Mission 4 of mapsters is in the planning phase, and I intend on it being an installation mission. While I know some stuff storywise I'd like to add, I'm not entirely sure what makes for a fun installation mission, so I thought I'd ask here.
Also fun idea, banelings that heal instead of dealing damage = mobile health packs for zerg.
I actually spent a lot of time studying installation missions of all sorts and the originals to help me find out exactly how they work and what makes them so good. In the end, I threw together a bare bones zerg installation mission and it turned out very well. It's late atm of typing this out, so I may be forgetting something, but here are the 2 main things I can think of that are important.
1: Events - I think the little interactions and "minigames" that go on throughout an installation mission can be really enjoyable and adds to the flavor of it. In the UED installation mission for example, they have a section where you capture these goliaths with your marines before the enemy pilots take them first. These can also just be smaller interactions like the marine threatening to blow an aggression inhibitor if he doesn't give him the access code. That whole installation mission was very well done.
2: The Pace - This is a bit more complex of a point, but I discovered that the games aren't all that fun if you can sit there and regen for 10 minutes for the next fight. In my installation mission that worked, I had discovered that zerg tend to feel a lot more fun to play when the player is forced to play really aggressive. I made 2 versions of this, one in sc1 and one in sc2. The one in sc1 gave you lots of units, especially zerglings and it had a long string of enemies to fight and it wasn't afraid of giving your opponents splash damage, so it encouraged players to keep pushing forward and it really fit the style that is the zerg. The one in sc2 actually had a timer about a quarter of the way through which forced you to keep engaging the next group of enemies before you could recover any life. I've been trying my best to find out what makes terran and protoss installation missions work, but for now, I only have a theory that the terran pacing should be more about resource management. Thinking of something along the lines of being chased and you can sacrifice units in order to delay whatever's chasing you, plus you have few or no medics, so you'd have to try and keep your weak units alive; but that's all just in theory, haven't quite figured it out yet.
Anyway, I can show you my test map if you wanna PM me and you can take notes on what you like/don't like if you want more.
I actually spent a lot of time studying installation missions of all sorts and the originals to help me find out exactly how they work and what makes them so good. In the end, I threw together a bare bones zerg installation mission and it turned out very well. It's late atm of typing this out, so I may be forgetting something, but here are the 2 main things I can think of that are important.
1: Events - I think the little interactions and "minigames" that go on throughout an installation mission can be really enjoyable and adds to the flavor of it. In the UED installation mission for example, they have a section where you capture these goliaths with your marines before the enemy pilots take them first. These can also just be smaller interactions like the marine threatening to blow an aggression inhibitor if he doesn't give him the access code. That whole installation mission was very well done.
2: The Pace - This is a bit more complex of a point, but I discovered that the games aren't all that fun if you can sit there and regen for 10 minutes for the next fight. In my installation mission that worked, I had discovered that zerg tend to feel a lot more fun to play when the player is forced to play really aggressive. I made 2 versions of this, one in sc1 and one in sc2. The one in sc1 gave you lots of units, especially zerglings and it had a long string of enemies to fight and it wasn't afraid of giving your opponents splash damage, so it encouraged players to keep pushing forward and it really fit the style that is the zerg. The one in sc2 actually had a timer about a quarter of the way through which forced you to keep engaging the next group of enemies before you could recover any life. I've been trying my best to find out what makes terran and protoss installation missions work, but for now, I only have a theory that the terran pacing should be more about resource management. Thinking of something along the lines of being chased and you can sacrifice units in order to delay whatever's chasing you, plus you have few or no medics, so you'd have to try and keep your weak units alive; but that's all just in theory, haven't quite figured it out yet.
Anyway, I can show you my test map if you wanna PM me and you can take notes on what you like/don't like if you want more.
A solid installation mission benefits from the following based on my experience with them:
- It should be well paced ('filler content' should be minimized since there's often no macro in this type of mission)
- Tactics required for success can juice up the challenge and fun factor (using unit abilities to make or break the player's success for example)
- Player down-time should be minimized (such as not needing time to regenerate health or shields)
- As long as objectives are varied, the missions can be long or short as the story needs
- Try to be unpredictable in what happens (unpredictability makes for interesting content)
Thank you both. I'll definitely try and give the player a reason to keep moving then and not sit around. Maybe also give some branching areas to bonus objectives so it isn't just a linear route to the end.
I'm a sucker for a good chase sequence. Being unable to save on the Arcade makes that tricky for you though as folks might get pissed off if it's too hard and they can't reload.
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Curse PremiumMission 4 of mapsters is in the planning phase, and I intend on it being an installation mission. While I know some stuff storywise I'd like to add, I'm not entirely sure what makes for a fun installation mission, so I thought I'd ask here.
Also fun idea, banelings that heal instead of dealing damage = mobile health packs for zerg.
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Curse PremiumI actually spent a lot of time studying installation missions of all sorts and the originals to help me find out exactly how they work and what makes them so good. In the end, I threw together a bare bones zerg installation mission and it turned out very well. It's late atm of typing this out, so I may be forgetting something, but here are the 2 main things I can think of that are important.
1: Events - I think the little interactions and "minigames" that go on throughout an installation mission can be really enjoyable and adds to the flavor of it. In the UED installation mission for example, they have a section where you capture these goliaths with your marines before the enemy pilots take them first. These can also just be smaller interactions like the marine threatening to blow an aggression inhibitor if he doesn't give him the access code. That whole installation mission was very well done.
2: The Pace - This is a bit more complex of a point, but I discovered that the games aren't all that fun if you can sit there and regen for 10 minutes for the next fight. In my installation mission that worked, I had discovered that zerg tend to feel a lot more fun to play when the player is forced to play really aggressive. I made 2 versions of this, one in sc1 and one in sc2. The one in sc1 gave you lots of units, especially zerglings and it had a long string of enemies to fight and it wasn't afraid of giving your opponents splash damage, so it encouraged players to keep pushing forward and it really fit the style that is the zerg. The one in sc2 actually had a timer about a quarter of the way through which forced you to keep engaging the next group of enemies before you could recover any life. I've been trying my best to find out what makes terran and protoss installation missions work, but for now, I only have a theory that the terran pacing should be more about resource management. Thinking of something along the lines of being chased and you can sacrifice units in order to delay whatever's chasing you, plus you have few or no medics, so you'd have to try and keep your weak units alive; but that's all just in theory, haven't quite figured it out yet.
Anyway, I can show you my test map if you wanna PM me and you can take notes on what you like/don't like if you want more.
A solid installation mission benefits from the following based on my experience with them:
- It should be well paced ('filler content' should be minimized since there's often no macro in this type of mission) - Tactics required for success can juice up the challenge and fun factor (using unit abilities to make or break the player's success for example) - Player down-time should be minimized (such as not needing time to regenerate health or shields) - As long as objectives are varied, the missions can be long or short as the story needs - Try to be unpredictable in what happens (unpredictability makes for interesting content)
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Curse PremiumThank you both. I'll definitely try and give the player a reason to keep moving then and not sit around. Maybe also give some branching areas to bonus objectives so it isn't just a linear route to the end.
I'm a sucker for a good chase sequence. Being unable to save on the Arcade makes that tricky for you though as folks might get pissed off if it's too hard and they can't reload.
Visit my channel where I showcase custom content! Send me a PM or respond to my YouTube thread if you'd like to see your map/s on my channel (eventually!)