Dereliction Duty- An interactive Star Trek story. Over 100 hours in the making!

[Archived Post]

Warning: This is an extremely text heavy mission. Don't even bother with it if you don't want to read!

http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb388/Nagorak/DerelictionDutyLg.jpg

Click here to watch the 3 minute review of the mission by BitesizeUGC. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZaDen6PqSw&feature=channel_video_title)

Faction: Federation
Level: 16+
Location: Draylon System, Beta Ursae
Length: 2-3 hours (depending on how much of the entirely optional dialogue you explore)*
Verified compatible with all difficulty levels (Normal, Advanced, Elite)

Presenting Task Force Odyssey
For the past 18 months, pirates have been plaguing the shipping lanes between Sol and DS9. Dozens of lives have been lost, and many tons of cargo have been stolen. Now the U.S.S. Odysseus has gone missing while out on patrol to find the pirates. Admiral Anita Gonzales from Starfleet Intelligence has assembled an anti-piracy task force to save the Odysseus, and Admiral Marconi has suggested you be a part of it. Help Task Force Odyssey investigate who is behind the attacks, and put an end to the pirate threat once and for all!

Find the Pirates? I think I've done this before...
I know, from the description it doesn't sound much. It's not an epic story. You aren't saving the Federation or the galaxy from imminent destruction. You're trying to find some pirates: ZzzZzz. I asked a friend for her initial impressions upon accepting the mission, and she told me it sounded generic. You know what? She was absolutely right! But the quality isn't in the premise, it's in the delivery. Finding pirates has been done in STO before, but never quite like this. ;)

More ST, Less STO
My concept behind this mission was to try to capture more of the feel of a TNG or DS9 episode, and less that of an STO episode. In that vein, the mission is actually an investigation, and by that I don't mean you just drop in and blow up 10 ships and sort it out from the wreckage. You actually have to find clues to the identity of the pirates by investigating derelict freighters and completing text-based puzzles (hence the name of the mission, a bit of a play on words). What is more ST? Attend an actual task force briefing. Travel at warp. Explore strange systems for clues. Meet interesting characters who may provide help-- or not! Less STO means no excessive combat, no mindless "destroy 4/4 ships", and no single-handedly defeating 20 vessels by yourself-- you'll need help if you want to succeed.

An Interactive Story
So what exactly makes this mission different? I call it an interactive story because character interaction is a major part of the mission. You don't just click through every pop-up dialogue. Instead you select the response that fits your character. Depending on what you say, people will react differently. Some may help you if you respond correctly, but won't if you insult them. You can pick a fight, or try to talk your way out of a tough situation. It's all up to you! The dialogue trees in the mission are so extensive that I simply could not complete it until the S4 Foundry patch. Before that the Foundry became so bogged down that it was rendered completely unusable!

A Galaxy Of Characters-- You're just a part of it.
Things are happening aboard the Galaxy-X class, U.S.S. Atlas. You just happen to be there. The crew is having conversations amongst themselves. You can listen in if you want to hear more-- or not. It's your choice. Bend your ear to the local rumor monger, Cadet Pargu, who can fill you in on the most recent happenings. Or you can talk to Qig who might be able to "acquire" some goods for you-- just be sure to have something worthwhile to trade! Oh, and there's also some dissension in the ranks of the task force, but I don't want to give that away!

Final Thoughts
This mission has taken me well over 100 hours to complete. Unfortunately, that's not an exaggeration. It could even be almost double that amount of time (it's hard to tell at this point because I had to split off parts of the mission due to length). Part of that time was due to the Foundry being bogged down prior to S4, but the rest is just reflected in the effort I put into the maps, effects, branching dialogues, etc. I've probably devoted more time to creating some of the dialogues than others have spent on their entire missions.

If you enjoy story driven missions, and have a couple hours to spare, then I recommend giving Dereliction Duty a shot. And please feel free to mail me in-game with your feedback, or post it here (especially if you encounter a problem!). I'm always willing to listen to suggestions of how I can improve the mission, or make my future missions better. Thanks again! :)

Update 10/25/11
I was initially worried about the reception my mission would receive. While, I enjoyed making the mission, and felt satisfied with what I had achieved, upon publishing it I quickly learned it could take upwards of 3 hours to complete! I spent many hours making the mission, yet I found myself wondering if anyone would even want to spend the time to play it! One person who left a review said it took them more than four hours to complete, but fortunately they also said they enjoyed every minute of it. ;)

To make a long story short, so far the reception to Dereliction Duty has been overwhelmingly positive, and has completely exceeded my expectations. At this point, If not a single more person played my mission, I would still consider it a success, and the time I devoted to it would be well spent. I'm extremely gratified that people enjoy the mission, and I want to thank everyone who played and provided feedback.

Update 1/24/12

The first part of the sequel to Dereliction Duty, Atlas Affair (Part 1) is now available in the Foundry! See this link for more details. (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=250092)

[Archived Post]

About the length, I was surprised to find out that you can apparently spend 3 hours on the mission if you take the time to interact with all of the characters and listen in on all the conversations. This may be a bit inflated because the person playing the mission was also proof reading, but in any case there's a lot of dialogue you can read.

A lot of the optional dialogue is front loaded on the U.S.S. Atlas, and you absolutely can skip all of it without it having any effect on the mission. You'll learn less about some characters, but if you're not interested, then just ignore it. If you want to read it, and you're enjoying yourself, then it's there.

[Archived Post]

I had to withdraw and republish the mission because it seems the pop-up dialogues broke, and that caused the mission to break. I'm not sure why that happened, as I checked the mission upon publish and it definitely was working. These random Foundry bugs are extremely frustrating. :mad:

In any case the mission should be working again now. It seems like a few people really enjoyed the mission, but I also got a couple of one star reviews. I'm not sure if that's because the mission was broken or if they just didn't like it. I can definitely understand if people don't like the mission, but it would be nice if they would leave feedback as to why.

At this point, there's not really much I can do to change the storyline without just throwing the whole mission out, but at least if the problem was due to a bug it would be nice to know, so I can quickly get it fixed.

[Archived Post]

I had to withdraw and republish the mission because it seems the pop-up dialogues broke, and that caused the mission to break. I'm not sure why that happened, as I checked the mission upon publish and it definitely was working. These random Foundry bugs are extremely frustrating. :mad:

In any case the mission should be working again now. It seems like a few people really enjoyed the mission, but I also got a couple of one star reviews. I'm not sure if that's because the mission was broken or if they just didn't like it. I can definitely understand if people don't like the mission, but it would be nice if they would leave feedback as to why.

At this point, there's not really much I can do to change the storyline without just throwing the whole mission out, but at least if the problem was due to a bug it would be nice to know, so I can quickly get it fixed.

Echoing my sentiments exaclty - I`m just learning the Foundry and my mission is kindergarten compared to what you have worked on but `didnt like it` is a bit disheartening seeing as I spent a long time thinking about the story and reasoning behind my mission.

I will deinitely look at your mish (assuming its fixed) - sounds worth a proper look.

oh btw love those PEGI style rating boxes on your banner - are they custom ?

[Archived Post]

The icons were made by someone named Tiuz. You can check them out here: http://starbaseugc.com/index.php/uncategorized/icon-set-for-foundry-mission-posters/

Anyway, if you do play my mission, let me know your thoughts (good or bad). I'm not sure my mission is destined to be super popular. I definitely think it only appeals to a certain kind of person, and a lot of people (who want more action and less reading) will not enjoy it. But it was the kind of mission I wanted to make, and would like to play, so I'm not that concerned.

The premise of the mission also sort of boxed me in with how I could develop the story, since at first you don't actually know who the pirates are. So, that may have accentuated how reading oriented the mission ended up being.

In any case, I know probably put too much time into making the mission, but if a few people play and enjoy it then I will be satisfied.

[Archived Post]

I made a slight change to the end of the mission to prevent a contact from accidentally getting destroyed, making the mission so it couldn't be completed.

And also, just for fun, I made it so you can order a Raktajino or Earl Grey Tea at the Replimat on the U.S.S. Atlas.

[Archived Post]

I just played your foundry mission and was incredibly impressed with your use of Foundry mechanics; character-driven storyline(s); and custom-made maps! I can tell that you put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this mission and I hope you are encouraged by my words and others to begin a "Part Two" very soon!

Keep up the good work and I'll let me fleeties know to check out your mission!

[Archived Post]

I just played your foundry mission and was incredibly impressed with your use of Foundry mechanics; character-driven storyline(s); and custom-made maps! I can tell that you put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this mission and I hope you are encouraged by my words and others to begin a "Part Two" very soon!

Keep up the good work and I'll let me fleeties know to check out your mission!

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I admit to having been a little disappointed/annoyed when I received the two mysterious one star reviews. For a while I was wondering if I made a mistake even making anything in the Foundry. But, so far everyone besides those anonymous critics seems to have enjoyed the mission, so I'm happy with that.

If you haven't already left feedback in the game, I'd appreciate it if you would. It will help me counter the two mysterious ones I got right off the bat, and might help attract more people to the mission. :)

Part two is actually mostly done in terms of maps/events. I just have to put in the dialogue, which isn't a minor thing, but I don't think it should take me more than a couple of weeks. It's really stupid, but due to how bogged down the Foundry got prior to S4, I had to make the whole mission without dialogue and then add the dialogue all afterward. How annoying, right? I'm just thankful that the Foundry performance was significantly improved with S4, so I could actually finish the mission.

[Archived Post]

Well, finlay weekend, so I have some time to play long missions, and I am going to yours now. When I finsh, I give you my feedback.

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Ok, I have just finish your mission. It took me near 2 hrs, but I think they were worth it.

The story, as you said, is simple.. you don’t save the Federation here, but you manage to take a simple story and make it very interesting. Not only because you created 4 or 5 interesting characters (are they your toons?) but you also give us great mystery to resolve.
The technical use of the foundry was very good, you give us a lot of options to follow, and I appreciate that. Hoo, one question: Why you sometimes use a Constitution class for the contact NPC? You know you can use a Federation console as a promp, right?
The map were very good too, good job with the warp effect! The Atlas was great, but I have one suggestion, maybe rise a bit the roof of the Atlas, could be a bit uncomfortable with the game camera.

The mission is a 5/5, is a bit long, but I enjoy all the time. Well done and I cant wait for second part.

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Just finished your mission today...took me over 3 days....only because I've been busy....but the length was not a problem. It is good that you took your time to flesh out the mission with great depth. The mission was awesome...probably one of the best if not the best I've played so far and I have played majority of the top missions in the foundry.

I really loved all the details you put into the characters, the maps, effects, and the story. It created a depth which was totally immersive...it felt like I was in a real fleshed out universe....not a paper cut out. The characters and the environments seemed real. I loved your use of warp in and out effects for transitions.

Great job. Love the final battle in the end. It was epic...and I tried it without fleet support. It was awesome...a real challenge. Great work.

[Archived Post]

Ok, I have just finish your mission. It took me near 2 hrs, but I think they were worth it.

The story, as you said, is simple.. you don’t save the Federation here, but you manage to take a simple story and make it very interesting. Not only because you created 4 or 5 interesting characters (are they your toons?) but you also give us great mystery to resolve.
The technical use of the foundry was very good, you give us a lot of options to follow, and I appreciate that. Hoo, one question: Why you sometimes use a Constitution class for the contact NPC? You know you can use a Federation console as a promp, right?
The map were very good too, good job with the warp effect! The Atlas was great, but I have one suggestion, maybe rise a bit the roof of the Atlas, could be a bit uncomfortable with the game camera.

The mission is a 5/5, is a bit long, but I enjoy all the time. Well done and I cant wait for second part.

Thanks for your feedback. Sorry, this is a really long response. Maybe it can be seen as a sort of "behind the scenes" look at the mission's development.

Length
I'll be honest, I was really worried about the length at first. I've worked on this mission off and on for months, and the full mission length ended up being about twice as long. But I had the problem that I was running into all of the Foundry limits (costume limit, story limit, map limit), so I figured that was a big hint that the mission should be split (that's the part that's now in Atlas Affair). The costume limit in particular was giving me a lot of problems, and that was what really pushed me to split the mission. Fifty costumes seems like a lot, but you can burn through them really quickly. Even as it is, I still hit the costume limit, which is the main reason why there are a few "audio only" transmissions.

Just as an example of just how poor a grasp I had on the mission length: I actually made another entire map where you beamed over to a freighter that was having a warp core breach. You had to help try to fix the warp core, and then evacuate the freighter. It was a really cool level, and I hated to remove it, but it became obvious that it was just one thing too many. Having that level would have just killed the mission flow, so it had to go. Fortunately, it's not a total waste, because I'm going to include it in another future mission.

Anyway, when my initial play tester timed her play through and it clocked in at around three hours, my heart kind of sank because I figured every other review was going to be a 1 star. I didn't actually mean for the mission to end up being so long, it just sort of happened. Then I logged in the next day and was surprised to find a few 4 and 5 star reviews, so I started to get my hopes up. But then I got two 1s and I sort of figured it was going to be all down hill from there. At this point, it looks like quite a few people enjoy the mission though, so I have been pleasantly surprised, and relieved. :)

Generic Contact
As far as using the Connie instead of the console. The reason I did it is because right now the console is too large to fit inside the dialogue box. All you see is the base, and I wasn't sure if people could even tell what it was. I wish I could use the console, because I have to "waste" a costume on that Connie, just so I have something to use as a generic image, but I just couldn't be satisfied with how the console looks currently.

Characters
In a way, when I'm coming up with a story, the most fun part for me is coming up with characters. Instead of just having a story and throwing in a few characters, I like to come up with characters, and then have them help influence where the story goes, based on their attitudes, background, etc. To me characters sort of are the story, which is why I included the conversations and such on the Atlas, even though a lot of it is totally irrelevant to the actual mission plot line (you'll meet most of those characters again in Atlas Affair, so it's also sort of my way of building some attachment to them).

I'm not sure how "efficient" my way of doing things is, because a lot of the content can just be totally skipped over. I suppose, you could make an argument that I should have just not had those optional conversations and instead used that time to make another full mission. But I feel it gives a little more life to the setting to have those minor characters there, and I enjoyed coming up with them.

Ujarka is one of my actual in-game characters. I've really liked Ferengi ever since I watched DS9, so I've been thinking up some stories for her for a while, and kind of got some of her background worked out just on the side while leveling. Originally she wasn't even going to be a part of this mission, though. What happened was at some point I decided I really needed to have a character I had control of "along for the ride", who could make observations and help drive the story along (and also help give advice to bypass any of the puzzles if someone gets stuck or doesn't want to deal with it). You can only do so much with the player's BOs because you don't really know anything about them, and if you start giving them too much personality it can really annoy people (and understandably so, since it's their character).

So, that change right there had a pretty big impact on the mission, including in some of the other characters you meet (don't want to say too much since it would be a spoiler for those who haven't played). Initially the mission was just going to be where you dropped in on Interstellar Space and started scanning freighters, which looking back would not have been nearly as interesting (it would have been shorter though). Then I had to come up with a way to introduce you to Ujarka, which spawned the whole task force, with you just being one of several ships involved. And since I already had Deck 13, I decided "what the heck" why not have everyone beam over for a briefing, and also introduce some other characters on the side?

A few of the other characters I came up with by designing them in the costume editor, and then something about them caught my fancy, so I developed a bit of personality for them. Maybe an amusing aside but Admiral Gonzales was originally one of the "models" in Ulysses Liddel's computer, but I decided that she turned out too well, and it would be a shame to waste her like that. Also, Captain ***ami (ok the censoring on the forum is a bit out of control, that's actually a legitimate Japanese last name, not something I made up) was originally a doctor, but I thought she had was too interesting to leave in such a minor role.

U.S.S. Atlas Ceiling
As far as raising the ceiling goes. I guess I can see how it might bother some people. I'm not really a fan of the super high ceilings in much of the game though, so I was trying to get away from that. When building the level I tried the ceiling at different heights, but didn't really like how it looked. I think the current height is a fair compromise, which should work OK unless the person has the camera zoomed out a whole lot. I don't know...if I get a lot of complaints I'll think about changing it, but for now I think I'll leave it.

[Archived Post]

Just finished your mission today...took me over 3 days....only because I've been busy....but the length was not a problem. It is good that you took your time to flesh out the mission with great depth. The mission was awesome...probably one of the best if not the best I've played so far and I have played majority of the top missions in the foundry.

I really loved all the details you put into the characters, the maps, effects, and the story. It created a depth which was totally immersive...it felt like I was in a real fleshed out universe....not a paper cut out. The characters and the environments seemed real. I loved your use of warp in and out effects for transitions.

Great job. Love the final battle in the end. It was epic...and I tried it without fleet support. It was awesome...a real challenge. Great work.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the mission. As I mentioned in the last post, I was really worried at first about the length, almost to the point where when it finally came time to publish it, I wondered if I should even bother. Don't get me wrong, I like the mission and how it turned out, but I just wasn't sure anyone else would. At this point the response has exceeded my expectations, so I am very pleased and encouraged to hurry up and finish the sequel. :)

I'm also glad people like the warp effect. Initially that started out as sort of an experiment with the Foundry tech to see if it would work, but in the end I don't think the mission would have been possible without it. There wouldn't be any other way to make it seem like you're actually covering significant ground in the search, and having something like 5 more map transitions would have been horrible.

I'm curious, did you manage to succeed in the finale without support? Do you think my estimation of the difficulty was off? I've only really tested the finale on Elite, where I've found if I don't take even one or two of the ships I end up having a lot of trouble (in an Escort, it's a bit easier in a Cruiser). I wanted to indicate that the finale would be hard without support, but let me know if you think I should tone down the difficulty ratings at all.

[Archived Post]

Actually the final battle was by far the most challenging combat I've encountered in solo missions which includes feature content and foundry content. Normally I'll waltz right through without breaking a sweat in my assault cruiser (It is well specced for soloing against large groups) but I was in great peril in the final combat. It was refreshing and a thrill to be really pushed to the limit like that. Also please note that I did it on Normal difficulty. If I did it on Elite...I would not have survived. So basically what I'm saying is that the difficulty level was fine. Do not change it! It was a great thrill.

[Archived Post]

Federation Mission - Dereliction Duty
Author: Nagorak
Allegiance: Federation
ST-HAKXYCH4Y

----------Report Start-----------

Summary: This was one of the best missions I’ve played from the Foundry. Your use of space, objects and effects was phenomenal. The overall feel of each map along with the story dialog simply reached out and grabbed me. I hardly noticed how long I’d been playing. The characters you developed for this story where memorable as well as entertaining. I look forward to playing the follow up mission to see what will happen next. Simply put I loved your work!

Below are a few observations/recommendations for each phase of the mission including the maps.

Mission Description: Good description of both the details regarding length of the mission and the mission itself. This is a personal preference but I would put the actual description of the mission to be played up front with the length and other details at the end. Again that is my personal preference and has no bearing on how I feel about the mission as a whole.

Grant Mission Dialog: The dialog for both the grant mission and the subsequent dialog were very well done. It is the first thing that draws the player into the mission and this definitely did that for me.

Mission Task: Your inclusion of the location with the Map Text is quite good.

Mission Entry Prompt: Great dialog, perhaps change the button response to something more in line with the dialog. Some suggestions I have, "On my way", or "Entering the Draylon System now".

MAPS:
Draylonic Nebula: Great map design and very well written dialog. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- Initial post entry dialog is good but I would suggest changing the button response to "Acknowledged" or something along those lines.
- The “Scan Strange Asteroid” to port upon entry is labeled as "object". Perhaps label it as "asteroid" or something along those lines.
- The “Scan Strange Asteroid” dialog is good however as above I would suggest changing the button to "Acknowledged" or something along those lines that a Captain might say to a Bridge Officer.
- The “In Depth Scan” dialog is excellent. Even though this is optional dialog it is quite well written. As before the only thing I would suggest is making some of the button responses more like the Captain to a Bridge Officer.
- From this point forward I will not note the button responses unless I see a real problem with one.
- I really liked the entire optional dialog regarding the “Strange Asteroid”.
- Ship summary report contains a lot of detailed information that serves to draw me into the story. Of course I like a good detailed story. I know others will appreciate the skip dialog button as I’ve used those too and they seem popular from time to time.

U.S.S. Atlas Deck 13: Excellent map design and fantastic dialog. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- One minor glitch I came across. Three out of four Bridge Officers get stuck in the ceiling of the passageway outside the transporter room. I think the issue was I paused as I went through the door and the bridge officers began to jump as they do to position themselves and got stuck. I don’t think there is anything you can do about this as it is a limitation when constructing custom maps. After trying several different maneuvers to get them free I exited the mission and reentered. Then I proceeded directly through the door of the transporter room into the hall without incident.
- I love the questioning from ***ami, it was very well done and the choices are well thought out. Once the briefing begins the Skip dialog button made me laugh out load. I didn’t click it but I loved it.

Interstellar Space: The entire warp through space effect looks great and I am glad you added the tip in the initial dialog. Although I knew I wasn’t moving to continue the mission not everyone would get that. The go to and drop from warp sequences along with the appearance of the objects was very well choreographed. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- The freighters are labeled as “Objects”. Perhaps give them the ships name or label them “derelict freighter” or something along those lines.

Reid System: Again the warp sequence along with the drop from warp and appearance of the objects is very well done. The entire map design and dialog was outstanding. I really liked the “Easy Rider” dialog and the “Borg Queen” dialog made me laugh out loud. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- The Binar code was great. Good work.
- As previously recommended the freighters are labeled as “Objects”. Perhaps give them the ships name or label them “derelict freighter” or something along those lines.
- From this point forward I will not note the objects labeling unless I see a real problem with one.
- I noted the ship that appears in a couple of the dialog windows is usually a Federation starship of one type or another. I would assume this is a limitation of the Foundry images available to use for this purpose.

Reid System, Planet X: The map design and dialog are excellent. You have mastered the skill of space utilization with your map design. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- The dialog of the final dialog of the Ferrengi ships triggered after I went to warp. Was that intentional?

Pel Hosi Minor System: Simply a great map and use of space to drive the story. This was a good wrap up to the story. No spelling or grammatical errors found. Below are a few observations/recommendations for the dialog and/or map.
- The last dialog window in the questions for Gul Modran appears to be from Captain Ujarka but Gul Modran appears in the window.
- The choice of the Distress signal remains up even after the engagement of the Orion’s. Was this a ruse that leads to the attack?

---------End Report----------

Thanks again for authoring. You did a great job and I truly look forward to playing the sequel.
Brian

[Archived Post]

Hey Nagorak,
I am going to try this mission out either today or tomorrow, I personally prefer long missions because it keeps you entertained for longer periods. Now I also love short missions for those days where you either do not have time to complete a long one or do not have the patience to be on that long. But I look forward to checking this out cause you are very gifted this I know :)

Gearbox

[Archived Post]

Federation Mission - Dereliction Duty

Summary: This was one of the best missions I’ve played from the Foundry. Your use of space, objects and effects was phenomenal. The overall feel of each map along with the story dialog simply reached out and grabbed me. I hardly noticed how long I’d been playing. The characters you developed for this story where memorable as well as entertaining. I look forward to playing the follow up mission to see what will happen next. Simply put I loved your work!



Thanks for taking the time to review my mission, and thanks especially for catching that mistake with the Cardassian shown instead of Ujarka. I went ahead and republished to fix that mistake.

I actually tend to agree with you about listing what the mission is about before the details. In most cases, it makes more sense to "sell" the mission first, while you have someone's attention. However, in this case my goal was more to scare off anyone who didn't want a long mission right off the bat. And, really, if someone doesn't have the patience to read a paragraph about my mission, it's going to be a disaster for them if they play it. ;)

Just touching on a couple of your other points. I don't think there's any way for me to change the name of the "Objects". With contacts I know you can change the name, but the objects are all interacts and unless I'm totally missing something, I don't know of any way to change them. Due to the dynamics of the mission, it's not possible to use contacts for any of the freighters because if I do, I can't hide them afterwards.

About the Tat-Kwerg dialogue. That happens because the Objective Complete trigger is broken with dialogues. I wanted her ship to appear and then for them to have that discussion, but I couldn't do that if the dialogue was in the storyline. So, as a work around, I have it so that the dialogue triggers off a reach marker after you start to set an intercept course. I suppose even overhearing the conversation at all might also be a bit contrived, but I'm going to claim artistic license on that. ;)

And during the finale you said the distress signal remained? The reason that is, is because I wanted to make it so that if someone tried to go it alone (or with too few support vessels) and then found out they'd made a mistake, they could still summon help after the fact. Ideally I'd have a separate interact to summon help, but I hit the enemy group limit on the map, so my hands are basically tied.

Regarding the Captain responses, I'll take that to heart and consider how I might integrate it into the mission, and/or future missions. My only reservation is I'd like to avoid putting too many words in someone's mouth (that's why I like providing the multiple responses, it allows the player to choose what he feels fits his captain the best). However, if they are generic enough responses they'll probably be fine.

Considering the insane amount of dialogue in the mission, I probably won't be going back to make any major changes until the sequel is completed, at the minimum. Also, I sort of dread having to republish because whenever I do, I have to go and reset all of the map dialogues because of the damn Foundry bug that breaks them every time I load the mission. It takes me at least an hour or just rechecking in order to republish because I can't afford to have the dialogues broken or it renders the mission unplayable at some points.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm glad you enjoyed the mission, and I am going to take your feedback into account.

[Archived Post]

On a side note, I've gotten my first somewhat humorous one star review. Someone said that after they beamed down to the Borg sphere they fell through the map and died. Only thing is, there aren't any Borg spheres in my mission, so I'm not sure what they were playing. :confused: At least this time the person actually left a review so I know it was a mistake.

Also someone else said I should cut 25% of the text out. They may be right, and I appreciate their honest feedback, but I think since my mission seems to be doing OK as it is, I'm not going to mess with it. For what it's worth, I think Atlas Affair will be a little bit more action oriented, simply based on the nature of the mission.

I'm not sure if Dereliction Duty will remain at the very top of the list forever. I sort of expect Worst of Both Worlds to retake the top spot eventually, as more reviews on mine trickle in, but either way I'm very please with the response. Thanks to everyone who has played it and provided feedback. :)

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Oh, I also republished the mission to fix the bug with the Cardassian captain being shown instead of Ujarka, along with a few other typos.

I also removed the consoles from outside of the Transporter Room to see if it helps with BOff pathing.

And I increased the radii of some of the reach markers to make them more forgiving about being on the wrong altitude. Reach markers seem to be spheres in game, even though they show as a circle on the map, so if you're too high or too low they won't trigger.

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I just have to say the way you did the effect to travel at Warp was genius, and the clever way you made it so that using invisible walls enemy contacts couldn't attack or be attacked was great. Not sure if you thought of those both yourself or found them somewhere else but I'm probably going to steal them.

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I just have to say the way you did the effect to travel at Warp was genius, and the clever way you made it so that using invisible walls enemy contacts couldn't attack or be attacked was great. Not sure if you thought of those both yourself or found them somewhere else but I'm probably going to steal them.

Well, I won't go so far as to say I invented those tricks, but I personally haven't seen them used before. I remember there was a thread in the Foundry forum maybe six months ago where the warp effect was discussed, and at the time I mentioned that I was using it in my mission which would be "done in a couple of weeks". Little did I know... lol.

Either way, feel free to make use of that "tech". If my mission inspires more people to use the warp effect then I think that would be great! :) Actually a few people have mentioned interest in the warp effect, so I might write a short guide sharing what I've learned. There's not really that much to it, but I can probably save you some time by sharing my experiences.

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I also wanted to mention that I've republished Dereliction Duty to add nav beacons to some of the reach markers. Some people were still having trouble finding the right place to return to warp, even after increasing the reach marker radii, so hopefully these new beacons will be successful in solving their problems.

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Just wanted to say that i thought the mission was excellent. The numerous dialogue options (and optional dialogue in general) resulted in it being the first time i felt i could really "RP" my captain. Now, i'm not an RPer, but you know what i mean i'm sure :p. It was good to behave in a more "chaotic good" kind of way, rather than as a straight laced pride of starfleet type (my main character is based on "Ace" Rimmer, from Red Dwarf, if that means anything to you).

"Is that a borg implant, or are you just pleased to see me?" < almost as good as "Smoke me a kipper, i'll be back for breakfast".

I'm sure any non-dwarfers are confused now :p

Very much looking forward to the next one.

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I absolutely LOVED IT, was about 2 hrs long and was the perfect length for me! Entertaining and got rid of 2 hrs of boredom :) Thanks and I am EAGERLY waiting for Part II

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Hi Nagorak, I have just played your mission and have the biggest smile on my face :D

That was absolutly outstanding, it is without doubt the best mission I have played in STO (no disrespect to any of the other talented foundry authors) but I love long story driven missions and the thing that I found amazing is how involved I got in the story, I would consider every quetion and possible repercussion so it took me a while to complete it but it was time well spent.In fact probabily the most fun I have had in STO in a long time.

The warp sections were one of so many highlights and the final battle well what can I say, takes me back to the first days of Borg Red alerts where we actually had fleets of ships rather then squadrons.

This is one I am going to be playing again and again, and I will be recommending it to my fleet for anyone who wants to try it because this shows what the foundry is.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write the story and work with the foundry to create this, you have made me a very happy person :D

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Hi Nagorak, Just a little heads up. Dereliction Duty will be reviewed in this week's BitesizeUGC.

It would be great if you could come and join us on BroadcastUGC as I do have a bit to add after the review is shown. We Start friday 4pm PDT, 7pm EDT, 11pm UTC and Saturday 9AM AEDT. You should beable to work out your timezone with that.

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Hi Nagorak, Just a little heads up. Dereliction Duty will be reviewed in this week's BitesizeUGC.

It would be great if you could come and join us on BroadcastUGC as I do have a bit to add after the review is shown. We Start friday 4pm PDT, 7pm EDT, 11pm UTC and Saturday 9AM AEDT. You should beable to work out your timezone with that.

Hi, thanks for letting me know. I'd love to join you guys, but I'm afraid today at around 3:30 pm PDT I have a business meeting. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long that will take. I will try my best to get back, but I don't know if I can make it in time.

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Ok I did not LOVE this mission like most did, but I enjoyed it.

Part of the problem could be because I was cooking dinner while playing this mission, it was late, and it took me an extremely LONG time.

This is a READING mission, not an action or combat mission by any means other than the final space battle, and the mission is exclusively in space.

Walls of text - lots of text, and although the writing is good and interesting, a lot of it does absolutlely nothing to move the plot along. On top of that, there are puzzles (albeit easy ones) embedded into the dialogue. So you must sift through most of the text (which is largely irrelevant) if you want to solve the puzzles. Or you can have one of your companions help you, which you inevitably must do in some cases anyway.

This is an interactive novella - not so much a game.

Now the space maps were very well done, and again the writing is good. Just be prepared to spend a lot of idle time reading, and be well rested, or you will find youself skipping through dialogue box after dialogue box as they begin to wear ya down. :)

I gave it four stars. A little more dynamic interaction to make me feel like I actually was affecting the story, and less idle time going through dialogue, would have been my preference.

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I played the mission and reviewed ( http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=236755&referrerid=312767) it for Nagorak. This story is very well written and the map design is excellent. I highly recommend this mission. It will leave you hungry for more. ;)

Brian

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Majeef, Derek7820 and Elisavarr.

I'm glad you enjoyed the mission. Thanks for the feedback. I didn't respond before because I'm busy working on the sequel to my mission, but I did want you to know that your posts are appreciated and that I did read them. :)

Ok I did not LOVE this mission like most did, but I enjoyed it.

Part of the problem could be because I was cooking dinner while playing this mission, it was late, and it took me an extremely LONG time.

This is a READING mission, not an action or combat mission by any means other than the final space battle, and the mission is exclusively in space.

Walls of text - lots of text, and although the writing is good and interesting, a lot of it does absolutlely nothing to move the plot along. On top of that, there are puzzles (albeit easy ones) embedded into the dialogue. So you must sift through most of the text (which is largely irrelevant) if you want to solve the puzzles. Or you can have one of your companions help you, which you inevitably must do in some cases anyway.

This is an interactive novella - not so much a game.

Now the space maps were very well done, and again the writing is good. Just be prepared to spend a lot of idle time reading, and be well rested, or you will find youself skipping through dialogue box after dialogue box as they begin to wear ya down. :)

I gave it four stars. A little more dynamic interaction to make me feel like I actually was affecting the story, and less idle time going through dialogue, would have been my preference.

I appreciate the criticism. I agree that the length is excessive and that there is a lot of reading. In fact, I was not expecting my mission to do as well as it has. I'm actually well aware of the problems with the mission (I'm my own worst critic), so I can list a bunch of reasons why it is highly flawed.

I think I mentioned this before, but when it came time to hit publish, I actually asked myself whether I should even bother. My initial feeling was the mission might be completely DOA due to the length, and I wasn't sure I was up for the negative reception I thought it would receive. In the end, I decided that if a couple dozen people enjoyed it, even if many others did not, it was still worth publishing. So, with those low expectations in mind, I am very happy that many people seem to really appreciate the mission (and by the way, a four or even a three is still a fine review, so no need to apologize for it).

On the puzzles the only one that I can think of that really requires asking for help is the Structure > Logic > Function > Control question, because it is so esoteric. I suppose the Greek god puzzle might also stump people if they don't know anything about Greek mythology. But, since I did put in the option to ask for help, I didn't really need to worry too much if some people had trouble with them. There's no need to have to tab out and Google the answer if you're stumped. I sort of viewed the "ask for help" as an option to add some more interaction with Captain Ujarka, so it was a win/win either way. If you can let me know exactly what puzzles you didn't like, I can keep that in mind for the future.

I guess the thing about the "pointless" text, is that it may not drive the story, but it sort of sets the stage for the puzzles, and builds up some of the other characters. So, it can be considered flavor text. You're right, I could cut a lot of it out, but then would people find it as engrossing? I've received another review that said I should cut about 25% of the text out, and I definitely understand where you are coming from. At the same time, I understand not everyone is going to like the same thing.

At this point, I'm reluctant to change what has apparently turned out to be a successful formula. The mission is currently rated about 4.4, and I'm not sure whether any changes would really result in a higher aggregate rating. Also, I think it's more productive to just focus on my future missions rather than spend too much tinkering with Dereliction Duty (outside of making various fixes to things people have trouble with, such as the warp waypoints).

Also, one other thing I should mention is that I'm pretty long winded. I think a large part of the issue is that I've written many hundreds of pages in my life, so at this point a few hundred words just doesn't seem like that much to me anymore. I'm afraid, that's now basically become a character trait of mine (some might say flaw?), so any of my missions are probably going to be a little bit on the wordy side. I just can't really help it. In the end, I have to make missions on my own terms, and cater to my strengths, so that's just how they are going to end up being. There's nothing wrong with shorter missions, or more action oriented missions, they just won't be made by me (I still enjoy some of those myself). ;)

Anyway, thanks again for the criticism, and I will definitely take it into consideration.

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BitesizeUGC has posted a review of Dereliction Duty. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFEqlhCcmQg

Thanks to RogueEnterprise and Capt.PFDennis for the review!

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I also have republished the mission to get the space explosions working again, and to make some animation changes to account for the fact the Scramble Sensors animation is now broken (come on Cryptic!).

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All criticism is good so long as it is constructed and you have put a warning on the mission tab that it is a long mission with lots of reading so people should know what they are getting into.

we are human beings, that means we are all different and some people like the idea of a quick combat mission with little or no story, and some people like to read and enjoy other peoples imaginations. I myself am from the latter camp. You will always get people who say there isn't enought combat or there is too much reading, that of course is their choice as if whether to play the mission or not. I think your mission rightly deserves it 4.4 star average, it is one of, if not the best foundry mission I have played and your use of maps really shows what can be done.

I'm really pleased to hear you are working on another mission, if it come anywhere near the high standard of Dereliction then it's a must play as far as I'm concerned.

Whatever you do stay true to yourself and do what you want ot the mission, you are writing and designing it and it is your legacy (if you will) to the world of STO.

Thnka you again for your efforts and for publishing your mission. LLAP

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Wow! I finally got around to playing this mission (I've struggled to find an uninterrupted block of 2 to 3 hours of game time) and it was worth the wait. Your use of maps and special effects is stunning. I especially enjoyed the illusion of my ship going to warp inside mission maps. The dialogue was excellent (though I admit that I skimmed some parts). Your characters were superbly developed, and I actually felt a little intimidated by the Admiral. I most enjoyed the feeling that I was truly solving a mystery; the way you allow the player to apply deductive reasoning to determine the identity of the pirates is brilliant.

My only criticism is that the surprise ending felt a little tacked-on; however, this did not affect my enjoyment of the mission. Thank you for spending so many hours to create something truly outstanding. I look forward to the next chapter!

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This was an amazing mission! Truly outstanding work and deserves NOTHING less than 5 stars due to its amazing maps, awesome mechanics, and unrivaled path-able dialog! I EAGERLY await your sequel!

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Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm hard at work on Atlas Affair, but as always it's slow going.

In regards to the sequel, I have posted a thread in the Ten Forward forum about the use of the title commodore, and whether it would be appropriate to refer to the leader of a task force as "commodore", or whether that would seem out of place in ST.

If you're interested in providing your thoughts on the use of the title commodore, then please see this thread:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=240475

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I think I managed to fix the BOFF pathing on Atlas Deck 13. They still have trouble with getting through the doors, but they should no longer get completely stuck.

If anyone wants to give the first part of the mission a run through, please let me know if your BOFFs are still getting completely stuck (you still have to baby sit them through the doors, but they should get through).

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I'm currently playing this mission, and I must say so far I liked it a lot.
The warp effect is especially cool, and I like how different answers have different responses.

Only one thing to nitpick on right now is Romulans and Remans DO use Disruptor weapons.

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None of my Officers got stuck by the way.

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Only one thing to nitpick on right now is Romulans and Remans DO use Disruptor weapons.

Thanks for catching that. It's really strange but I could have sworn the Romulans used plasma weapons in this game. I know they used plasma torpedo, but I remember always getting the plasma burn effect when fighting them (even when not hit by a torpedo).

I guess I was wrong about that... Now I'll have to try to figure out how to fix that problem.

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It's probably torpedo lag, sometimes the fire actually starts a couple of seconds before actually getting hit by the torpedo. The game seams to be weird like that.
To add even more to the confusion their ground disruptors leave a AoE as well. -_-

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I'm working on a revamp to the first investigation to fix the issue with the Romulans being said not to use disruptors. It's mostly done but I want to make sure it's not too confusing before publishing it (I figure after 600 plays it's not exactly an emergency at this point).

Also, just for fun here's a couple of screen shots of Atlas Affair, the sequel to Dereliction Duty:

This first one is a shot of the lounge on the U.S.S. Hyperion, with some of the crew members drinking at the bar. You can see my Foundry test character standing by the table in the distance, looking out at the Shuttlecraft Shran (By the way, don't use a Ferengi as a test character. It makes it hard to judge the height of consoles or anything else, because they are so ridiculously short). Over on the right side you can see Captain Tharn of the Hyperion meeting with Janet Ryan from the Odysseus (injured, holding her arm) and the other task force captains are just off screen. http://www.nagorak.com/hyperion.jpg

This second one is an example of the U.S.S. Atlas Bridge, which has turned out to be an absolutely hellish level to make. It seemed like a simple enough concept, but in practice it has turned out to be extremely ambitious (overly so). So far there are 33 map dialogues, and there at least 2 more that need to be added. Most of those dialogues are completely optional, as part of a puzzle, and I expect that most players won't even see most of them (although they can all be activated if they want). Of course, I also hit the contact limit and the enemy limit (most enemies are actually "filler" contacts, not actually ones you fight). I hate to think how many hours I've put into just this level, and it's a totally enclosed bridge. ;) http://www.nagorak.com/atlasbridge.jpg

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Nagorak,

I played this mission over the last couple of days and really loved it!

The Foundry has consistently impressed me as a place for real "Star Trek"-style missions more 'authentic'-feeling than the actual dev-built content, and this mission is no exception.

I got a kick out of how the inquest about your behaviors as a Captain was more or less about the game STO itself :)

Really fun mission, I loved in particular getting to overhear the discussions with the Vulcan about what triage means in a battle situation.

I also liked that there was so much 'color', the conversations like that which didn't seem to directly bear on the plot but just made the whole environment feel more real and fun to be in.

Great work on the mission.

It's been a couple of months since you posted it, any updates on the sequel? I'm dying to find out what happens!

Odeko

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Odeko, I'm glad you enjoyed the mission. I've noticed from the reviews/feedback that people all seem to name different things they liked the most about the mission. I guess it's a good thing that there's something for everyone. :)

Anyway, I'm hard at work on the sequel. The trouble is that with the branching dialogues and all the background/fluff conversations, it takes me a long time to get the mission done. I can't even estimate how much more text has to be in the mission compared to your average STO or Foundry mission.

If I had it to do over again and I knew in advance how well received my mission would be, I would have held off on publishing it until I had the other one done or closer to being done. The thing was, at the time, the mission was so long, I wasn't sure whether people would like it, or if everyone would just hate it. The honest truth is I didn't want to put all the effort into the sequel if, say 20 people, played Dereliction Duty.

I feel bad for leaving people waiting for so long, but I'm afraid I can only work so fast. I also didn't realize it would take me quite so long to finish the sequel. On Atlas Affair, one of the maps has turned out to be a bit overly ambitious. The funny thing is it's a bridge, so it only has a small physical area, yet in terms of dialogue it is massive (it's in the screen shot above).

The other issue is I keep struggling with Foundry bugs. It looks like the most recent patch put in another bug where it won't let me set dialogue prompts to show or hide via component complete (it actually works fine, but gives a false error message so I can't publish). So, I have to constantly find work arounds to these stupid bugs.

I'm getting closer to finishing and hope to have the mission done within the next couple of weeks. At the very least the first half of it will be finished by then. For ease of play, I think I'm going to split the mission up into two halves so people don't have to do the whole thing in one sitting if they don't have the time (it also gives me more costumes, which I'm chronically running short on), but I don't know if I should publish the first half of the mission before the whole thing is completed.

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There's so much content in that mission, I can understand that it must take forever to do the next one!

I think your instinct is correct to split it up into multiple pieces. That both makes it more manageable for you the creator and for us the players!

One thing I'm curious about--in one Foundry mission are you able to know anything about choices the character made or results of events in a previous mission?

For example, in my playthrough, after the briefing at the beginning, the Admiral said I'd passed but she wasn't wholly convinced.

Is it possible to reference that in the sequel? Can you know "The player passed the test with flying colors" or "The player failed the test" or whatever?

Odeko

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Unfortunately, there's no real way to track how a player did in a previous mission (or even a previous map on the same mission). There's a sort of work around, where you can give someone a code to enter (this is why some of the NPCs you encounter give you comm codes) and then depending on what code (or if they have the code) things will be a little different. This is basically going back to the old NES days where some games didn't allow you to actually save, and instead gave you a code to enter.

For example, if you've gotten Gul Modran's Comm Code (which most people probably did, unless they insulted him), then you can enter it in Atlas Affair and he'll be there, while if you never played Dereliction Duty or didn't get his Comm Code then he won't be around.

But there's only so far you can take this, because you can't have the player entering five million codes, and you also need a plausible reason to give a code unless you want it to be totally obvious that it's a game device. Unfortunately, there's no real way to follow-up on the Admiral Gonzales conversation, but in the context of the events of the next mission it shouldn't hurt too much.

I wish there was some way to track player choices across multiple missions, or even the same mission, but I don't know if that will ever be in the cards for the Foundry.

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I suppose one thing you could do is set up different dialogue options that the player could choose to select how well you did. It's not as 'secure' as the code option but if done well (like how you did with the C3SS in the briefing room) could be just as good and in-line with the story.

I can't wait for the sequel Nagorak.

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I pulled my mission down to try to fix a bug that had been resulting in some bad reviews (frustrating since I was trying to work on my other mission). Now, however, it can't be republished until the recently added dialogue prompt bug is fixed, so Dereliction Duty will probably be down for the next week or two. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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I am truly sorry that your mission has been affected by the new dialogue bugs. I hope that they are repaired soon. (Sends a "Get Well Soon" card)

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I pulled my mission down to try to fix a bug that had been resulting in some bad reviews (frustrating since I was trying to work on my other mission). Now, however, it can't be republished until the recently added dialogue prompt bug is fixed, so Dereliction Duty will probably be down for the next week or two. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Aw! D: I wondered why I couldn't find it when I went back for a replay.

Take your time fixing it though, we all understand. Better that it not be re-released until the quality is at the impressive level you had before.

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I am truly sorry that your mission has been affected by the new dialogue bugs. I hope that they are repaired soon. (Sends a "Get Well Soon" card)

Dialog bug? This is something new..
Is this bug affecting publish mission or only unpublished ones?

And btw, sorry to hear that your mission is bugged, I hope it will be back soon!

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After about 3 weeks of down time, Dereliction Duty is back up with a few revamps for the new year! I've fixed the problem where the Romulans were said to not use disruptors. I've tried to fix the issue with people beaming into the wall on the Atlas. And the pirate leader has also gotten a new look!

Also, Atlas Affair (Part 1/2) should be ready for release in the next 2-3 days! :D

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Well, Atlas Affair, Part 1 was supposed to be out today (actually yesterday), but it's been pushed back a couple of days due to technical difficulties (bridge officer pathing). :(

[Archived Post]

Well, Atlas Affair, Part 1 was supposed to be out today (actually yesterday), but it's been pushed back a couple of days due to technical difficulties (bridge officer pathing). :(

Where is this by the way? Are you still having problems?

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Where is this by the way? Are you still having problems?

It should be out today or tomorrow. I was delayed by having to make my entry for the PodcastUGC contest.

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Ok, Atlas Affair (Part 1/2) is now published.

It can take 3+ hours to play if you read everything, but can be done in as little as an hour if you skip all of the optional objectives and text. Right now it's in the review content tab, so help me get it out of there! :)

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Soooo.... how's Part 2 coming along? :cool:

Part 1 was absolutely awesome, BTW. Had a blast replaying it, and I discovered that there's something I apparently missed from Dereliction Duty, as there was a mention of a comm code for someone that I haven't gotten on any runthrough. These missions are actually making me take notes! :eek:

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Soooo.... how's Part 2 coming along? :cool:

Part 1 was absolutely awesome, BTW. Had a blast replaying it, and I discovered that there's something I apparently missed from Dereliction Duty, as there was a mention of a comm code for someone that I haven't gotten on any runthrough. These missions are actually making me take notes! :eek:

I'm taking a day or two off, but then I'll get back down to working on the second half. All of the maps are already in place, I just need to add most of the dialogue. Considering how much dialogue there is in the missions, that's actually a fair amount of work to do.

But, I'm looking at getting it done hopefully by early February, but by mid February at the latest.

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As I said in my review, the great thing about this mission is replayability. You can play it several times without getting bored of it. Magnificent stuff, man. Cryptic should hire you to write their missions. :P

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It's tolerable (I'd say not great because there's a reason why ST and STO are done differently) til the ending.

And then it ruins any good will it has.

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It's tolerable (I'd say not great because there's a reason why ST and STO are done differently) til the ending.

And then it ruins any good will it has.

Well you can't please everyone. ;)

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In all honesty, one of the nice things about the Foundry is we're not restrained by the need to make missions a certain way. I don't think Cryptic would ever create a mission like Dereliction Duty (for one thing it's about 5x too long).

I do think they could benefit by taking some of the elements I used and applying them to shorter missions (more memorable characters, less mindless "kill 5/5 enemy groups").

That being said, if you were to put Foundry missions on a scale between story and game play, DD would probably be all the way to the left by story. Some have even said in their reviews that it's closer to being an interactive novel, and that may be a fair description.

But the strange thing is, I actually made Atlas Affair more action oriented (partly by necessity due to the situation), correcting a perceived deficiency in DD on my part, yet it's actually rated lower. So, I don't know what that means?

The only conclusion I draw from it is I'm just going to keep making the missions I enjoy, and as long as enough people keep playing them, I'll consider it worth my time (I'd like to get 500 plays over time).

If not everyone likes them, and even if some people think they are total crap, that's OK. There are plenty of other missions in the Foundry, and many of them probably have more universal appeal. That's really the great thing about the Foundry, there's something for everyone.

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Why can't I get past the Hirogen's Apex Battleship? I battled it for every over an hour and I couldn't beat it. It just healed too fast. Plus, it doesn't help that my starfleet "ally" won't help. The ship just sits off in the distance, doing nothing, but watching.
It's like the Hirogen battleship and this particular Starfleet ship (the one with the Admiral onboard) are allied. Until I can figure out how to take out the ship, I can'f finish the story.

Too bad really.

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That's strange. The Hirogen battleship shouldn't be that hard to defeat. I hope Cryptic hasn't pulled another "D'Deridex Defender".

Make sure your weapon power is set to maximum, that will make a big difference. If you're running with low weapon power your damage output drops off dramatically.

Also the Hercules should help you, bu if it looks like it has little electrical arcs coming off of it, that means it's already been disabled. If the ship hasn't been disabled then try moving closer to it so the Hirogen battleship follows you.

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How do I make sure my weapon power is set to maximum? And, like I said, I battled the ship for over an hour to a standstill. You would think the Hercules would have repaired itself back into service ...

I moved on, and I'm having trouble beating a Orion frigate now too.

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I put off trying this one because of the time commitment involved but damn, I really should have got on board sooner.

This mission is a masterpiece Nagorak, really seems to push the boundaries of what the Foundry can do. Great characterisation, strong plot, investigation, humour, amazing map work and thrilling action to top it off - this mission has it all. The whole package ranks as one of - if not the best - foundry missions I've played - and I've played a good number of fantastic ones.

Episode 2 is next on my list - looks like it's going to be a 'Star Trek: Atlas week' for me! (Little confusing as my own ship is named Atlas) :D

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How do I make sure my weapon power is set to maximum? And, like I said, I battled the ship for over an hour to a standstill. You would think the Hercules would have repaired itself back into service ...

I moved on, and I'm having trouble beating a Orion frigate now too.

No offense, but the frigate is the weakest class of ship. If you're having trouble with a frigate then something is either wrong with how your ship is equipped or configured.

Check Difficulty Level

First of all, check that you're set to normal difficulty mode. Push J to bring up your journal and hit the "In Progress" tab. Then in the lower right corner there should be something that says "X difficulty". It should say Normal Difficulty. If it says Elite or Advanced then change it to Normal.

Set Weapon Power To Max

Next check to make sure your weapon power is set to max. To do that do the following:

On your screen there is a meter which displays your ship power level.

See here: http://www.nagorak.com/powersettings.jpg

Select the one that has the symbol of an X on it. That's weapon power. Due to the mechanics of the game you should mostly leave your power set to weapons except if you are specifically trying to run away or get your shields back up.

This explains more about how power settings works: http://www.stowiki.org/Starship_%28Power_and_Subsystems%29

And this explains why you should leave yourself set to weapon power: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=162618

Upgrade Your Weapons/Ship

If you're playing Dereliction Duty you're obviously at least Lt. Commander, so if you're still in your Miranda (starting ship) then there's something wrong. Make sure you've upgraded to your next level ship. Also if you're still using MK II equipment then upgrade to MK IV equipment.

[Archived Post]

How much dilithium do you get for your missions?

[Archived Post]

How much dilithium do you get for your missions?

Since the tip jar went live I've received 116,325, which is about 1551 per day. Although I doubt the tips are actually spread out evenly during that time. It probably spiked after AA part 2 was released and it's probably lower than 1551 right now.

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=265617

[Archived Post]

Thank you for answering my question.

[Archived Post]

Good golly sir, this was a fantastic mission.


I loved the way that you could interact with items that were non story essential.



Also, permission to punch ***ami in the throat?

EDIT: ^^^ Oh wow...

[Archived Post]

The only problem I had with Dereliction Duty was trying to get my Boffs through the doors aboard the Atlas when you go over there for the briefing. It took me more than ten tries to get two of them out of the transporter room (I set waypoints for the other two and left them in there). Otherwise I loved the mission, and especially loved the feeling of actually investigating something and figuring things out without having to blow X number of things up first. Looking forward to playing the next episode!

[Archived Post]

Gundren's comm code WILL be mine!!!!!

*prepares to play DD for the 10th time*

Looking forward to part V, not in a pressuring or anticipating way, simply in wondering what might happen next.

[Archived Post]

Hey guys

I'm new to posting in the forums (although I've been playing STO obsessively for a little while now), as I simply don't often have much of interest to contribute. However, I saw this thread and had to stick my head in.

I have played a few of the "top rated" Foundry missions now, and have recently created my first attempt at an original mission. I was impressed with the quality of some of these missions prior to my own experiments with the Foundry, but since? Wow.

My thanks and admiration go out to the author. Dereliction Duty / Atlas Affair is an amazingly well created series with characters that I got to know and care about, (even managed to respect ***ami slightly after my conversation choices with her). Branching conversations really add to the immersion, and it seems that you can interact with almost anything, whether it is an objective or not. I was very impressed with the final entry in the series' "multiple endings" workaround and it was very effective.

All in all, this post is simply to say thank you for providing us as players with these episodes. After my own experience with the Foundry I can appreciate even more the time and effort you have put into creating them, and I am grateful. The episodes are in my opinion something you can really be proud of.

Thanks again.

[Archived Post]

Atlas Affair was absolutely AWESOME.

Hoping that Nagorak does a follow-up at some point. Would love to know what becomes of the elder daughter.

[Archived Post]

Thanks for the positive words guys. I do plan on making more missions, but I've just been totally overwhelmed in real life lately. I just haven't had the time to even play STO at all. Hopefully I'll have time to get back into the Foundry in the next month or so, and on a positive note my creative batteries should be fully recharged by my "vacation" from the game.

By the way, if you've finished Dereliction Duty/Atlas Affair, be sure to play Perilous Prize (http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=249144), if you haven't already. It's a little more light hearted and maybe not as epic as the other missions, but I think it's still a fun story. ;)

[Archived Post]

To be blunt, I'd like to see this mission (among others by Nagorak) as a featured Foundry Spotlight.

I realize they're longer than the typical Foundry mission, but they're noteworthy. Make it so, Cryptic!

[alexea2]

hey ive played this mission before but now i cant find it anywhere on the foundry after putting in the mission name and authors name can someone help please

[nagorak]

hey ive played this mission before but now i cant find it anywhere on the foundry after putting in the mission name and authors name can someone help please

Hi. Sorry I had to pull my missions due to some changes for S6. There were some things that had to be updated for the new system, and while I was at it, I decided to make some additional upgrades.

Dereliction Duty and Atlas Affair (Parts 1 & 2) will both be back up by this coming Friday. Hopefully I can get them up before that, maybe as soon as Monday, but they will be up by Friday for certain.

Sorry for the inconvenience. But it's good to know I haven't been totally forgotten. ;)

[alexea2]

Hi. Sorry I had to pull my missions due to some changes for S6. There were some things that had to be updated for the new system, and while I was at it, I decided to make some additional upgrades.

Dereliction Duty and Atlas Affair (Parts 1 & 2) will both be back up by this coming Friday. Hopefully I can get them up before that, maybe as soon as Monday, but they will be up by Friday for certain.

Sorry for the inconvenience. But it's good to know I haven't been totally forgotten. ;)

ok then thanks for the help glad to know they will come back :)

[nagorak]

Dereliction Duty is back up now. Atlas Affair, Part 1 will be up later tonight, and Atlas Affair, Part 2 will hopefully be back up Sunday or Monday of next week.

[nagorak]

I put Atlas Affair, Part 1 back up now. I might just put AA pt 2 back up after making only essential edits, and then make the level improvements after that, so people can at least play through the whole mission. In that case, it will be back up tonight.

[justleroy]

Too bad the review system is still down, I would definitely give this a 5 star rating. Best 3 hours of STO to date. :D

[nagorak]

Too bad the review system is still down, I would definitely give this a 5 star rating. Best 3 hours of STO to date. :D

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the mission. :)