I've got a mission where there are eight different contacts, but I want to give the player the option of choosing where to go throghout the selection of those eight contacts and not be forced to select them in a particular order.

Is this possible? If so, how?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

You certainly can!

Drag your second Dialog with Contact objective on top of the first Dialog with Contact objective.

They will be combined into one large "Complete All" objective. After this to add objectives you drag it into the "Complete All" Bar at the top.

I actually had this question too, but I have another as well:

Can you make optional objectives, and if so, how?

Yes and no.

You can't make any required actions optional.

You can make non required elements (as in, not in the story tab) optional.

And you can get a bit creative from there.

For example:

- Lying or being nebulous about player instructions on the story tab.
- Having something optional block progress to a required objective. (Ie. a wall, a tall cliff, a hundred enemies.)
- Having something optional complete something required.

For example... Say it's required in the story menu that a player kill a group of ensign targs. But then you wall off the targs in a way so that the player cannot see or shoot them directly. Then you have a variety of optional (ie. non-required) triggers which each spawn a large group of Starfleet/KDF NPCs in the area with the targs.

Then, in the "kill targs" objective on the story menu, you lie about the objective. You don't TELL the player that their task is to kill targs. You put "Diffuse the Bomb" in the description.

Then you have a variety of completely optional triggers (object interacts) which say things like, "Cut the red wire" and "Cut the blue wire." And some of those spawn Federation NPCs on top of the hostile targs.

So the task in this case is not ACTUALLY optional. It's ACTUALLY "kill targs." But you put a false description in the story menu and then create a variety of optional tasks, some of which will kill the targs FOR the player without them knowing.

Does that make sense?

Thank you very much! This is very helpful for this mission plus any others that I want to use this kind of setup for!

I've done something with optional objecties as well.

In my Plato series of missions, I was able to set up a few puzzles, choices and options the player had to get through to complete the main objectives.

For anyone that's played it, did you find the dropped keycard that could bypass the puzzles?

Uhm. Don't you actually have to complete all branches of a complete all?

Correct, the player would have to talk to all of the contacts, but within that they could choose which one to do first, second, third, etc. I believe that's what his original question was.

Any optional objectives would have to be exactly as you said, outside the storyboard.

I was answering the original post regarding talking to contacts in any order