Archived Post
02-03-2010, 01:06 PM
I've been pretty happy with the diversity of away missions I've gotten so far. There's been a fair mix of fighting vs. seeking clues or items and some of the environments on the alien planets have been great to look at. I like that not all of the missions involve fighting but I'd like to see some more challenge to the missions rather than just scan it with a tricorder and find it.
While I was jogging across the terrain last night, I came up with a possible solution. I'm assuming the terrian was created by the Genesis program(?) that Cryptic devised. I recommend that it be tweaked to allow for some hostile environmental elements. For instance, when we see lava seeping from some of the large rock formations, it should burn. Some of the plant life could cause damage if you get to close, or try to poison you with spines or grab you with tendrils. Patches of ground could impede movement or even hold you (quicksand). I think adding elements of "hostile terrain" could spice up the away team mission. it would give players obstacles to overcome, or to navigate around. If you really wanted to kick it up some, you could assign a variety of random effects to the hostile faction from weapons fire. Maybe phasers make that nasty creeping plant stronger, or larger. Maybe a disruptor puts it to sleep for a few seconds granting safe passage, or maybe it turns it's venom even more potent... There's a huge range of possibilities here just waiting to be tapped.
There could also be beneficial items found in the environment besides the random anomolies...like finding a supply of rare gemstones that can be used with traders (I guess that would be like a mineral anomoly) or finding a plant with leaves that work like a limited use heal.
While I was jogging across the terrain last night, I came up with a possible solution. I'm assuming the terrian was created by the Genesis program(?) that Cryptic devised. I recommend that it be tweaked to allow for some hostile environmental elements. For instance, when we see lava seeping from some of the large rock formations, it should burn. Some of the plant life could cause damage if you get to close, or try to poison you with spines or grab you with tendrils. Patches of ground could impede movement or even hold you (quicksand). I think adding elements of "hostile terrain" could spice up the away team mission. it would give players obstacles to overcome, or to navigate around. If you really wanted to kick it up some, you could assign a variety of random effects to the hostile faction from weapons fire. Maybe phasers make that nasty creeping plant stronger, or larger. Maybe a disruptor puts it to sleep for a few seconds granting safe passage, or maybe it turns it's venom even more potent... There's a huge range of possibilities here just waiting to be tapped.
There could also be beneficial items found in the environment besides the random anomolies...like finding a supply of rare gemstones that can be used with traders (I guess that would be like a mineral anomoly) or finding a plant with leaves that work like a limited use heal.