I briefly touched on this issue here:
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showth...ulty-for-Proc-Gen-Surface-Settlement-Missions
but thought I'd expand upon it in this thread.
One of the key ways to ensure that missions feel less "same-y", would be to have the mission Rank play a much greater role in how a mission plays out......particularly in regards to difficulty. As I see it, there are several key ways to tweak the basic difficulty of a mission:
1. Mission Time: Every Rank 1 version of each Mission Type (Courier, Haulage, Assassination etc) will have a certain base time for completion (give or take), with each Rank above 1 reducing the amount of base time given. For example, an Aimless Courier Mission might give the player 48 Hours to complete the mission, whereas an Elite Version of the same mission might give you less than 5.
2. Distance to "Mission Target": Depending on mission type, the target could refer to an NPC, or Salvage, or Destination Station/Outpost etc. It could also refer to either the distance to the system and/or the distance from system entry to final destination. Not surprisingly, the higher ranked the mission, the more likely such a mission might require the player to travel a longer distance.....perhaps even as much as 1000 Ly for an elite mission. Of course, an Elite Mission that combined both a short completion time with a long distance to target would definitely *feel* like an Elite Level mission.
3. Difficulty of reaching/finding "Mission Target": Though this probably won't be fully realised until we get the Exploration enhancements in Q4, this could still be an area for differentiation-particularly for Salvage Missions & "Return with Commodity" missions. For the latter, this could mean that the commodity being asked for becomes increasingly more difficult to obtain the higher the rank of a mission. An Elite Mission could even ask for you to fetch Rares for the mission giver. For space based Salvage Missions, increasing rank of the mission could move the salvage from open space to within Belts or Planetary Rings, or within extremely large & dense debris fields. For Surface based Salvage & Liberation Missions, increasing rank of the mission could move the "salvage" from open ground to within large Proc. Gen. Settlements, perhaps even behind a force-field or other containment area, or could place it atop a hard to reach plateau or deep, narrow ravine.
4. Number and/or Difficulty of any NPC Opponents: This would be most appropriate to Assassination, Piracy & Liberation Missions, but could also apply to any mission-specific NPC's for Courier, Salvage & Haulage Missions.....as well as Defense Turrets, Skimmers, Goliaths or Stingers at Surface Settlements. Note that difficulty doesn't even just mean base combat rank/ship size. It could also relate to how likely an NPC is to stand its ground & fight-or whether they will flee the scene in hopes of ambushing you at a later point in time.
5. Number, Severity and Compulsory nature of Mission Wrinkles: This is one area where Mission Rank can really help to differentiate easy missions from harder missions. The lowest ranked missions (Harmless, Aimless, Penniless) will almost *never* have wrinkles, & those few that do will only have easy, non-compulsory ones (minor time or destination changes-non-compulsory in nature). At higher rank, Wrinkles will become more common, & missions will be more likely to have more than a single wrinkle triggering. Also, such wrinkles will be much less likely to be optional at higher ranks-even changed destination or time ones. At Elite Rank, a Mission Wrinkle could potentially add in a whole new mission, or change the original mission type. For example, an Elite Assassination mission could trigger an Optional Liberation Mission (Assassination Deserter <$Target Name>. Then, en route to your target, you get a wrinkle saying "<$Target Name> has stolen some of our military plans. If you can liberate them before killing the target, there will be a bonus for you!" Likewise, a salvage mission might trigger a non-optional time change to reach the salvage "Pilots from <$Faction Name> are also after the <$Salvage Name>, you'd better pick up the pace if you want to beat them to it!". If you fail to meet this new deadline, then another wrinkle might trigger saying "<$Pilot Name> has stolen our salvage, we need you to track him down in <$System Name> & retrieve that salvage!" Just as a couple of examples. This way, the same mission that is a milk run at Ranks 1-3 could turn into a much more drawn out & convoluted mission before the day is out.
6. Follow-on Missions: Like Wrinkles, this is an area that can really help to differentiate easy, low ranked missions from their higher ranked counterparts. At the lowest rank (rank 1 or 2), Follow-ons should trigger only rarely. However, at the highest ranks (8-9), Follow-ons should *always* be triggered by completing the primary mission.....assuming a follow-on exists for that mission type.
Not surprisingly, base Mission payouts should reflect both the rank of the mission & your current reputation with the Mission-giving Faction.....though I do hold out hope that we will soon have the ability to "Call in Favours" to negotiate our base payouts for missions....along with other mission parameters.
Last of all, though pilot rank should dictate what rank of missions are most likely to crop up, a mission board should have at least 1 mission, from rank 1 to the pilot's current rank, so that a pilot that just wants a milk run can simply choose a nice, Penniless Courier Mission......even if they're currently a Tycoon.
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showth...ulty-for-Proc-Gen-Surface-Settlement-Missions
but thought I'd expand upon it in this thread.
One of the key ways to ensure that missions feel less "same-y", would be to have the mission Rank play a much greater role in how a mission plays out......particularly in regards to difficulty. As I see it, there are several key ways to tweak the basic difficulty of a mission:
1. Mission Time: Every Rank 1 version of each Mission Type (Courier, Haulage, Assassination etc) will have a certain base time for completion (give or take), with each Rank above 1 reducing the amount of base time given. For example, an Aimless Courier Mission might give the player 48 Hours to complete the mission, whereas an Elite Version of the same mission might give you less than 5.
2. Distance to "Mission Target": Depending on mission type, the target could refer to an NPC, or Salvage, or Destination Station/Outpost etc. It could also refer to either the distance to the system and/or the distance from system entry to final destination. Not surprisingly, the higher ranked the mission, the more likely such a mission might require the player to travel a longer distance.....perhaps even as much as 1000 Ly for an elite mission. Of course, an Elite Mission that combined both a short completion time with a long distance to target would definitely *feel* like an Elite Level mission.
3. Difficulty of reaching/finding "Mission Target": Though this probably won't be fully realised until we get the Exploration enhancements in Q4, this could still be an area for differentiation-particularly for Salvage Missions & "Return with Commodity" missions. For the latter, this could mean that the commodity being asked for becomes increasingly more difficult to obtain the higher the rank of a mission. An Elite Mission could even ask for you to fetch Rares for the mission giver. For space based Salvage Missions, increasing rank of the mission could move the salvage from open space to within Belts or Planetary Rings, or within extremely large & dense debris fields. For Surface based Salvage & Liberation Missions, increasing rank of the mission could move the "salvage" from open ground to within large Proc. Gen. Settlements, perhaps even behind a force-field or other containment area, or could place it atop a hard to reach plateau or deep, narrow ravine.
4. Number and/or Difficulty of any NPC Opponents: This would be most appropriate to Assassination, Piracy & Liberation Missions, but could also apply to any mission-specific NPC's for Courier, Salvage & Haulage Missions.....as well as Defense Turrets, Skimmers, Goliaths or Stingers at Surface Settlements. Note that difficulty doesn't even just mean base combat rank/ship size. It could also relate to how likely an NPC is to stand its ground & fight-or whether they will flee the scene in hopes of ambushing you at a later point in time.
5. Number, Severity and Compulsory nature of Mission Wrinkles: This is one area where Mission Rank can really help to differentiate easy missions from harder missions. The lowest ranked missions (Harmless, Aimless, Penniless) will almost *never* have wrinkles, & those few that do will only have easy, non-compulsory ones (minor time or destination changes-non-compulsory in nature). At higher rank, Wrinkles will become more common, & missions will be more likely to have more than a single wrinkle triggering. Also, such wrinkles will be much less likely to be optional at higher ranks-even changed destination or time ones. At Elite Rank, a Mission Wrinkle could potentially add in a whole new mission, or change the original mission type. For example, an Elite Assassination mission could trigger an Optional Liberation Mission (Assassination Deserter <$Target Name>. Then, en route to your target, you get a wrinkle saying "<$Target Name> has stolen some of our military plans. If you can liberate them before killing the target, there will be a bonus for you!" Likewise, a salvage mission might trigger a non-optional time change to reach the salvage "Pilots from <$Faction Name> are also after the <$Salvage Name>, you'd better pick up the pace if you want to beat them to it!". If you fail to meet this new deadline, then another wrinkle might trigger saying "<$Pilot Name> has stolen our salvage, we need you to track him down in <$System Name> & retrieve that salvage!" Just as a couple of examples. This way, the same mission that is a milk run at Ranks 1-3 could turn into a much more drawn out & convoluted mission before the day is out.
6. Follow-on Missions: Like Wrinkles, this is an area that can really help to differentiate easy, low ranked missions from their higher ranked counterparts. At the lowest rank (rank 1 or 2), Follow-ons should trigger only rarely. However, at the highest ranks (8-9), Follow-ons should *always* be triggered by completing the primary mission.....assuming a follow-on exists for that mission type.
Not surprisingly, base Mission payouts should reflect both the rank of the mission & your current reputation with the Mission-giving Faction.....though I do hold out hope that we will soon have the ability to "Call in Favours" to negotiate our base payouts for missions....along with other mission parameters.
Last of all, though pilot rank should dictate what rank of missions are most likely to crop up, a mission board should have at least 1 mission, from rank 1 to the pilot's current rank, so that a pilot that just wants a milk run can simply choose a nice, Penniless Courier Mission......even if they're currently a Tycoon.