SS2 Training Missions Project

[67439c6dba6faKolya]

Hm no, I was just kidding about the deadline, because it wouldn't meet the contest requirements anyway, for several reasons. It's just me playing around with Twine, a text adventure generator that's based on TiddlyWiki, which I happen to have built my personal site with. So it's vaguely familiar for me. That Cyberqueen IF was made with Twine too.

[67439c6dbab6eicemann]

Well..yes, but if it's not going to lead to the whole thing being done.. what's the point?

I think the point was to even get 1 or 2 done. The difference of even 1 bit of additional content for the game would improve the experience for many people.

Getting all the training missions done would be a monumental undertaking, that would have been best done 10 or so years ago when the SS2 FM community was thriving. Nowadays even 1 getting done would be a big deal.

[67439c6dbbaacRocketMan]

Motivation is everything.  It's not so much the total amount of work required.  The existing resources we have access to could make a very nice training mission.  It just takes a few people burying their heads in it for a couple of hours.  These training missions could be as small as test missions, even the size of a single room and still add charm to the game if designed with care.

[67439c6dbbe4fWill Fawkes]

Interesting! Did not know you were a fan of IF. Personally find Inklewriter a bit more to my liking, but mostly because you can export to .mobi (and supposedly converting to .epub from there doesn't hurt the end product.) Granted you have to pay to have that done, but given they need to pay server costs somehow and it's only $5 and you end up with something you could sell/give away that would work on e-readers/tablets. I say Awesome.

I apologize for not entering. Tried a few things thinking.... Maybe, but either I just plain suck at planning or some other reason but I'm not happy with the end results and don't want to submit anything unless I think it's worth sending in.

Hm no, I was just kidding about the deadline, because it wouldn't meet the contest requirements anyway, for several reasons. It's just me playing around with Twine, a text adventure generator that's based on TiddlyWiki, which I happen to have built my personal site with. So it's vaguely familiar for me. That Cyberqueen IF was made with Twine too.

[67439c6dbbf84Kolya]

Inklewriter looks more professional and is probably easier to deal with than Twine. On the other hand Twine being merely HTML/CSS/JS is very extensible. Since I come from a web development background this is useful to me.

Ah, if anyone has made any training missions, just push them under the door. I'll be watching the freaking Hobbit now. Laters.

[67439c6dbc253xdiesp]

I'm a little embarassed to necro this, but here's a little point I'd like to make about tutorials. See, the topic was still hot when I started working on my project but more importantly, I've always had it in mind as I mumbled about "what" and "where" tutorials in SS2 should be (you'd be surprised at the way a passing comment can be important and stick as representative at how people think of something!).

The project had to deal with tutorials, because it changed some rules. The solution sounds straightforward and obvious now, but it was actually chosen among alternatives over trial andd error:

1) Removing the original tutorials, aka the class creation process on Earth and Station: I used to joke that deleting those maps was my entry in the tutorial missions mapping contest. Essentially, all old tutorial steps were replaced by a starting budget of 50 modules (which in theory can be skipped... but won't), which were calculated over the ones rewarded by the original careers. This also implied removing the help computers from MedSci, and changing several Objlooks and Research texts.

2) Adding the new tutorials in, basically replacing the help computers with tutorial spots and cutscenes. Everything was explained twice, just like the dual style of information on Station: where you both get a text paragraph about your adventures in the cosmos making you stronger, and also get a pop-up that "going here = +1 strenght". The main difference is that in the project, these "adventures" of yours were spoken audio in 2nd person about the undergoing crisis.

I believe the pros of such an approach, to be that you (try and) weave the gameplay into the story without that unskippable establishment that is The Tutorial Map. But the cons are, that you just aren't cutting the umbilical cable until much later. It's not the best, but imho better than the alternative "500 KBs Readme" approach.

Now, if I were to revive this effort for a remade vanilla training... I would optimize the resources as such, given what I've learnt:
- The game flow structure remains the same: you are in one tutorial map, you make decisions inside of it and receive bonuses;
- But the map is some good FM, cleaned from events and gore to be a bigger tutorial map.
- You are a UNN soldier dealing with issues on this station, with new dialog reflecting that.
- These issues pop up 3 at a time, or one at a time with 3 different solutions (like a brute force, technical or mentalist approach).
- And at the end, you are warned of an incoming email to you from Cap. Diego.

[67439c6dbc417Join2]

It's probably for the best that this project never even saw a single entry. SS2's simulated tutorial is excellent, it's only real problem is forcing you to get skills when you have no idea what they do, though when in the VR training section you can look using the cybernetic rig, but it's not ideal.

These missions may have improved the tutorial, but in reality they probably would have just been a jumbled mess, inconsistent.

[67439c6dbc540icemann]

I disagree, as only the good ones would have been chosen, and good replacement tutorials may have resulted.

I would far rather an interactive experience vs the "you went to the moon and back, gaining insight into the stars. +2 Endurance" type of thing. Plus the beauty in mods is that it gives choice to you the player. If you prefer the vanilla experience then don't use it.

[67439c6dbd11fJoin2]

I disagree, as only the good ones would have been chosen, and good replacement tutorials may have resulted.

But this would be an inconsistency as not all mission postings would have replacement.

[67439c6dbd237Kolya]

Considering that the user would have to install the mod first, this would probably be negligible.
And considering that no training missions were made, it is moot for now.

[67439c6dbd3bcxdiesp]

Here's an example about the conservative approach I mentioned. Let's say the tutorial map is Ponterbee Station. Through a glass (generic people typing) you are informed that the control system for turrets overheated, and now the turrets malfunction. There's 3 ways to fix this situation: literally 3 passageways, with skill-giving scripts and equipment.

1) Tech: sneak and run until you find the damaged system, and repair\hack it.
2) Weapon: put the haywire turrets to rest with your newly acquired Laser Pistol.
3) Psi: freeze the overheated controls units in the area with Cryokinesis.

[67439c6dbd539voodoo47]

maintence: stand still and look good in your shiny uniform.

[67439c6dbd67cZylonBane]

The year you spent in a sensory deprivation tank would have made for a particularly thrilling time.

[67439c6dbd75bvoodoo47]

at least you would get to swim around.

[67439c6dbd850ZylonBane]

Not so much. Isolation tanks aren't much bigger than a tanning bed. You might get some pretty hallucinations though.

[67439c6dbd967voodoo47]

ahh, forgot what what an isolation tank is for a bit there - for some reason, a bit larger, vertically oriented hitman-clone tank popped into my mind.

and now I want to replay the hitman series (still haven't played the latest one, though I've heard it's nowhere near the the peak of the series, which is H2 and H4). also, Ort-Meyer's voice actor is great.

[67439c6dbda83xdiesp]

You also get wild hallucinations inside of the isolation tanks, that mapper would have been able to create any dreamscape scenario, like having the tank open and there's a grassy field outside.

[67439c6dbdbb2Kolya]

Get out of my brain.

[67439c6dbdcb7voodoo47]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X09YmQ2wLE

[67439c6dbddaeKolya]

Great. Now does she beat the alien and give everyone back their brains? Has the the shattered and fragmented memory of the internet nothing to bestow upon us but an eternal promise of fulfilment that keeps us standing by?