Create Your Own Content?!

[MJB]

I am... flabbergasted to be completely honest.

Have you all read the 4 year anniversary post by Positron? Cick HERE if you haven't.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for our game’s future, and although we have some major announcements yet to be made, one of the things I can talk about is a feature that we are planning. Similar in concept to our character creator, it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in. You’ll be able to pick the map, villain group, and objectives, as well as write the dialog and any clues needed for the missions. When you are satisfied with it, you can upload it and have other players across all servers play it and rate it. Fame will come to the players whose stories rate the best overall. It is features like these that we never dreamed of including when we first shipped, but are excited to be able to offer players very soon.

This is so COOL! I can't wait to see what the FR/NRF SG's come up with.

-MJB

[Kommando]

o.0 - Oh yeah.  I will so be down for that.

[ow_tiobe_sb]

With this addition and the possibility of a little healthy monthly fee market competition, I might not bother paying Champions Online any mind...I said, "might not"...

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

[captainspud]

Screw originality... just use it to make a mission on a ginormous outdoor map, jam-packed with Freaks. Play on the map from 1-50, get there in two weeks.

Hells yes.

[Alaric]

I've been hoping for a feature like this for as long as the game's been around- never actually expected them to do it, though.

[Midnight]

Screw originality... just use it to make a mission on a ginormous outdoor map, jam-packed with Freaks. Play on the map from 1-50, get there in two weeks.

Hells yes.

Or, as I told TW earlier today, Behemoths.

[Tortuga]

Tortuga's "Clear the Sewers" story arc will come to fruition!!

[DrMike2000]

Yeah. Sounds interesting.

I cant help wonder how this all fits together. Im assuming you stick to existing enemy types, what about initial contacts? Do you create one of your own or use a pre-existing one from somewhere? Where do players go to choose from the masses of content that will no doubt be created? Ouroborous?
I can't stop speculating

e.g. For a mission you'd maybe specify

Starting text. e.g. "Theres a factory in Kings Row where the Lost have been making psychoactive candy. I want you to beat them all up, $player"
Map e.g. Warehouse #2
Enemy types (up to 3) e.g. Lost*
Boss name (who spawns on the boss marker) e.g. Wilhelm Wonka
Boss Dialog at various health fractions and alert? e.g. "Oh no! Its $player! Hide the sweets!"
End test e.g. "Well done, $player$. Now lets go and have a pizza!"

*Could you cross factions here, eg have some Luddites Hero Side who are fighting the Lost?

I am intrigued, to say the least.

[MJB]

I would hope that the Devs would prevent CoV enemy groups that do not currently appear in CoH from being included in said create able content.

There needs to be some limitations.

-MJB

[AncientSpirit]

This is great!   I think the real opportunity, for me at least, is to create missions villian-side that would make me really feel villianous.   Like get past the greatest security force ever assembled and assignate the visiting prime minister of some country.   Or a story arc that lets you become a serial killer.   I wonder how far you can go in selecting the enemy.  Wouldn't it be wild if you could create your own special AV and it became a (beefed up) version of one of your own alts, identical in name and costume?

     

[B A D]

I'd realy like to see what some of the community could do with this. A Spud/Dr. Mike collaboration would prolly beat the crap outta  99.99 % thats out there.

[RTTingle]

Never thought I'd see player generated content either for CoX.

Seems as if Positron and the boys aren't going to take CO lightly and NCSoft is backing 'em up.  Good.  :)  If you think about it, this is almost like being able to make your own nemesis - environment, missions, and parameters included.

Well, the possibilities are endless... but most likely not.

Chances are it'll be pretty simple, and follow the base making format with pre-made maps and we get to plug  in the baddies.  I have the occasional high hope for it though since it seems you can go a step further with it by providing the script for the characters.  I hope that takes another step with allowing us to provide text for for hidden clickable items that aren't glowies, like in the Vanguard base.  I'd be most interested in that and seeing what kind of missions I can make that are not combat based.

I wonder if we'll have the ability to create a series of missions in a storyline?

Considering the creative types here I think this is going to be very interesting and exciting.

Now... how long do we wait for it?  :P

RTT

[captainspud]

Seems as if Positron and the boys aren't going to take CO lightly and NCSoft is backing 'em up.  Good.  :)  If you think about it, this is almost like being able to make your own nemesis - environment, missions, and parameters included.

It's probably a coincidence, given the lag time inherent in reporting, but an interview with States on 1up from the other day has him talking at some length about CO's nemesis system, and about how you can pick their costume, powers, personality, and then make a story arc for them.

It really can't be, but it almost seems like it's a preemptive shot, to make sure that fans getting excited about CoH's custom content announcement are aware that the same thing is coming in CO.

I'm getting the feeling, more and more, that Cryptic and NC didn't exactly part on friendly terms, cuz they're having a really entertaining passive-aggressive "announcement fight" in the past couple months. ;) One thing's for sure: CoH is going to undergo some dramatic improvements over the next year, directly caused by the fact that it needs to compete with CO. We've been saying all along that CoH is good for CO because it gives it something to strip-mine for ideas, but CO's also going to be very good for CoH, as it'll force the NC team to innovate and upgrade, matching as many of CO's features as possible. From a player point of view, it's nothing but a positive.

Exciting times. :)

[RTTingle]

I'm getting the feeling, more and more, that Cryptic and NC didn't exactly part on friendly terms, cuz they're having a really entertaining passive-aggressive "announcement fight" in the past couple months. ;)

Well, considering the course of events for the last year or two, I'd say the split was anything but friendly.

I'm just glad NCSoft realized CoX was worth investing in and developing more.

I have to say though.... with each announcement from CO --- CoX has been pretty much matching em' shot for shot.

It'll be fun to see who delivers.

Makes me wish some other developer got into the genre years ago to spur this.

Oh well, better late than never, no?

RTT

[RTTingle]

As an aside...

CoX already has a thread with people posting their own ideas for their own created missions.

Who wants to start that here?   :)

RTT

[DMenacer]

Will this be our test for creating the same style of missions in Champions? It seems that both COX (CoHaV) and Champions have announced they plan to have player created content.

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As for a COX (CoHaV) mission  I can see mixtures of villain groups all on a big map.

A big carnival Map with Carnies, Freaks, Hellions, Outcast, Skulls, Snakes and etc. in it.

A big tech/science building map with Arachnos, ClockWork, Council, Crey, Freaks, Rikti and etc. in it.

A big natural city map with Family, Hellions, Mooks, Outcast, Skulls and etc.in it.

A big magical cave map with Circle of Thorns, Tsoo, Shivans, Vahzilok and etc. in it

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My idea is making the maps big with groups that all drop the same types of enhancements all fighting each other for control of the map. Our mission will be to stop the fights before they spread out of control into other parts of the city.

[BlueBard]

As an aside...

CoX already has a thread with people posting their own ideas for their own created missions.

Who wants to start that here?   :)

RTT

I think we might be jumping the gun a little.

First, nowhere does he say -when- they will offer this feature.

Two, we have no clue what the limitations or mechanics of the system will be.  I suspect they don't yet, either.

Three, nowhere was it said that these missions will grant XP, though I'd be somewhat happy if they were at least useful for retiring debt.  I imagine they will grant XP, but I doubt it will be easily exploitable.  Ya think they won't be looking out for the abusers? 

So this will be uploadable content that anyone will be able to play.  I figure this will be something like Ouroboros and may even leverage that system.  Some of the dev diary have alluded to design tools used internally and I suspect this to be a reimplementation of those, as well.

There is one really, really useful aspect of this that occurs to me, though.  If you can specify the villain group, then you can control the kinds of drops you get to some degree.  So my mutants can go fight enemies that will drop Mutation SO's instead of having to run to the tech store to periodically unload the Tech SO's.  When I'm trying to gather salvage for a recipe, I can fight villain groups that are more likely to drop that kind of salvage.

[AncientSpirit]

This is great!   I think the real opportunity, for me at least, is to create missions villian-side that would make me really feel villianous.   Like get past the greatest security force ever assembled and assignate the visiting prime minister of some country.   Or a story arc that lets you become a serial killer.   I wonder how far you can go in selecting the enemy.  Wouldn't it be wild if you could create your own special AV and it became a (beefed up) version of one of your own alts, identical in name and costume?

     

Great idea about you being your own AV, AS!    :D

Here's another fun idea building on that one:  Imagine creating the Mirror Universe from Star Trek ... where the bad  guys are a whole collection of Mirror FR & NRF elite bosses or AVs.

Or where your own good guy alts face your own bad guy alts ... or a team of FR/NFR good alts fight a team of bad alts. Figuring out what traps your alts would lay out for yourself ...



   

[MJB]

It really can't be, but it almost seems like it's a preemptive shot, to make sure that fans getting excited about CoH's custom content announcement are aware that the same thing is coming in CO.

Truth be told, since Posi and the gang started announcing all this stuff I haven't kept up with Champions Online.

-MJB

[ow_tiobe_sb]

There is one really, really useful aspect of this that occurs to me, though.  If you can specify the villain group, then you can control the kinds of drops you get to some degree.  So my mutants can go fight enemies that will drop Mutation SO's instead of having to run to the tech store to periodically unload the Tech SO's.  When I'm trying to gather salvage for a recipe, I can fight villain groups that are more likely to drop that kind of salvage.

I would not be surprised if the devs decide to limit one's ability to design/run these sorts of missions by linking this new game feature to A. Veterans' rewards doled out on a limited basis, B. per-feature influence/infamy costs (i.e., certain drops would drive up the cost of the mission design), C. particular high-level (level 45+) contacts, or any combination of the three.

Then again, this might not be much of an issue for many players with talent and means.

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

[BlueBard]

Great idea about you being your own AV, AS!    :D

Here's another fun idea building on that one:  Imagine creating the Mirror Universe from Star Trek ... where the bad  guys are a whole collection of Mirror FR & NRF elite bosses or AVs.

Or where your own good guy alts face your own bad guy alts ... or a team of FR/NFR good alts fight a team of bad alts. Figuring out what traps your alts would lay out for yourself ...

I have a feeling that's not going to happen for a long time.  Unless of course the team manages to product-ize more of their internal design tools in the next few issues.  Which actually might not surprise me at this point.

Some folks seem to have the notion they're going to be able to craft their own archenemies from the ground up.  That would be nice, but I'm not sure how feasible that's going to be.  Leveraging the character creator and some sort of "pre-spec" tool probably wouldn't be hard, but having them act in a believable way to use their powers correctly would be a nightmare.

Probably more like defining a few powers from dropdown lists, some passive, some active, some toggles, and a more or less generic AI that understands how to use them.

"Oh! I'm aggroed.  Better trigger my active defense.  Select a target.  Oh!  My primary attack is a PBAoE; I'd better get closer and set that on auto.  Oh!  My secondary attack is a ranged immobilize; better use that as long as I've got over 50% end.  Oh!  I've gone under 50% health; better trigger my buff/debuff... etc."

But even that would be plenty cool enough.

[Figure Fan]

It really can't be, but it almost seems like it's a preemptive shot, to make sure that fans getting excited about CoH's custom content announcement are aware that the same thing is coming in CO.

Truth be told, since Posi and the gang started announcing all this stuff I haven't kept up with Champions Online.

-MJB

Which is why I think we're seeing an onslaught of new game features being announced in the wake of CO.

This feature will keep me playing, I have no doubt. How awesome.

[DrMike2000]

Regarding people crafting missions to get the drops they want:

If the devs limit us to just choosing an enemy type or two this will be fine.

You can make a map full of Freakshow for high XP gain, sure. But you can already run Radio missions against Freakshow till the cows come home. I know I have when I'm hanging out for that next juicy level for one reason or another.

In other words, you choose "Carnival of Shadows" or "Circle of Thorns" and NOT "Carnie minions + CoT Behemoth Lts" because they drop magic salvage but dont give you greif from mezzing phasing or debuffing, and your AR Blaster can mow them down.

The only exploit left would be farming an easy Elite Boss by placing them in any mission, eg Heracles. (No Purple Triangles and easy to exploit AI if you fly) But then again, Elite Bosses dont tend to give great XP compared to just mowing through regular grunts, and they're usually more prized for badges and temp power drops.

So probably no badges for Elite Bosses. Badge counts for Infected or Longbow, or Redcaps Villain side? Maybe...

I imagine Pool C and D (Task Force and Trial) recipes will not be given out for player created content - that could be an exploit.

And I think that would be all thats needed to make the system "safe".


MJB - It would be nice to have access to villain groups heroside and so on, just for story purposes and flexibility.
Say I frame the player in my story, let Longbow try to take them down in the next map! Maybe the player has to break into a Longbow base to erase the forged records of their crimes or something. It would make a change of pace.
Or I may want to appropriate a certain group as best fit. Say I'm doing a story about a renegade male faction from Amazon society, and some future time-travelling Amazons who are trying to stop them. Wyvern and Knives of Artemis could stand in well enough here.
Kinda like how I used to appropriate meshes and maps for my own nefarious ends.. sigh! :)

Anyone else remember the "Stroy Mode" MP thing that shipped with FFvTTR? I imagine it will bear much more resemblence to this than to the real modding that FF allows.

[Tortuga]

Help Great Gusto take out the competition.  Defeat 500 Carnival of Shadows.

[Stopman]

Great idea about you being your own AV, AS!    :D

Here's another fun idea building on that one:  Imagine creating the Mirror Universe from Star Trek ... where the bad  guys are a whole collection of Mirror FR & NRF elite bosses or AVs.

Or where your own good guy alts face your own bad guy alts ... or a team of FR/NFR good alts fight a team of bad alts. Figuring out what traps your alts would lay out for yourself ...

I have a feeling that's not going to happen for a long time.  Unless of course the team manages to product-ize more of their internal design tools in the next few issues.  Which actually might not surprise me at this point.

Some folks seem to have the notion they're going to be able to craft their own archenemies from the ground up.  That would be nice, but I'm not sure how feasible that's going to be.  Leveraging the character creator and some sort of "pre-spec" tool probably wouldn't be hard, but having them act in a believable way to use their powers correctly would be a nightmare.

Probably more like defining a few powers from dropdown lists, some passive, some active, some toggles, and a more or less generic AI that understands how to use them.

"Oh! I'm aggroed.  Better trigger my active defense.  Select a target.  Oh!  My primary attack is a PBAoE; I'd better get closer and set that on auto.  Oh!  My secondary attack is a ranged immobilize; better use that as long as I've got over 50% end.  Oh!  I've gone under 50% health; better trigger my buff/debuff... etc."

But even that would be plenty cool enough.

Hehe. Did you realize you'll be playing with your own CoX?!  :rolleyes:

[ThePrelate]

this makes me very happy.

this was the feature, that IMO, made the Neverwinter Nights PC game such a monster success - letting people create their own content and arcs.

very exciting!

[Figure Fan]

Well, I managed to use a $10 Rewards Zone gift certificate on a $15 game time card for CoX, so I'll be activating it shortly. I wish I knew when Issue 12 was going live. Meh..

[Alaric]

Well, I managed to use a $10 Rewards Zone gift certificate on a $15 game time card for CoX, so I'll be activating it shortly. I wish I knew when Issue 12 was going live. Meh..

Note that, as far as I'm aware, the feature discussed in this thread has not been stated to be part of Issue 12- just something that will be added at some unspecified point in the future.

[Figure Fan]

Well, I managed to use a $10 Rewards Zone gift certificate on a $15 game time card for CoX, so I'll be activating it shortly. I wish I knew when Issue 12 was going live. Meh..

Note that, as far as I'm aware, the feature discussed in this thread has not been stated to be part of Issue 12- just something that will be added at some unspecified point in the future.

Oh really? Ah well, the other stuff is still awesome.