mods which tell a story: interesting or not?

[davidlallen]

There are a ton of mods that add enemies or items, or rebalance things. I haven't seen any mods (yet) that tell a story. If you think of the "golden path" missions as the main quest of an RPG, then there are no mods which provide side quests.

 

I have developed side quest mods for RPGs before, and they seem to have a limited audience. I can sort of understand this; a side quest might take a couple of hours to do maybe, and then you never do it again. OTOH, a mod which adds variety to enemies, or maps can just sit there in your mod list and always add "something" to the game.

 

Is there a way that side quest mods would be interesting for XCOM? What features in a side quest would get your attention? Custom enemies? Custom mission types? A twist ending? Adding something to the lore even if it isn't canon, such as the appearance of an existing lore character?

 

(xpost https://www.reddit.com/r/xcom2mods/comments/4hixuf/mods_which_tell_a_story_interesting_or_not/)

[TeamDragonpunk]

I know everyone has their own opinion on this, but I would have loved to see more intrigue with Tygan. I felt that the storyline was incredibly narrow, and would have loved to be second guessing if Tygan was a double-op, or if we had to dig into his backstory. A lot of people I've talked to said that, yes the tactical missions have a lot of replayability, but they don't play XCOM 2 more because of the short storyline.

[davidlallen]

Would a bunch of short side quest mods help that? For example, each one on the scale of progeny and slingshot in EW?

[2much4l1]

Small stories about loyalty, duty and honor. Shaken soldier must solo a mission to rescue ambushed squad mates.

 

Advent sympathizers attack XCOM upon making contact. Unable to tell the difference between friendlies and hostiles until they brandish weapons and attack.

 

Resistance civilian must decide whether or not to help a neighbor being dragged away by an Advent squad.

[HabDand]

Unique reward, unique playable character (early psi op, alien, MEC, Van Doorn with unique perk combos), also rare or one off ingredients to manufacture single weapon upgrades or weapons/armour. 3 mission arcs, maybe missions that include a strategic choice - get this reward, but lose this region/reduce supplies, trigger dark event. Make use of low use maps (avenger defence, UFO raid).

 

Generally hell yeah, l would be very interested in anything that interrupts repetition, particularly as people seem to be hankering for longer/more missions campaigns.

[TeamDragonpunk]

I know XCOM 2 was marketed as more "story driven", but I felt it really wasn't. No Van Doorn time mission. No scary "blow up the whale ship" missions which likely caused you to sacrifice a Soldier for the greater good. I really felt like a final fantasy game where I was just playing to get to the next cut scene instead of having the story told through the missions like XCOM EU

[davidlallen]

This is good feedback. It seems a unique reward is one key component. I have some ideas for peeling out the popular playable advent aliens into separate quest mods, like the viper and mec. Over time I will release one or two quest mods and see what the reception is like.

 

@ dragonpunk, I did not quite follow your comment, maybe a word is missing? Are you saying that in xcom2, you played to get to the next cutscene? I didn't really think there was much storytelling, at least no story *progression*, in the base missions of EU. Maybe you were referring to the two side quest mission sets progeny and slingshot?

[TeamDragonpunk]

This is good feedback. It seems a unique reward is one key component. I have some ideas for peeling out the popular playable advent aliens into separate quest mods, like the viper and mec. Over time I will release one or two quest mods and see what the reception is like.

 

@ dragonpunk, I did not quite follow your comment, maybe a word is missing? Are you saying that in xcom2, you played to get to the next cutscene? I didn't really think there was much storytelling, at least no story *progression*, in the base missions of EU. Maybe you were referring to the two side quest mission sets progeny and slingshot?

 

Perhaps I was. I was busy in the Army, so I didn't get to play everything until the very end when all the side missions were included. So perhaps, XCOM 2 parallels the initial rollout of EU and hopefully there will be more side missions like progeny and slingshot later.

[Zyxpsilon]

David, your very own "Hostile Territory" mod is a very good start for a cool concept that would involve an "Exalt" style of storyline pathway(s).. aside for many other design steps of various consequences. Which brings me to --

 

1) A major concern when someone aims to add Missions variety (( of reasonable qualities!! )) is gameplay Balance. It's quite tricky to discover the fine-tuning times (in terms of Calendar cycle) necessary to properly integrate any amounts of additional "features" while considering how & when certain storyline hurdles should (or must) occur. For example, we know when or why the Psi-Gate shows up -- it's tied with a Shadow-Chamber discovery!! This system of "checks & go" principle is exactly what can make or break a stable (enough) flow of events. Soooooo, my recommendation is simple -- try hard to maintain a cohesive pattern that could..

 

1a) Enhance the current Vanilla structure beyond the familiar patterns --BUT-- do so in some isolated bubble of "alternate Stories" with their own Goals & Requirements. Sic--extract the Operatives for reasons that develop dynamically inside a group of special missions.

 

1b) Offer everyone a juicy SciFi novelty where a number of brand new factors supplement the #1a structure too -- BUT-- in a tighter balance that should self-adapt to a stable flow without stalling everything else we're expecting from the rest of the regular storyline(s). THAT's the tricky part, AFAIC. It requires a lot of careful thoughts & strict planning. Trust me .. you really don't want to ruin the gameplay experience just because it's cool to play with new toys. It's very easy to throw a wrench into such TBS titles. If you want a proof -- take a straight up and honest logical stab at these mods that add new Dark-Events.

 

2) The fun part goes like this; people would or could enjoy anything as long as it all fits a clear design "product". You want Star Trek or Star Wars lore? You could find hundreds of worthy ideas in those SciFi legends. Yet, the rational objective remains to improve storyline stuff, right? Then --

 

2a) Pick ONE essential device and stir it up in a soup-bowl to its inherent limits. Think of it like the "Rover must go through the PsiGate to find some facts" principle, which leads to this, and then to that. The player has been hooked to an intellectual pattern of relative strength simply because *WE* are humans and *we* still need emotional snippets in our lives. Death Star space dog-fight of giga-proportions to the rescue. *WE* are consumed by the stakes and are enjoying the suspense. XCom2 has the very same parametric components.. Firaxis dumped a mysterious Avatar_In_A_Stasis_Suit device. And it worked!!

 

2b) Missions are the muscular trajectory that HAS to lead to a proper conclusion. Here we go again... Balance! You'd be better served by a slow but steady flow of details that offer intrigue qualities and still, pushes the player to the gates of Heaven or Hell. *WE* want that push.. but not unless it is somehow intelligently waved into the current storyline patterns. Here's where i should mention something weird, i think; Ya know those missions where we must pick "data info" from devices in trains & Advent facilities? What's the point? Okay, i just got some SCiFi genetic secrets off that battle... what can it bring to the table of gameplay features? Presently, nothing. That's the kind of potential structural integration in a new system of Missions. You'd add worthy details to the storyline rather than presenting the strings on the HUD for readouts -- only!

 

Build a new game feature, Yes.

But... grab a pencil and draw a thoughtfull blueprint of YOUR systems & elements while you have that opportunity to create a good concept. Bigger YES.

 

You'll need much more than luck. So i won't wish it. :wink:

Edited May 4, 2016 by Zyxpsilon

[Zyxpsilon]

... So perhaps, XCOM 2 parallels the initial rollout of EU and hopefully there will be more side missions like progeny and slingshot later.

 

 

Well.. if the upcoming summer DLC truly is what it's supposed (or described as teasers) to be, i seriously believe that's exactly what their goal is.

 

Quoting the official publicity-stunts text;

 

1) ALIEN HUNTERS introduces new soldier customizations and gameplay themed around XCOM as an elite alien hunting unit. Face off against “Ruler” aliens with new, more powerful weapons and armor. Experience a new dramatic mission & confrontation.

 

(( PS; Judging from the already revealed set of Steam-Achievements for it --- Archon + Viper + Berserker are in, and i suspect more are LWS'ly & timely coming our ways too! ))

 

2) SHEN’S LAST GIFT introduces a new soldier class with unique upgradeable weapons, armor and customization features, and a new narrative-driven mission and map.

 

Thus... the whole basic (most probably complex and/or somehow minimally developped to fit the current gameplay flow -- as mentionned in my previous post) framework for what's being discussed here, IMO.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Zyxpsilon