Foundry mission "Ripple effect"

[you-kick-my-dog]

Fleetmates!

Ive created a new foundry mission that could use your opinion its a level 57+ mission called Ripple Effect I'm considering making it a trilogy mission. The authors name is mozzelli

Please give it a play and let me know what you think! thanks!

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

[Z. Barrett]

There are multiple missions named, "Ripple Effect." Likewise, there are no missions under the author name Mozzelli.

[you-kick-my-dog]

Search under the "new" tap should be third or fourth mission there.

[Z. Barrett]

I am still not seeing it. When I search "Ripple Effect," only three missions show up...none of them from the author you mentioned. I do not understand what the problem is.

[you-kick-my-dog]

Have you checked off that you want to "review content"? 

Because if you haven't you will never see brand new missions that haven't been played at least twice.

I just searched it and was able to find it.

 

[Z. Barrett]

you-kick-my-dog wrote:

Have you checked off that you want to "review content"?

 Ah, that did it. Thank you.

 

I just played the mission and, quite frankly, it needs a lot of work. The most glaring issue is the fact that the dialogue needs an editor to manage the number of basic grammatical errors present in the mission. Simple capitalization rules are not implemented. Likewise, some of the dialogue is disjointed and hard to follow due to run-on sentences and overuse of the ellipsis to string fragments along. In the same vein, overuse of titles for NPCs introduces unnecessary redundancy. Does the player really need to be reminded that the NPC Captain is a "Temporal captain" [sic] all the time? I do not think so. At the very end, seeing "evil Kurland"[sic] as a character was a bit much. "Mirror Kurland" would have been a better title for the NPC.

Another issue is the difficulty balance. The mission assumes the player is a Level 60 character who has been min-maxing. While I did not have too many problems with the space combat, not all players are prepared to handle two Tholian Recluse cruiser-carriers at the same time, not to mention its Widow spam. Ground combat was much more skewed. Again, I could not help but feel as if it was assumed that the player would be min-maxed for ground. All of my landing party's weapons, myself included, only did tick damage while I and my party were getting trashed, especially once the Iconian spam started. Considering I have done Big Dig runs with nowhere near this level of imbalance, it was rather jarring. No one likes respawning constantly because of imbalance.

The storyline is interesting and I would like to see it continue. However, this mission needs more revision and balancing before it goes live.

[you-kick-my-dog]

Thanks for the in put! I'll probably be taking it down tomorrow to run the corrections you suggested.

Regarding the space combat: This mission is specifically set for players level 57+ I ran the mission both with a science ship and a cruisers and made quick work of both tholian ships. What gear are you using?

the NPC names can't be changed per map but I can probably just which it to a rank and name NPC  title which, should be less redundant.

Also could you point out the dialog that was hard to follow or disjointed so I can correct it.

Thanks man.

[Anton Mercer]

Lol Dog there is WAY too much for him to just point out, I think the other mission you had had the same problem as well. It would actually be better to run the mission again with barrett or myself and just have notepad or something open so you could take notes... cause there's a lot lol. You could also dod what Novin and I did for the intro mission if you get on skype you can actually share yourself working on your mission and the other person can view it with little to no lag(based on your computer specs).

[Z. Barrett]

you-kick-my-dog wrote:

Regarding the space combat: This mission is specifically set for players level 57+ I ran the mission both with a science ship and a cruisers and made quick work of both tholian ships. What gear are you using?[/quote] The NPC names can't be changed per map but I can probably just which it to a rank and name NPC  title which, should be less redundant. Also could you point out the dialog that was hard to follow or disjointed so I can correct it. Thanks man.

 

If you are asking what gear I am running, you have obviously assumed that I, as a player, am min-maxing.* One cannot assume that a player will have certain items that will make a mission bearable. Players that have been munchkining DPS will blow through anything you throw at them and players who either do not know how to DPS or members who do not have access to that gear will get smoked. Along these same lines, ground combat is easily neglected because of how bad Cryptic has it rendered in the game. While not as bad as it was when the game launched, it has not improved much beyond, "send more PC engineers."

 

What is more important? Telling the story or creating a mission that demands a perfect gear set-up? What is a challenge for your toon may be unreasonably difficult for another player or impossible for a third. In the end, If you assume too much from a player and the combat is not balanced, it will put people off. I want a mission to have a good story. STO NEEDS missions with good stories. However, if the designer assumes that I am sporting a T6 boat with all Gold gear, both space and ground, I will walk. It is that simple.

 

Regarding the dialogue, I earn my meager keep tutoring college students and proofreading research papers. I say this not to be rude, but as a professional; the dialogue needs a grammar-and-style revision and portions need a rewrite for brevity and clarity.

 

Again, the project has potential, but it needs a lot more work.

 

 

*FYI, I am in a Galaxy T5-U doing ~15-18K. I do not have the resources for the Iconian set yet and I do not have access to the Fleet Store. Nor, do I have the obnoxious resources to improve my current gear to Mark XIV Epic.

[Z. Barrett]

Anton Mercer wrote:

Lol Dog there is WAY too much for him to just point out, I think the other mission you had had the same problem as well. It would actually be better to run the mission again with barrett or myself and just have notepad or something open so you could take notes... cause there's a lot lol. You could also dod what Novin and I did for the intro mission if you get on skype you can actually share yourself working on your mission and the other person can view it with little to no lag(based on your computer specs).

 I am all for this. I would be happy to help.

[you-kick-my-dog]

Don't worry I don't take it as being rude whatever helps tell the story better. 

Regarding the gear I just ran it with my only teir 5 ship using mk12 gear and while the battle went on a bit longer I still bested them.

I'm not trying to pick at your gear or ship  but something is off. How are they giving you trouble? Is it the spam fighters?

Also what ship are you using? Only ship I haven't run it in is an escort.

 

Regarding the ground combat I'm not assuming anything of the player I just don't want it to be a cake walk especially because the bridge crew is modded after a single captain class terran squad.

I wanted the captain to be a much tougher fight.

Hmmm keeping the NPC parameters the same what would make the battle an easier go for you?

 

While I probably won't take up the skype idea I will give the dialog a full run through revise it and post when it has been updated.

Barring grammar what part of the story / dialog got confusing for you?

 

[Anton Mercer]

One thing I suggest is finding out which NPC for that captain group spawns as the herald and be sure to change that NPC's costume to Captain Archer. I ran it a while ago and instantly killed archer and ended up fighting an android security detail for 10 minutes lol. Although I realized I played the mission on advanced without knowing it and had a hard time on the ground. Barret is it possible that you are also running it on advanced or elite? Foundry missions 90% of the time are designed for normal unless specified. 

[you-kick-my-dog]

The middle android spawns as the herald....its something I knew about from the beginig I'm not sure if the foundry has a tool to change that. 

You can alter the abilities of a charater but when selecting NPC groups cryptic has not given us much power.

I'll see what I can do though.

[Anton Mercer]

you can DEFINITELY change it so the herald npc is captain archer. All you need to do is change the costume of the npc that spawns as the herald to Archer just flip it with the android and he'll spawn as the herald every time. 

Also you made another mission right? Can you tell me what it is and give a short description of it? I'll update the foundry list when I get home from work.

[Z. Barrett]

Anton Mercer wrote:

One thing I suggest is finding out which NPC for that captain group spawns as the herald and be sure to change that NPC's costume to Captain Archer. I ran it a while ago and instantly killed archer and ended up fighting an android security detail for 10 minutes lol. Although I realized I played the mission on advanced without knowing it and had a hard time on the ground. Barret is it possible that you are also running it on advanced or elite? Foundry missions 90% of the time are designed for normal unless specified.

 Ran it on Normal. The last ground fight lasted about 6 minutes because of the combination of Iconian Gateway spam and the fact that the enemies were meat-shield tough. I haven't seen that kind of meat-shielding since the old Season 3 Borg days. The NPC Captain I one-hit with Orbital Strike, but then the Iconians showed up and my "What the Hell" Alarm went off.