% Adventure series.

A few of you may already know that I'm working on my first adventure series, featuring my recent % creations. Does anybody with experience with this have any usefull tips for me? (That's you Remi and Beccs) But really, this is kinda hard... and takes forever. I could really use some advice if you've got any.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been around in a while, real life comes first, sorry.

HEY!!! MUDO!! UR BACK!!

Your % creations are pretty cool. Congratulations on making them.

A tip I have for you is: Just have fun when you create. Don´t feel forced to construct just to please the crowds. What´s important is to have a good time while you´re creating :-) Even if that means having a break for some days, watching some movies, listening to some music, till you´re in the mood to make some more.
Other tip: Try making something different, that causes impact. If you make something that already exists, even if it´s good, it won´t draw as much attention or stay in the memory of people if it´s something original.
And another: People will play the adventure if the presentation is good. You´ll need a good title, some nice pictures of the adventure and a brief description of what´s going to happen. (But don´t reveal any secrets )

Also, I´ve seen MANY people are making %´s for you. (Even though some of them don´t fit the parameters) How´s that going, by the way?

Keep up the good job.
Let us know how it goes.

Oooooh. Nice idea.

as for adventure making, I'd say the number one thing that kills a good mission is glitchy AI. Before releasing your mission, make sure you've thouroughly tested it for glitchs or bugs and make sure its challenging but not annoyingly challenging.

Make sure your map is well layed. Objectives are clear and the overall look immerses the person in the mission. There are alot of mission that just feel blank because not enough was done to create an atmosphere for the adventure.

Edit: like Icedmask said, think hard about exactly how the mission will go. Make sure you plan out the entire mission in your head, then on paper, before making it in-game.

Personally, the best way to make a great mission is to get help with it. One view point can work, but with two or three minds, you can throw ideas back and forth to make the mission better, thats why its easy for me and my brother to make missions because we keep pitching ideas back and forth. Fianlly if your making a long series that links together.... have the entire series planned out. Don't make one then think up the next one, know what your doing. For instance, me and my brother already have all the future missions for The SDD series planned out, to the point i even know how it will end, which by the, the ending is something i don't think anyone has done before. Probably because its really hard and tedious

If your going to make a series, i would recommend you to write down the whole plot and dividing the adventures into acts before you start creating.

Ive done that with my newest upcoming series "Mean Machines". Eight parts, all written down and divided into acts. Now i know exactly what to do in the creator

Thanks guys, great advice so far. I do actually have a small team for support, Yallo42, (mah Bro) who does debug and helped me think of the story, (Yes I've got the whole thing planned so far) And EL PAISA helps me make %s I either don't have time for, or am to lazy to make myself. He's also a test runner to make sure that the goals and such are clear, as he is unbaised , where my brother is not, as he already knows what happens.

@Dragonfame: Yep, I'm back... but didn't you used to be hawkbird? O_o
@Arkanay: Lol, it was a HUGE mistake now that I look back. Most % entries are God awfull, but I don't want to tell the creators that, so I feel like a jerk for not accepting entries. It was just a stupid move on my part, not something I will do again. (Although there are a few good entries, not all are bad.)

The advice I really need though, (according to PAISA) Is some advice on how to make the story flow. The plot appears unclear, which is really awful. Any help with that? Oh, and more backstory at the begining is not an option. As it is a huge surprise. (But I'll explain that later, real life calls, gotta split in a minute or two) I kinda want to do a prolouge, but is that a good idea?

Hmm... Perhaps we could assist you more if you tell us what the story is going to be about? :-)

Well, I don't want to give too much away, but I'll trust you guys not to tell anybody.
First and foremost, It's a punch in the face at first. It's not going to be advertised as the % adventure(s) And you'll start it expecting something random concerning a civil war. But at a certain point, there's a surprise attack, (I won't bore you with details) And you realize that the %s are invading this planet. But unfortunatly, while this will blow a few minds I'm sure, this is bad for actual understanding. So what I want to know is, should I do a prolouge, that introduces the conflict on the planet and such, before the % invasion, that way you will understand?

Mudo, i'll just remind you that non euro spore members can see a lot of what we write...

I like the ideas you've come up with, but i'm not really that good at adventures

I didn't think of that... I always keep my secrets. You think many people will see that? Should I erase it?

Don't worry about it too much, there's not anything too crucial is there, cos you've skipped over a few of the details

thanks. But I definetly don't want anybody to know about the surprise.

Anyway if need be you can PM people

Thanks ben, I'll do that if I want an opinion on the more confidential stuff. But where do you stand on the prolouge thing?

It might be a bit misleading, but if the story line requires prior knowledge of the events then i'd go for it

Actually I wouldn't mind it being a bit misleading, because I really want the attack to take the player by surprise.

Mudo, that´s a nice story idea. I think it´ll work out excelent. Ok, try keeping % out of description or pictures. You can advertise like, "You are blabla, in planet blabla, taking part in the civil war of blabla. Your goals are blabla. But suddenly, something nobody was expecting happens." That can be the description a little bit. Maybe give a hint of a % appearance. When you start the adventure, don´t mention anything regarding the invasion. Perhaps a little starter objectives regarding the civil war, like bring a package, kill an enemy group, etc. Then out of nowhere, perhaps during a civil war guerrilla, the %´s just pop out of nowhere and butcher everyone, while you struggle to escape.

I think this could work out pretty fine.
Mudo (Mudo in Portuguese means someone who is mute, btw ) if you need any kind of help with this, I don´t mind giving a hand.

Lol, really? That's kinda cool actually, I'm a lip-stitched Mudokon!
Awesome, I could use a bit of help. I'll PM you the adventure series so far storywise.

I've actually done something new for a series in spore. I'm releasing it in four chapters, each on a different planet, with each chapter named for the planet. (I.E. Earth part 1, Earth part 2; Mars part 1, Mars part 2) And I'm going to finish every adventure in the chapter before sharing any. That way I can't be influenced by request, and I won't make everybody wait for new parts. (They will have to wait for new chapters however) At the moment part 1 is done, and part 2 is under final editing. Also, I have decided to do a prolouge, that doesn't mention %s in any way, (Except maybe an easter egg) So you understand the planetary conflict.

Thanks for all the help so far guys, it's really been giving me some ideas...

Does anybody have any ideas for the actual gameplay or building process? That would be great.

Locked captain is recommended, since it´s gona have a lot of fighting. This will cut the risk of people rage-downrating and actually having a balanced game play.

If you choose Open Captain, then you´re gona need to have weaker enemies, grenades around, etc. I´d go with locked captain for this kindof adventure.

Otherthing, AI indoors is very likely to be glitchy, so try to keep AI situations outdoors.

Well, I did consider locking the captain, but not many people want to play if they can't get their points. Also it just seems more in the Spore spirit to make it open to multiple captains. However, I AM going to make a captain that is recommended for the series. (I.E. If your captian is weak, use this guy) I think that might help a bit. I was able to beat it with a level 3 captain, (Part 2) But it wasn't easy. I was down to about 10 health frequent times and it took a long time. So I don't think it will be too bad.

And as for difficulty, I've avoided grenades when possible, but they can be found under normal circumstances. The enemies are tough, but it's easy to find health and energy boost. But it can take a while to attack, return to heal, and repeat, so it still works.

And ya, indoor AI is awfull. I'm avoiding it as often as possible, but there are neccacary situations. I'll just have to be more carefull there.

Oh, and again on difficulty. It's going to get alot more difficult as it goes along, but I've had an idea. It's way easier to beat if you know a few tricks, and there is always at least one very well hidden easter egg. So I've decided to have my brother Yallo42 make strategy guides for each mission. This would make it possible for even the puniest captains I believe.

Any thoughts on the strategy guides?

Hmm.. Strategy guide is a funny idea. Still, it seems to me only a small ammount of players would actually check them (since they'd be out of the game spore and I'm not sure they'd actually bother checking them out on some forum)
Well, I hope it works out fine. If it's free captain, remember to put the requirements in the description and try not to make any annoying parts. Like: "Go to the beach, now back to the lighthouse, now back to the beach, now back to the boat, now back to the lighthouse"
Try to keep it always fun for the player :-) Looking foward to see this

No they'd be in spore, just creations. It's just an idea I've been tossing around. And the actual gameplay is action driven, so it won't be too bad in the respect of go here, do this format. I do throw in a good amount of backstory though, if you're the kind of player that looks at everything. (I am)

Either way good luck with the series!

I might call myselfe a Semi-Pro in Adventure making.
It sonds selfish but i think noone can say that e.G. my Fdresh B. Autumn World Adventure is bad developed.
So i can answer some Questionas about Design, AI and Functions.
My problem si that i am too perfectionistic ( bad english ?!)
I want to make every spot in my Adventure to look as realistic and good as possible. I designed Adventures where 1/10 of ym World filled my Complexity meter 100% just with Plants and Rocks :S
So..
One basic Tip.
Unless its a mini Adventure (-game -anywhat) never leave the Adventure when theres space for details.