Story/Lore/Quest Community Development

[Cherry797]

Hello!

I'm Cherry, the UI developer. My next big project to implement is quests, the purpose of which is to add a story component to Ultimate Boss Battles. The purpose of this thread is to collectively design the quests and write dialogue for those quests.

For a long time the theater room has served no purpose. It is being replaced with Ariel Hansen's lab, and Ariel Hansen herself will be the quest giver within. Approaching her will open up a quest dialog where quests can be accepted. Quests can be accepted one at a time, consecutively; they will be one large chain of quests. Completing the first unlocks the second, completing the second unlocks the third, etc. Some quests can give rewards. The current active quest will be displayed in a toggled HUD located in the top left of the screen (underneath boss health).

Quests will work by modifying boss battles and missions when a specific mission or battle is initiated. For example, one quest might require that a vulnerable scientist be kept alive throughout the Zombie Outbreak mission on the difficulty hard. If the scientist dies, the quest is failed, but the mission can still be completed.

The purpose of this thread is to discuss possible quest objectives (boss/mission modifications), as well as the dialogue that will be displayed when the quest is being accepted/completed.

Due to the missions being issued by Ariel Hansen, it makes sense that the ultimate goal of the quest line would be medical/research based, such as finding a cure for some Zerg-borne infection.

Confirmed quests will be listed below, along with their purpose. After a quest's boss/mission modification and it's purpose has been determined, the dialogue for the quest will need to be written.

Thank you for your participation.

[comfromal]

I got a idea.

Bruta-Breakthrough

Hanson things that those small brutalisks, or raptorlings, if enough killed, could provide enough research as a regular brutalisk. Kill 25 of those raptorlings on normal to test Hanson's Theory.  More raptorlings will be deployed in the fight than usual.

[rainen]

I'll start drawing up some stories. I happen to be a bit of an author so this is right up my alley.

Also, there should be persistent bonuses offered up that can only be obtained once per unit.

An idea I had: Have a sort of "ultimate" quest line where Hansen joins you in battle. If she dies, she dies and you can no longer obtain quests from her for that round.
--There could also be a secret boss/mission where Hansen becomes zerg'd after dying. Time for me to pound a few shots and get the juices rolling though.

[rainen]

Mission: Outbreak
-A colony has been struck with an illness reminiscent to the black plague of ancient times.

Hansen: Oh thank goodness you're here. I need your help.

(Player): What's wrong?

Hansen: There's been an outbreak of (plague) on planet A-93 and we're the only ship in the system with the facilities to synthesize a cure. I need you (#of players) to go down to the planet and collect samples. Use this (receive skill biometric imager) on any civilians you find. The more samples you collect the better my chances of helping them.

(Player) Got it.

Hansen: Good luck and... please, don't fail. We can't abandon those innocent people.

(Quest obtained)

Objective: Use Biometric imager on #P*3 civilians.
Bonus Objective: Use biometric imager on #P*5 civilians
Bonus Objective: Use biometric imager on #P*8 civilians
Secondary Objective (reward) gained per surviving civilian.

--Mission failed

Hansen: I don't have enough samples... Please, go back down to the planet and get some more.

(Quest obtained)

--Mission complete

Hansen: You did it! Here, give me the samples right away and I'll get working on that cure.

(Biometric imager removed, rewards gained)

Hansen: It'll take me awhile to work on the cure. I'll let you know when I'm done.

(Go into battle 3 (-1 per bonus objective) times to unlock next mission.

[Cherry797]

Thanks for your participation. I like your proposals, however I'd like to keep the quest objectives mostly as modifications to bosses and missions. We'll make missions specifically for the later, bigger quests.

Using your ideas, this is what I've come up with thus far:

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Quest 1: Confirming a Cause

Initiated by: Speaking with Ariel in the lab for the first time.

Initiation Dialogue: Undecided, but along the lines of: "There's a plague going around, I'm unsure if it's Zerg-borne in nature, I need Zerg samples to determine if it is, bring me [Zerg Tissue Samples] (new item that will drop if this quest is accepted 100% of the time on Zerg bosses, will be placed directly in inventory (no roll))."

Objective: Acquire [Zerg Tissue Samples] from a Zerg boss.

Completion: Talk to Ariel again with the samples in inventory.

Completion Dialog: Something along the lines of: "These will work, but I need to compare them to samples from infected individuals as well..."
---
---
Quest 2: Confirming a Cause II

Initiated by: Speaking with Ariel in the lab after the previous mission is completed.

Initiation Dialogue: "The Zerg tissue samples were successfully stored in cryo and the latest trending DNA variations have been logged. However, we need fresh samples from infected humans. Crown Prince Valerian is having humans fight other infected humans for sport in his personal arena. Attend one of his arenas and bring back [Infected Tissue Samples] so that I can analyze it."

Objective: Complete the Zombie Arena mission on normal to acquire [Infected Tissue Samples]. Bring them to Ariel.

Completion Dialogue: "With these, I should be able to determine whether the infection is caused by a Zerg mutation."
---
---
Quest 3: Confirming a Cause III

Initiated by: Speaking with Ariel in the lab after the previous mission is completed.

Initiation Dialogue: "I was able to confirm that the infection was indeed Zerg-borne. However, I don't have the specialties to identify the cure. Dr. Foozle (placeholder name) is a scientist studying Zerg on the Zerg planet Char, and his transportation was destroyed. I believe if we rescue him, he'll aid us in our search for a cure."

Objective: Successfully complete the Infestor boss on normal, KEEPING DR. FOOZLE ALIVE throughout the entire fight. He will be a passive scientist who follows the nearest hero. When the boss starts, he'll already be in the fight zone.

Completion Dialogue: "Dr. Foozle has agreed to aid us in our search for a cure."
---
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I'm thinking we'll split up these two ideas "Use biometric imager on #P*8 civilians" "gained per surviving civilian" into two separate quests. For the surviving civilians quest, we could revisit the zombie arena and have civilians there starting out that have to survive until the end, this time completed on hard. I'm trying to keep the objectives action based, so I don't know how I'd implement using quest items during quests. After this "Confirming a Cause" segment, we'll go into a different segment one that will include the baby brutalisks.

The dialogue I have written is just a quick sketch for now. Feel free to rewrite/add to whatever. I'm trying to avoid too complicated quests until we have at least a few basic ones as a foundation.

I hope the quests I've outlined will help clarify the format I'm going for with quests.

[Cherry797]

And I'm also really excited to be working on this with you guys!

[rainen]

And I'm also really excited to be working on this with you guys!

Yea, this is turning into quite a bit of fun! I won't be able to offer up much that's intelligible at this point in time but I do want to say this: Valerian is a good guy, it doesn't make sense for him to have an arena like that. Make it owned by some sort of merc faction or some remnant of acturus's gang.

I should be able to get back to this stuff for real tomorrow rather then just offering up responses. Right now though I need a snack then I need sleep. Brain is starting to get a bit loopy.

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