Bulletin board missions. What did you like? What would you like?

[Whismerhill]

Personel RESCUE mission
a BBS message informs you of an accident between ships, or ship/asteroid, ship/station
local forces have too much on their hand
once you accept

you can make two choices :
-1st save them (which implies going there, talking to the ship, saying that you will save them, then a number of spacesuits are to be retrieved)
-2nd sell them to a pirate station as slaves

outcome : -1st a big reputation increase of course but no money or very little
-2nd money of course but a reputation drop

finally all this will be timed, and the ship will explode once the time is out
(timer stopped once everyone is onboard)

specific person rescue mission
same as above but a single person is sending SOS to be saved
maybe he is rich (big reward) or maybe not, you wouldn't know

[Cohh]

The main thing we need is more missions that answer the hundreds of questiosn opened up by the current ending...

1. Whats up with the Kha'ak? Where is there homeworld? What exactly is their deal? (The main story mentioned some very, very small parts of it, but not nearly enough)

2. Earth : We DEFINENTLY need more explanation here. More BACKSTORY. For many of us, this is our first X Universe game. You have to treat every game like this. We shouldn't have to go elsewhere to fully experience the game we paid over 45 bucks for

3. EASIER SHIP MANAGEMENT. Please please make it easier to manage your ships in your carrier, able to make groups of ships to give quick commands to (IE, Shift - F3 would select all ships with My Carrier as home base. A quick Command would make them all "Go home" or dock with my carrier. Another command would make them all attack, etc).
This would also be useful in assigning controls to nearby areas.

4. ADD SUBPLOTS. The main story was, dare I say, ALOT OF FUN! Although it definently needs some polishing (especially on what the screen is actually looking at while the dialogue is going on, IE, when the monks ship blows up early, there is *NOTHING* Firing at it, or it its way. It just... explodes. Very confusing), the idea behind the concept was fantastic, but we need MORE. Add THREE stories like this. Maybe now I can fly to the Boron homeworld and do some storylines for them (IE, Boron leader assassinated, the assassin fled to Teladi space, so now you have to go do missiosn for them to gain access to his location. From there, its a hunt for him, wihch exposes a much deeper plot in the smuggling of Silicon between the Teladi and Boron goverments, etc , etc. Terrible ideas coming from me, but i'm sure you can whip something up thats better

5. (The *BIG* one). Graphic Performance needs to be IMPROVED. I am running a Dual Core 4200 Athlon with 2 7800 GTs, and there are *ZERO* sectors I get over 65FPS in. If its not an abundance of asteroids, its ships. if its not ships, its the grahpic effects for the sector, etc. Large scale space battles even on my beast machine turn into clutters justs of frame. Seriously, all content aside, I think this is on of the biggest problems with the game so far (that and the constant crashes, but its a big game, and bugs will be prevelant no matter how much testing you do, so we understand ).

All in all this game is great. Although the ending almost seemed thrown together (which will hopefully be improved in the future thorugh more missions and a bit better fleshed out cutscenes) I am still flying around my universe building my empire and preparing to clean out the xenon sectors Fantastic job guys, and I seriously cannot WAIT to see what the patches bring!

GET THEM TO US QUICK-LIKE! HAHA!

Cohh !

[Leaf]

A challenge of a duel to the death in a quiet sector for high frame rates. When you get there you find the AI has generated an opponent with a ship more powerful than yours, slightly slower but more manouverable, your strafe drive has been disabled, and the rest of the X-universe is frozen for the duration of the battle, so the AI can give you its undivided attention!

[Nyax]

[Non BBS mission related content removed - Graphil]

As a HEAVY user of BBS missions this is great news, and i've quite a few ideas on the subject. However to answer your questions directly, the missions i enjoyed the most were-

Plot missions-

-The hunt down the Don and retreive the crystal Mission (where they use a jump drive a lot)
-The 3 part 'hunt the crystals' mission.
-Scan the Nividium Plants
-The final mission (although Frame rate problems were in abundance)

General missions-

-Assassinations
-Xenon Invasion missions


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Guilds
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The idea of guilds is a good one. Organisations you have to join , but will always offer you missions. Not all guilds will be available at every station.

Cycrows guild scripts have already been mentioned. These are very good, but In addition to the mercanaries, Smugglers and assassins guilds, i'd also like to suggest a couple of others-


Merchants Guild.
Offers Primarily Trader related missions-
1) Trade based missions like those at the start of X2 (Take X number of ware Y to Station Z)
2) Factory supply missions (Factory X desperatly needs Y number of Ware Z).
3) In the spirit of Privateer they could also offer Assassination style missions on pirates who attack their members.
4) Provide you with the opportunity to Hire out a player owned TL to anyone wanting to deploy a new station.

Local Military.
Gives you the opportunity to work for the race military. In addition to cash bonuses these missions should also give you race ranking boosts
Mission types-

1) Assassination
2) Sector Defence (Similar to xenon invasion missions. Enemies could be pirates/ khaak/ enemy races (e.g. Split if it's a Boron Mission) )
3) Espionage. Scan enemy stations (Rather like the Nvidium plant mission)
4) Assault. Destroy a target, e.g. enemy station/ ship/ fleet
5) Patrol. Patrol a sector for X length of time and engage any enemies that show up. Scan suspected smugglers. etc. Bonuses for destroying enemies and IDing Smuglers
6) Exploration. Scout out recently discovered systems not connected via jump gates. Jump drive is needed to reach them. Bonuses for finding Rich asteroids, Nvidium, Khaak installations etc. (Sectors could also potentially contain goodies for the player to snaffle)
7) Sector invasion. Actually a series of connected espionage/ assault/ defense and patrol missions that ultimately result in the conquering of a system and a change in it's ownership. In long term these could result in one race conquering another.

[giskard]

I'll throw some examples out after ive made this post because as separate posts they can be deleted if considered off topic.

Missions i liked already first I think.

From the plot.

I liked being an outcast from the argons, dealing with pirates and invading paranid terratory. That part i liked a lot.

Escaping from Argon prime was good, the ambushing of the paraid patrol was nice too and the attack on the nvidium plant was fun was well early one, VERY early one wink wink.

The scanner missions where rather nice, being chased by irrate paranids after revenge. Kept me on toes and kept the pace going pretty fast these days. Thats the key to why i liked them.

I didnt like the endless tunnel missions, 1 would have been great but 3. The pleasure complex was the best one, i didnt mind that but the others i hated.

I did not like the turret missions much, i found these repative and boring after the first time. 1 would have been enough but rest just showed X3 to be unimagenative and boring in this area.

The race was a nice mission to include as a bbs mission, makes a nice change. I want to see more like this.

I'll post some examples below, delete them if off topic.

Giskard

[blue fox]

I find the M-5 timed and do you gamble missions interesting. it is something to do while you are waiting for stations to build up inventory. In X2 90% of the 1.4 billion I made was from this type of mission. And I like the fact they kept in X3.

Two things I think would make missions more intersting, would be some kind of plot based BBS. Sort of sub plots that could affect ones ranking with the races, and can carry over to three or four sectors, also different sub plots in deffrent sectors, That rotate so one is not doing the same plot under the same conditions. Secondly A news paper type BBS. where there could be smuggling missions, escort missions, and missions where you may have to travel some place to pick up goods and carry them some where else.

[giskard]

Example 1

Xenon Searching for Earth Gate.

Again inspired by the plot.

Hehe, yes I spotted the promiximity of Heretics end to Xenon sectors


The Xenons have found out theres a jump gate to earth somewhere near omicron lyrea and have sent a small patrol (1 x m6 and some Ls kind of patrol) to scout out the sectors near by.

Argon patrols will usually take care of most of the xenons coming from the east. Trouble is Xenons coming from the southern Xenon sector will no doubt find the gate in Heretics end and report back.

So the Argon Secret Service has asked for pilots to patrol the sector Heretics end and the sector below it for a time and intercept any Xenons they encounter.

The mission is a simple patrol mission, that lasts for X amount of minutes (you decide) with a chance that one of the Xenon patrols will appear and need intercepting.

Theres also a chance nothing will happen.

Nice way to allow players to cap certain new Xenon ships don't you think.... hint hint

Giskard

[PTR]

How about

'Sabotage Gate of Pirate Sector / Race Sector X to prevent attacking ships/traders to get trough'

-Need some way to disable gates for some time, in a nice way (not just shooting)

Since there are much asteroids in the game;

'Clear a path through the asteroids between station X and Y to make trade between the two stations faster'

And maybe some Goner missions like

'Escort Goner to sector X'
'Get Xenon/Earth artefact from Pirate/Smuggler/Xenon ship'
'Find Goner X and bring him home or find out what happend to him / who killed him'

[Chazzie]

My suggestion would be a Cap Ship Fight - say, for example, that the Split invade the Boron sectors with several Destroyers and it's your job to go in there with your fleet to help.

This is like the XI missions but only with Cap Ships, this might be better suited to a player that has already bought several Cap Ships - this would be a cool addition as a player with tonnes of money needs something to spend it on!

It could be linked to your race relations as well - ie, If your a Boron 'Queens Knight' then they are going to offer these missions over a Paranid 'Nomad'.

[giskard]

Example 2

Build me a complex.

Next a little complex building practice for the players since some have problems with them right now.

A race (you choose) has recently found several of its key factories destroyed by pirate, khaak and xenon attacks and needs to replace them. To this end they want the player to purchess the required factories and take them to a chosen sector where he will deploy them and create a complex for the race.

They then ask that the player fills up the factory with resources to finish it off.

They give the player enough credits to buy the factories + hubs + price of the stock the complex will hold based on the average price. So if the player can get the stock cheaper, he can keep the rest of the credits as a small bonus.

When the mission is complete, the AI takes over the fully stocked complex. You can destroy it again later with the god mod if you like

Of course there are possible cheats here but im sure the programers can close those loop holes

Giskard

[giskard]

Example 3

Idea taken from henkies book.

Spy catcher.

Some guy (any race) that is well aware of the paranids secrets being mostly open secrets has taken it upon him self to grab some of their secrets for him self.

Unfortunately for him, the paranid are not that easy to fool and spotted him trying to steal their secrets from one of their stations and have tracked him to just outside their sectors where he met up with an escort of fighters and is now heading home.

(Think about kyles escape in a freighter from paranid space and you get the idea behind this guys escape).

The paranid ask for a pilot to kill the escorts and then ask the pilot who stole the secrets to return to the nearest paranid trading station with his ship and secrets intact.

Since he is not likely to do this willingly, they ask for pilots with good capture skills to attempt it. They hope the pilot will see reason before his ship is destroyed and that he will agree to follow the player back to their space where he will be arrested.

Giskard

[Poacher886]

Simple. Missions should'nt be quick fire ones with all out attacks everytime,but should involve some depth and stratergy like a mini game of X3! this would give the player the feel he is playing free form yet has an objective to go for prolonging the overall game itself!

Perhaps these missions could have longer lasting consiquence...

[FyreByrd]

Good stuff guys...

Some good ones that i can think of:

Similar to what others have said with trade cartels, but they basically ask you to make a certain amount of money for them...you make the money, get a small percentage of it as a gratuity (sp?) and a large race rep increase.

Some multi-stage missions would also be good, with hints rather than "Go to kingdoms end" more like "Hari Seldon has been seen in his osprey, in a boron sector with only two gates and a trading station"

And finally and most importantly, please, please, please, please give us a Suzy search and rescue mission.

cheers

FyreByrd

[giskard]

Example 4:

Call me a Xenon

One of the races needs the player to scan an enemy station and he is give a enemy ship to allow him to do the mission in secret. He gets to the station, scans it, gathers the data when the enemy discovers his presence and go after him.

He must now escape with the data but the enemy are following him all the way home.

Races should include, pirates, xenon and khaak but no jump drive should be fitted to his ship or allowed during the mission.

This would allow the player to have fun with khaak and xenon ships even if he cannot own one or capture one him self.

Giskard

[argharg]

hi, god job so far!!!!

-> missions to visit new sectors (we could have instanced sector where you can get into only for the mission).

-> unique stuff to collect all over the world for the boron museum ( ala indiana jones)

-> galactic races (ala star wars 1 .. pod racing)

-> galactic mob to figth (like the hanted space ship, the galatic medusa, the star eating worms, etc..)

-> mobs could be captured as well and collected to a galactic zoo.

-> infiltration missions are always fun

[Non BBS mission stuff removed - Graphil]

[giskard]

Example 5.

Fleet combat.

It would be really nice if players with fleets could accept missions that tasked them with the job of intercepting incoming fleets.

A simple destroy the other fleet type mission.

Only the fleet that gets spawned is dependant on the number of m1s or m2s the player ownes (not m6s). So it is always a challenge.

Giskard

[firefox7]

Why not missions for/from the navies/law enforcement of the various races in the game of X3?

Ok for instance, the Argon Navy could request the test flight of a new type of warship to be piloted and put through its paces by the pilot. This could link to other missions by the Argon but not limiting to this one race. Undercover mission to uncover secret plots, assassination attempts and theft could spawn from such a mission posted by the first on BBs.

After helping the Argon Navy, the Teladi law enforcement requires help with the investigation of an attempted assassination attempt, which (the pilot in the game of X3) must be uncovered and thwarted before it is too late.

The Split requires assistance patrolling certain sectors of their space (deep space) against pirate attacks and controlled substances. This leads too another sub plot were the pilot can use the goods dropped after destroying the craft or stations (space files and Space Fuel and Space Weed) and selling these to the highest pirate bidder (NPCs). This is if the pilot chooses to walk along the dark side.

The Boron mission could take place underwater on their planets in space ships designed for duel underwater turret battles with the cool effects of X3 graphics engine. I am sure it is not too hard for the programmers of X3 to provide the bubble effects of underwater battles using the boron vessels already in use in the game. Again, the player could have answered an add for help from a BB posting or this could spawn off from a previous mission or missions along this line.

Turret battles are very good, but main battle cannons turret versions against other CAP ships would be the "be-all-and-end-all" of space battle warfare.

If for instance the Argon Navy requested help on board one of their CAP vessels working gunnery positions and firing the main cannons and lasers (BEAM Weapons) against other CAP ships or Space monsters, alien targets or large asteroids, this would rev up the fun factor I think.

Anyway, hope some of this makes sense to you all and good luck! X3 is a great game, could use a little fine-tuning in a few areas (which could be addressed in the upcoming add-on)). Perhaps that could be the start of another thread!

What about Pirate missions? Pirate bases could have their own BBs system and request illegal runs and thefts, murders and assassinations.

[Axeface]

The Xenon Attack missions are really cool. Could you expand them a bit? Add more interaction with the other ships in the battle (Comms/Requests for help etc) Perhaps even have really big battles, that are more varied, such as the battle moves from one sector to another etc etc (News of such battles on the BBS would be cool too)

[NBMR - G]
Cheers

[BeanBoy]

How about a stealth mission or two : Sneak into a ship scrapyard and steal an old warship; steal cargo from a depot etc. In order to make your ship stealthy you have to power down lots of elements (like shields and jump drives etc)

Rescue missions: rescue people of a doomed ship/ space station before it explodes

Spy missions: wait at a gateway and spy on a certain ship

Agree with poster who suggested you look at Eve missions, also look at I-War 2, they had some excellent missions

[OD53]

what I would like to see is a bounty hunter mission where you can either be on the pirates side and help defend some illegal cargo on a freighter holding off enemy ships or play the aggressors where you have to try and destroy the illegal ship cargo and freighter, I was thinking this mission could range from 3 or 4 ships on each side up to huge convoys and attack armardas where there is a huge battle taking place between the two sides!

This is only an idea and I'm not sure if it is currently in X3 though because I havent taken on many BBS missions so correct me if I'm mistaken!

Hope that idea helps and gerts incorporated into the add-on and good luck to the Ego team!

OD53.