Post 2.4 Core Gameplay Improvements : Missions

[ChrisT]

As we are all discussing what might happen post 2.4, in what we might call for now "Season 3", though I understand the season model may be replaced with another. But still, it will be a tranche of work that will probably last for say a year. And so within that period, lets discuss a single topic within this thread.

Just some points

• Please keep your comments here on topic, so no drifting off onto Exploration, or Quality of Life enhancements.
• Please be as verbose as you can, fully explain what you would like to see Added, Remove or Tweaked,and WHY, benefits?
• Please be civil and positive, you may not agree with ideas, but lets discuss it, not devolve into an A vs B slanging match...

Missions

 

[Marc_Hicks]

TEXT!!!! As a roleplayer, I simply cannot stress how important a good mission text is. A lot of what we currently have is bland, generic & repetitive, sadly. I recognise that procedural generation will limit how detailed and/or varied text can be, but even within those confines there is more that can be done (as we catch a glimpse of in the text for Follow-on missions).

Give each mission (not template, but actual missions) about 4-8 different text variants that the computer can select from, & then use variable strings to add that extra layer of individuality-strings like <$Ship_Name>, <$Pilot_Name>, <$System_Name>, <$Facility_Name>, <$Faction_Name>, <$Activity_Type>....to name just a few.

Then maybe have all missions give an inbox message with more detail, the way follow-on missions & certain missions (like surface scans) currently do.

Anyway. I have more ideas, but I'll leave it there for now.

 

[Retrograde]

AI director to remember individual NPCs encountered by the player and to have them present more personal missions than those provided by factions. A few more details in another post.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Greater persistence of Mission-Specific Objects. Search zones on planets shouldn't magically appear just because you persist for long enough, they should be fixed & able to be found using skill, from the get go. Mission Targets in space should likewise be persistent, so if a salvage item gets destroyed.....tough . Likewise, though, Liberation & Assassination targets should be traceable-via skill-even after the original ETA has expired.

 

[Andovar]

Longer mission chains with branching decision trees. (I know they said this was coming, but I'm mentioning it anyway)

I'd also like to see more dynamic/popup missions. Things that would be tied to my alliances. So if I'm allied to Faction X, and they go into a state of famine, or outbreak, or war, then there would be a chance of them sending me an inbox message:
"CMDR Andovar, we're in desperate need of assistance. We've had an outbreak of Mad-T9 disease. If you could supply us with basic medicines, we'll pay a premium for them. The more the better. Please hurry!"

Anything to make the world feel more alive and like it's actually interacting with me at times.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Longer mission chains with branching decision trees. (I know they said this was coming, but I'm mentioning it anyway)

I'd also like to see more dynamic/popup missions. Things that would be tied to my alliances. So if I'm allied to Faction X, and they go into a state of famine, or outbreak, or war, then there would be a chance of them sending me an inbox message:
"CMDR Andovar, we're in desperate need of assistance. We've had an outbreak of Mad-T9 disease. If you could supply us with basic medicines, we'll pay a premium for them. The more the better. Please hurry!"

Anything to make the world feel more alive and like it's actually interacting with me at times.

For now, I would just like to see the single follow-on have multiple possibilities. At the moment, only donation "missions" do this (they trigger either an Assassination mission or Delivery Mission), but I would like to see a similar thing with salvage missions, scan missions, assassination missions & massacre missions-at the very least. After all, salvaging a black box could follow on to a liberation or search & rescue mission just as much as an assassination mission.

 

[UFO Reality]

delete

 

[UFO Reality]

delete

 

[UFO Reality]

Longer mission chains with branching decision trees. (I know they said this was coming, but I'm mentioning it anyway)

I'd also like to see more dynamic/popup missions. Things that would be tied to my alliances. So if I'm allied to Faction X, and they go into a state of famine, or outbreak, or war, then there would be a chance of them sending me an inbox message:
"CMDR Andovar, we're in desperate need of assistance. We've had an outbreak of Mad-T9 disease. If you could supply us with basic medicines, we'll pay a premium for them. The more the better. Please hurry!"

Anything to make the world feel more alive and like it's actually interacting with me at times.

+1 to this one . Would be good to see. The missions game seems too half ar$ed at the moment.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

+1 to this one . Would be good to see. The missions game seems too half ar$ed at the moment.

We already have pop up missions in the game, so hopefully it isn't too much effort to ramp up the frequency & tie it more to faction state/faction-commander alignment.

What I am most keen to see is missions triggered by scanning NPC's, surface facilities, Private Data Beacons & CQC assets, & as a result of salvaging stuff like cargo, black boxes & occupied escape pods.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Oh, & whilst we're on the subject, it would be great to see mission wrinkles triggered by certain player actions-like the aforementioned scans or salvage.

As an example, you are doing an assassination mission. After arriving at your destination system & scanning it for your target, you start randomly scanning NPC's for data. However, one of your scans triggers an inbox message, with a pilot saying "I heard a rumour that you've been sent to kill <$Target_Name>. Well I hate to break it to you, but I recently saw him high wake out of here. Never fear, though, I scanned his wake, & he seemed to be headed towards <$System_Name>. Good hunting commander.....& you get an appropriate mission update.

On another assassination mission, this same NPC scanning might trigger an inbox update with this message "Ah, so its true, <$Faction_Name> did send a mercenary to kill our leader. Well you'll have to get past me first"......followed by an interdiction.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

To go back to what I said about Text, here are a few in-game examples I'd like to discuss



If you see the text in the top left hand corner "The Right Salvage Operation can further our work to expand into a new system". Although that's OK, I'd more often like to see something more like this:

"Securing this trade data could help us to decide if we wish to expand into the Farack System." Then a bit more detail in an inbox message after you take the mission.



Another example is this one:



Again, I'd tend to replace the top left hand text with something more like "In this refinery economy, it is very useful to have advanced knowledge of where the best markets are. Securing the trade data could help in this regard."

Of course, this text could help to guide what kind of follow-on missions might stem from these original missions. In the first example, it might tie in to a Courier mission, in the second example, it might tie into a haulage or courier mission.

As a final example:



Again, I might replace the top left hand text with something like "Members of <$Faction_Name> have kidnapped 6 <$Hostage_Types>, & we need you to rescue them."

The Faction & Hostage type would probably be dictated by the faction handing out the mission & what their current state is. For example, in a War State, the hostages might be described as Soldiers or Officers. In an Outbreak state, it might be Doctors or Scientists etc etc.

Of course, if hostages get specific titles, then maybe it could lay the groundwork for giving us the ability to convert the hostages to regular passengers. One can only hope!

Anyway, just some more thoughts!