ObsidianAnt's suggested chained missions

[outsidefactor]

ObsidianAnt's latest video (https://youtu.be/ymyEZHP5mrk) makes some great suggestions about chaining missions.

Lets say you do a Distress Call, and make it to the final wave and win. Why doesn't the ship that initiated the Distress Call then issue you a mission:

"You saved me! My employer will be pleased! Go to x station in y system for a reward, and they may have another mission to offer you!" The reward amount could be proportional to the distance you have to travel to collect it, and you might have 5 days to collect the reward, but 1 day to access the follow-up mission. The follow up mission could be a surface rescue, or a long range courier mission, or a fetch quest.

I am sure many other people have great ideas to add!

 

[outsidefactor]

Another idea:

You finish the final wave of a distress call, and the final ship to die drops a black-box that's legal salvage. You pick it up and get offered a new mission (which you can decline at no Rep/Influence cost):

Travel to x system by y time and hunt down z Pirate Lord by w time

 

[outsidefactor]

And another one:

You answer distress call and find a disabled ship under attack. You kill all the Pirates and the Distress initiator says:

"Quick, get this Unknown Artefact to my employer in x station, in y system", drops the UA and then explodes (maybe dropping some other, legal salvage as a bonus).

 

[outsidefactor]

This is entirely new to me, go on...

Basically, I am just getting some existing mechanics and mixing them together.

We now have lots of mission types, and two different methods to get them: from BB and in-flight from an NPC. ObsidianAnt made the brilliant suggestion that a lot of sophisticated, dynamic and rewarding missions could come from some scripts to add new quest giver event variants, and add them to Signal Sources, Distress Beacons, and surface Points of Interest. It's basically getting a lot of new mission variants and chains for doing a little code work, and using existing assets and mechanics together. It's a high return for a relatively low investment.

 

[outsidefactor]

This is entirely new to me, go on...

For example:

You land on a planet and find a POI. You scan a data-datapoint (existing mechanic and asset) and it issues a collect mission for a near-by Escape Pod (existing mission type, salvage an escape pod).

When you salvage the pod, it issues you a new mission to return it to a person/place. This uses either the existing salvage BB mechanic (to return it to a station) or take commodity x to NPC y at place z mechanic (to return to an NPC).

Then, the receiver could say "I am impressed with your work, but there's more to do, are you interested?". This uses the new multi-stage mission mechanic in 1.5/Horizons.

From here the mission could go through several more steps. The next phase could be a courier job, or a smuggling mission, or a fetch quest, all of which are existing BB mission types. With a small amount of UI work to the multi-stage mission mechanic, the employer could offer several missions for you to choose one from.

The more stages you complete, the more you get paid.

 

[outsidefactor]

Another Idea:

You enter a Signal Source, there's some salvage, 1-5 tonne of Gold or Platinum and a Black Box. You scoop the black box, and it offers you a mission to return the cargo. If you do, the cargo gets changed from illegal cargo to haulage.

Once you deliver it, the receiver could offer another phase for more profit.

 

[outsidefactor]

*whoosh* noise of terminology passing over head. Sorry I'm what you call 'old school' Elite Franchise that recalls and piloted ALL THE previous editions [including the brill oolite] (eeh bah gum wen ah wer your age...) still none the wiser! I know what a POI is tho.

Sorry, those were mostly Horizons related terms.

Here's an example in Dangerous/1.5 terms:

You enter a Strong Signal Source, you find a group of pirates (pretty typical SSS encounter). You finish the random encounter, and kill the main ship. It drops a Black Box (these objects are already implemented in-game for BB missions). When you collect the Black Box, it issues a new mission in your Transactions page or Message window (just like the multi-stage missions introduced in 1.5). The mission is to hold the Back Box until someone contacts you to take it somewhere (just like the new endurance missions introduced since 1.5).

You make contact and hand over the black box for a reward (in-space direct delivery to an NPC has been a mission mechanic since 1.1). The NPC you delivered it to says "Hey, would you like earn some more money? How about you track down x NPC in y System, and then meet me back here for your reward. Bring their Black Box as proof". Again, this is a combination of the multi-stage missions (introduced in 1.5) and Assassination missions, in place since release, mixed with Black Box missions (introduced in 1.2).

The point is to more intelligently string together existing mission elements to create a deeper, more fulfilling and rewarding mission system that creates more emergent game-play. This means we get more content, with more variety, than having to wait for Frontier to develop more assets and mission mechanics to get content.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Sorry, those were mostly Horizons related terms.

Here's an example in Dangerous/1.5 terms:

You enter a Strong Signal Source, you find a group of pirates (pretty typical SSS encounter). You finish the random encounter, and kill the main ship. It drops a Black Box (these objects are already implemented in-game for BB missions). When you collect the Black Box, it issues a new mission in your Transactions page or Message window (just like the multi-stage missions introduced in 1.5). The mission is to hold the Back Box until someone contacts you to take it somewhere (just like the new endurance missions introduced since 1.5).

You make contact and hand over the black box for a reward (in-space direct delivery to an NPC has been a mission mechanic since 1.1). The NPC you delivered it to says "Hey, would you like earn some more money? How about you track down x NPC in y System, and then meet me back here for your reward. Bring their Black Box as proof". Again, this is a combination of the multi-stage missions (introduced in 1.5) and Assassination missions, in place since release, mixed with Black Box missions (introduced in 1.2).

The point is to more intelligently string together existing mission elements to create a deeper, more fulfilling and rewarding mission system that creates more emergent game-play. This means we get more content, with more variety, than having to wait for Frontier to develop more assets and mission mechanics to get content.

I believe that this or something like this is in the works.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

ObsidianAnt's latest video (https://youtu.be/ymyEZHP5mrk) makes some great suggestions about chaining missions.

Lets say you do a Distress Call, and make it to the final wave and win. Why doesn't the ship that initiated the Distress Call then issue you a mission:

"You saved me! My employer will be pleased! Go to x station in y system for a reward, and they may have another mission to offer you!" The reward amount could be proportional to the distance you have to travel to collect it, and you might have 5 days to collect the reward, but 1 day to access the follow-up mission. The follow up mission could be a surface rescue, or a long range courier mission, or a fetch quest.

I am sure many other people have great ideas to add!

What ObsidianAnt suggested definitely does seem to be on the priority list for FDev this season. Last season was about getting all of the mission mechanics in place (Splitting missions based on rank & influence, non-BB based missions, chaining of missions, escort missions, timed missions etc). Now that all of that is in place, they'll almost certainly spend this season linking it all together into something more connected. Hopefully, incorporating the BGS even better too!