Fan Mission Authors... More Short And Sweet

[NMEAI]

While campaigns and epic sagas are wonderful, the truth is they tax the system and, often too, they can exhaust the player. At least this player.

 

So, while I don't exactly want to discourage those more ambitious projects, I would like to encourage the creation of more tight little mission missions.

 

More genuine heists, hits and hustles.

 

A thief I love to be, mostly.

[Melan]

Hear, hear! Let's see 'em!

 

And let's not forget, there is always a place for new authors making a small, straightforward mission.

[Sotha]

Oh, hi Aida! Be sure to behave this time around.

 

Anyhow, I sort-of agree. Small ~1h missions with tight gameplay are the best in my opinion. It is exactly the length that keeps you engaged the whole duration. Too long missions usually start to get tedious, and often, I have seen, it is challenging for the mapper to make the gameplay interesting for the whole big mission.

[STiFU]

Well, the risc of these short type missions is that they might feel empty. No proper story! A background story for your heist mission is not everything. The story needs to evolve while playing, to make it interesting. At least for me, the pure gameplay tension is not enough. I need more and that's why I prefer the longer missions. There is usually more to discover storywise.

[SirGen]

I think short missions and long ones both have their place. Sometimes it's nice to have a quick "get in, get out heist." While other times I really enjoy long missions with a lot of story, done by both readables and AI conversations. I think the most important part for both short and long missions is that there is enough good gameplay throughout the entire mission. Empty areas are not enjoyable to play in.

 

One of my favorite examples of a fun, long mission is Life of the Party from Thief 2. First you must travel along the rooftops to get to the Mechanist Tower. There is great gameplay all the way there. Once inside the Tower there is of course even more great gameplay. This mission took me a few hours to beat, and I loved every minute of it. The Thief games have many more large levels that are just as great too.

Edited November 8, 2013 by SirGen

[161803398874989]

I'd say the best of both worlds would be a series of, say, 3 short missions. That way you can develop the story while still allowing for breaks.

[simplen00b]

often too, they can exhaust the player.

Not to mention the FM author(s).

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 'Too Late' is one of my favourite missions, and there's pretty much no story here at all. 2 empty rooms, an outdoor area, one big room, then another big room divided up into smaller areas. At some point I may rip it off totally do a heartfelt homage to it, but I think even that might be beyond my spatial & architectural cretinousnessnessness.

 

However, I'd also have to say that my most immersive TDM experiences have been from the big missions (e.g. Heart of Lone Salvation, No Honour Among Thieves and Requiem).

 

Ah, heck. I'm just glad people can make these things, whatever the size.

 

Oh, hi Aida! Be sure to behave this time around.

Do you know something we don't?

[Goldwell]

I agree that short and to the point missions are great however long missions can be really fun as well. There is nothing more awesome then sipping on a glass of whiskey and spending the long hours of the night exploring another player created world.

 

I have yet to release my first FM however my design philosophy so far is to make something that I would personally enjoy playing and is fun to me, if others enjoy it (and I hope they do) that's a bonus! And I'm sure that's how most peoples missions are like this. I haven't really played a TDM FM that has felt long and dragged out so yeah.

[RJFerret]

What about both in one? Designing optional objectives/sections?

[Sir Taffsalot]

I like working on long FMs. I like having something I can really sink my teeth into and immerse myself in over a long period of time. Unfortunately this does run the risk of burnout. I think small installments that are part of a large campaign work well eg The Thomas Porter campaign. Each installment can be completed in one night and can be enjoyed on their own without having played any previous installment, while playing the whole campaign in it's entirety can create that epic immersive experience that i crave.

[NMEAI]

Well, the risk of these short type missions is that they might feel empty. No proper story!...

 

I think short missions and long ones both have their place. Sometimes it's nice to have a quick "get in, get out heist." While other times I really enjoy long missions with a lot of story, done by both readables and AI conversations [em]...

 

Yes, indeedy, a story is, to me, the 2nd most (and even in a way, congruent/a-part-of/semi-synon) important aspect of a FM.

 

This is sort of what I meant by "tight" (plus its what the kids were saying a couple of years back {I'm nothing if not "hep" and "far-out"}): the size/sprawl needn't hamper the depth of the story though. Tightly packed. Manymuch readables and manfools' squawkings are to be desired, always!

 

Not to mention the FM author(s).

 

And, yes, to this as well. This is half the reason I bring this up. I think, despite many of the FM veterans doing their best to encourage the same as I do here, there is still a lot of unintended peer-pressure for aspiring FMAs to produce something grandifically earthshattering.

Edited November 8, 2013 by NMEAI

[Xarg]

This is advice I wish I'd taken way back when, and aspiring authors-to-be should heed it.

[Sir Taffsalot]

How much have you got to do Xarg? Is this the FM that was supposed to be for the Beginners Contest last year?

[Xarg]

That one sorta got stuck in development hell, which is a pity because it had some potential, but I kept giving in feature creep and eventually burned out on it. Most of my mapping these days is short bursts of experimenting with stuff. For example, I'm currently building a small inn in a snow setting for a cutscene to take place in, then I figure I'll make a short mansion heist with some puzzles in it so that I can release something, then look into maybe finishing that one or abandoning to Biker if he wants it.