Contract Template Brainstorming

[Arsonide]

So we know that First Contract will have contract templates which it uses to procedurally generate missions, and we know, that since this is the first implementation, that it will probably have a limited selection of templates initially. We also know that Squad has exposed these templates to modders, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a large resource of "template ideas" so that when First Contract rolls out, modders would have a resource to add more to the game. I know that's the first thing I plan on investigating after release. So please post your contract template ideas here.

Keep in mind that it is a contract <b>template</b> which means that it should have generic locations, generic people, generic everything. Use tags to refer to locations, people, or things. [PERSON] [LOCATION] [THING]. The more variables that a template has, the more fun it will be to replay. Also keep in mind that contracts should generally be self contained. What I mean by this, is that if they need to create new things in the world, keep them temporary and to a minimum. Imagine a contract where a Kerbal has to take a sample - nothing new is created in this contract. Some of the more fun contract types will spawn objects in the world "We lost Jebediah Kerman again, can you go find him? Last we heard he was in this crater somewhere on the Mun." In this, only one object is spawned procedurally, which is manageable. You can also give "items" to Kerbals by adding new entries to the right click context menus on EVA.

I will begin the suggestions by stealing templates from another game that used templates for missions - Anarchy Online. Anarchy Online had five mission templates: Assassinate, Find Item, Rescue/Repair, Find Person, Recover Item. Assassinate isn't really applicable to Kerbal Space Program, however, it was used for both killing people and destroying objects, so we can still use it. Find Item and Find Person can be condensed, as can Rescue and Recover Item. Rescuing a Kerbal and recovering an item are similar. That leaves "repair". In Anarchy Online a repair mission involved you bringing a special item to another object in the world and using it on that object, so we can effectively call it an "Interact" mission. Alright so that leaves our template list kind of like this:

1. Destroy - Go to [LOCATION] and destroy [OBJECT]. This can involve de-orbiting a satellite that nobody wants, or actually physically blowing it up. Kerbals have no weapons, but they have a way of making things explode, so I'm sure the player could figure it out. Perhaps the object could be a Kerbal gone rogue, but I'm not sure how far out of canon that goes.

2. Find Item/Kerbal: [OBJECT] spawns at [LOCATION], but is not visible on the system map. The player is tasked with finding it, once within a certain distance, the mission succeeds, retrieval is not necessary. Due to how large space is, it is not recommended to spawn the object in space, it would be preferable to have it spawn on the surface of something, more preferably in a biome that the player knows. If it does spawn in space, the discovery distance should be pretty great. Perhaps load out the player with a scanner with a wide radius of some sort.

3. Retrieve Item/Kerbal: [OBJECT] spawns at [LOCATION]. The player may or may not be given the location. If he is given the location it pops up on the system map, if not, the mission proceeds somewhat like a find mission until it pops up. The player then has to bring the object or Kerbal back to Kerbin and successfully land it.

4. Interact: The Kerbonauts are temporarily given [ABILITY/ITEM] which enables a new context menu entry on pretty much everything when EVAing. The Kerbonauts are told to use this ability on [OBJECT] at [LOCATION]. Alternatively, this could be a limited use item, and the player is tasked with using it on many objects trying to find the right one, or perhaps giving it to one specific kerbal instead of all of them.

These ideas are vague, and that is the point. They are templates, and they look like templates. In game it worked for Anarchy Online rather well, so I'd like to see your ideas. The more ideas we get, the better, as modders will have a smorgasbord of contract templates to implement, and the game will get more varied and fun the more that we add. Some templates might have to give Kerbals new abilities or new ways to interact with the world, because right now they have very limited interaction with the world.

Get creative.

[aman608]

Ok this sound like fun

anyway onto my idea:

Retrieve 3 Kerbals from the Minmus slopes and return them to Kerbin.

reasons for 3 Kerbals: one Kerbal is way too easy early game i want the player to think about how to get 3 of them back unharmed

Reasons for necessary return: well if you just go to the slopes find the kerbals and land next to them to complete the mission it just seems lazy

i have a few suggestions for additions to the missions, here they are.

(i think that retrieval missions with kerbals should have some sort of delivery EX: Return to,Kerbin, Space station, Low/High orbit around Kerbin just something like that it dose not feel right to leave Kerbals behind)

(maybe the retrieval mission they could be given a biome to search but nothing else just to make it a tiny bit easier than having to circumnavigate Minmus 3 times to try and fine one object, also would the object be discover able from space if so that makes this a bit easier)

(another suggested mission type something like Delivery Ex: Deliver a 4 person hab module to the mun, Deliver 20 Tons of fuel to "Space station" i think this would add a bit more depth in mission idea and it sounds like tons of fun )

that's all for my recommendations and ideas have a good day fellow kerbonaut

[ola]

Check the Mission Controller Extended mod, they have brainstormed quite a bit on the subject.

[Sky_walker]

There's a mod for literally everything. Even one with already completed brainstorming. You see? There's no need to do anything any more.

[Vanamonde]

This suggestion for the game's development has been moved to the Suggestions and Development sub-forum.

[Arsonide]

There's a mod for literally everything. Even one with already completed brainstorming. You see? There's no need to do anything any more.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not, but I will check out the mod. Last time I tried that mod, it wasn't integrated with the game very well yet, and felt kind of like a side process rather than a part of the game. I assume the official contracts will be more polished and integrated.

Either way, I'm sure that there are more ideas out there than what was included with the mod.