw them more into the mission. Also, consider re-warning the player in OOC in the Grant Mission Dialog that this is to be played in Elite AND the use of a remodulator is required. Some people always forget that, even in the Foundry, the Borg adapt  The System Entry dialog should be fleshed out just a little to give the player a bit more background or whathaveyou about the mission. No spelling or grammer errors noted.
"Emergency Meeting" First Map
Great map design! A little spacious, may want to consider condensing just a little.
Only thing of note on this map is Admiral Westmore's Dialog during "Return to Melbourn": Consider changing "Commando" to "Commandos" or "Commando teams"
"In the Valley..." Second Map
Another great map design! Well thought out debris patterns!
Two things of note: First: the Derelict Borg cube is clipped into the station. If this is done intentionally to mimic ramming then disregard. Second. the "Station" still has the generic assigned Foundry name when scanning the area, may consider changing. No grammer or spelling errors noted.
"...of the Shadow of Death" Third Map
Yet another great map! Earth looks gorgeous and Sol System is mimicked almost perfectly!
Several things of note here: One: Earth may be a hair to close to the Defeat Borg area. Consider lowering it 1 or 1.5 on the y axis as I, several times, went into the atmosphere and was "whited" out. Two: If not already, which means Feds suck, consider making the group engaged in combat near the station a battleship group to increase survivability. Third: You may want to consider extending the interaction circles for "Beam Macos" and "Beam Self" to the station, as I had to nearly ram the station to trigger them. No grammer or spelling errors noted.
"Defeat borg" Fourth Map
What happened with the title of this map!?  Compared to the last two, this is rather Ho-Hum, consider revising. Remember: When a player sees a map title they try and predict what the map is going to be about. Having a unique title throws the player off and draws them in more as they do not know what to expect, per se, also Borg needs to be capitalized. Other than that this is an AWESOME map with one exception and I have a screenshot to show you exactly what I'm talking about, as it would have been hard to explain via text and it DOESN'T spoil anything
As you can see both "Borg Broken Pylon" tops are "floating" in the air as they are not attached to anything, consider adding something different or removing them. No grammer or spelling errors noted.
"Investigate Signal" Fifth Map
Nother ho-hum title, consider revision.
Second favorite map of this mission! Great work.
Several things of note: One: Wounded officers have generic Foundry names. Two: Instead of beaming out the wounded, beam in a medical crew or have the player administer aid themselves and have Dr. Savar respond to that. Sometimes disappearing actors, even with implied beaming, break the ambiance of the mission. Third: You may want to put Reach WP objectives before each disable forcefield to make a smoother transition especially after Dr. Savar. That way the player is like "Oh I have to go over here now. Oh a forcefield..great.." kinda thing . Several grammer and spelling errors I noted in Detan's dialog tree in dialog box order were: First box: A space between "a" and "hold" in player response. Third box: Humans have two eyes, but "instead" only needs one Also consider another Reach WP for the turbolift as it is a little hard to find tucked in that corner. I actually ran out of the room thinking it was the big door there
"Destroy the Borg Portal" Sixth Map
Title is ok, but might want to revise.
FAVORITE MAP!! Great design and REALLY tough battles. Remind you, I played on NORMAL and I died several times, which leads me to the main concern of this map. You may want to add respawn points as players get further into the map to avoid the long run back. You may also want to consider moving the spawn point to right in front of the Turbolift, as when I respawned, several of my BOffs got stuck in a wall.
"Control Room" Seventh Map
The above was not the actual name of the map but another average title, may consider revising.
Third favorite map. OMG that fight was tough. I do not know if it was your intention, but the Starfleet Captains, and I believe 8 of 12, were NOT ETDs and were fairly easy to kill, so you may want to switch customers and actors around there if you want them to be ETDs. Once again, was played on NORMAL, and I died several times. Other things of note: You might want to change "Beam to medbay" into "Release from capture" then "tag them" for beamout later to avoid that "disappearing act". First two Damp consoles are floating in the air, and the trigger area for the weapons consoles is quite large, as I got it in the middle of the room instead of on the console. No grammer or spelling errors noted.
"This Far, No Further" Final Map
^^ Thats a map title
Great short map with a tough, but I would wager fair battle when played on Elite. Was that an actual DN or a costume? Seemed just a bit soft in Normal.
That's my full review! Great work Evildead! This mission will be added to the MFL, and I respectively REQUIRE you, after any touch ups you wish, to submit this for a FOUNDRY SPOTLIGHT mission as this mission is THE BEST one to come out of the 7th in some time. I once again iterate that this review is ONLY constructive criticism from a fellow author, and can be wholly ignored if desired.
If anyone has anything I missed or more suggestions please post them so that Evil can continue to improve a fantastic mission.
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