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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Unknown Target on July 24, 2003, 04:08:08 pm

Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Unknown Target on July 24, 2003, 04:08:08 pm: What's your feeling on dud missions? Where you warp in, and it turns out nothing happens? Like the convoy that was supposed to be their was late, or something? I.E. The missions are used purely as something to relieve stress, or to explain the storyline more.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Solatar on July 24, 2003, 04:12:04 pm: I don't mind them as long as they:
a) explain the plot a little
and
b)you get to blow stuff up.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: karajorma on July 24, 2003, 04:29:42 pm: I have a couple planned for TMA I won't spoil it by saying if we have any planed for MG.

Personally I like them as long as they aren't too long and advance the storyline. Leaving the player sitting around for 4 minutes when nothing happens is pretty unforgivable.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Knight Templar on July 24, 2003, 04:43:17 pm: I've done a few of them. Not duds necassarily, but Patrol missions, although mostly there's a short burst of action at the end. But generally, I fill them with mounds of informative pilot chatter ;)
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Drew on July 24, 2003, 06:09:59 pm: would the mission in Inferno( :yes: )where you go around and just scan the ships that come in through the portal be considered a dud mission? Not much really happened except it gave me an idea how big the EA fleet really was...
so i guess it advanced the plot a little....
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Taristin on July 24, 2003, 06:29:22 pm: I like those missions a bit. Like when you're in a captured dragon fighter, scanning all shivan ships enterring system. If it takes a bit of strategy that shooting is not required for, yes.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: karajorma on July 24, 2003, 06:38:35 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Drew
would the mission in Inferno( :yes: )where you go around and just scan the ships that come in through the portal be considered a dud mission? Not much really happened except it gave me an idea how big the EA fleet really was...
so i guess it advanced the plot a little....

If you took too long the EA ships would start shooting (and you'd still have to scan the enemy ships) so it wasn't a dud if you weren't quick enough :D
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Nuclear1 on July 24, 2003, 06:52:12 pm: Well, there was a mission like that in FS1, the one where you warp in to destroy the HOL outpost.

I like those kind of missions. Twists are good, if used sparingly.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Hippo on July 24, 2003, 07:50:02 pm: Derelict made great use of them... like the first few with the bouys... It made a lot of suff easier to understand...
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Drew on July 25, 2003, 12:26:08 am: yeah i REALLY like the mission where ur in the nebula and you meet the guy who was crazy and you go further into the nebula and a juggernaught jumps out...
then u wake up and it was all a dream :D
that freakied me out :D
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Black Wolf on July 25, 2003, 05:39:32 am: And featured the most creative use of the V pirate ship ever. :D
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: SadisticSid on July 25, 2003, 09:37:20 am: Agreed. But that mission was still utterly stupid though. ^_^

Sid.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: kode on July 25, 2003, 09:40:55 am: Quote
Originally posted by Drew
yeah i REALLY like the mission where ur in the nebula and you meet the guy who was crazy and you go further into the nebula and a juggernaught jumps out...
then u wake up and it was all a dream :D
that freakied me out :D

same here. really good dud mission.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: TopAce on July 25, 2003, 10:30:13 am: Quote
Originally posted by Hippo
Derelict made great use of them... like the first few with the bouys... It made a lot of suff easier to understand...

I am just playing that campaign, that mission was interesting and had a special idea. That is a kind of dud mission, which had a not-everyday task.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Drew on July 25, 2003, 04:38:47 pm: well consider, most pilots these days a "dud mission" is an every day task......
most missions pilots go on patrols not really engage the enemy much......
in derelict the war was nodes away and dud missions would probably be common place if that happend in rl...
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: TopAce on July 25, 2003, 04:55:55 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Drew
well consider, most pilots these days a "dud mission" is an every day task......
most missions pilots go on patrols not really engage the enemy much......
in derelict the war was nodes away and dud missions would probably be common place if that happend in rl...

And it is also not an everyday thing what FreeSpace does very often: Four fighters have the task to destroy at least 20 another, in addition, defend a convoy, and defend all ships!

And imagine that you download a campaign which consist of 96 missions, and 75 of them are only boring patrolling, how would you grade that camp on a 1-10 scale?
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Mr. Vega on July 25, 2003, 06:27:47 pm: Dud missions are good to use between a lot heavy action missions.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: Thor on July 26, 2003, 11:00:26 am: ITHOV has a few near the end to really flesh out the story. But if it was just a few minutes of inane pilot banter that did nothing for the story, and really was a "dud" than they serve no purpose. I'm still considering how to make ITHOV's really interesting.
Title: Dud missions?
Post by: TopAce on July 27, 2003, 07:57:22 am: The one of the advantages of the dud mission, is that you can quickly complete it with 4x time, and these are good for FREDers to make a mission long.